france posts

French Prez Sarkozy Revises History With Berlin Wall Facebook Pic

by Matthew Zuras (RSS feed) — Nov 9th 2009 at 5:01PM

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, known for his fastidious management of his own public image, may have posted a bit of historical fib on his Facebook profile. Earlier today, Sarkozy uploaded a photo of himself with Alain Juppé, former Prime Minister under Jacques Chirac, chipping away at the Berlin Wall with a pickax, exactly 20 years ago. He claims that (excuse our poor translation from the French) he left Paris for Berlin on the morning of November 9th, 1989, hearing reports that something was afoot in the blocs.

But at that time, Sarkozy was mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine and the assistant general secretary for the right-wing political party RPR. Thus, his whereabouts are well-documented. According to council reports, Sarkozy was in Paris at a celebration marking the 19th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle's passing. Alain Juppé, himself, remarked today that he did not even arrive in Berlin until November 11th.

Tags: berlin wall, berlin wall anniversary, BerlinWall, BerlinWallAnniversary, facebook, france, history, hoax, Nicolas Sarkozy, NicolasSarkozy, politics, sarkozy, top

Web

How the French Language Struggles in the Technology Age

by Leila Brillson (RSS feed) — Oct 14th 2009 at 10:31AM

Take this from someone who went to college in a French-speaking country: no one takes la langue more seriously than the francophone. Heritage, cultural pride, and a sense of protection keep the government involved in the purity of francais, so much so that other languages have suffered in many francophone countries, most particularly France, itself. (Just ask the English-speaking Montrealers who were around in the 70's). In fact, linguistic delegation started in 1593, and 'La délégation générale à la langue française et aux langues de France,' or the committee that delegates the languages of France, ensures that signs, contracts, and advertisements all feature French prominently.

Yet, with the rise of the Internet and rapidly developing buzzwords, the French are getting un petit perdu. The Wall Street Journal chronicles the long 18 months it took for a 17-member French assembly to suggest an adequate signifier for "cloud computing." Their nominee (informatique en nuage) apparently feels too confusing in French, and has been sent back for a review. Other terms that have been attacked by the specially designed Commission of Terminology and Neology are "emoticon" (frimousse, or literally 'show off), "Trojan horse" (cheval de Troie, or 'horse of Troy') and "World Wide Web" (toile d'araignée mondiale, or 'global spider web'), all terms that Louis VIII certainly never had to tackle.

Tags: cloud computing, CloudComputing, france, french, government, language, linguistics, top

Audio/Video, Celebrities

French President Sarkozy Accused of DVD Piracy

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Oct 8th 2009 at 5:54PM

Known for his anti-piracy views, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has once again been accused of being the pot that called the kettle black. According to Huffington Post, a French newspaper is reporting that Sarkozy illegally made 400 copies of a DVD and gave them to diplomats at a conference. The film in question is a 52-minute documentary on Sarkozy, himself, called 'A visage decouvert: Nicolas Sarkozy.' The distributor only gave the president 50 copies, which, apparently, just wasn't enough. Sarkozy burned a few hundred more, but didn't stop there, either. The President, or whoever actually made the copies, worked up a new DVD jacket and replaced manufacturer Galaxie Presse's logo with that of Sarkozy's own presidential 'AV Service.'

If you're keeping count at home, this is Sarkozy's second brush with copyright infringement. This means, according to his own policy, Sarkozy is just "one strike" away from being out. What, we wonder, does Sarkozy's musician wife think about his lack of respect for copyright law? We'd imagine somebody's going to be in, how do you say? Le doghouse. [From: Huffington Post]

Tags: copyright, dvd, expire-images:2010-10-9, france, government, illegal, nicolas sarkozy, NicolasSarkozy, piracy, top

Web

France May Regulate Photoshopped Photos

by Amar Toor (RSS feed) — Sep 25th 2009 at 2:18PM

In France, where the premium on beauty and image is high as can be, a newly proposed law may be the first hint of a movement against the unabashed vanity which has become its trademark.

French lawmakers, concerned about the adverse effects that images of digitally-enhanced celebrities may have on the country's collective body image issues, have introduced a law that would require airbrushed photos to carry a disclaimer revealing their inauthenticity. The Telegraph reports that the legislation, if passed, would cover photos in newspapers, magazines, political campaigns, and even art photography. The tag accompanying any altered picture would read, "Retouched photograph aimed at changing a person's physical appearance."

Tags: france, photography, photoshop, top

Video Games

French Gamers Call for Retro Gaming Museum

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Sep 23rd 2009 at 2:09PM

You probably don't think da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa' and the classic video game 'Pong' have anything in common, but, a group of French gamers believes the two share plenty of traits. BBC News reports that a group called MO5 is calling on the government to establish a retro gaming museum because, according to spokesman Philippe Dubois, "[We] are in danger of losing our inheritance of video game history."

MO5 has a collection of 1,500 gaming machines and 30,000 parts that it's willing to donate toward the effort, which has been dubbed the National Institute of Digital Sciences. It won't just be a stuffy, old museum, either. Dubois told the BBC that visitors would be able to play the classic games housed inside.

Tags: art, classic, france, history, museum, retro, top, video games, VideoGames

Computers, Web

French Hackers Give the Finger to President Sarkozy's Internet Bill

by Caleb Johnson (RSS feed) — Jul 10th 2009 at 4:10PM

In an effort to expose flaws in a controversial bill, a group of French hackers recently stuck it to the man with some new software. The man, President of France Nicolas Sarkozy, can't be too happy about it either.

The 'HADOPI Router,' named as a snarky tribute to Sarkozy's law, allows its creators to access and use password-protected Wi-Fi networks by hijacking a router without the account holder having any clue, according to BoingBoing. The goal is to prove that Sarkozy's Hadopi agency, which uses network forensics to track down illegal file-sharers, is unreliable and fairly ridiculous. The bill allows courts to take action against parents who might not even have shared files, but are deemed 'negligent' because they pay the ISP bill that was illegally used, according to TorrentFreak. To highlight this, the hackers found a way to make a router send traffic through a random variety of networks in a neighborhood, creating a number of muddy and false trails that would be nearly impossible to accurately trace.

Basically, the hackers are trying to tell the French government what many folks already know: It's difficult to identify a person based solely on an IP address. Correctly identifying someone is important, too, especially in court. But since Sarkozy's bill only allows five-minutes for the judge to rule on a case, this attempt at 'digital justice' will most likely fall on deaf ears. [From: BoingBoing and TorrentFreak]

Tags: filesharing, france, hack, isp, law, nicolas sarkozy, NicolasSarkozy, piracy, top, wifi

Green Tech

"Wind It" Concept Turns Power Lines Into Turbines

by Evan Shamoon (RSS feed) — May 22nd 2009 at 6:04AM

From the "making lemonade out of lemons" category of forward thinking comes the winner of Metropolis Magazine's 2009 "Next Generation" contest. The idea was for designers come to the table with ways to fix our addiction to energy, and the winner is Wind-it. Wind-it suggests installing wind turbines in, on, and around electrical towers, as well as the electrical poles that line our streets here in the (over)developed world.

The concept comes from French designers Nicola Delon, Julien Choppin and Raphael Menard, who pointed out to Metropolis that if even a third of France's towers had turbines installed, they could provide roughly 5-percent of the country's power requirement (or the equivalent of two nuclear reactors).

Giant spinning turbines are cool and all, but it's a better idea to make use of existing infrastructure. If these things end up adorning all of our electrical towers, the future is definitely going to look more futuristic. [From: Metropolis Mag, via: Dvice]

Tags: france, future, future tech, FutureTech, top, wind it, wind power, wind turbine, WindIt, WindPower, WindTurbine

Computers, Editor's Picks, Peripherals, Notebooks

Be.Ez Sleeves Easily Add Flair to Your Netbook

by Chad Mumm (RSS feed) — Apr 21st 2009 at 2:23PM

If you're looking to add a little flair to your new netbook, French brand be.ez (be easy) has just come out with a line of netbook protection gear. The LArobe Netbook sleeves come in 10-inch and 9-inch sizes to fit a range of computers and you have nine colors to choose from. While not exactly reinventing the wheel, these sleeves do give a little love to your ultra-portable... and, if you pick the lime green sleeve, at least you'll be able to spot it in a crowd. And did we say Mother's Day gift? We're saying it. [From: be.ez]

Tags: fashion, france, mothers day, MothersDay, netbook, netbook accessories, netbook sleeves, NetbookAccessories, netbooks, NetbookSleeves, new, pc sleeves, PcSleeves, style, top

Web

'Crappy Life' Site Details Your Daily Humiliations

by Peter Mychalcewycz (RSS feed) — Mar 24th 2009 at 10:26AM

Life's little indignities add up, so you'd better be learning how to laugh at them. The French are.

"Vie de merde," a French Web site that revels in humanity's daily humiliations (the name literally means "A Crappy Life"), provides readers the chance to indulge in other people's tales of misfortune. It is, not surprisingly, one of the most popular Web sites in France, and has seen its readership grow to more than 70,000 people, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Web site, founded by 20-year-old Maxime Valette, started out as a way for Valette to vent his own frustration at life's little annoyances. The site really began to grow when he invited outside submissions. Stories began flooding in, and a lot of them were hilarious. Take this one, for example: "I came home starving the other day, opened the fridge, and gobbled up some paté I found... An hour later, my girlfriend called to ask what I'd done with the leftover cat food."

Tags: france, french, frustration, trends, vie de merde, VieDeMerde

Audio/Video

Suggestive French 'Push Pop' Ad Will Freak You Out

by Peter Mychalcewycz (RSS feed) — Feb 23rd 2009 at 3:10PM

Look, there's not a whole lot we can say about this commercial featuring bright-eyed French children and phallic candy. We're all for suggestive marketing campaigns (really, we are!), and this commercial probably says more about the people that watch it (like us) than the people that made it. Maybe we've just seen so many suggestive ad campaigns that, at this point, we can't help but to look through that particular lens. But, either way, this commercial doesn't feel right.

P.S. The commercial is also pretty hilarious.

P.P.S. But mostly it's just disturbing. [From: Urlesque]

Next >> 'Creepiest Ads on the Web'

Related Links:

Tags: france, french, video, weird

Computers

French Fighter Jets Grounded by Windows Virus

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Feb 9th 2009 at 2:15PM

Just how powerful is the Conficker Windows virus? Well, according to French publication Libération, the notorious worm is powerful enough to ground French fighter planes.

The systems of the French Navy were infected by Confiicker on January 12 and taken offline to isolate the infection and clear the systems. Two weeks later, the systems are still offline and many weapons systems along with them.

This, of course, raises serious questions about the security of French government systems. Their inability to defend against a computer virus -- one that Microsoft sent advanced warning of and has already patched the vulnerability to -- goes a long way towards explaining the French reputation, at least on 'The Simpsons,' as cheese-eating surrender monkeys. [From: CNET]

Related Links:

Tags: conficker, france, military, security, virus, windows

Cuckoo Clock Loudspeaker Kicks Out the Jams, You Out of Bed

by Darren Murph (RSS feed) — Dec 9th 2008 at 3:04PM

And you thought The Shining cuckoo clock was terrifying -- imagine waking up to this. Designed by French artist Stephane Vigny, the loudspeaker clock does exactly what you'd expect it to. When the time comes, the doors flip open, the bottom woofer extends out and a cacophonic emission of sound is heard as you angrily wake from your slumber. We can't imagine that outstretched woofer surviving too many mornings of you waking on the wrong side of the bed.

[Via MAKE]

Tags: alarm clock, AlarmClock, art, Clock, cuckoo, cuckoo clock, CuckooClock, design, diy, france, french, loudspeaker, loudspeakers, mod, speaker, speakers, Stephane Vigny, StephaneVigny, timepiece

Audio/Video, Computers

French President's 'Bling Bling' Lifestyle Lampooned in YouTube Hit

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Oct 31st 2008 at 3:43PM

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the desperate text messaging, model/singer marrying conservative politician not known for his sense of humor, has become an unwitting YouTube celebrity. A computer animated music video called the 'King of Bling-Bling,' which stars a likeness of the president rapping (in French) about his extravagant lifestyle, has become quite the hit on the video sharing site.

Sarkozy is seen rapping with scantily clad women, wearing flashy jewelry, and even name-dropping designers like Gucci. A spokesman for the president said that Sarkozy was not aware of the video. Seeing as how this is the man who tried to ban the sale of a Voodoo doll created in his likeness, we're sure he's not going to be terribly pleased. [From: Telegraph]

Tags: france, nicholas sarkozy, NicholasSarkozy, politics, sarkozy, web, web video, WebVideo, youtube

Car Tech, Green Tech

Eco-Friendly Airpod Car Powered by Compressed Air

by Darren Murph (RSS feed) — Oct 14th 2008 at 3:42PM

While outfits like Lightning and Tesla are attempting to make eco-friendly cars sexy, MDI is taking things in a completely different direction. The recently-made-official Airpod looks practically nothing like anything seen on American roadways today, which is probably why it's apt to hit the streets of France and New Zealand first. The oddly shaped automobile will reportedly reach a top speed of 70kmh (44mph) and cruise 100-kilometers (62 miles) on just $2.

The secret? A minuscule compressed air-powered engine on each of the rear wheels, both of which get instructed by the car's joystick (Atari fans, rejoice!). We're told that reloading the engine with hot air takes less than two minutes, and if all goes well, the first of the urban vehicles will hit the cobblestones in the spring of 2009. Is that the sound of Tata's NANO feeling threatened, or what? [Via EcoGeek]

Tags: Airpod, compressed air, CompressedAir, eco-friendly, electri car, ElectriCar, france, french, green, MDI

Computers, Google

French Wineries Using Satellite Images to Improve Grape Crop

by Terrence O'Brien (RSS feed) — Aug 28th 2008 at 9:25AM

It was only a matter of time before satellite imagery started sneaking its way into every possible aspect of life. Law enforcement officials are using satellite surveillance imagery left and right in their work, while other folks with way too much time on their hands use satellite photos from Google Earth to study the natural orientation of cows. Thankfully, a French wine consultancy group (ICV) and Infoterra are making use of satellite images for something beyond the terrifying and stupid.

The two group have combined satellite images and aerial photographs to create Oenoview, a system that allows vintners to identify characteristics of large swaths of a grape crop. This allows vineyards to estimate beforehand the quality and worth of a crop, long before it is harvested.

However, not many French vineyards are jumping to use the system. Oenoview comes with a very high price tag, though Infoterra and the ICV expect that many grape growers will come around as competition from vineyards in Italy, Spain, and the United States increases. [From: Reuters]

Tags: france, google earth, GoogleEarth, oenophile, satellite, satellite imagery, SatelliteImagery, wine

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'Black Friday' Deals to Watch For

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Black Friday' Deals to Watch For

Traditionalists might balk, but the holiday shopping season is already underway. Skeptical? Head to your local department store and you'll be inundated by Christmas trees and ornaments. Bargain hunters, though, know that the real deals are more than a month away.

Black Friday, traditionally, is when retailers truly slash prices. Early birds can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars off of their holiday bills. Switched.com checked with a few elves, who gave a sneak peek at what you can expect deal-wise this year.

Blu-ray Players and Movies: Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. de Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49. Look for bargains on Blu-ray films as well, with last year's hit titles (such as "Iron Man") to fall as low as $5.

Laptops: With the proliferation of Netbooks this year, it's never been easier to find affordable portable computing, but Dan de Grandpre, CEO of DealNews.com says it will get even cheaper on Black Friday. Look for well-equipped Netbooks to sell for $199 – and basic 15" laptops to go for as little as $249.

HDTVs (Pretty big): The holidays are typically the best time to buy a new TV – and Black Friday is the time to do it. If you're looking for a normal sized set, you're in luck. Piper Jaffrey analyst Mitch Kaiser says he expects to see 32-inch LCD sets for as low as $299. GottaDeal.com is estimating 37-inch plasma and LCD sets will fall to $399 or less.

HDTVs (Really big): Need something bigger? How about a 46-47 inch LCD set for $599 – a 25 percent savings? Or a 52-inch LCD for $999? Dealnews says you can expect both. Plasma deals will be a little harder to come by, but a 50-inch set should run roughly $899.

HD Camcorders: You've wanted to shoot your child's school play in HD for a while, but haven't been able to spring for the pricey camcorder. This might be the year. Low-end, flash-based 720p models could drop as low as $60 (though you won't be able to zoom with those). Expect a high quality 1080p HD camcorder for $349.

GPS: While navigation systems have dramatically expanded their reach this year – even making it onto the iPhone – there's still a market for car-based systems. Dealnews predicts you'll be able to find a no-name entry-level system for $49, while a Garmin or Tom-Tom brand will be as low as $69.

Digital Picture Frames: Showcasing your digital pictures consistently gets cheaper. This year, skip the 7-inch screens and focus on the 8- or 9-inch ones, which should be available on Black Friday for as little as $30.

Monitors: Computer monitors might not be the sexiest of gifts, but they're usually welcomed with open arms – and they'll be cheap this year. Name brand 22-inch LCD models may go for as low as $99, while 24-inch models will drop below $150.

Memory: Don't know anyone who needs a monitor? External hard drives are always popular, since they're an easy way to back-up data. Dealnews expects a 1TB drive to fall as low as $49 this year. Gottadeal is looking for 8GB flash drives to hit $15.

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