jRuutu

1. The players seem to be inactive in the locker room, why? Moscow has evolved into communicating without using words 2. Our recent upgrade to defense hasn't panned yet. Any ideas what is going on? I upgraded my wife to a new model, a better model, but then I realized I miss the old plow horse. Maybe something like that is going on? 3. Although we were on top of the EU world, we have fallen lately. Where will we end up? We will have super hot final run in the regular season that will carry us to first position. 4. As a whole, the team looks strong and resilient. Are you looking for that big win streak that I am? Yes! We have gotten some away wins lately too, so keep pushing and we should be able to put together a nice run. 5. Our tender is doing a good job when you consider this is season two for him. Can the team rally behind him and push us to glory? I think Reed and the bot should be played more, so Syko does not get too cocky. Bench him for 5 games in row at least. "Yea you got 6 shutouts, but you still riding the bench". Keep Syko guessing. 6. Overall, not counting this last week, are you happy with your player? Overall yes, started the season strong, then bit of a slower run, but lately things been picking up again. Hoping for a strong finish!

Moscow Menace was one of the best teams in the first parts of the season with free-flowing offense and solid defense, but in the last 15 or so games The Menace has been struggling. Rumors coming in from Moscow suggest that, unlike those sailing on Titanic, players in Moscow have spotted the iceberg and are now wondering whether to jump off the ship now while they still can without getting their feet wet. Against all odds, Moscow made it into the playoffs last year, which only increased the expectations for the young and talented roster for the ongoing season. Moscow is currently 5th in the EU division with 8 points more than the 6th placed Helsinki. However, in these hectic TikTok times, giving the playoffs one or two tries might be considered enough and fair before a new rebuild is seen as a viable option. When you also consider the fact that only a few players in Moscow have a clause in their contracts that prevents them from being traded, these rumors could very well end up being more than just rumors.

Vancouver Wolves did what I call an "OJsian" - move, they cheated the system and got away with it.

From Vancouver Wolves to Vancouver OJ's Because they also got away with it

1. Moscow looks to be in a potential 5 way race for the top of the conference, how will we do? The way I see it is there are 5 teams and Moscow is one of them. We want to finish first but so does everybody else. 2. What team is our biggest threat in your opinion? I will say Malmo because they are a good away team. 3. The lines have seemed to settle down a bit and sim more stable, do you agree? We have been solid defensively especially, couple shutouts in the last three games for example. 4. Have any ideas about any changes the team should look at? Travel more via bus or train, so we don't get too comfortable out there. 5. Syko has shown some elite skills in recent games. Can he lead us to the promised land? I think so, most shutouts in the league, best GAA number! 6. If you could have one league related change, what would it be, if any? Force everybody to create one 2 TPE point task with AI each week, so we can all learn together to cheat the system.

When you take a look at the standings more closely you might make the following observation: teams in the European division allow fewer goals than the teams in the North American division. At the moment, six teams in the European division have allowed less than 100 goals. The number of teams that have allowed less than 100 goals in the North American division is one. While the differences might not be huge, but when you also look how the teams in the European division are performing in general over the NA teams, it is fair to speculate why the teams in the EU division are better. One potential reason could be that those players with less motivation and determination prefer the less tactical, free-flowing, and less pressure-to-perform type of hockey that the NA division has to offer. Meanwhile, those players who are the opposite: equipped with determination and hunger for success, they want to challenge themselves and improve while also appreciating the competitive nature of the EU division, these types of players tend to automatically be found more likely in the EU division. When the level of competition in the NA is so much weaker, the teams and players in the NA division are well-rested by the time playoffs take place. This type of advantage has been a key reason behind the last two championships being won by NA teams. While the teams in the EU battle hard every single game, the teams in NA can take it easy, feasting on weak teams. It will be interesting to see if we see yet another NA team winning the championship this year. Early signs say no as so many of the EU teams have played extremely well in the first 36 games.

The media, VHL teams, and fans gathered together to witness a historical press release on Tuesday. The league officials announced that the games completed in the previous sim were going to be played again due to a "fake trade thread" and "STHS not saving a backup". According to sources close to the inner circles of VHL, the fake trade was the sole reason for the re-sim. The STHS backup save problem was used to cover for the fact that the simulation team fell for the VHL version of a Nigerian Prince - scam. To get a better understanding of what happened, I have briefly analyzed the "MOS/VAN; S93" trade. As you enter the trade thread, you see exactly what you might expect to see when you click a trade thread, the title looks official, facts about the trade are presented, and the first comments are from general managers of both teams. Especially, the tagging of those involved in the trade in a heartwarming message is a nice touch and something that perhaps tricked some of the commentators in the thread. There are still a few points that might have led someone to smell foul play. Those with sharp eyes might have spotted that the spacing of the text is slightly different in the first post than in traditional trade threads, and the thread itself is posted by a VHL member and not by the "VHL Bot". Overall the scam trade is carefully made and as we saw the scam trade was able to trick multiple users, including the simulation team. To deepen my understanding of scams and how to potentially spot them in the future, I looked at a classic Nigerian Prince scam and compared it to the "MOS/VAN; S93" - scam trade. In the example, we can see a prince from Nigeria in trouble, they need a small loan to unlock their bank account. As a thank you they promise to send 1 million dollars back to you. When comparing the scams, both share similarities. On the surface, everything makes perfect sense, there is no need to think of foul play as banks are notoriously strict if you get on their wrong side. Perhaps the prince had their bank account unfairly locked due to inactivity, all you would have to do is send one transaction to show the bank the account is active, and great fortune would follow. Similarly, perhaps the simulation team thought the portal was not working and a VHL member posting the trade thread was just them being helpful. When it comes to the finer details, if you have your assets frozen unfairly, you would more than likely want to move them as far as you can. Similarly, the finer detail in the scam trade, Moscow trading two first-round picks makes the perfect sense as the rebuild is pretty much completed. In both scams, the stories add up. In the Nigerian Prince scam "sir" is used when talking to the reader. That can be a deal-breaker for some as pronouns are serious business in the modern world. When creating a scam, you do not want to take unnecessary risks. In the "MOS/VAN; S93" - scam trade the spacing of the text is similar to the use of "sir". A risk that could backfire. It is the smallest of details that can make the biggest difference. In the end, I would still like to say that despite small risks, such as the layout of the text or the pronouns used, it is still better to live your life believing in the goodness of the people. Next time you see something that makes you think this is a potential scam because a small point is off, please, don't think about the "MOS/VAN; S93" - scam trade or about the Nigerian Prince scams, if you start to look for monsters, soon you will start to see monsters everywhere. Trust - have faith. Help a prince out, ask from your GM if you could also be traded.

1. We seem to be a consistent winner at the moment. Will we keep this pace? Yes! We will keep on going, when other teams think they got something on us - we will change things up and surprise them. We are that talented. 2. Do you think we are peaking too early or it really doesn't matter? I don't think it matters that much, it is nice to get positive results early on, especially during regular season. The real test is the playoffs where every game matters. In those games our maturity will be truly tested. 3. I like the lines and the balanced scoring, thoughts? Promises good things for the playoffs! 4. Do you have any thoughts on line changes you would like the team to try? Increase physicality to toughen up the younger players 5. How is your player playing? As expected or better/worse? Better than expected, I was expecting point per game maybe, but start to the year been well over that pace. 6. Easter Sunday, you looking for eggs and eating chocolate rabbits? I found only regular eggs and they were not free either, not the easter I was looking forward to

How do we know the donations are safe? How do we know where the donations go? SHOW US THE BOOKS!

1. How do you feel about the start to our season? Start has been solid, nice to see we have gotten wins and lines seem to be clicking quite nicely, scoring from all around. 2. Do you feel good about how your player is playing? Alright start, was hoping maybe bit more goals, but I have been more of a playmaking center so far. I have liked my performance on the faceoffs. 3. I feel that we will only get better as the season progresses, do you agree? I think so too, hard work in the practice rink and more games under our belts with the new lines - it will translate to nice things. 4. Do you think we can make a push in the playoffs with our current roster? Yes! We are too talented to miss out. 5. What player on the team has impressed you the most? Syko perhaps, because they changed the settings before the season, I was not sure what to expect, but Syko has been without a doubt a goalie in Moscow this season, Syko got couple shutouts already too. 6. What happened to Davos? Only six players including their goalie? They are at bottom, so we can be at top

When we see a great work of art we are either amazed by what we see or we don't really understand what the big deal is. What we see could inspire thoughts and feelings new to us, our perspectives may shift. But then some might say they can do similar work and even better! I am not a great artist, but I got a taste of what it feels like to be an unappreciated artist whose work is seen as something that can be created again and even worse - improved. Anonymous artist released the following piece: https://imgur.com/p5FD4ZJ (Sound on, sorry never mind, there is no sound) Their work was met with harsh criticism as the piece was not seen worthy of TPE by the gatekeepers of VHL Art Gallery, a showroom where only the finest of works will be showcased. The denial sparked a backlash from the anonymous artist who went on to say they have a "similar skill set" than I do and that the work they created was "inspired" by the piece I created. My work was seen as worthy to be presented in the showroom and I also received TPE for my work. Here is the piece I created: https://imgur.com/a/TCQDtuY (Sound on) On the surface, both of the pieces look similar. Similar like Donald Trump of 2024 and Pamela Anderson of 1995 are running on the beach side by side, both wearing the classic red Baywatch swimsuit. Similar until you open your eyes and ears to see and hear what the two pieces have to say. My piece is like an apple covered in chocolate, honey, and toffee. There are so many layers that you need multiple viewings to even get a whiff of them all. By the time you start to feel exhausted from trying to understand and process what you have just seen, all you can say is: "What the f'ck, I have only now reached the apple". You get a sense of achievement from studying and consuming the piece I have created. When you look at the piece created by the anonymous artist, you are left feeling weary. Similar to a long fart in a crowded bus. You are amazed you get to witness something like that in person, but at some point, you start to think: "When does it stop?". When I look at the piece created by the anonymous artist, I feel proud and a little sad. Just like the music of Marvin Gaye has helped to bring who knows how many new lives into this world, my piece has inspired an anonymous artist to create something that we can all enjoy. That is something I did not expect would happen when I started to plan and draft the outlines of my piece. I am saddened because the anonymous artist is focused on TPE and the approval of the VHL gatekeepers over the fact they have themselves now brought new life into the art world. In my opinion, the piece created by the anonymous artist should be given the TPE, but the TPE should not go to the anonymous artist. The TPE should be shared with everybody in VHL equally. If there are 2000 members in VHL, everybody should be given 0,001 TPE.

Mine had music on it. I had artistic vision, I had a message that can be heard and understood hundreds of years from now. I created a dragon, yours was more like a kitty cat.

Would it be nice if you could get a TPE loan? Picture this, it is Sunday evening and you still need TPE to hit the TPE cap of the week, but you are busy, tired and running out of ideas, what should you do? Tell the wife and kids to be quiet if they are not willing to help as you push through it? But what if there would be an option to loan TPE? For example 6 TPE. You could claim the TPE right away, but you then need to pay it back next week by submitting extra point tasks worth the 6 TPE. If you fail to make the payment next week, for whatever reason, you could get another loan, but this time you need to make a donation to the league as "collateral". If you fail to make the payment after that, your player will be penalized with a 10% TPE cut and your forum profile picture will be a picture of an ass for one month. I think a system like this would help in keeping people active as they still feel like they are earning at a high rate, the league gets a few more donations per season, and we see better players on the sims = more entertainment for everybody as the quality of the product increases.

This week I have decided to analyze a comment made by a user in an article. They posted the following comment: "thx" as a reply to a comment where their work was being praised by another user. What makes this comment and article special is the fact that the article was created by a friendly AI, the user then got punished for using the help of a friendly AI. What I like about this situation the most is the lack of shame shown by the user. They knew they used AI, but they proudly stood by the work. This reminds me of a video that has been around the internets for some time. There was some kind of fire. The fire department, the police, and the media were present at the scene. Some guy walked to the police officers and said they knew something about the fire, then they went on and said they set the building on fire. They stayed at the area, waited for "everybody" to come around, and then: "Yea, I set it on fire". I imagine that most people, me included, were not as shocked that something was set on fire, but how the guy stood by and then proudly strolled into confess everything is what caused the biggest question marks to fly in the air. You are not supposed to do that, you should run away, why didn't you run away? That is what we have been taught by the entertainment industry and stories in the news on how criminals are being chased by the law. It is rare to see someone stay behind and almost mock the whole system, they are breaking the rules of breaking the rules. The difference in the "VHL case" is that the villain in VHL set something they personally own on fire. I am almost positive in the other case the building was not something the guy owned. In any case, it is an important distinction because when you set something you own on fire and stay behind to "play along", that is what you are supposed to do. Most people, myself included, start to think there is some kind of financial motive going on, it is a common story. We start to feel a little sympathy for the villain before even 50% of the facts are out as, for example, money problems are a relatable problem. In this case, the villain set something they own on fire just because they felt like watching something burn, while knowing they would almost certainly get caught. Then they stayed behind to yell: "Oh my garden, my veranda, who would do something like this?!", only to be seen by the neighbor who happened to catch them on camera pouring gasoline everywhere before the flames appeared. Setting something you own on fire for no real reason is something you should not do. You should have a solid reason for it. And that is what makes the whole case so interesting and mysterious, we can not wrap our heads around the case, we can not picture ourselves doing something similar as there is no real reasoning behind the action. You should not use AI and then also be proud of the work. You should stay quiet and lay low, you should not come back to see the comments and interact with other users. I am intrigued and a little afraid. This user will more than likely go on to do horrific things in the future. Not because they used AI to earn magic points on the internet, but because they stood by the work created by AI proudly, as if they themselves made the work and deserved the praise. It is too early to put the blame on anyone completely, but I am willing to throw the first stone toward the suits in VHL that have made earning TPE too hard for the modern internet user. This is what happens. It will be at least partly your fault when we few years from now watch this person livestream themselves putting 100 dollar bills into the blender.

1. The season is about to start, how will we do in the first week? We will lose one game, rest are wins. We lose once because winning all games would be rude. 2. It looks like most of the team has worked hard to improve. What is your biggest gain in skills? Faceoffs perhaps, or puck handling, managed to get them up during off-season by few points 3. Too early to tell, but I think we have what it takes to go deep in the playoffs. Thoughts? I think so also, we will keep improving steadily every week. When the playoffs start we will be ready to roll! 4. Do you relate season wins and losses to our chances in the playoffs? Playoffs are a cruel world, the regular season games matter little when the big games are played. 5. Do you think Syko will have a breakout season? The league wants to keep Syko down by making it easier for the players to score. I will still blame Syko first when a goal is scored, but that is only when Syko is close enough to hear my words. Good to ensure Syko stays humble. 6. What is your concerns about the team, if any. The team lacks physicality, we need to add some checking to ensure Moscow is not a nice team to play against.