Stories from RuNet Echo from October, 2010
Russia: Bloggers Discuss Putin's Bruise
The recent visit of Vladimir Putin to Ukraine surprised Internet community with official photographs of Putin with a bruise on his face. Russian bloggers jumped on the opportunity to talk about the possible reason for the bruise.
“United Russia” Ideologist Calls to Forbid Official Blogs
Alexey Chadaev, a leading ideologist of “United Russia,” calls [RUS] to ban blogs and microblogs of senior Russian officials. Chadaev explains that blogging threatens the authority of the Russian political leadership since it has been always based on “three whales: miracle, secret and power,” in other words, exclusivity and distance from...
Russia: Blogger Navalny Tries to Prove That Fighting Regime is Fun
One of the most prominent Russian bloggers that use the Internet for fighting corruption in Russia, Alexey Navalny, gives interview to "RuNet Echo" He contemplates if the blogosphere can have a real political impact in Russia and share his further plans for using information technologies in the struggle against injustice.
Russia: Online Activism Success Stories
While Internet analysts across the Atlantic are busy arguing whether technology brings about social and political change or not, bloggers in Russia add their humble contributions to the debate, probably unaware that the debate is taking place at all. Their victories are small and not numerous; their impact can easily be attributed to statistical error - but they certainly are out there.
Russia: Post-Emergency Sustainability of Crowdsourcing Projects
Gregory Asmolov analyzes the fate of the Ushahidi-based Help Map project after the wildfires have ended. What is the future of emergency projects and how can we make them more sustainable?
Russia: More on the Kremlin Worm
More on the Kremlin worm – at Dmitry Sidorov's The Putin State Chronicles. (Yelena Osipova's GV text on the worm scandal is here.)
Russia: Report on Geography of Russian Internet
Russian Sphinx highlights a report issues by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) on the geography of the Russian internet.
Russia: Photos of Kurdish Refugees and Homeless People
At PhotoPolygon, photos of ethnic Kurdish refugees from Uzbekistan living in the woods outside Novosibirsk (by user Bender13, via English Russia), and of the homeless people in Blagoveshchensk (by user anikina).
Russia: New Video from Primorsky Krai Guerrillas
The story of the cop-killing gang in Russia's Far East continues, and Masha Egupova analyzes the new content.
Russian Newsweek Closes
Closure of Russian Newsweek provoked a lively reaction [RUS] among bloggers. One of the reasons for it is that the majority of Russian Newsweek's staff had blogs. Photomans posts [RUS] his press passes, Anticompromat complains that the whole archive of the magazine is inaccessible now, BFM explains why the closure...
Russia: Photos of Children's Camp Decorated as a Social Network
Habrahabr user goodsprite posts pictures of the children's summer camp. Author, who worked at the camp, claimed that children had to register in Russian social network Vkontakte.ru. Photos depict camp's wallpapers decorated by hand-drawn illustrations of Vkontakte.ru interface and various applications like “Happy Farmer” (analogue of “Farmwille”).
Russia: Videos of Election Fraud in Rostov Region
LJ user serg757 posts several videos that show various fraud cases at the recent regional elections in Rostov region.
Russia, U.S.: Schwarzenegger in Moscow
More on Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent visit to Moscow – at The Putin State Chronicles, The Russia Monitor, Robert Amsterdam's blog, and Russia! (here, here, and here).
Russia: Center of Moscow in Photographs
LJ user varandej posts pictures of conventional houses and apartment complexes in the center of Moscow.
Russia: Blogger Calls for Help to Expose Corruption in Public Procurement
Blogger Navalny calls [RUS] IT-specialists for help in exposing corruption in online projects of different government structures. The last case led by Navalny helped prevent stealing over $1,8M from the government's budget. He presents screenshots of 9 similar projects worth $17,7M at the state procurement website zakupki.gov.ru.
Russia: The Twitter Craze. This Time, It's a Worm…
Russian officials in a tweet-o-drama over... a worm.
Russia: Review of Online Record Labels
Habrahabr-user frony posts [RUS] a review of Russian indie netlabels, online record labels that publish songs with Creative Commons license. Genres include hip-hop, alternative, as well as classical music.
Russia: Photos of Russian SWAT training
Blogger artemgorbachev posts photos from a training of the Russian Special Purpose Police Unit (OMON).
Russia: Music Battle Over the Khimki Forest
Masha Egupova writes about the Khimki Forest dispute and the role that some popular Russian musicians play in it.
Russia: President Medvedev Welcomes Schwarzenegger Via Twitter
Right after landing in Russia, Arnold Schwarzenegger shared his picture in Moscow with his Twitter followers. Russian President Medvedev replied to the twit by writing: “Welcome to Russia!” The two extensively cover their interactions on Twitter (here and here).
Russia: Moscow Mayor's Dismissal and Some “Kremlinology”
The dismissal of Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov on Sept. 28 inspired Anglophone Russia bloggers to write about Putin, Medvedev, Sechin, the 2012 presidential election, Luzhkov's wife and her business, and even Chicago mayor Richard Daley.
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