Y’a un nouveau bouquin de #neal_stephenson qui sort bientôt :
▻http://www.nealstephenson.com/seveneves.html
SEVENEVES is a very old project; I first started thinking about it when I was working at Blue Origin, probably circa 2004. The kernel around which the story nucleated was the space debris problem, which I had been reading about, both as a potential obstacle to the company’s efforts and as a possible opportunity to do something useful in space by looking for ways to remediate it.
Pour éclairer certains passages du livre, un peu de lecture :
Éléments de #mécanique_spatiale
▻http://lal.univ-lille1.fr/docpedago/CoursMPMDuriezS3.pdf
Du spyware institutionnel dans les livres de classe ? Yes !
▻http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2014/05/features/web-presence-employment/viewall
L’article traite d’un autre sujet, mais le paragraphe suivant m’a fait bondir:
Recently, a number of schools have started using a program called CourseSmart, which uses e-book analytics to alert teachers if their students are studying the night before tests, rather than taking a long-haul approach to learning. In addition to test scores, the CourseSmart algorithm assigns each student an “engagement index” which can determine not just if a student is studying, but also if they’re studying properly. In theory, a person could receive a “satisfactory” C grade in a particular class, only to fail on "engagement"
Ca me rappelle Snow Crash (1992) (▻http://web.archive.org/web/20120224104505/http://vx.netlux.org/lib/mns00.html) où une fonctionnaire réfléchissait à la vitesse à laquelle elle allait lire une circulaire afin qu’elle ait l’air de s’y intéresser sans non plus trop traîner ?
Y.T.’s mom pulls up the new memo, checks the time, and starts reading it. The estimated reading time is 15.62 minutes. Later, when Marietta does her end-of-day statistical roundup, sitting in her private office at 9:00 P.M., she will see the name of each employee and next to it, the amount of time spent reading this memo, and her reaction, based on the time spent, will go something like this:
- Less than 10 min.: Time for an employee conference and possible attitude counseling.
– 10-14 min.: Keep an eye on this employee; may be developing slipshod attitude.
– 14-15.61 min.: Employee is an efficient worker, may sometimes miss important details.
– Exactly 15.62 min.: Smartass. Needs attitude counseling.
– 15.63-16 min.: Asswipe. Not to be trusted.
– 16-18 min.: Employee is a methodical worker, may sometimes get hung up on minor details.
– More than 18 min.: Check the security videotape, see just what this employee was up to (e.g., possible unauthorized restroom break).
Y.T.’s mom decides to spend between fourteen and fifteen minutes reading the memo. It’s better for younger workers to spend too long, to show that they’re careful, not cocky. It’s better for older workers to go a little fast, to show good management potential. She’s pushing forty. She scans through the memo, hitting the Page Down button at reasonably regular intervals, occasionally paging back up to pretend to reread some earlier section. The computer is going to notice all this. It approves of rereading. It’s a small thing, but over a decade or so this stuff really shows up on your work-habits summary.
J’ai posté ça sur mon blog et il semble que j’ai touché un nerf vu la discussion sur HN (▻https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7799807) et le nombre de mentions sur Twitter (▻https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=spyware%20in%20coursebooks&src=typd)...
#neal_stephenson
Dans #snow_crash, il y a aussi l’excellent memo sur le papier q (qui, je dois l’avouer, n’a rien à voir avec le sujet du message) :
▻http://www.nocoercion.com/2012/02/05/a-couple-of-quotes-from-snow-crash
This prohibition still applies, but a single, one-time exception has now been made for any office that wishes to pursue a joint bathroom-tissue strategy.
By way of introduction, let me just make a few general comments on this subject. The problem of distributing bathroom tissue to workers presents inherent challenges for any office management system due to the inherent unpredictability of usage-not every facility usage transaction necessitates the use of bathroom tissue, and when it is used, the amount needed (number of squares) may vary quite widely from person to person and, for a given person, from one transaction to the next.
In the future, you don’t read books ; books read you !
C’est quand même rigolo de voir un tel outrage soulevé par des e-book espions alors que le même niveau de surveillance est silencieusement accepté par tous les utilisateurs d’applications ou de sites web contemporains... Peut-être est-ce parce que dans l’imaginaire de l’utilisateur, un e-book reste un livre. Mais pourquoi est-ce que tous les documents, livres, applications, pages et toute autre forme d’information communiquée ne devraient pas être aussi respectueux de leur lecteur qu’un bon vieux livre ?
Le pic de traffic HTTP d’hier - à l’échelle de mon blog c’est beaucoup...
C’est énorme ! L’éditeur du logiciel tente de contacter individuellement ses détracteurs au lieu de s’exprimer publiquement...
▻https://twitter.com/liotier/status/471308846749982720
▻https://twitter.com/liotier/status/471307993850859520
This reminds of the Robbins v. Lower Merion School District WebcamGate scandal: ▻https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_v._Lower_Merion_School_District
Lovely quote in a New York Times article about Coursesmart: “It’s Big Brother, sort of, but with a good intent” - of course, it always starts with a good intent !
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/09/technology/coursesmart-e-textbooks-track-students-progress-for-teachers.html?_r=0&page
How to trigger an alarm when toilet paper is low?
▻http://arduino.stackexchange.com/questions/564/how-to-trigger-an-alarm-when-toilet-paper-is-low
Anyone with kids knows they never help with the toilet paper. Anyone know how to track when it’s low or out and sound an audible alarm? I just don’t know what sensor to use that may help.
Some that came to mind are: by weight, by reflection (the color of the paper) or some laser tripwire - all right on the spool. I don’t mind building it, it’s just I don’t know which sensor. Anyone know which to use?
Des pistes :
Un (merveilleux) extrait de #snow_crash de #neal_stephenson :
▻http://soquoted.blogspot.fr/2006/03/memo-from-fedland.html
(extrait d’une note de service)
By way of introduction, let me just make a few general comments on this subject. The problem of distributing bathroom tissue to workers presents inherent challenges for any
office management system due to the inherent unpredictability of usage-not every facility usage transaction necessitates the use of bathroom tissue, and when it is used, the amount needed (number of squares) may vary quite widely from person to person and, for a given person, from one transaction to the next. This does not even take into account the occasional use of bathroom tissue for unpredictable/creative purposes such as applying/removing cosmetics, beverage-spill management, etc. For this reason, rather than trying to package bathroom tissue in small one-transaction packets (as is done with premoistened towelettes, for example), which can be wasteful in some cases and limiting in other cases, it has been traditional to package this product in bulk distribution units whose size exceeds the maximum amount of squares that an individual could conceivably use in a single transaction (barring force majeure). This reduces to a minimum the number of transactions in which the distribution unit is depleted (the roll runs out) during the transaction, a situation that can lead to emotional stress for the affected employee.
However, it does present the manager with some challenges in that the distribution unit is rather bulky and must be repeatedly used by a number of different individuals if it is not to be wasted.
The State of CLANG
(pour mémoire, ce projet a pour objectif de développer un jeu vidéo de sabre/épée avec un hardware dédié).
▻http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/260688528/clang/posts/604023
We’ve hit the pause button on further CLANG development while we get the financing situation sorted out. We stretched the Kickstarter money farther than we had expected to, but securing the next round, along with constructing improvised shelters and hoarding beans, has to be our top priority for now.
Loyal donors may be curious as to why an apparently promising game is difficult to finance. The answer has a lot to do with the current state of the video game industry. While we have been working on CLANG, two major video game publishers, THQ and LucasArts, have gone out of business. Others have fallen on hard times. The current generation of consoles is coming to the end of its life cycle. Rather than invest in innovative new titles, the still-surviving publishers tend to keep their heads down, grinding out sequels and extensions to well-worn AAA franchises.
Fuck the CD, Vinyl is the futur !
plus #obsolete_media #counter-tech tu meurs !
et en plus celui-ci est un hommage à #Snow-Crash et môssieur Neal Stephenson et ses livreurs-de-pizza-poneurs-de-voiture...
▻http://desirerecords.bigcartel.com/product/newclear-waves-s-t-dsr028lp-300-copies-only-with-die-cut-sl
Il est arrivé, il est beau, et il commence plutôt bien …
►https://p.twimg.com/AcwQLNVCEAAeaOP.jpg
#neal_stephenson #REAMDE
Ne pas oublier de se replonger parfois dans #Snow_Crash (le samouraï virtuel) de #Neal_Stephenson.
Le problème de la distribution de papier toilette aux employés présente à tout système de gestion du personnel un défi inhérent dû au caractère fondamentalement imprévisible des entrées et des sorties. De plus, chaque utilisation des locaux n’entraîne pas nécessairement l’usage du papier toilette. Et, en cas d’usage, la quantité prélevée (exprimée en nombre de feuilles) peut varier considérablement d’une personne à l’autre et même d’une transaction à l’autre. Ces considérations ne tiennent pas compte de l’utilisation occasionnelle du papier toilette pour des usages imprévisibles ou créatifs tels que l’application ou la suppression de produits cosmétiques, la gestion des boissons renversées, etc.
(Traduction Guy Abadia)
The Baroque Cycle (2003-2004) - #Neal_Stephenson
►http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Baroque_Cycle
Si j’ai une recommandation à faire en matière de #sf (ou pas... c’est écrit comme de la sf, mais c’est du roman historique) anglophone, c’est vraiment cette trilogie :
The Baroque Cycle is a series of novels by American writer Neal Stephenson. It was published in three volumes containing 8 books in 2003 and 2004.The story follows the adventures of a sizeable cast of characters living amidst some of the central events of the late 17th and early 18th centuries in Europe. Despite featuring a literary treatment consistent with historical fiction, Stephenson has characterized the work as science fiction, due to the presence of some anomalous occurrences and the work’s particular emphasis on themes relating to science and technology. The sciences of cryptology and numismatics feature heavily in the series.
Aux dernières nouvelles l’éditeur français de Stephenson a reculé devant la tâche de #traduction ; dommage, car en plus d’être drôle et très bien écrit (attention, c’est d’un niveau soutenu), ce #livre parle de la naissance de tout notre monde moderne : la #science, la #banque, la #finance, et même l’#Etat ...
(voir aussi ►http://seenthis.net/messages/4866)
