Tag: FRANCE

Perhaps no other person in the world is kept under closer security than President Obama. His Twitter account, on the other hand... not so much. A small gap in Presidential security was publicly exposed Wednesday, as French police, in coordination with the FBI, arrested a man who'd successfully hacked his way into Obama's Twitter. The (not surprisingly) unemployed 25-year old Frenchman, who ...

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines.... Under leader Hugo Chavez, Venezuela hasn't exactly developed a stellar reputation for promoting and protecting human rights. Despite that lack of concern for Venezuelans' civil liberties, Chavez is seeking to protect his nation's children from an apparent capitalist tool of the devil: the video game. Chavez (who has banned the sale ...

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines.... The Nexus One Google phone inspired a significant amount of speculation with both the media and with consumers, but that hubbub hasn't exactly translated into sales success. Despite the buildup, the phone is apparently languishing, as a paltry 20,000 units were sold during its first week. The iPhone 3GS sold 1.6 million models. ...

France has never been one to hold back when it comes to taxes; after all, someone's gotta pay for all those pesky little luxuries like universal health care. Now, however, the country of Gaul is reportedly thinking of taxing Internet giants in an effort to save its own artistic Joe les Plumbers. According to Ars Technica, French officials are considering levying a tax on Google and other ...

Every year in Paris, the city treats itself to a Nuit Blanche, or all-nighter, when all the museums stay open till all hours, revelers stroll in the streets, and artists and art flood the city. For this year's festivities, SUPERBIEN, a French creative agency based in Paris, created a trippy little "atmospheric event" called "Le Nuage" (The Cloud) that can be seen after the jump. With its ...

If there's one thing the French have always been fiercely proud of, it's their culture. Faced with the very real prospect of losing control over their most treasured historic documents to Google, the country (in typical French fashion, we might add) has decided that if they can't beat 'em, they might as well join 'em. The New York Times reports that President Nicolas Sarkozy has devoted over ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...