Moscow 2010 Fire - news and links

Summer 2010 has been an awful natural disaster for Russia. Many acres (hectares) burned, hundreds now homeless, entire villages destroyed... Here are a few links I found interesting:

links from August 4:

Accuweather blog 

Moscow night photos 

Government response
Nice graphic at the end of this story
Yandex Moscow region fire map
A few of my photos
Russia Today news channel video
CNN.com story
Risking their lives to drive through the fire

links from August 10:
Moscow photos from Twitter users
Fighting fires around military and nuclear sites
Moscow businesses temporarily closing
Wildfires spread due to neglect
Dismantling of Russia National Fire Service in 2007
Yandex map of forest fires
New York Times blog

August 11 fun article with Russian language lessons:
Moscow Times article by Michele Berdy

August 12 article about Russia's top firefighter:
Moscow Times article by von Twickel
Lots of Youtube videos here: RussiaToday news channel

A Google approach to Facebook?

One of the nice things about social media is that you can connect with a lot of people. People want to connect and need to connect with each other. And there are varying degrees of HOW we connect. One of the problems is that has arisen is: how to manage all your connections? A Google employee has put together quite a slideshow addressing this issue. He has compiled a good collection of facts, figures, and state of the art such that Google itself can tackle the issues of today's social media networks. This is great from a technologist's perspective. (Google Me is the rumored, forthcoming Googly answer to Facebook. It seems to be named that as in, "want to know more about me, then just Google Me.)

But what about those of us trying to address the spiritual, commercial, family and friend connection issues? How we do engage people socially and yet maintain our unique and natural pre-existing boundaries? I think this slideshow presents a lot more than "how to build a website." It really tries to tackle the sociological issues of building networks. And it does so with some humor and real-life examples. I found it to be a fascinating read and there are many principles to takeaway from this.

(Tips: read it full-screen if you can, because it is easier on the eyes and gets rid of ads in the margins. However, you may need to scroll up and down to see all the text on each slide.)

Happy Reading!

Construction delays seriously affect Moscow airport traffic

Looks like you can now expect some traffic delays going to or from Moscow's Sheremetovo airport (code SVO). There was some much needed emergency bridge repair work which was just started. It has reduced one of Moscow's busiest highways down to just two lanes. (It's the one that goes Moscow to St. Petersburg named Leningradskoye Shosse.) This biggest problem has been the delay of air passengers to the airport affecting flights for Aeroflot, Delta, Malev, Alitalia, as well as many other airlines. SVO recommends that people take the Aeroexpress commuter train from Belorussky vokzal metro station to the airport. It is not known how long the construction project should take.

• Link to Sheremetovo airport web site
• Link to original Moscow Times article
• Link to Aeroexpress commuter train web site

Update: looks like some lanes got widened but it remains to be seen how long the bridge "remont" project will take:  Link to updated Moscow Times article

Update 2: construction is supposed to last until October 1: Link to yet another Moscow Times article

A good (long) story on why you should NOT fall for the Nigerian email scam

The Nigerian 419 email scam has been around in various forms for quite some time. When the internet boom took off in the 90s and free email accounts become widely available, this type of scam just shot through the roof. I think this article pretty much sums it up. As always, consider the source.

Happy Reading!

Test post for Google Buzz

This is a test posting to see if Google Buzz will pick it up.

Please ignore this message. Effective immediately. Move along. Nothing to see here.

Finding old newspaper columns online

I like to read interesting news columns. One that really enjoyed was Lydel Sims, a columnist with the Memphis Commercial Appeal daily newspaper. Recently, I discovered a trick using Google News, to search for archives of such older columns. (Google has been scanning the microfilm/microfiche of some older newspaper archives and applying text recognition to the resulting scans. The results are really good.)

1. Go to news.google.com
2. (You may need to choose the USA version of Google if you are doing this from outside the USA.)
3. Click on "Advanced News Search" to the right of the Google News search buttons
4. Click on "Archive Search" for articles more than 30 days old
5. Enter a search term, such as "Lydel Sims" and let Google return the results

You should get a lot of results, some of which are free and some of which are pay to view. Clicking on one of the search results loads a full-page scan of the newspaper itself! You can then navigate the "newspaper" and read the article of interest. For example, here is a search result from May 25, 1986 from the Deseret News. If you go to the advanced settings for the archive search, you can narrow down the search to certain "sources" (such as the name of the newspaper itself).

What makes this a bit more interesting is the nice timeline view which can narrow down your search by decade and even by month. This makes searching for specific references a lot easier. Gone are the days when you need to search volumes of indexes of newspapers and then hunt down the microfilm for those pages. This makes it much faster and easier. (Although there is something very bookwormish about getting lost in the research section of a library...)

Happy reading!

Very good showcase of web design in Russia

Areseny Vesnin has a very good (and long) list of web companies and designers from Russia and Ukraine. I am quite impressed with the listing! The variety and creativity of the web sites is very good. You can see his complete blog entry here:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/10/17/global-web-design-russia/

This is a first in a series of articles on "Global Web Design" which could turn into a very extensive and valuable resource for companies looking to outsource to local design firms.

Happy reading!

Should I upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7?

I don't think so. As for why or why not? I think Robert X. Cringely may have said it better than me in his column below. Don't get me wrong, I have heard good things about Windows 7 but I don't think it is a necessary upgrade for me personally at this time. I am OK with Vista on a one year old laptop. Although he has often ventured into the conspiratorial at times, I think I agree with him regarding Win 7.

http://www.cringely.com/2009/10/why-windows-7-costs-so-much/

Happy reading!

Comscore: Russia has World’s Most Engaged Social Networking Audience

According to a July press release from comScore, Russia has the most "engaged" social networking audience. Globally, the average number of hours a visitor spends online is 3.7; the Russian internet audience spends 6.6 hours online per day! 

The leading social networking site within Russia is Vkontake.ru, a cousin to Facebook. In May 2009 59% of online visitors visited a social networking site; a very high percentage!

http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2009/7/Russia_has_World_s_Most_Engaged_Social_Networking_Audience

Happy Reading!

(Corrected: 6.6 hours per month, not per day. Thanks TH!)

What's inside a cup of coffee? Chemically speaking...

What's inside a cup of coffee? More than just hot water, brown goodness, and a little sugar? Why, much more than that. So much more. Much more than you ever wanted to know, in fact....

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the chemical components of coffee, via Wired Magazine:

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-10/st_coffee

Happy reading!

Using Skype for job interviews (Time.com article)

Skype and video camera technology has matured quickly such that more and more people are using it everyday. This Time.com article talks about some of the practical benefits for companies to save money while doing pre-interviews for job applicants. There are also some basic "tv tips" for setting up the right frame of mind as well as the physical setup of video conferencing. A good read for any small business or group which is trying to work as a virtual team, as well as save travel costs.

Happy reading!

Amazing sand animation from the TV show, Ukraine's Got Talent

This girl has an amazing talent. A great, storyteller as well! Meet, Kseniya Simonova, an animator in sand

Email: file it or label it?

Email overload. I struggle with both philosophies of email management.

First, my Outlook inbox for my work email account has over 2000 messages. I have replied to 99.99% of those messages; I just got lazy in my filing. (Outlook uses the old, familiar folder system for sorting and storing emails.) In other words, I do not succeed at "inbox zero." Therefore I should consider filing "email bankruptcy."

Second, my Gmail account has THOUSANDS of messages. One of the things I love about Gmail is forget about filing messages, just search for them. Using Gmail's Search and Labels seem to be a much better way for me to manage thousands of emails, especially emails from mailing lists. After learning some of the search tips, I can search for messages which are unread, read, labeled, etc. It makes for overall better management for me: less time filing, more time finding.

My colleague, Keith Seabourn, just pointed out two very good blogs on email management, written by the CEO of Thomas Nelson. Links below for your email managing pleasure:

Staying on top of all your emails:
http://michaelhyatt.com/2008/06/yes-you-can-stay-on-top-of-email.html

Filing "email bankruptcy:"
http://michaelhyatt.com/2009/09/is-it-time-to-declare-email-bankruptcy.html

Happy reading!

Yandex vs. Google: the battle for the Russian search market

An excellent article on the success of Yandex in Russia. Yandex has been steadily gaining the lead on Google in the past year or so. Read more at: http://searchenginewatch.com/3634912

No plans to block Skype in Russia

The Moscow Times reports that Russia has no plans to block Skype or other IP-telephony services in Russia. Read the complete article here: http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/382214/

Tough times in Moscow for internet search engines

With the economy in its current state and increased competition, Rambler is facing tougher times this year. This seems to be due to several factors: "poor performance to increased competition, the emergence of social networks and growing Internet penetration."

Read more about it at this Moscow Times article.

Happy reading!

Design changes to Worldwide Challenge

"Worldwide Challenge" magazine is undergoing some graphic design changes. You can read more about their changes at their blog: http://worldwidechallenge.wordpress.com/

This magazine has won numerous awards over the years. Here is an excerpt from their site:

The mission of Worldwide Challenge is to show how God is directing the hearts and hands of Campus Crusade for Christ staff members around the world and to challenge our readers to join with us in making Christ known.

Happy reading!

Jim Masterfield: 1994 Mr. America Bodybuilding Champ

Sunday at Moscow Bible Church Jim Masterfield spoke. He was 1994 Mr. America Champion bodybuilder. He has a brain tumor and is dying of cancer. He made the journey all the way to Russia to visit some church friends and long-time missionaries here. You can listen to his powerful testimony here: http://biblechurch.ru/audio/?ID=288 (Note that the actual translation of his sermon starts at 3:45 into the podcast. The translator is overdubbing a short bodybuilding video which you can see below on Youtube.)

Also is a blog about his other visits to other churches here in Moscow. It also contains a Youtube link with an early 1994 interview: http://www.jimandlynetta.blogspot.com/

Update: added the Youtube link for Jim Masterfield: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVRYHM6GUd8

Microsoft Word 2007 vs. Word 97-2003

When Office 2007 came out, Microsoft introduced their XML file format for documents. Generally, these end in an X, such as .docx, .xlsx, etc. Here are some useful links to know be aware of when mixing older and newer versions of Office:

1. users of older versions of Word (97-2003 .DOC) can download a free Microsoft import utility that can read and convert the newer Word 2007 files:
   
   http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en
   
   
   
2. users of Word 2007 can download a free export program to save DOCX files in PDF format so almost anyone can read it (PC, Mac, Linux, etc.). This inserts into the File > Save As menu:
   
   http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=F1FC413C-6D89-4F15-991B-63B07BA5F2E5&displaylang=en

Happy file importing and exporting!

Export Hotmail Messages to Gmail

This link describes how to import Hotmail messages into Gmail.
(Export Hotmail messages into Gmail?)

The main principle is that you are using one email client on your computer to manage two email accounts. For Windows users that means using something like Outlook Express or Windows Live Mail to manage Hotmail and Gmail. After reading the post above here are my suggestions:

1. If you already have Outlook Express installed on your system, there is no need to install Windows Live Mail. (To install Windows Live Mail you need Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista.)
   
   
2. Either way, using Outlook Express or Windows Live Mail, you can then setup your Gmail account using IMAP and just copy and paste messages from one email account to the other.
   
   
3. There are some good comments, suggestions, questions in the comments section of the post above. Some good ones to consider are:
   
   
1. setting up auto-reply on Hotmail to let people know about your new Gmail address
   
   
2. using Thunderbird instead of Outlook Express (good for Mac OSX users; you may need to search for Thunderbird Extensions for this)
   
   
3. more helpful hints from Mozilla Thunderbird here