EVENTS

Smashing Magazine: DevFest For Ukraine, A Charity Conference On The Future Of Tech. “DevFest for Ukraine is a charitable tech conference that will bring together 20 industry-leading speakers over two days (June 14–15), featuring live streams from London and Lviv. It will address key topics for the future of tech, including trends in Android, web, and AI.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Archinect: UNESCO releases a new list of damaged cultural sites across Ukraine. “The organization has verified that 139 sites have suffered damage since that time, a combined total of 62 religious sites, 12 museums, 26 historic buildings, 17 cultural buildings, 15 monuments, and 7 libraries, including the Babyn Yar Holocaust remembrance site in Kyiv, which have come under Russian bombs and artillery shells as the conflict shifts from a three-pronged invasion to a more targeted offensive focused in the eastern Donbas region.”

Business Media Georgia: Russia’s Yandex Maps To Stop Displaying National Borders. “Russia’s flagship IT company Yandex will stop showing national borders on its online maps. Speaking on Thursday, the company said that their updated digital maps would ‘focus on natural features rather than on state boundaries.'”

Bloomberg: Microsoft Slashes Russia Operations After War Clouds Outlook. “Microsoft Corp. is substantially reducing its business in Russia, joining the list of prominent technology firms cutting back or exiting the country altogether after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

The Register: IBM finally shutters Russian operations, lays off staff. “After freezing operations in Russia earlier this year, IBM has told employees it is ending all work in the country and has begun laying off staff. A letter obtained by Reuters sent by IBM CEO Arvind Krishna to staff cites sanctions as one of the prime reasons for the decision to exit Russia.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Reuters: Russia’s Navalny scolds Google and Meta for helping Putin. “Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny scolded Google and Meta Platforms on Thursday for shutting down advertising, a step he said had undermined the opposition and thus was a gift to President Vladimir Putin.”

Bay St Post: Canadian social media rampant with disinformation on Russia-Ukraine war, report states. “A report from the College of Calgary’s Faculty of Public Coverage discovered Canada is a goal for pro-Russian disinformation on social media. The evaluation collected greater than 6.2 million tweets about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to hyperlink disinformation again to Russia and different worldwide accounts to affect opinions in Canada.”

New York Times: Goodbye, Tchaikovsky and Tolstoy: Ukrainians look to ‘decolonize’ their streets.. “Across Ukraine, officials are starting projects to, as they say, ‘decolonize’ their cities. Streets and subway stops whose names evoke the history of the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union are under scrutiny by a population eager to rid itself of traces of the nation that invaded in late February.”

WIRED: Smartphones Blur the Line Between Civilian and Combatant. “AS RUSSIA CONTINUES its unprovoked armed aggression, reports from Ukraine note that the smartphones in civilians’ pockets may be ‘weapons powerful in their own way as rockets and artillery.’ Indeed, technologists in the country have quickly created remarkable apps to keep citizens safe and assist the war effort—everything from an air-raid alert app to the rapid repurposing of the government’s Diia app.”

SECURITY & LEGAL

Washington Post: Hacked Russian radio station broadcasts Ukrainian anthem. “A Russian radio station’s news bulletin was interrupted Wednesday by the Ukrainian anthem and antiwar songs, in the latest example of Russian media outlets apparently being targeted by antiwar hackers.”

The Register: Ukraine’s secret cyber-defense that blunts Russian attacks: excellent backups. “‘One thing that the Ukrainians have taught us so well – and they certainly have had eight years of practice and suffered from Russian cyber operations – is the importance of resiliency,’ [Dmitri] Alperovitch said. ‘The reality is that a number of these Russian attacks are successful.’ The Russians have seen success worldwide penetrating networks and dropping malware, he added. ‘However, the Ukrainians are able to rebuild the networks within hours,’ Alperovitch said.”

Global News: Exclusive: How a 15-year-old Ukrainian drone pilot helped destroy a Russian army column. ” As the Russian army made its move on Kyiv in late February, the Ukrainian defences enlisted a drone pilot to pinpoint a column of military vehicles approaching the capital from the west. The civilian who took on the task sent his drone up in a field near his house and found the Russian convoy. Ukrainian artillery destroyed it and the drone operator was quietly saluted as a hero. He’s also 15.”

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