Random thought

[Boroda]

Originally posted by muckmaw
Now I know your joking!

   

Hehe, I didn't count how many kilometers of fiberoptics I have installed (is it the right word?), and how many hundreed kilometers of TP cable...

I worked (in fact was one of the founers) of the company that connected a big region in south Moscow to the Internet. Several dozen apartment houses.

Now I work for the Academic Network, and we have hundreeds of kilometers of fiberoptic. Now switching to gigabit bandwidth.

Sattelite dishes can beseen on almost any apartment house here, in some places - like mushrooms almost at any window.

It's Moscow, and in province the situation is worse, but gets better fast.

[miko2d]

muckmaw: Don't they have Sattelite TV in Russia now?

 When I left (in 89) we've just got VCRs. Now they probably have more Satellite than some american locales. Certainly every russian seems carrying a cellphone.
 There is a huge difference there between capital(s) and periphery.

 I maintain friendships with people there - actually in Ukraine, which is where I'm from - and there are peoiple traveling all the time, but I am not that much into it. They are certainly making a lot of progress and some major screwups as they go.
 I do a quite lot of reading on the past Russian history - 800s-1917 and 1917-1970 but current political affairs are not nice there.

 miko

[miko2d]

GScholz: I have been meaning to ask you about that. Why did you leave Ukraine for the US? (that is if you don't mind me asking)

 That is a question as big as the life itself.
 I was leaving from 1989 Soviet Union where nobody yet had any idea that the whole thing will suddenly get ended from the top and unravel. My family almost left in the 70s - some relatives did, but the borders got sealed becasue of Afghanistan-related increase in tensions.

 USSR was a place where people were not really needed by anyone, myself in particular. And of course whatever "Voice of America" I could get through jamming described US as a country of a free-market capitalism, freedom of thought and fighting with racism and inequality. And no access to Friedman or Hayek books or even Pat Buchanan to disprove that. That is a joke of course, but only partially.

 I had no idea what laid ahead of me and absolutely no anticipation what kind of success I'd achieve here - which is enormous compared to my expectatioins, though nothing spectacuar by american standards.

 I don't see much point rationalising my decision in hindsigt based on what I know now - especially since the country I've left is no more.
 I did not feel particularly obliged to the communist party for my "happy childhood" and pretty excellent "free" education, most likely to remain underused there anyway - especially having served in the army to "cover the debts".
 I left in "shame" - as a traitor to the communist movement, having to surrender my citizenship, and my diploma to a party functionary in teh university I've just graduiated (I served between my 2nd and 3rd year). Though there was not much of a spectacle there since it was not such a rare occasion by then.

 All I knew was that I saw not much future for myself and I had no wish to fight again for that regime in any future war or conflict which I expected to happen. I did have some run-ins with the powers but just warnings to watch my tongue - which I intended to do if I stayed there. So I cannot claim political prosecution not having dared to act politically.

 miko