Stories about Russian from December, 2009
Russia: Yeltsin's Daughter Blogs About Oligarch
Tatyana Yumasheva (LJ user t_yumasheva), daughter of the former Russian President Boris Yeltsin , recollects [Google Translation in EN] on her blog the early years of Roman Abramovich, Russian oligarch and the 51st richest person in the world.
Kazakhstan: Journalist murdered, professional motives excluded
Sayat Shulembayev, 28, journalist of the news video-portal “Stan” was brutally murdered in Almaty. As “Stan” producer Michael Pak says, Sayat rented a room in the house near bus station. The murderers killed the landlord and the journalist, apparently, to eliminate the possible witness [ru]. The news portal does not...
Russia: Role of Stalin Debated on RuNet
Heated discussions on RuNet in the wake of the 130th anniversary of Joseph Stalin showed how divided people are regarding his role in Russian history.
Uzbekistan: Bloggers stand for Umida Akhmedova
GV has already covered a story of the Uzbek documentary photographer Umida Akhmedova, accused of insult and slander against Uzbek people and traditions. This fact caused indignation among local and foreign journalists, photographers and Internet users. At the moment, more than 600 people from various countries signed the online petition...
Russia: Blogger Calls For Open Technical Standards
LJ user bablaw wrote an open letter [Google translation – ENG] to the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev calling him to veto amendments to the Civil Code that would make technical standards [ENG] closed to the general public.
Russia, U.S.: Brittany Murphy in Moscow on Dec. 19?
LJ user becky_sharpe (Bozhena Rynska, Gazeta.ru‘s gossip columnist) claims (RUS) that actress Brittany Murphy, who died on Dec. 20 in Los Angeles, was a guest at a private party in Moscow on Dec. 19 and was [“hungover”] when she flew back home. UPDATE: a follow-up discussion (RUS) of LJ user...
Russia: Popular Blogger Would Be Glad If Russian Authorities Restrict Internet
Popular Russian blogger and activist Roman Dobrokhotov talks to GVO about the Internet and online activism in the country.
Russia: Yegor Gaidar, Russia's Economic Reformer, Dies at 53
Yegor Gaidar, a Russian economist and politician who initiated the 1992 "shock therapy" reforms, died in Moscow on Dec. 16 at the age of 53. Russian bloggers' responses serve as a vivid reflection of how divided people still are on Gaidar's legacy and on the direction the country has taken since the demise of the Soviet Union.
Russian Rock Star Talks About His Social Network
Ikra.tv is a pioneer of music social networks in Russia. It currently consists of about 6,500 members and offers various forms of communications for fans including blogs, forums and different options to share music, pictures and videos.
Russia: A Third of Russians Use Internet
There are 42 million Internet users (29,6% of total population) in Russia according to the latest Public Opinion Foundation research [Google Translation ENG]. This is 2 million more compared to the Summer of 2009. Daily Internet audience in Russia accounts for 23,9 million.
Russian Programmer Community Hacks Super-Earth Name Vote
After The Wired magazine opened a vote [ENG] to name a newly discovered “most Earth-like” planet, Russian Habrahabr-user khekkly started a flashmob[Google Translation – ENG] urging Russian programmers to name it “Siberia.” This name currently leads the chart.
Russia: Two Stories of Space Blogging
Blogging from and about space gains popularity and recognition among professional space travelers and regular bloggers. Russia is no exception. While the latest fashion for NASA astronauts is space twittering [ENG], more and more space explorers are going full-text. And the fact that one wouldn't necessarily call those blogs par...
Russia: Google Bus Stop Ads Hacked
While Russia and the U.S. were holding meetings on cyber warfare, Russian activists took the process of hacking from virtual space to real bus stops in Moscow where they slightly altered original Google ads.
Russia: Government News Agency Reporter Detained by Police
A photo correspondent of RIA-Novosty, Russian government news agency, was detained by the police [RUS] when he was covering a recent opposition rally in Moscow.
Russia: Domain “блог.рф” (blog.rf) Registered By Security Service
Domain “блог.рф” (“blog.rf”) was registered by the Russia Special Communications and Information Service (formerly known as FAPSI [ENG], part of the Federal Security Service [ENG]), LJ-user di09en reports [RUS] citing the domain data [ENG].
Denmark: Ukrainian Blogger's Photos of Mass Arrests
Sergey Kovalyov (LJ user skovalyov; #skovalyov on Twitter) posts seven photos of mass arrests of protesters on Amagerbrogade in Copenhagen and writes (RUS) about it on his blog.
Russia: Two Travellers To Reach Pole Of Cold On Motorcycle
Two Krasnoyarsk [ENG] adventurers will travel to Oymyakon village [ENG] (known as the Northern Pole of Cold with winter temperature -78°C) on a home-made motorcycle in January 2010, says their Web site “Burndown.ru” [RUS]. The adventure will be documented in the LJ-community [RUS].
Russian Constitutional Court Ready For Internet
The Chairman of the Russian Constitutional Court Valery Zorkin announced that the Court was ready to broadcast all its public hearings via the Internet, Russian news agency Prime-Tass reported [RUS].
Ukraine: Bureaucracy and Incompetence at Defense Ministry
Sergei Maximishin, an award-winning Russian photographer, has recently tried to get the Ukrainian defense ministry's assistance in doing a photo story on the Ukrainian navy and army for a German magazine. He ended up defeated by the Ukrainian bureaucratic monster, but posted a detailed account of the ordeal on his blog.
Ukraine: Emotions and Politics
Emotionally charged Ukrainian politics – at Ukrainiana: a “shocktivist” women's movement FEMEN on a popular TV talk show; and a televised quarrel between the Ukrainian president and the interior minister.
Russia: Kremlin Plans To Create ‘Party of Bloggers’
The Kremlin will create a new “Party of Bloggers”, reports [RUS] luberblog.ru. The party will function on the basis of electronic signatures and forums. This initiative shows the virtuality of the whole party system in Russia.
