Rasputin
Latest
Hacker breaches the US agency that certifies voting machines
In the year of "rigged" election claims, security firm Recorded Future says it identified a Russian-speaking hacker attempting to sell accounts that have access to the US Election Assistance Commission. While may not be familiar with the EAC, it's the agency in charge of certifying voting machines and providing best practices used in elections. In a statement, the EAC confirmed it's aware of a "potential intrusion" and says it's working with law enforcement.
Putin orders Russian federal agencies to switch to open source software, galavant topless in the out-of-doors
Never one to pass up the opportunity to run a hunkitudinous (look it up!) picture of Vladimir Putin, we were thrilled to hear that the Russian Prime Minister and ex-KGB man has signed an order specifying that "federal executive bodies and agencies of the federal budget" should transition to open source software beginning in Q2 2011. That's right -- it looks like there is something, at least, to those recent rumors that the country was dissing Redmond and contemplating a national open source OS. There's a lot more to it that appears to be of little interest unless you're a member of the apparat, in which case you'll probably be reading this thing in the original in Russian soon enough. As for us, we're just curious to see how the new software will be used to bedevil dissident groups once Microsoft is out of the picture.
Russia working on a national OS, Linux 'at the end of its life cycle'?
Remember when the Russian government confiscated computers from environmental activists, and then justified it by saying they were looking for unlicensed Microsoft software? And then Microsoft went ahead and gave a unilateral software license to all the NGOs and media outlets in the country? And then Putin wrestled an alligator? Well, it seems like the software giant and the land of Dostoevsky and Rasputin have been at cross-purposes for quite a while now. Indeed, Glynn Moody's Open... blog has been tracking the country's progress in developing its own Linux-based Open Source OS (similar to efforts by Cuba and North Korea) for some time, although as of yet it doesn't look like there has been much success. At any rate, Microsoft Russia president Nikolai Pryanishnikov doesn't seem to be threatened by the prospect: "We must bear in mind that Linux is not a Russian OS," he is quoted as saying in an article at cnews.ru. "And, moreover, [Linux] is at the end of its life cycle." Oh, really? Please don't tell Tux just yet... the news would break his heart.
World Heroes collection for PS2 coming next spring
World Heroes is certainly not SNK's crown jewel, nor is it the most polished among 2D fighting games, but the series, which includes over the top historical fighters based on historical figures, is not without its charms. Sometimes a dragon punch just can't scratch our itch, and when that happens Rasputin's mammoth hands (and feet) fit the bill.Now SNK has confirmed that it is bundling all four games in the franchise, including World Heroes, World Heroes 2, World Heroes 2 Jet, and World Heroes Perfect, together in a new compilation for the PlayStation 2. The collection, released last month in Japan as World Heroes Gorgeous, will be released in the U.S. in spring 2008 under the much less interesting name of World Heroes Anthology. With the PS2 on its way out, we can't help but admire SNK's efforts to keep the old girl on life support, while simultaneously frustrating those of us who forked over the geld to import the game originally thinking it wouldn't make an appearance stateside. Patience, it would seem, is a virtue.
