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None of these news items are particularly grim, aside from the war itself being grim.
The BBC has been blocked in Russia. Raise your hand if you're surprised. So they fired up their high-power transmitters and resumed international short-wave radio broadcasts! I think it's pretty awesome. So Russian civilians can still get international news, unfiltered, at home.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/mar/04/bbc-website-blocked-in-russia-as-shortwave-radio-brought-back-to-cover-ukraine-war
I am not a huge fan of Elon Musk, but I have to say he has busted hump to give Ukraine internet connectivity, including repositioning satellites. He shipped a truckful or more of terminals there, has set up base stations in Poland, and customized their OS to help them to work at lower power levels and while mobile! Kudos to him.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/03/elon-musk-high-probability-of-russian-attacks-on-starlink-in-ukraine/
John Romero, rock star god game designer of Doom and Quake, among many others, has released a map pack for Doom 2, the proceeds of which go to two Ukrainian charities!
Makes me think about buying Doom 2, I'm not sure I ever owned a copy.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/03/john-romero-releases-new-doom-ii-map-to-support-the-ukrainian-people/
Putin blocked Facebook inside Russia! Oh noes!
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/03/putin-reportedly-blocks-russians-access-to-facebook-twitter-app-stores/
Well, let's see. Microsoft has stopped all sales inside Russia. Apple has stopped all sales inside Russia, and has stopped access of Russian media outside of Russia through Apple services. Marks & Spencer has closed all stores inside Russia. Ikea has closed all stores and manufacturing plants in Russia. BP and Shell Oil are cancelling contracts and pulling out of ownership deals with Russian oil conglomerates.
I previously mentioned that some of Putin's kleptocrat buddy's yachts had been seized? Well, some countries are also looking at grabbing luxury cars. I would imagine they're also looking at properties.
Speaking of properties, a certain British football club, Chelsea, is owned by Roman Abramovich, a friend of - everybody now - PUTIN! When the war started, he stepped down from any management/director roll and turned anything hands-on over to the board of directors. Well, now he's looking to sell any interest in the club entirely.
https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/abramovich-says-he-has-decided-sell-chelsea-football-club-2022-03-02/
Amongst the many long-term effects of the war, regardless of the outcome, is going to worsen the semiconductor shortage. Ukraine is a major supplier of neon gas, which is needed for lasers, which is needed in the IC manufacturing process. And Russia is a supplier of copper, among other precious metals, also needed in the IC process. With Ukraine increasingly in tatters and Russia boycotted to a fair-thee-well, this is really going to hurt the chip market recovery, which is really going to hurt the world-wide auto manufacturing industry. Which is really going to hurt you and me if we crash our car and total it.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/03/low-on-gas-ukraine-invasion-chokes-supply-of-neon-needed-for-chipmaking/
So like I said, nothing truly horrible, aside from the war itself being horrible.
The BBC has been blocked in Russia. Raise your hand if you're surprised. So they fired up their high-power transmitters and resumed international short-wave radio broadcasts! I think it's pretty awesome. So Russian civilians can still get international news, unfiltered, at home.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/mar/04/bbc-website-blocked-in-russia-as-shortwave-radio-brought-back-to-cover-ukraine-war
I am not a huge fan of Elon Musk, but I have to say he has busted hump to give Ukraine internet connectivity, including repositioning satellites. He shipped a truckful or more of terminals there, has set up base stations in Poland, and customized their OS to help them to work at lower power levels and while mobile! Kudos to him.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/03/elon-musk-high-probability-of-russian-attacks-on-starlink-in-ukraine/
John Romero, rock star god game designer of Doom and Quake, among many others, has released a map pack for Doom 2, the proceeds of which go to two Ukrainian charities!
Makes me think about buying Doom 2, I'm not sure I ever owned a copy.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/03/john-romero-releases-new-doom-ii-map-to-support-the-ukrainian-people/
Putin blocked Facebook inside Russia! Oh noes!
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/03/putin-reportedly-blocks-russians-access-to-facebook-twitter-app-stores/
Well, let's see. Microsoft has stopped all sales inside Russia. Apple has stopped all sales inside Russia, and has stopped access of Russian media outside of Russia through Apple services. Marks & Spencer has closed all stores inside Russia. Ikea has closed all stores and manufacturing plants in Russia. BP and Shell Oil are cancelling contracts and pulling out of ownership deals with Russian oil conglomerates.
I previously mentioned that some of Putin's kleptocrat buddy's yachts had been seized? Well, some countries are also looking at grabbing luxury cars. I would imagine they're also looking at properties.
Speaking of properties, a certain British football club, Chelsea, is owned by Roman Abramovich, a friend of - everybody now - PUTIN! When the war started, he stepped down from any management/director roll and turned anything hands-on over to the board of directors. Well, now he's looking to sell any interest in the club entirely.
https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/abramovich-says-he-has-decided-sell-chelsea-football-club-2022-03-02/
Amongst the many long-term effects of the war, regardless of the outcome, is going to worsen the semiconductor shortage. Ukraine is a major supplier of neon gas, which is needed for lasers, which is needed in the IC manufacturing process. And Russia is a supplier of copper, among other precious metals, also needed in the IC process. With Ukraine increasingly in tatters and Russia boycotted to a fair-thee-well, this is really going to hurt the chip market recovery, which is really going to hurt the world-wide auto manufacturing industry. Which is really going to hurt you and me if we crash our car and total it.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/03/low-on-gas-ukraine-invasion-chokes-supply-of-neon-needed-for-chipmaking/
So like I said, nothing truly horrible, aside from the war itself being horrible.
