Dale › Comments

" The article has brought down the Apple blogosphere’s derision, most notably John Gruber, who trashes Stross with, you know, facts, such as the fact that the chief source of the story is a paid network consultant of AT&T’s or that one of the other sources tests network strength and individual phone performance with software that won’t run on iPhones. Their hypothesis, that the iPhone has secret phone networking problems, are excellent, so long as you don’t consider that they aren’t grounded on supporting data from unbiased sources...." - Dale

"When I set about looking for independent data, however, to confirm the superior performance of Verizon’s network, I was astonished to discover that I had managed to get things exactly wrong. Despite the well-publicized problems in New York and San Francisco, AT&T seems to have the superior network nationwide...." - Dale

Contains instructions for disk cleanup (of the usual stuff) but also describes what fix and service pack files can be deleted. - Dale

"WP FollowMe is a wordpress plugin that allows you to add a twitter 'Follow me' badge [to] your wordpress blog." - Dale

"An orchestra that uses iPhones instead of musical instruments is holding a concert at the University of Michigan on Wednesday...." - Dale

Russian state news agency: RIA Novosti - Dale

"Observers of the Russian political scene see signs of a political system under increasing strain. The political institutions created by Vladimir Putin during his eight-year presidency seem to be degrading even in the absence of serious direct threats. They are collapsing under the weight of their own contradictions – the main one being that between a declared democratic system of government and the workings of the single 'vertical of power,' which brooks no opposition...." - Dale

" there appears to be many causes of of the black screen issue. The symptoms are very distinctive and troublesome. "After starting your Windows 7, Vista, XP, NT, W2K, W2K3 or W2K8 PC or server the system appears normal. However, after logging on there is no desktop, task bar, system tray or side bar. Instead you are left with a totally black screen and a single My Computer Explorer window. Even this window might be minimized making it hard to see...." - Dale

"Politicians are afraid to rein in the runaway spending so that it will match revenues, because they don’t want to offend those who receive the benefits financed by the government—goodies paid for sooner or later by taxpayers. Much of the government’s spending is channeled to well-organized political pressure groups whose’ support is viewed as essential by incumbents seeking re-election. Just think of all those PACs whose contribu tions loom so large in Congressional campaigns. Members of Congress are unwilling to take fiscal actions that might jeopardize the electoral support of the special interest groups. The deficits reflect a political system responsive to special interests at the expense of the general interest of the public now, as well as the general interest of future generations...." - Dale

"With the national debt now topping $12 trillion, the White House estimates that the government’s tab for servicing the debt will exceed $700 billion a year in 2019, up from $202 billion this year, even if annual budget deficits shrink drastically. Other forecasters say the figure could be much higher.... In concrete terms, an additional $500 billion a year in interest expense would total more than the combined federal budgets this year for education, energy, homeland security and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.... The potential for rapidly escalating interest payouts is just one of the wrenching challenges facing the United States after decades of living beyond its means....." - Dale

"With the national debt now topping $12 trillion, the White House estimates that the government’s tab for servicing the debt will exceed $700 billion a year in 2019, up from $202 billion this year, even if annual budget deficits shrink drastically. Other forecasters say the figure could be much higher.... In concrete terms, an additional $500 billion a year in interest expense would total more than the combined federal budgets this year for education, energy, homeland security and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.... The potential for rapidly escalating interest payouts is just one of the wrenching challenges facing the United States after decades of living beyond its means..... - Dale

"Along with the perennial calls for 'land for farmers' and 'factories for workers,' Communists who marched in Moscow on the Saturday anniversary of the 1917 revolution offered a slogan of more recent vintage: 'Russia without Putin.'" - Dale

"A Moscow subway station is the newest focus of Russia's bitter dispute over the legacy of Josef Stalin, whose outsize shadow still haunts the nation more than 50 years after his death. Critics of the Communist era were outraged when old Soviet national anthem lyrics praising Stalin were restored to a rotunda in the Kurskaya station this summer. Now there is talk of putting a statue of the dictator back where one used to stand, facing commuters entering the station. Moscow's chief municipal architect Alexander Kuzmin, who raised the idea of returning the Stalin statue last week, said there was nothing behind it but a desire for historical accuracy...." - Dale

"This issue of the Russian Analytical Digest examines Russia's financial vulnerabilities resulting from the global financial crisis. With Russia's foreign direct investment increasing, it also looks at the stimulants driving Russia's FDI amid the economic recession. The policy brief also presents Russia's current economic indicators in an international comparison." - Dale

"A special ceremony commemorating the victims of the 2002 hostage crisis at Moscow's Dubrovka Theater has been held, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. On October 26, 2002, Russian security forces conducted an attack to release some 850 hostages held in the theater for three days by dozens of terrorists demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya...." - Dale

"This paper provides insights into Russia's regional politics, presenting four case studies. It addresses the general trends and special features of Russia's subnational authoritarianism, examines the political transformation of local government regimes through an analysis of elites and comments on the governor of St Petersburg. Furthermore, it assesses the implications of plans to redirect regional rents from oil and gas production from Tyumen Oblast to the federal center in Moscow." - Dale

"In the war-ravaged Russian republic of Chechnya, the local government is pouring money into the construction of mosques and other Islamic institutions. Despite Russian law that declares a separation of church and state, Chechen schools must now promote Islam. There are 15 million to 20 million Muslims in Russia, and their share of the overall population of 140 million is growing. As many seek to return to their roots, the government has supported the construction of mosques and Islamic schools as long as they do not challenge the state...." - Dale

"At the sight of his son on the television screen, dressed in a camouflage jacket and cradling an AK-47 assault rifle, Buhari Barayev was overcome by emotion. Tears welled as the young terrorist declared that he had taken hundreds of innocent people hostage and would die a martyr unless the Kremlin halted the war in Chechnya...." - Dale

"On November 6, a police officer at the Department of Internal Affairs in Novorossiysk used his personal Web site to address Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and talk about numerous problems police officers face in Russia. In his video address available on www.dymovskiy.ru and YouTube (part I and part II [RUS]), Aleksey Dymovskiy is calm and meticulous. He talks about diminishing police honor, bribes, corruption and low pay that poison lives of many police officers in Russia." - Dale

"Chechen officials claim to have killed and captured a large number of rebels in the republic in recent weeks. However, human rights groups have cast doubts on the claims, saying that some of those identified as rebels were in fact civilian non-combatants...." - Dale

"he European Parliament has awarded its annual Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Memorial, the prominent and embattled Russian human rights group...." - Dale

"His bank card and mobile phone were blocked. He was detained on the way to the airport. And he had a tough time buying a plane ticket.... But Aleksei Dymovsky, a police major in the Black Sea port city of Novorossiisk, managed to make it to Moscow, where he continued his campaign to expose what he called widespread malfeasance and corruption in Russia's law-enforcement bodies.... At a press conference in the Russian capital on November 10, Dymovsky held up a digital recorder and claimed to have taped 150 hours of incriminating conversations involving his superiors...." - Dale

" Routine falsification of evidence. Pressure to arrest the innocent. Poor working conditions. And a low salary. Aleksei Dymovsky, a police major in the Black Sea port town of Novorossiisk, finally decided enough was enough. So last week he blew the whistle -- over the Internet. The move cost him his job, and he now says he fears for his life. The incident is just the latest embarrassment for Russia's law-enforcement community, which has been accused by rights groups and the public of endemic corruption, incompetence, and brutality...." - Dale

"Well-known Russian businessman Shabtai Kalmanovich has been shot dead in Moscow, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. His driver was severely wounded and taken to hospital in serious condition. Kalmanovich was born in Lithuania in 1947 and immigrated in the 1970s to Israel, where he was involved in politics. He became well-known in the former Soviet Union in the late 1980s after he organized concerts in Russia for Michael Jackson, Liza Minnelli, and other entertainment stars. Kalmanovich was involved in trade and construction businesses recently and was the owner of the successful women's basketball club Spartak Moscow...." - Dale

"The chairman of the Grozny-based human rights organization Pravo (Right), Arbi Khachukaev, has been detained by Moscow police, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports...." - Dale

"There's no question that Stalin is undergoing a sort of renaissance in Russia. Despite the many millions killed or sent to labor camps during his reign, many now view his rule with a sort of hazy nostalgia...." - Dale

"Medvedev's youthfulness and charm have already won him a loyal following, especially among those Moscow pundits and commentators who were unhappy with some of the extreme aspects of Putin's eight years in power. Those commentators have recently penned a series of articles in the Russian press assuring us that Medvedev, like the tormented hero of a Russian novel, is a man of extraordinary character and moral vision. Deep in his heart he cherishes noble (and liberal) instincts, and is only waiting for Putin to loosen his stranglehold on the country to decree a Khrushchev-style 'thaw.'" - Dale

"Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin criticized Russia’s film industry yesterday, telling prominent directors assembled at the recently created Council of Cinematography that 'goals of economic, cultural, and humanitarian influence are not being reached.' The premier did not elaborate on the kind of cinematic influence he was looking for, but he did try to relate to the industry by trying his hand -- or rather, foot -- at cinematic sound effects by walking on a bag of starch intended to mimic the crunch of snow underfoot...." - Dale

"Last week’s announcement that the next Russian census will be held in 2010 as originally scheduled is welcome news indeed. There had been considerable speculation that the census had been delayed largely for political reasons.... The government originally said it would be forced to delay the census – first until 2012 and then later until 2013 – because of a lack of funds. But this argument never seemed convincing, especially considering that many former Soviet republics have conducted censuses or are proceeding with them despite economic situations far more dire than Russia’s.... The lack-of-money plea seemed even more unconvincing considering the record of past Soviet and Russian governments in delaying or even canceling censuses. In 1937, a census was conducted, processed, tabulated, and presented to Josef Stalin. He didn’t like what he saw, so he jailed many of those who carried it out and covered up the results...." - Dale

Oleg Kozlovsky: "I was arrested while trying to tweet what I saw. Apparently, one of the officers recognized me. Along with some 20 more people in the bus I was taken to a police station where we were charged with… lighting flares, chanting slogans and throwing leaflets–the ones that Putinyouth were throwing. As the police officers were filling in the papers with these fake charges, we looked at the walls of the police station’s lecture hall. Portraits of proud police officers as well as of Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev hung there next to Yagoda, Ezhov and Beriya, the three heads of Stalin’s NKVD and Gulag.... As democracy and civil rights in Russia are diminishing with every year, the country is becoming more and more a police state. The voice of dissent is silenced by cynical and cruel country’s leadership. At the same time, Western public opinion and governments generally turn a blind eye to this trend in hope to buy Kremlin’s favour...." - Dale