Gator et autres espions [en]

Gator, ça vous dit quelque chose? Non? Et Gozilla ou bien AudioGalaxy, alors? Aha.

Si vous connaissez les deux derniers, vous avez probablement sans le savoir installé le premier sur votre ordinateur. Un vilain petit espion qui se charge de vous assommer de publicités, entre autres.

Un article de ZDNet sur le “Spyware” vous en apprendra plus. Et je vous encourage à  télécharger AD-Aware pour nettoyer votre machine! (Oui, j’ai pu supprimer près de 80 fichiers et répertoires de la mienne, dont en tous cas cinq ou six versions de Gator.)

[merci Emmanuelle]

Blogrolling [en]

Reminder to self: check out blogrolling.com as a possible alternative to freshblogs.

Cartographie d'Internet [en]

Préparez-vous à  perdre un bon quart d’heure à  vous amuser avec le TouchGraph GoogleBrowser. L’applet Java met un petit moment à  charger, mais cela en vaut vraiment la peine.

Entrez l’adresse de votre site – ou du mien si vous n’avez pas d’inspiration. Vous verrez apparaître les sites “avoisinants”, sur lesquels vous pouvez cliquer à  leur tour, pour voir leurs voisins, et ainsi de suite. Explorez!

[via Somebaudy]

Article "weblogs" et construction de l'histoire [en]

A lire, l’article de Chryde sur Les blogues, la deuxième jeunesse d’Internet [pdf].

J’amorce de ce pas une petite réflexion sur la construction de l’histoire (inspirée j’en conviens de certaines constatations sur l’inceste bibliographique, faites en travaillant sur mon mémoire).

Tout article sur les weblogs qui paraît à  présent nous sert la distinction “weblogs technologiques” versus “warblogs”, et insiste sur le tournant du 11 septembre. Mis à  part le fait qu’on ne se lasse de répéter encore et encore l’importance de cette date charnière pour les weblogs, et donc qu’on asseoit ainsi à  chaque itération la vérité de cette affirmation, je ne suis pas convaincue qu’elle mérite toute l’attention qu’on lui donne.

J’étais au milieu du monde des weblogs avant, je suis encore au milieu après, et je ne vois pas vraiment de différence. De plus, le 11 septembre, c’était il y a bien peu de temps pour vouloir en faire de l’histoire…

Est-ce qu’on ne pourrait pas arguer que le discours “meta-webloguesque” au sujet des warblogs est un même, comme disent nos amis anglophones? Une idée séduisante qui se répète d’article en article, mais dont la source est toujours de seconde main? Une légende urbaine du journalisme ou de la recherche académique? Ne sommes-nous pas en ce moment même en train d’assister à  une construction de l’histoire des weblogs en affirmant l’importance de ces warblogs et du 11 septembre dans leur développement?

Oui, je sais, l’histoire est toujours construite.

The Myth of Zen in the Art of Archery [en]

Many people interested in Japan or the martial arts have certainly read Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel. Fewer are those who have equally read Yamada’s very interesting article titled The Myth of Zen in the Art of Archery (Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 2001, 28/1-2).

Before reading Yamada’s article, I had always taken Herrigel’s account pretty much at face value. When you consider the impact of Herrigel’s book on our understanding and interpretation of martial arts, what Yamada puts forth will definitely make one think.

Eugen Herrigel’s “Zen in the Art of Archery” has been widely read as a study of Japanese culture. By reconsidering and reorganizing Herrigel’s text and related materials, however, this paper clarifies the mythical nature of “Zen in the Art of Archery” and the process by which this myth has been generated. This paper first gives a brief history of Japanese archery and places the period at which Herrigel studied Japanese archery within that time frame. Next, it summarizes the life of Herrigel’s teacher, Awa Kenzo. At the time Herrigel began learning the skill, Awa was just beginning to formulate his own unique ideas based on personal spiritual experiences. Awa himself had no experience in Zen nor did he unconditionally approve of Zen. By contrast, Herrigel came to Japan in search of Zen and chose Japanese archery as a method through which to approach it. The paper goes on to critically analyze two important spiritual episodes in “Zen and the Art of Archery.” What becomes clear through this analysis is the serious language barrier existing between Awa and Herrigel. The testimony of the interpreter, as well as other evidence, supports the fact that the complex spiritual episodes related in the book occurred either when there was no interpreter present, or were misinterpreted by Herrigel via the interpreter’s intentionally liberal translations. Added to this phenomenon of misunderstanding, whether only coincidental or born out of mistaken interpretation, was the personal desire of Herrigel to pursue things Zen. Out of the above circumstances was born the myth of “Zen in the Art of Archery.”

Yamada Shoji, The Myth of Zen in the Art of Archery (Abstract)

End of Holiday [en]

Aleika and Akirno left this morning. It was great having them.

One of the high points of my week with them involved drawing Teletubbies on restaurant table mats.

On the Radio [en]

A recording of an interview I did for the local radio, in French.

[] A recording of an interview I did for the local radio, in French.

Even if you don’t understand French, you might be interested in hearing a recording of this piece about weblogs which aired during the noon news.

My interview starts at five minutes 14 seconds approximately. If you’ve heard my “English voice”, you’ll most certainly notice that my “French voice” is different (it’s quite a bit lower). Anybody with a scientific explanation for this phenomenon is most welcome to share it!

Emission radio sur les weblogs [en]

Enregistrement du bref interview que j’ai fait pour la RSR1.

J’ai passé à  la radio!

Thème du jour: les weblogs [page de l’émission]. Magnifique démonstration de mon bel accent vaudois 😉 que vous pouvez entendre à  partir de la position 5:14.

Vous y entendrez aussi Christian, bien sûr, et surtout Emmanuelle.

Vous vouliez la page des weblogs suisses pour y rajouter le vôtre?

Photos of Switzerland [en]

As it’s too hot to sleep, here are some aerial pictures of Switzerland. If it stays this hot, I’m going to sleep on my balcony. 31.5°C says the thermometer. And look at what time it is.

First, the index for Switzerland. Zoom into my little canton, Vaud.

Start by visiting Lausanne. More than 300 photos available if you click on the map. This is the old town.

I live in this area, but unfortunately there are no pictures of my neighbourhood. There’s one of the World Trade Center, where part of the Orange offices are, however. My neighbourhood doesn’t look anything like those tall buildings you can see, by the way. Have a look at Prilly if you want a better idea of what it could look like—I live on the border between Lausanne and Prilly.

Le Mont is where I grew up. Again, unfortunately, no photographs of my father’s house. Check out the university: my building is the one alongside the motorway in the last picture. Hop off to Bussigny. The building I work in is the bottom one in the photo-before-last.