Russian PM Tracking His Dog Via Satellite
[Image courtesy of Picasa, thanks MJ]
Posts with tag russia
[Image courtesy of Picasa, thanks MJ]
Vladimir Putin Releases Judo DVD
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin apparently has something to prove -- we suspect he's trying to compensate for something we won't identify. In celebration of his 56th birthday, the former KGB agent has released a DVD that stars himself, alongside Japanese and Russian specialists, demonstrating Judo techniques. 'Let's Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin' (seriously, that's the title) features Putin displaying a surprising level of strength and speed while taking down opponents with ease and executing difficult grappling techniques.
As if the slightly bizarre notion of a politician releasing a martial arts instructional video weren't enough, Putin also released a series of photos of himself bare-chested running through the woods, as well as white water rafting and horseback riding in fatigues.
This is the same man who last year released photos of himself shooting a tiger with a tranquilizer dart to save journalists, and who also took members of the press on a fishing trip where he slept under a thin blanket, rather than in a sleeping bag (despite temperatures that dipped below freezing during the night).
These sort of testosterone-fueled shenanigans make President Bush's photo ops (like brush-clearing adventures on the ranch) seem downright wussy by comparison. [From: Telegraph]
Giant Tribute to Lenin Found on Google Earth
The roughly 262 foot tall letters spell out "Lenin is 100," celebrating the communist leader's birthday in 1970. 38 years later, the letters are still perfectly clear and readable.
Why exactly the tribute was carved into a remote forest that no one will see is still a bit of a mystery, but some have speculated that it was a message intended to be picked up by American spy satellites. [From: Telegraph]
Georgia Accuses Russia of Conducting Cyber-Warfare
by Tim Stevens, posted Aug 12th 2008 at 9:26AM
The conflict with the former Soviet state of Georgia continues to rumble with Russian forces still on the offensive. But,in this modern conflict, Georgia is also claiming Russian assaults on a very different battlefield: cyberspace. Georgian officials are accusing Russian forces of engaging in attacks against official sites, like that of the Georgian Ministry of Defense, which was knocked offline over the weekend.
As of now, the sites are back up, but this is thanks to the work of Georgian (Information Technology) IT folks doing their best to thwart the attackers. It remains to be seen, however, whether the attackers are acting as part of a concerted effort by the Russian government, or are instead led by Russian nationalists letting their pride get the best of them, as was the case in last summer's the Estonian cyber attacks. [Source: CNet News]
Russian Student Spams 400 People With Death Threat
A Russian student with a sick sense of humor is now paying the price for his poor taste.
According to 'Russia Today,' Anton Shurubara sent 400 death threats to random phone numbers proclaiming "Death to Russian pigs and to you, freak!" Funny, considering he is Russian. Shurubara, who was tracked down authorities, claimed "I was just joking around, I wanted to see what people's reactions would be." What an interesting social experiment Anton! Well done!
The court decided that "the mass text message amounted to racial hatred and a provocation to extremism." Anton will serve one year of probation for his behavior. [Source: Textually]
Eastern European Security Center to Defend Against Cyber Attacks
by Will Safer, posted May 16th 2008 at 2:45PM
Seven European members of NATO are banding together to create a cyber defense center in Estonia, following that country's experience with an overwhelming attack on its Internet structure last year, which it blamed on hackers in Russia who were been upset with the Estonian government's decision to move a statue of Vladimir Lenin in its capital city of Tallinn to a graveyard. In the end, it may have been an Estonian who staged some of the attacks but ethnic Russians living in the Baltic state and others in Russia itself were likely responsible.
More than 1 million remotely operated computers are estimated to have been involved in the attack. Actual riots occurred in the city after this event last April.
Germany, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy and Spain will provide staff for the center and the United States will send observers to watch how this group devises strategies to defend against cyber attacks, which can easily escalate into a national security problem for a country under fire.
The center will be fully staffed by the end of August and fully operational in 2009. [Source: BBC]
Giant Moscow Billboard Is Peppered with Real Cars
This isn't so much a technology story as a super-sized, impress you with the audacity story. A giant billboard in Moscow, stretching up and across approximately 1.5 ACRES (no, not a typo), features real BMWs affixed sideways to appear as though they are racing across the advertisement's expanse.
In the Western World, we know they do things big in Texas, but this enormous ad tops anything we've seen of this type.
Stuck to the side of the billboard are a BMW Z4 M Coupe, an M3, an M5, and an M6. The headlights are on, although no one is behind the wheel.
There have been some other creative billboards mounted highways and famous byways. Just take a gander at the bright and creative ads all over New York's Times Square or London's Piccadilly Circus.
From Autoblog. (Image from English Russia.)
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Teen Girl Blog Site Now Popular With Russian Intellectuals
Some Web sites has as many lives as cats. One of the Web sites that helped launch the blogging craze, Live Journal, has been sold by its American owners Six Apart to Russian business partner SUP. The one-time haven for teenage emo girls has declined in popularity over the last few years, and been replaced by MySpace, Google Blogger, and Yahoo 360, which are at the top of the list of most popular blogging hosts.
But even though its popularity here in the States has waned, Live Journal has gradually become the blogging outlet of choice for Russian intellectuals, who are increasingly looking for ways to break through their government's increased crackdowns on media and free speech. So, naturally, SUP was eager to step in and take this blogging pioneer to its next chapter.
Under its new owners, Live Journal will continue to operate as normal, and will be established as a separate company from SUP.
From Reuters
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Russia Tests "Father of All Bombs" on September 11
The Cold War supposedly ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, but it appears someone forgot to tell the Russians. On September 11th, Russia tested and detonated the new Tu-160, also known as the 'Father of All Bombs' (FOAB). This bomb is, by our calculations, a direct challenge to the United States-built 'Mother of All Bombs' (MOAB).
When detonated in 2003, the MOAB was the most powerful non-nuclear explosive ever detonated. It contains just over eight tons of explosives with the force of about 11 tons of TNT. The MOAB packs enough power to flatten an area of roughly 9 city blocks.
Russia couldn't be left behind in the race for massively destructive bombs and developed the FOAB. The new national genital compensator destroys an area twice as large as the MOAB, burns twice as hot, and explodes with four times the force -- 44 tons of TNT. All of this force comes out of just over seven tons of an undisclosed high explosive which weighs 2,000 pounds less than the MOAB's innards.
The Russian military is even trying to put a green spin on the device. Alexander Rukshin, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, says, "It is environmentally friendly, compared to a nuclear bomb."
Now that the US has been one-upped on the weapons of mass destruction front, you can bet that the Pentagon is preparing to build a weapon that will essentially turn the Earth into a second Sun, bathing us all in its white-hot flames.
From Slashdot
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World's Longest Tunnel Planned By Russia
They say that the first people who migrated to North America did so via a land bridge between present day Russia and Alaska, and if Russia has its way we will again be able to cross the Bering Strait without a boat.
Russia unveiled a project, called TKM-World Link, to connect the Siberian peninsula with Alaska via the worlds longest tunnel. The $12 Billion, 64 mile tunnel would include a highway, a rail link, oil and gas pipelines, and power cables. The tunnel will also require the building of 3,700 miles of transportation infrastructure to feed the tunnel at an estimated cost of $52 Billion.
Don't get too excited, though -- the project will take at least 10 to 15 years to complete.
From Bloomberg
