Reading between the lines of an article, it would appear that there have been rumours of government involvement in China, with hackers’ attempts to infiltrate German Government computer networks, in a similar way to how Russia was accused over Estonian security breaches (see my post from a while back – Moscow Get Techy). Given that the article is on a Chinese web site, it would be very unlikely that any such accusation would be repeated, though I’d be interested to hear from anyone who knows a little more about the background to this story.
I can’t help feeling that this public display of reassurance may be used as a cover to further restrict the abilities of normal Chinese citizens to both obtain, and further disseminate information that is not in the “country’s interests”.
Aug 28 2007
Beijing Promises To Crack Down On Hackers
Comments Off on Beijing Promises To Crack Down On Hackers
Aug 26 2007
Sattay With Friends
This evening we went with Assel and Walton to the roof terrace section of the Sattay restaurant. Although you do pay a little more than some places, it wasn’t quite in the range of the German style restaurant we went to mid-week, luckily. I had some Bousaky as a starter (a roll that tastes a little like a doughnut, without the sugar added), a kebab (Sashlique) with chips, and some profiteroles for dessert. Unfortunately, they were too tasty to pause and grab a photo, sorry, but you can see the edible bowl they came in at least…
One thing that caught our eyes was the difference in prices between the English menu, and the Russian menu. Being inquisitive, we asked the waitress why foreigners were expected to pay more at this establishment. The reason given was that you received larger portions for the more expensive (English language) versions of the items. Having seen how much a Kazakh man can put away in an evening, especially if the food is required to soak up a good amount of vodka, I remain unconvinced. See the pictures below for an example of how the chips cost more on one menu than the other.
The music they played was refreshingly non-pop, and the service level was good. Once we had finished our meal, and putting the world to rights over some vodka, we headed back to Walton and Assel’s place, where we had some popcorn, sweets and a little more vodka. (See the last photo below, this vodka has garnered quite a reputation internationally, apparently.)
Aug 23 2007
My Very Own Restaurant
OK, not quite, but the name of the place we went to last night is not a million miles from my surname…
?????????? which (very) roughly equates to Meramhana, which is pretty damn close to Merriman 🙂
Anyway, we met up with Walton and Assel, who we had not seen since he went away to Kyrgyzstan with Tom to help teach some Afghan teenagers.
The last time we tried to go to this restaurant, the whole place was closed to the public, as there were some government big wigs in attendance at someone important’s birthday. That probably should have given us a small clue as to the price range, but we ploughed on regardless… Whilst we waited outside for Walton to arrive, I took a quick shot of the patio seating, though this now being the end of August, no Kazakhs were in view, as it is too cold to sit outside. Apparently.
When we went in, the interior looked quite impressive, and the staff were actually pleasant to deal with; none of the oft-encountered ‘I am doing you a favour serving you’ sort of attitude. I had a nice fried cheese starter, and a pepper steak with chips. Sorry, that should have been a PEPPER steak with chips. (The amount of pepper corns I scraped off the meat would have lasted me a couple of years in a pepper grinder at home.) Walton and Ira had the same dish, though Irina has mushrooms as her garnish. Even Ira noted that the sauce on the meat was really quite hot. Half through the meal I literally had tears coming from my eyes, and this was after shaving the top, bottom and sides of the meat, to try and minimize the strength of the pepper sauce. I enjoyed it, but would not recommend it in a restaurant that was not air conditoned 😉
Please excuse the messy plate – I forgot to take a shot until about 1/2 through the meal. Whilst we ate, there was a live band playing downstairs, who were pretty talented, even if a little loud. The violinist had a stronger talent for playing her electric violin than singing, but their repertoire involved a wide selection of Russian and English songs, that did not exclusively involve female lead vocals, so overall, their input was most appreciated.
So, we finished off the meal with a nice dollop or two of ice cream, and said our goodbyes. It was really good to have the four of us back together again, and to hear (a little) about Walton’s time at the camp.
[EDIT]
Ooops, apparently ?????????? is actually the Kazakh word for restaurant… not the name of the establishment itself. That is now three words of Kazakh I know 🙂
Aug 21 2007
Blogspot Problem Solved :)
As I recently posted (over at Help Requested), I had a problem with my Blogspot/Blogger blog’s interface being entirely in Russian. I could not find the link to change the language anywhere… However, as Google own blogger, I decided to try entering the system through google.com, and seeing what could be done via this alternative approach… All sorted! Yep, after logging in, it was only about 5 clicks and the blog interface is now back in English, so should I need somewhere else to post anything, more avenues are open. Whilst I’m here, can I remind people about the Test and Review blog recently setup, over at Testing… 123. I’ve not really had a lot of time to concentrate on it just yet, but this will eventually become the place for any reviews on products or sites, especially those with a UK slant.
Comments Off on Blogspot Problem Solved :)
Aug 20 2007
Cat Map Of Your Bed
Ira sent me a link last week to a picture that illustrates the real reason your bed exists, at least if you own a cat.
The post was up at a LiveJournal Russian Cats Section, so take a look if you like cats.
Anyway, enough of the blurb for now, onto the picture…
However, the situation does change a bit when you have two cats; for example unless it is cold, Karra and Muska will normally only sleep on the bed if the other is not already there. I have also had to learn to move slowly in the morning, when getting up, as nothing starts the day badly more than accidentally kicking your cat.
Aug 18 2007
Russians Can Afford The Fuel Again
Russia has again started flying it’s bomber planes on long range flights. 15 years ago the practice was suspended, partially due to the thawing of the cold war, but many experts believed that the state could no longer afford to spend money on the jet fuel required for such flights was a more major motivator.
Mr Putin announced the flights would begin again, in response to security threats posed by ‘other military powers’. This is thought to be a reference to the fact that America, amongst others, have continued their long range flights, when Russia stopped. Some have said that this display of power has been timed to coincide with the upcoming elections, as a way of telling Russians that any other choice in political parties would be a display of weakness.
Comments Off on Russians Can Afford The Fuel Again
Aug 18 2007
This Is London Calling
The Russian language version of BBC Radio will no longer be accessible via FM radio. Many commentators have noticed this occurring prior to Russian Parliamentary elections, and a Presidential election next year, when Mr Putin will want a little more control over what is stated about him and his policies. Although the Russian station that broadcast the BBC’s output is denying any political involvement in the decision making process, two other stations recently stopped broadcasting the BBC programs, and complained that everyone knows the BBC’s output is simply the UK’s propaganda machine. This raises an interesting question for me – if the bosses truly believed that, then why did they originally make the deal in the first place? One piece of information the BBC article neglects to mention is that the Russian language service is still also available on satellite, at the very least by people pointed at the Hotbird satellite.
PS I know this has been put in the Satellite TV category, but I do not have a separate section for Satellite Radio…
Comments Off on This Is London Calling
Aug 18 2007
Last Ali BaBa Of The Summer?
We went out for a nice meal this evening. We took a stroll through the park, over the river Ishim, and then through to the area near the main square. Ali BaBa is an out door restaurant, with cover from any rain or wind that is blighting the evening. Tonight’s service was pretty excellent – the waitress was really attentive, to the point of asking if we needed anything when she noticed us looking around the restaurant. Compare this to the attitude you find in some places in Astana, where a snooty waitress will make that she is doing you a favour by wasting any time at your table at all, and you can probably understand why we were impressed. Perhaps the camera caught her attention, and she wanted to leave a good impression?
Anyway, onto the photos…
Irina had Besbarmak (a horse meat and pasta dish)
Click the link below to see the other photos
Continue reading “Last Ali BaBa Of The Summer?”
Aug 17 2007
Help Requested
I have a blogger.com account, for when I come across blogs that don’t allow comments unless you have such an account. Since re-installing Windows, following a failed hard drive, blogger.com, and any blogs based there, including my own, have all the links and text in Russian. I think I have checked the usual suspects; Regional & Language settings in the control panel make no reference to Russia or Kazakhstan, FireFox itself has no Russian/Kazakh entries under the Advanced tab, under the general section, within the languages button. Ahh, that reminded me to check it under IE7, the same Russian links and text are there too, so it must be a global setting, rather than browser dependant.
I can’t think where else to look on this PC, nor can I think which settings I have changed compared to my pre-hard drive crash setup.
Anyone able to offer a suggestion?
Aug 14 2007
Irina Leaving in 30 Minutes
Yep, she does have to go to Moscow after all, however she will be returning in just over 24 hours. Previous trips have lasted longer, so it could have been a lot worse.
I hope she has a safe trip, and her work goes well over in Russia…
Comments Off on Irina Leaving in 30 Minutes
« Previous Page — Next Page »