October 31, 2019

"Eagles These Days Text Too Much," Said Putin (Or Did He?)


"Eagles These Days Text Too Much," Said Putin (Or Did He?)
You’d never guess it, but this gal is a texting fiend. Центр реабилитации диких животных

Quote of the Week

“The family likes the series Jeeves and Wooster and they want the candidate to pay attention to the main character of the series (Jeeves), to see what is expected from the butler.”

— One rich Russian family’s job posting for a butler

Voracious Vegans and Didactic Deepfakes

1. Think teens text too much? Then check out the eagles of Novosibirsk, which send thousands of dollars in texts every season. Of course, they’re not the ones texting — rather, scientists have hooked them up to SMS transmitters that ping the scientists with their location. Nevertheless, these eagles give the scientists as big a headache as if they were texting teens. This summer, one eagle racked up 7,000 rubles ($117) per day, forcing the scientists to crowdfund to “Top Up the Eagles’ Mobiles.” Fortunately, their data provider noticed their unusual flight plight and promised to give them a discount. So the next time you get overcharged for texting, just blame the eagles.

2. Some Russians don’t believe that Putin would ever say “I’m tired, I’m leaving.” Thanks to a new AI, however, their dream may come true. The AI, Vera Voice, takes voice recordings of anybody — Putin included — and any text you want that person to say, and generates a recording of that person saying that text. Now, this kind of AI creates all sorts of risks. But its creators hope people use it for wholesome things like audiobooks and films. They themselves have used it to make Putin’s voice lecture listeners about the dangers and benefits of AI. See, now we’re listening.


AI imitates reality. / Video: Vera Voice
 

3. Russians aren’t known for loving meatless food, but they do love discounts. At least, that’s what one of Russia’s largest restaurant operators is betting on as it pioneers Meatless Mondays in Russia. Since mid-October, restaurants in seven cities have been offering Monday discounts on meatless delivery orders. It’s an uphill battle in terms of awareness, though. Some vegetarians will love the move; others point out that, in the end, most people just would rather stay with their meaty traditional dishes. Nevertheless, if there’s two things people vote with, it’s their stomachs and their pockets, and maybe the pockets will win in the end.

In Odder News

  • Opposition activist Alexei Navalny staged a photo where he took a selfie while his wife was about to smack him with a frying pan. Memes ensued.
Navalny meme
“Thirtieth birthday” / “Nineties kids” / @oldLentach
  • Survivor, meet Orthodoxy. A Russian TV channel is launching a reality show bringing together ten people to live in a monastery for a month.
  • Meet four bands leading Russia’s underground feminist punk scene.
  • Bonus: On Wednesday, the oldest woman in Russia passed away aged 124. She lived through the February and October Revolutions, not to mention World Wars I and II and the end of the Soviet Union. Read more about her life.

Thanks to David Edwards for a story idea!

Want more where this comes from? Give your inbox the gift of TWERF, our Thursday newsletter on the quirkiest, obscurest, and Russianest of Russian happenings of the week.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955