Unclutter is now doing a fundraiser
The email that I received this morning from St. Clair Software announcing this fundraiser also included a link to a Macworld UK article about supporting Ukrainian developers.
Apple and Google had personnel physically threatened about providing an app in Russia. They blinked. And of course Private Relay isn’t operational there either.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/12/russia-putin-google-apple-navalny/
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The story is behind Washington Post’s paywall. Here’s the link to the story through Apple News.
I haven’t finished reading the whole thing, but so far, Apple doesn’t come off looking very good.
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I’m not sure exactly what else they could have done, pre-war.
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“Blinked.” Should Apple and Google really have left the app available and put their employees in Russia at risk of prison?
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Simple. Comply with the order to buy time. Then close all operations in country. Fly out any foreign staff (if they wish). Stop sales of all hardware and software. Shut down the iTunes ad App stores. Basically, they could have done exactly what they did now, just years ago.
This is not just Apple. All of us, the entire West, should have reacted much more harshly back in 2014 when Putin waged war in Crimea and annexed an entire part of a sovereign state. Heck, we should probably have already cut Russia off 2008 when they declared war on Georgia. Bummer most people around here to this day couldn’t even find Georgia on a map (at least not the one that doesn’t have Atlanta).
So now we pay for what we failed to do decades ago. That’s fine. We obviously needed the lesson. But the real suffering is by those 10s of thousands of Ukrainians now left to die in their soon to be demolished country while we watch from afar and say tough luck this is all we can do because… well, nukes and WW3 of course.
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It’s easy to see how this could degenerate into WW3 as Putin is crazy enough to go out in a ‘blaze of infamy’. The problem is a nuclear deterrent is only effective if you’re willing to actually use them and the West don’t seem willing to draw that line in the sand. Putin is probably just sabre rattling but it’s a big bluff to call.
Ukraine can’t be left to burn with millions displaced, injured or killed. I’d like to think if my home (Australia) was being attacked there’d be some military assistance coming from our allies.
Terrible situation.
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Great! You just cut the Russian population off from the world. Well done! Vladimir Putin thanks you.
Because Russia didn’t have nuclear weapons in 2014? If, as you note, we’re stuck now because of nukes, we were stuck then.
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Alright folks, let’s stay on topic of what is happening, not what might have happened or could happen in the future.
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Softorino sent an email this morning. Nothing up on their site as of yet.
The email said the following followed by the links we have seen widely shared by Ukrainians.
Softorino was proudly founded in Ukraine, and our development team is based in Kyiv. We will resist. And you can help us.
At 5 am on February 24, Russia began the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. They are violently trying to steal our country. The Armed Forces of Ukraine, young and brave heroes, are fighting all over the country not only for Ukraine but for Peace and Clear Skies in Europe.
Why are we writing this?
As Softorino users, we ask you to declare your support for the people of Ukraine, who continue to resist the unprovoked Russian invasion.
Spread the word about what’s really going on in Ukraine. The Russian media is telling a different story. They describe the situation as a “military operation” rather than a “war” or “invasion,” distorting what is happening on the ground here in our country. Russia is creating a disinformation campaign to “discourage and induce surrender.”
The Kremlin’s propaganda machine is running at full throttle but you can destroy it by telling the truth. Urge people from your country to speak up.
#SaveUkraine #WorldForUkraine #StandWithUkraine
Follow and use these hashtags on your social media to indicate your support and drive the world’s attention to the cause.️
What does this situation mean for our users?
With regards to the use of our products – nothing. No matter where we are, we continue doing our job – building great software products for our clients from all over the world.
We stay strong, our spirit is not broken, we will resist. We urge you to stand with Ukraine as it is shielding freedom, common values, democracy, and security of Europe and the world.️
How you can help?
Now, at this difficult time for us, we are asking for help and support. We ask for whatever help you can offer, whether that is by peacefully protesting, speaking to your representatives, or donating money. Below are links to trustworthy organizations in need of funds to continue supporting and caring for the people of Ukraine.
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Speaking of technology and this war, recall when hackers managed to shut down a pipeline in the Southern US last year for ransom? I wonder if Ukrainian hackers could, using similar techniques, shut down the pipelines carrying oil and gas from Russia through Ukraine on to Poland and the rest of Europe. It’s clear that Germany and Italy who get ~ half their natural gas from Russia cannot presently commit to an embargo. But if Ukrainian hackers were to create a fait accompli through a cyberattack with sustained fallout, Russia would nevertheless be deprived of a massive source of revenue (naturally, Ukraine would also lose its transit fee revenue, but I’m assuming right now they’re not getting that money from Russia anyhow). This seems like such an obvious idea, I’m wondering why we haven’t heard anything similar yet. Is it very different hacking a pipeline through Ukraine compared to one in the Southern US?
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Pixelmator just posted on Twitter that one of their team, a coder in Kharkiv, came under fire. Quite an extraordinary amount of excellent apps for the Mac it seems have at least some toehold in Ukraine.
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To bring this back into what has happened, I was fascinated to see the Anonymous hacking group declare war on Russia and follow it up with some cyberattacks. This is more in the realm of harassment and counter-propaganda for the moment, but I have to assume that Anonymous would be looking for a wide variety of targets within Russia.
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More from Anonymous:
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It is really good to know that Anonymous is doing important work in the current situation but they do bad stuff too. I bet many of them look to Edward Snowden as a hero which is unfortunate.
" only about two percent of the classified secrets that Snowden stole and released have ever been publicly disclosed. The other 98% that remained classified are now in the hands of the Russians and most assuredly, the Chinese as well."
from https://thescif.org/snowden-shows-his-true-stripes-6167e2c70a80
Apple plugging one remaining hole. 
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Find My tracks Russian troops who stole Apple devices.
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To follow up from this, Alex Navalny’s smart voting app is reportedly back on the App Store.
https://9to5mac.com/2022/04/07/apple-defies-russian-threats-smart-voting-app/
Perhaps Apple has removed all of their employees and contractors from Russia so threats against them are no longer leverage.
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Ukrainian software developers continue to crank out code despite the war.
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