Nota Bene

Toward the end of our nearly three-week summer trip to Kamchatka, after already countless splendid days and endless incredible, breathtaking views that we were so fortunate to experience, we finally encountered the single most magnificent day of all. This day became unforgettable thanks to a walk around the peaks of Koshelev. This remote volcano, far from the main tourist routes, isn’t all that well-known, and it doesn’t always greet its rare visitors with good weather. We, however, were lucky: it treated us to an endless riot of shapes and a kaleidoscope of color:

The volcano itself is a complex structure formed by the merging of five (!) different volcanoes.

Read on…

Having had to sit out the bad weather the previous day, we woke the next morning to clear blue, sunny skies – a rare but actually possible climatic phenomenon in Kamchatka. So after a quick breakfast (the weather could turn later in the day, so we had to look sharp), we all hopped into the chopper and flew up to the peak of Kambalny volcano!…

Read on…

When descending the slope of Kambalny Ridge the volcanism goes into overdrive. Everything hissing, boiling, and bubbling, and with every color of the rainbow present. The overall result is a surrealistic scene – like a mini-Uzon. So, of course – we set up camp right in the middle of it!…

Alas, the weather wasn’t great…

Read on…

Happy New Year*, folks!

From the back end of each year and into the beginning of the following one, quite a few traditions are observed around the world. There’s “Catholic” Christmas on December 25 (that’s how it’s referred to in Russia!); there’s New Year (universally celebrated); and there’s Orthodox Christmas on January 7. In connection with the latter, there’s also another tradition of my own – my explaining why I tend to be quiet on these here blog-pages from late December to just after Orthodox Christmas, and why my “Happy New Year” greeting can seem, to some, several days late*: each day is a public holiday in Russia (this year: December 29 – January 8). But wait… There’s yet another tradition – also of mine: my festive mathematical brainteaser!…

The… necromancy of numbers, the elegance of equations… Yes – I am a mathematician by training, and yes – I never let you forget that early January of each year. But of course I don’t: for what better way is there to blow away the cobwebs of gloom brought on by the January blues?…

All righty. Explanations done. Let’s get to this year’s number-crunching riddle (actually – riddles)…

Top-level brainteaser

Using basic math (adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing; brackets), turn “10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1” into the number of this year – 2025, neither changing the order of the numbers, nor combining them (e.g., 43+1+2).

For example, ((10 + 9) * (8 + 7) * (6 + 5) * 4) / 3 / 2 + 1 = 2091, but that’s no good as we need to get 2025.

Read on…

Hi folks!

Earlier this week I took a whirlwind trip up to St. Petersburg; however – I did not go on a walkabout around this particularly beautiful city. What?…

Sure, I normally get out and about in St. Pete, but that’s because I tend to go there during the summer months – or at least in spring or fall; rarely in the depths of winter. But I’m no fan of bad, wintry weather – all gray and damp and the days being real short. So, like I say – no walkies. But we had something else planned – indoors: a visit to the Hermitage! ->

First up: see these pics? All as per (historically significant, beautiful, intricate, grandiose, opulent…) – right? But there’s one thing missing; can you guess what?…

Come on… worked it out yet?

Read on…

There aren’t many places in the world where you can find world-class, mind-blowingly beautiful natural objects… without the typical crowds of tourists. But in Kamchatka – you can!…

Of course, I’ve been seeing – and mentioning in my blogposts – the steady rise in the numbers of tourists that visit Kamchatka in recent years, but, all the same, given Kamchatka’s vast size (bigger than the UK), those are still a mere drop in the ocean.

Perhaps the most striking example of the relative touristlessness of Kamchatka can be found at the southernmost end of the peninsula – where there are the two unique and astonishingly grandiose volcanoes – Kambalny and Koshelev. Here’s Kambalny and its eponymous ridge:

And here’s Koshelev:

Read on…

Salam, folks – from Saudi Arabia!

I was there last week at the Internet Governance Forum in Riyadh, where I was invited to give a speech about some of the lesser-known evils of the internet – and about our ideas regarding what to do to best tackle those evils. Traditionally, this annual forum has been attended by politicians and other government officials, representatives of international organizations, and so on. Only relatively recently have they started inviting folks from commercial companies – seemingly so as to get a better handle on the home truths about what’s really going on across the internet.

Since the event wasn’t dedicated to my core field (JIC: cybersecurity!), I didn’t stay around to listen to the other speeches. Thus, that’s all for today about the actual conference! However, I just have to tell you about the place where the event took place…

The forum took place in the enormous… palace (I can’t describe the building any other way) called the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center. And it seems it’s so luxuriously-exclusively grand and ritzy that there’s hardly anything about the place on the internet (e.g., no Wikipedia page) – yes, that same internet the governance of which the forum is dedicated to! Here’s how it looks from the outside:

Inside – breathtakingly beautiful opulence; here, for example, is the entrance hall:

The main hall:

Like? Then let’s take a closer look…

Read on…

Onward – southward, heading for the inimitable Ksudach volcano – a… Countach among the peninsula’s fastest retro 12-cylinder biggest and most striking volcanoes!…

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been here, but it could be a hundred and I’d never tire of it: its colossal caldera, the new crater growing up inside it, and the two luscious lakes: oh my gigantically grand, green and grandiose!…

The drone comes into its own here:

Read on…

It was farewell to Ksudach, as we choppered down toward the Kambalny and Koshelev volcanoes – which are so far south that you can clearly see three of the northern Kuril Islands. On the way, we passed both Ilynsky volcano and Kurile Lake…

Kurile Lake in so-so weather ->

Read on…

If ever you hear the Russian for “town” (gorod) uttered in Kamchatka, what are normally being referred to are the practically conjoined towns of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Yelizovo (where around two-thirds of the population of the whole peninsula live – ~200,000 out of ~290,000) – here. It’s what happens when there’s a single… micropolis in a region ).

Behind the town there are three charming volcanoes, fondly referred to as the domashny volcanoes – domashny meaning “homely”, “domesticated” (as in – not wild), or “of the home” – kind of like… a pet, or the comforts of a home (also a “home” instead of, say, a “pro” version of something like a product).

Aaaaaany way, the domashnies are the Koryaksky, Avachinsky and Kozelsky volcanoes, which form the much cherished and appreciated backdrop to the administrative center of Kamchatka. Cherished and appreciated, that is, when they’re visible, which is rarely – including when we were there this year, when we only caught brief glimpses of them between passing clouds from the helicopter:

Read on…