Once every few months a new Canon product shows up on the Russian regulatory site that deals with electronics radio emissions licensing. It has long been the source of occasional product detail leaks that Canon filings reveal prior to actual announcements. Except, in Russia, this department also happens to be one of the primary bureaucracies censoring the internet most Russians are able to see. Yesterday and today, the site has been down – due, apparently, to a distributed denial of service attack.
A camera news site that for the past two years has been keeping track of photo product applications from Russia's Ministry of Digital Development Communications and Mass Media – reported that the outage started yesterday and has continued unabated since.
No digital development, no communictions, and no mass media.
And no Canon, of course.
Glory to Ukraine!
United States Cyber Command - Wikipedia
Too bad our ex president is just as batty and said that it’s a genius move, because Putin is getting a country for “just two dollars of sanctions.” Maybe he doesn’t understand what’s going on?
I'm sure this was just an oversight, but referring to Ukraine as "the" Ukraine is offensive. It implies that Ukraine is simply a region, rather than an independent country. It may seem like an insignificant thing, but it goes to the heart of the current situation. Many Americans don't understand this and it is always good to point out, especially now, when Putin has gone to war to try to deny Ukraine's status as an independent country rather than simply part of greater Russia.
What will the photo forum community do without rumors to munger?
There are other things to consider.
A lot of raw materials that are used in Canon products are sourced from Eastern Europe. So may as well write about this as well. ;)
People worried about WW3 breaking out over this weren't all worried about US vs. Russia in Ukraine. Rather, the unchecked aggression setting the tone that Europe and the US are so adverse to fighting that they will do nothing but largely ineffective economic moves (Russia has enough allies who won't honor the sanctions, and is well practiced at letting its people starve and/or working them for no pay - its the socialist state model). That sets the stage for other aggressors to do the same. For example: If you have loved ones in Taiwan right now, ask them to leave. As actions like those prop up, suddenly there is fighting around the world. And eventually the world powers can't ignore it. And then you have WW3.
You need not apologise - while in English normally nations are not referred to with "the" in the way for example they are in French, the Ukraine has long been an exception. Until the past decade or so virtually all native speakers would always say "the Ukraine". It means no disrespect, it's completely neutral like saying "the Punjab". I am a native speaker and I still say "the Ukraine", it has been that way throughout my life.
Recently there has been pressure to change this - indeed I believe the Ukrainian government itself has asked people to change and this has now been picked up by political forces, in the same way they weirdly now refer to Kiev as "Kyiv" even when speaking and writing English.
It's a real hornets' nest and people get very angry on both sides as it becomes a proxy for political arguments. But I decided to write as I hate seeing a man made to feel bad and apologise when he did nothing wrong - saying "the Ukraine" in English is very normal.
I spent some time in Ukraine in the late 90's working on a local government exchange program and it was emphasized to me by Ukrainians and Ukrainian-Americans working there that the use "the" in English was viewed as reflective of the longstanding Russian paternalism toward Ukrainians as not a separate people or nation. Today we are experiencing the tragic consequences of that paternalism in Putin's claims that Ukraine is not a real country.