russia

Leave it to Russia to combine nudity, politics, and gadgets. With a presidential election approaching in 2012, an active movement is under way to get popular former president and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin back into the presidential seat.

What better way to drum up support for the candidate than having women who support Putin appear to suggest stripping down for a chance at winning an iPad 2? According to an article in The Telegraph, a video proposing just that showed up on parliamentarian Kirill Shchitov's blog. You can check it out below. Don't worry. It's safe for work.

The busty woman in the video scribbles, "I will tear my clothes off for Putin" on a tank top with blazing red lipstick. The iPad 2 makes a sultry cameo appearance for incentive. (Clarification, 1:52 p.m. PT: There is some debate as to whether the girls in the vid are literally talking about stripping or are simply using a Russian pun for "I will tear" to say they love Putin so much they will tear anyone apart who is against him and show it by ripping their clothes apart.)

In any case, the video is definitely suggestive, as the girl featured in it says, "Please upload a video where you tear something or someone apart for your president" and she proceeds to tear her shirt apart. The campaign comes courtesy of a group that calls itself Putin's Army. Women are encouraged to submit videos of themselves tearing their clothes for Putin, and one lucky winner will take home an Apple tablet.… Read more

Don't you hate it when ATMs refuse to do what you want, like give you cash in an emergency when you're overseas? Well, prototype ATMs in Russia come with built-in lie detectors that can reject customers who aren't telling the truth.

Major retail bank Sberbank is testing out an ATM that can automatically process credit card applications. It incorporates a voice-analysis system that can determine when someone is lying.

Sberbank has set up the prototype at its Branch of the Future showpiece branch in Moscow. The machine takes passport, fingerprint, and face scans, and asks questions such as "Are you employed?" and "At this moment, do you have any other outstanding loans?"

Speech Technology Center developed the software, which can detect nervousness and distress just like a polygraph. It measures the tone and pacing of speech to detect involuntary changes.

The algorithms were partly based on police interrogations in which the subjects were found to be hiding the truth. … Read more

Worried about car bombs or random acts of violence? Russia is pondering a solution in the form of bomb-proof public toilets. In a way, this makes perfect sense. After all, there are few situations where you'll feel more vulnerable than when you're sitting down with your pants around your ankles.

Made from super-strong fibrous concrete, the portable loos are expected to be able to withstand a bomb blast or, at the very least, protect the occupants from shrapnel.

Also, the new toilets are expected to protect from cold even in the dead of winter as the temperatures inside won't sink below 61 degrees F, Anatoly Ashmikhin, head of Santekhrabot, the company in charge of all Moscow's public toilets, told The Moscow News.

While the effectiveness of this scheme as a terrorist protection is questionable, it is a nod to the concerns of the public regarding terrorists threats.

(Source: Crave Asia via Wired)… Read more

Though Rustock remains down for the count, according to Microsoft, the hunt goes on for the creators of the infamous botnet.

Rustock was taken down this past March by Microsoft and law enforcement officials who used a combination of legal maneuvers and raids to seize control of the servers that ran the notorious spamming network. Since then, Rustock has remained "dead and decaying," said Richard Boscovich, senior attorney for Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit, in a blog published yesterday.

But taking down the network itself is only half the battle in keeping botnets like Rustock offline. Tracking down the … Read more

The kidnapped son of Kaspersky Lab's founder has been freed and five suspects are in custody in connection with the abduction, according to a Russian media report today.

Russian law enforcement officials freed Ivan Kaspersky, the 20-year-old son of Chief Executive Eugene Kaspersky, through a special operation with company security forces, according to the Interfax news agency.

"He has been freed without ransom," a spokeswoman for the Moscow-based antivirus company told the news agency.

The younger Kaspersky, a fourth-year student of mathematics and cybernetics at Moscow State University, was kidnapped Tuesday morning on his way to work … Read more

Apple might expand its retail stores into Russia, with a new location situated inside the reconstructed Hotel Moskva in the heart of Moscow.

A report published yesterday by Apple retail store tracker ifoAppleStore cites anonymous sources who say that Apple's senior VP of retail, Ron Johnson, and Bob Bridger, who is the vice president of real estate, were in the area taking a look at the space, though had not yet finalized any paperwork.

If opened, the location would be Apple's first retail store in Russia, filling the gap left with no direct online sales from the company, … Read more

If Russia wants to prove the country is a good trade partner, then the country must be more aggressive in fighting online piracy. That's the message a group of U.S. congressmen wants Vice President Joe Biden to send during his visit to Moscow this week.

In a letter written Friday by Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the lawmakers reminded Biden that Russia appears to have once again grown soft on copyright violations and the congressmen want him to nudge leaders there back on track.

For more … Read more

Children too sick to go to school are still getting an education--thanks to robots in the classroom that transmit lessons back to the student.

Stepan Supin, 12, of Moscow has been battling leukemia for two years, and his immune system is so weak he can't leave home. However, telepresence technology allows him to go to school via remote-controlled robot.

The R.BOT 100 was developed by Moscow's 3Detection Labs several years ago, and it's been helping Stepan study history, geography, and languages since September.

Priced at roughly $3,000, the R.BOT 100 moves around on a wheeled base and has a display, Web cam, microphone, speakers, and an Internet link so Stepan can interact with his classmates and teacher.

"I can change the robot's speed, to go slower or faster. I can move his head to look left or right. I really feel as if I am in the classroom," Stepan told Australia's Herald Sun.

In Texas, Lyndon Baty also goes to school through a robot surrogate. He suffers from polycystic kidney disease and has a severely impaired immune system, which confines him to home.

Lyndon attends class with the Vgo telepresence robot, which was released last year by Vgo Communications. With two-way video, audio, and a 10-hour battery, Vgo lets Lyndon roam around the halls of Knox City High School and interact with other students (see the video below).

"I never thought when I was sick that I would ever have any interaction, much less this kind. It is just like I am there in the classroom," Lyndon said. … Read more

IBM announced today that nine hospitals across Russia have switched from paper-based medical systems to electronic medical records using IBM Lotus Notes.

Designed to provide fast electronic medical record (EMR) exchange and unified access to many types of health care data, while at the same time meeting stricter medical information requirements and more secure access to patient information in Russia, the automation system was developed by IBM and Complex Medical Information Systems.

"It provides a single electronic tool for control, accounting and planning which leads to improved operation and higher quality of service," says Roman Novitsky, CEO of … Read more