Radjaïdjah Blog

Un peu d'oubli new-age et naturaliste : vous êtes un arbre.

Depuis cette histoire totalement fictive sur la sécurité en avion il y a cinq ans, Adams Ruins Everything a tourné Why the TSA Doesn't Stop Terrorist Attacks (avec Bruce Schneier, une des références en matière de sécurité du Radjaïdjah Blog), qui n'est pas sans rappeler Airline Security From the Carol Burnett Show.

Donc, cinq films relatifs aux avions.

Flight (2012), où un pilote sauve ses passagers d'une situation catastrophique. En fait est-ce bien un film sur l'aviation.

Airplane! (1980), l'épopée humoristique du trio ZAZ au sujet d'un vol chaotique vers Chicago, bien plus célèbre que le film qu'elle parodie Zero Hour!.

Les Ailes du Courage (1995), le récit de la disparition dans la cordillère des Andes du pilote Henri Guillaumet et des conditions de sa survie (visible au Futuroscope).

Miracle Landing (1990), le vol 243 de Aloha Airlines, plus techniquement fidèle que le récent Sully (2016), l'histoire de Chesley Sullenberger et du miracle de l'Hudson.

מבצע יונתן (Mivtsa Yonatan, 1977), une prise d'otages aérienne en Ouganda.

Pour d'autres films, voir cette collection. Et pour tout savoir sur l'écosystème aéroportuaire il y a la série britannique Come Fly with Me, ainsi que Key & Peele (Boarding Order, Turbulence).

After the dark side of chocolate and the dark side of intelligence, here is the second part of The dark side of technology, aka Charlie Brooker's third season of the mini-series Black Mirror.

• 3x01 - Nosedive - A funny trip to a high-class wedding, or a dive inside a world where your personal online score is a real-life access key. Themes: social media, peer pressure, virtual life, online scores.

• 3x02 ★ - Playtest - An American traveler short on cash signs up to test a new gaming system using a revolutionary implant. Themes: VR, entertainment, game, experiments, memory, fear.

• 3x03 ★ - Shut Up and Dance - Kenny's fun suddenly turns into a blackmail situation involving allying with a strange individual. Themes: privacy, blackmail.

• 3x04 - San Junipero - A transcendental connection between two girls. Themes: bonding, party, VR.

• 3x05 - Men Against Fire - Some soldiers, some mutants, a war. Themes: eugenics, perception, brain.

• 3x06 ★ - Hated in the Nations - In near-future London, police detective Karin Parke, and her tech-savvy sidekick Blue, investigate a string of mysterious deaths with a sinister link to social media. Themes: democracy, death, social media, drones.

Best episodes are starred.

À l'heure où tout n'est qu'illusion, et où Fool Us a attaqué sa quatrième saison, voici cinq films sur la magie.

The Illusionist (2006), avec Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, et Paul Giamatti (Sideways). Un illusionniste veut reconquérir son amour d'enfance face au prince héritier de la couronne d'Autriche. Basé sur une nouvelle de Steven Millhauser.

The Prestige (2006), avec Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, et David Bowie dans le rôle de Nikola Tesla. L'histoire de la concurrence entre deux magiciens rivaux à Londres : qui créera la meilleure illusion ? Basé sur le roman éponyme de Christopher Priest.

Now You See Me (2013), avec Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson. Une équipe de magiciens qui braque des banques durant leur spectacle est traquée par Interpol.

Fantasia (1940). Sous la direction musicale de Leopold Stokowski, un enchainement de saynettes oniriques, avec Mickey dans le rôle de l'apprenti sorcier.

Houdini (1953), avec Tony Curtis et Janet Leigh (qui joue dans Murder by Death). La vie de Harry Houdini.

Ont failli être dans la liste : The Sorcerer's Apprentice, The Wizard of Oz. Hugo, The Geisha Boy, et la saga des Harry Potter.

Bonus : la série Columbo comporte deux épisode ayant trait à la magie : Columbo Goes to the Guillotine et Now You See Him (présent dans le Top 10 Columbo). Bonus du bonus : Presto des studios Pixar.

Au lendemain de Chavouot et de la fusillade d'Orlando, on retiendra que dans la catégorie la jeunesse au cinéma est apparu l'année dernière le film Le Nouveau, comportant une scène étant une sorte de copie de l'ouverture du court-métrage 13 ans.

Un des personnages du film a également été l'objet d'un court-métrage éponyme, Aglaée^[1].

Un dernier film -très- court du même réalisateur : Une histoire louche, une adaptation d'une histoire juive très connue sur une bar-mitzva et une petite cuiller en argent.

This week will take place the Lift16 conference in Geneva (see also last years' entries: Lift15, Lift 14).

Selected sessions:

Blockchain Technology Beyond Bitcoin - From art to science, law, politics and innovation, what unexpected and disruptive opportunities does the blockchain technology open? Since its open-source release in 2009, the blockchain has expanded from a public ledger recording money transactions for Bitcoin into an accountability system with features for performance, anonymity, storage and smart contracts. What lies beyond the distributed and trusted protocol that runs the most used decentralized cryptocurrency in the world? This session will explore the realm of possibility for the blockchain, beyond Bitcoin.

Enter the Anti-Disciplinary Space - Our world is complex. How are we to tackle problems that only get harder? Complex questions require the know-how from different fields, cultures and perspectives. We need to collaborate and experiment in-between and beyond set boundaries until new ideas emerge. Putting designers, artists, technologists, and researchers together in a ‘free space’ is a great start. Though, we need people who do not fit in any box - strange animals if you will - who are able to change the way we look at things. Who are these adventurers who challenge our concepts of creation and what can we learn from them?

Selected breakouts:

Deep Dive into the Blockchain - During this two-hour hype-free workshop, experts will take you through the pros and cons of the blockchain, and demystify how this technology actually works, before digging into how smart contracts will eventually be enforced in the physical world. Keeping the techno-jargon to a minimum, Clement Epie and Stephan Tual will take you through the advantages of Blockchain over existing technologies, what could potentially be replaced by blockchains, its future prospects and market impact as well as which industries could be disrupted first. Following up will be Christoph and Simon Jentzsch going into how exactly the Blockchain functions, how to write smart contracts, as well as give you an overview of the various tools available today to build on top of Blockchain technology. We will keep a pragmatic approach, covering for example how you could use the Blockchain to directly rent your apartment or office space, without third parties. Finally we'll have an extensive Q&A exploring the pros and cons of this new technology, where it makes sense to use blockchain, where it doesn't, and touch on questions of standardisation, regulations and what could bring blockchain to the mainstream.

Sustainable By Design: implementing new performance metrics for innovative projects and enterprises? - How to reorient corporate activity and innovation towards sustainability? Can we natively measure financial performance together with environmental performance? What new, accessible and common indicators, accounting methods and tools, and reporting mechanisms can we design to help in that process? This workshop, co-designed by the Transitions2 network and the MIT Climate CoLab, invites participants who believe that environmental and economic performance should now be measured simultaneously and given a similar importance - and are interested in discussing how this could be achieved in real life. Its concrete outcome could be the launch of one of the Climate CoLab's "contests", harnessing the collective intelligence of thousands of people from all around the world to create, analyze, and select detailed proposals to make innovation "sustainable by design".

The Creative Power of IMPROV-Theatre! - IMPROV-Theatre is a fun way to boost your creativity by making full use of your body, voice, mind, soul and your emotions. IMPROV enables you to reach new levels of Out-of–the-Box ideas AND experiences by one simple rule: radical acceptance! There is no “NO”! EVERYTHING is allowed and expandable!. This workshop gives IMPROV-Newbies a chance to learn a whole set of practical techniques and exercises which provide for exciting and creative trips into a world of instantaneous new stories, amazing plots and pure playful joy. And also experienced IMPROV players might learn a few new tricks. Enjoy a fresh unobstructed view on multiple realities. Fun guaranteed!

Bringing Narrative into Science Education with Virtual Reality - Dive deep into the field of Science Storytelling with Neal Hartman and several participants of the Storytelling Science VR Hackathon, recently organized by CineGlobe in partnership with Festival Tous Ecrans and supported by the Lift. Behind all good communication, and therefore education, lies good storytelling; this workshop will show how this rule applies to science as well, and give examples of great science storytelling projects. Hear from participants of the VR Hackathon how they approached the challenge of bringing narrative into education of a scientific nature, and then brainstorm your own science-education narratives in groups guided by the creators. The workshop will also discuss some of the ins and outs of making VR projects for immersive headsets like the Oculus Rift.

See you there!

Pour bien commencer la nouvelle année civile 1111100000, 5 films sur l'alcool, la cause et la solution à tous les problèmes.

• Flight (2012) - un pilote d'avion sauve ses passagers d'une situation critique, mais l'enquête qui suit relève des faits étranges

• Gervaise (1956) - adaptation par René Clément de l'Assommoir de Zola, du cycle naturaliste des Rougon-Macquart

• Leaving Las Vegas (1995) - un film pas très subtil avec Nicolas Cage (Raising Arizona, Lord of Wars)

• Le dernier pour la route (2009) - le patron d'une agence de presse décide d'en finir une bonne fois pour toues avec l'alcool

• The Lost Weekend (1945) - les pérégrinations d'un écrivain alcoolique

Ont failli être sur la liste : Barfly (de Barbet Schroeder, avec Faye Dunaway et Mickey Rourke, scenario de Charles Bukowski), Le Feu Follet de Louis Malle, When a man loves a woman, La Femme de ma vie (avec Jane Birkin, Christophe Malavoy, et Jean-Louis Trintignan), Le Créateur (avec Albert Dupontel), Un Singe en Hiver (seul film réunissant Jean Gabin et Jean-Paul Belmondo, repris au théâtre).

Pour celles et ceux à qui ça ne suffit pas, Wikipédia a une catégorie dédiée aux films sur l'alcoolisme. Santé !

A few references to help you with storytelling and slide design should you have a presentation to make.

Not extremely new but still good books: Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story (2003), by Jerry Weissman, and its sequel Winning strategies for power presentations : Jerry Weissman delivers lessons from the world's best presenters (2013) introduce among other ideas the concept of WIIFY (What's In It For You).

TED talk: 10 tips for better slide decks, aka "10 tips on how to make slides that communicate your idea":

Big picture:

1. Think about your slides last. - Too often, I see slide decks that feel more like presenter notes, but I think it’s far more effective when the slides are for the audience to give them a visual experience that adds to the words.
2. Create a consistent look and feel.
3. Think about topic transitions.
4. With text, less is almost always more.
5. Use photos that enhance meaning.

And now some tactical tips…

1. Go easy on the effects and transitions. .
2. Use masking to direct attention in images.
3. Try panning large images.
4. For video, don’t use autoplay.'
5. Reproduce simple charts and graphs.

and the end: a couple book recommendations. The first is Resonate, by Nancy Duarte. It’s not so much about slides, but about public speaking in general – which is the foundation for any presentation, regardless of how great your slides are. In it, she breaks down the anatomy of what makes a great presentation, how to establish a central message and structure your talk, and more. (One of her case studies comes from Benjamin Zander’s charming TED Talk about classical music, a talk that captivated the audience from start to finish.) Think of this as prerequisite reading for [a] second recommendation, also by Duarte: Slide:ology. This is more focused on presentation visuals and slides.

Slideshare presentation: 8 tips for an awesome powerpoint presentation

1. F-ck normality, don't use templates, create your own design, let your creativity flow..
2. Colors are nice, play with colors, fond your like, contrast is your friend.
3. Use good fonts.
4. Text is evil, let your slides breathe.
5. Images say more than a thousand words.
6. BIg is beautiful, think Big, think Bold, think Bam. View every slide as an ad.
7. Infographics are amazing.
8. Get inspired.

This week will take place the Lift15 conference in Geneva (see also last year's entry: Lift14).

Selected talks:

Frederic Jacobs - The internet is insecure. Our phones are insecure. Pretty much anything we use to communicate is, after all, insecure, to some degree. And every time engineers try to make things more secure, they get amazingly complex and hard to use rather soon. But there are exceptions, and some of the most important such exceptions of the last years are TextSecure, Signal and RedPhone, mobile apps for free secure phone calls and text messages - all developed by Frederic and the team around him. After a huge wave of media attention and the recommendation of his apps by Edward Snowden himself, Frederic is currently working on his next big thing.

Stefan Thomas - Stefan Thomas wants to live in a world where currency moves as frictionlessly as information. As CTO of Ripple Labs, backed by Andreessen Horowitz and Google Venture, Stefan Thomas is helping to build an Internet protocol that does just that. Prior to Ripple Labs, he developed vast experience in digital currencies, being both the founder of, WeUseCoins.com, the largest website for novice Bitcoin users,and the creator of BitcoinJS, a software package used by a wide range of Bitcoin businesses all over the world. Now, at Ripple Labs, his overarching motivation is to weave a global value web by making it easy for developers - from individual entrepreneurs to financial institutions - to build extremely efficient money transfer systems using the Ripple protocol, and, in the end, a world in which exchanging value is as frictionless, free and fast as exchanging information.

Selected workshops:

Mapping the Most Powerful Companies in the World with Open Data - Company information is often not available and when it is, it is buried under hard-to-use websites and PDFs. Fortunately, the work of the open data and transparency community has brought a tide of change. OpenCorporates is the world’s largest open database of companies. We have information on over 70 million companies in 80 jurisdictions worldwide. With a million data points added every week, we have a great opportunity to use this open data to map corporate networks. We have launched a tool, aptly named Octopus, to allow crowdsourcing of corporate networks. Already, OpenOil has mapped the incredibly complex network of BP and Global Witness, TED Prize winner have used it to investigate Anonymous Companies. The results are surprising.

Crowdfunding Science - Everybody loves new science and technology. But why can only scientists and engineers be part of the fun of discovering or inventing new stuff? Because science is difficult, dangerous and expensive. Or is it really? Could crowdfunding be a new way of supporting exceptional people who have an idea and need some money to test it? Science and innovation do not always require big investments. They require solutions and people who communicate them to society. Crowdfunding Science will give you the opportunity to explore and design a platform to support future citizen driven discoveries.

Designing Alternative Currency Systems: How, for What Purpose and How to set the Rules? - A short round table discussion with examples of global, local and crypto-backed alternative currency systems followed by the opportunity to design your own for-purpose currency. It is strongly recommended that you look into the history of money before you attend the session by watching at least the 7 minute video “The essence of money".

New techniques in science storytelling - Ever wonder how storytelling can be applied to “non-narrative” concepts, especially those of technical or scientific nature? Join us for a special Masterclass that reveals novel narrative techniques in science communication, from dark matter to climate change, and even the scientific concept of emergence.

See you there!

After the dark side of chocolate and the dark side of intelligence, here is evoked the dark side of technology, explored by Charlie Brooker's mini-series Black Mirror.

• 1x01 ★ - The National Anthem - Upon the abduction of the Queen's daughter, a mysterious kidnapper has a bizarre request. Themes: social media, peer pressure, utilitarianism.

• 1x02 ★ - Fifteen Million Merits - In a world where low-rank people operate bikes to power their environment, there is one escape: a X-factor-like TV contest. Or is there? Themes: TV show, entertainment, systems, rebellion, purpose.

• 1x03 - The Entire History of You - In these days most of people are equipped with a device recording their life, and can at any moment replay or share any part from its databank. Trust issues arise within a hi-tech couple as the wife refuses to show some episodes of her own past. Themes: device implantation, privacy, openness, augmented reality, memory.

• 2x01 - Be Right Back - The sudden death of her husband leads a woman to use a new online service that lets people stay in touch with a virtual version of the deceased. Themes: death, memory, IA, social media.

• 2x02 - White Bear - A woman wakes up only to find herself and a bunch of allies chased by costumed characters, while ordinary people record the hunt on their smartphones. Flashes trigger blurry memory flashbacks. Themes: memory, justice.

• 2x03 - The Waldo Moment - The rise of a virtual candidate and the fall of its human interpreter. Themes: political campaigns, social medias.

• Special ★ - White Christmas - A 3-part dialog in a wooden outpost of two men sharing their troubled past. Themes: memory, augmented reality, coaching, slavery.

Best episodes are starred.

This week will take place the Lift14 conference in Geneva.

Selected sessions:

The Futures of Work - They say: immigrants are taking our jobs! And the Chinese. And soon: the robots! But do we still want what we call work these days, with all the burnouts and heart attacks? What will change as our workforce gets both smaller and older? How is work going to look like in the years and decades to come, and where, how and why will we do it?

The Sharing Economy Backlash - Houses, cars, wifi or music: we share, rent and borrow it all: the new status symbol isn’t what you own - it’s what you’re smart enough not to own. During a financial crisis, cheap and easy access trumps burdensome ownership for sure. Patterns of collaborative consumption made simple and scalable by technology can now be spotted everywhere, and the companies that enable this fast, efficient allocation of resources previously underutilized are doing well indeed. Increasingly though, there’s a backlash: incumbents are awaking and regulators take a closer look while we all try to get used to new modes of ownership and control.

Algorithmic culture: new forms of expression - What does it mean when algorithms play an increasing role in cultural production? How does the discreet role of computer code change the way music, texts or videos are created? Does it lead to new cultural forms beyond video-games? Can Twitterbots be actually funny? This session will focus on how algorithms shape, frame and remediate culture.

Selected workshops:

Liquid Democracy as a Service (cf the entry Démocratie et populisme) - Liquid Democracy is increasingly emerging as an opportunity and alternative to the increasing problems facing our participative environments. Also known as delegative democracy, the advantages of such approaches lies in the ability to instrument through ICT dynamic management and delegation mechanisms instead of traditional static representative models. The goal of this workshop is to launch a challenge to be initiated within the Lift14 conference time and followed up afterwards on an "as a Service" model. Ultimately, the plan is to launch a new service : Liquid Democracy as a Service (LDaaS) for everyone.

Playing with Rules - Sink your teeth into social issue game design by just doing it. Playing with Rules is a hands-on workshop for beginners and more advanced levels. We'll provide you with a well-known boardgame and lots of materials to work with. You pick a concern, and in a group you iteratively modify the game's rules to address it. Any issue goes and all kinds of modifications are fine. With guidance from Hubbub's principals, you'll get a practical start in one of the most important activities in game design.

Privacy & Data Protection conversations : how might we reinstate trust in a global digital society? (cf the entry The dark side of intelligence)- Privacy and Data Protection aren’t pure theoretical or cold legal concepts found in books and laws; they have become evolving shared issues and values. These issues have become multi-stakeholder wicked problems that must be addressed also outside specialist groups and closed doors. This will impact how we live, work, consume, socialize, and ultimately shape our future democracies. In a post Snowden era where new regulations are discussed all over the world in a piecemeal way, we are facing a growing mistrust in intermediaries. This can be seen as an unprecedented breach of trust and has sparked legitimate questions about what to protect, how to protect, who overlooks, etc. We would like to invite you to take a moment to discuss with us what may be the key elements of the future of privacy and data protection.]__

The Power of Narrativium! How Memes, Stories, Movies, Theatre and Arts connect Minds (cf the entry Storytelling) - Nothing can connect and unite people more powerfully than the mutual and collective experience of a shared adventure. Like waking up on time for an early morning workshop! Our brains are hungrily looking for plots, creating narrative connections whenever possible and it is mutually shared stories that keep cultures and societies alive - thus determining our future. Rituals, storytelling and theatrical performances were among the first bond-forming rituals mankind has developed. So get a couple of kicks for you brain as TeeKay guides you from the origins of theatre at the prehistoric fireplace until our culture of sharing info in social networks and remodeling our world on all levels: culture, commerce and a globalized way of life.

See you there!

Après la boîte miroir ou holocube (théorie, pratique), voilà le photocube magique.

C'est le genre de cube pliable et dépliable fait de 8 cubes plus petits qui peuvent pivoter les uns par rapport aux autres, révélant les facettes intérieures.

Pour fabriquer un photocube magique personnalisé, la liste du matériel :

• 8 cubes^[1] (exemple de fournisseur)
• du ruban adhésif
• de la colle ou du ruban adhésif double-face
• une règle
• des ciseaux
• des photos pour la décoration (8 carrées et 2 rectangulaires)

Ensuite, il suffit de suivre ce tutorial (pdf) ou cette vidéo.

Un objet sympathique pour présenter des photos.

Après la théorie de la boîte miroir, la pratique.

Exemples de photos de la boîte miroir avec à l'intérieur respectivement : rien, une bougie, une toupie lumineuse, un pointeur laser, un astrojax.

Matériel :

• 6 miroirs carrés (exemple : Pradel 15 cm x 15 cm disponibles chez Brico Travo)
• scotch
• appareil photo
• objets à mettre dans la boîte

Mode d'emploi : à l'aide du scotch, faire un cube avec les 6 miroirs, celui du dessus pouvant faire office de couvercle amovible.

Pour davantage d'aide, d'autres gens ont déjà eu la même idée, cf par exemple ce tutorial.

Et encore d'autres photos et idées dans cette galerie.

Cette boîte permet par exemple de visualiser certaines structures périodiques tridimensionnelles comme on en étudie dans le cadre de la cristallographie.

Histoire de faire un peu de branding, on pourrait trouver un nom à cet objet : holocube ? infinicube ? cube Narcisse ?

Et un slogan.

Vous aussi, mettez un peu d'infini dans votre vie.

Les articles aléatoires (random papers), sont connectés à l'art aléatoire, qui peut être généré par une grammaire telle que la Context Free Design Grammar (CFDG). Son auteur, Chris Coyne, est également derrière les projets OkCupid et SparkNotes.

L'utilisation de l'aléatoire dans l'art n'est pas nouvelle, et a été l'une des clefs de l'art génératif, comme la peinture dynamique de San Base.

En littérature, la technique du cut-up où des passges d'un livre sont déplacés aléatoirement a été employée par William Burroughs. Du point de vue narratif, la fabrication de phrases par la méthode du cadavre exquis a été étendue à la génération de scénarios. En poésie, Raymond Queneau (évoqué dans l'entrée sur l'OuLiPo) a écrit le recueil Cent mille milliards de poèmes qui contient de nombreux (10^14) sonnets.

Concernant la musique et la génération d'ambiance, il est naturel de penser à boodler (écrit en python2), qui peut créer et combiner de nombreuses atmosphères sonores : forêts, lacs, pluie, vent, vagues, orages, feu, horloges, moteurs, machines de chantier, chuchotements, temples,machines à écrire, instruments de musique, enfants, insectes, grenouilles, corbeaux, sonneries de téléphone, battements de coeur, démons... encore mieux que le gadget de Chabat dans La Cité de la Peur.

En peinture, dans la veine de Sokal on peut aussi rendre hommage à Boronali et son tableau sur l'Adriatique.

Que ce soit sur la conscience des machines, la formalisation de l'esthétique, ou le rôle du hasard, l'art génératif soulève toute une panoplie d'éminentes questions qui auraient toute leur place en philo de bistro.