Monthly Archives: June 2012

Movie review : The final cut

Be the editor of your life

Editing lives

I watched this movie last week : The final cut. I would define it as an organic SF movie. Probably my favorite genre. Same aura as Eternal sunshine, but unfortunately with a weaker scenario. Organic because it’s one of those movies where technology is part of life, and not obviously futuristic, I like that. In this movie, the computers were wooden, and their look and feel was very retro, old, almost anti-technological, it was very interesting to observe.

I like the idea that technology could be embedded in your furniture and fade in your environment. I like the idea that technology could be something not fragile, not a sign of wealth or advancement. I like the idea that technology could be for everyone.

However even if organic in its form, technology was still depicted in the movie as a threat or something evil like in most SF movies. But here its evilness was less obvious as it was not used as a weapon, its evilness was rather more ideological. Should you or shouldn’t you let your life be recorded on an organic implant? Well, what movie would ever tell you that you should?

The context : Privacy and technology

The movie treats the subjects of privacy and technology and life. The story starts in a future where it is the norm to let your life as you see it (not your thoughts) be recorded on a “Zoe” implant that was implanted in your body at your birth. This implant is semi-organic, so as you grow it becomes part of your body and it’s impossible to remove. People don’t know if they have an implant or not and know it very late, after 21 when “they’re old enough to understand”. Implanting the child is a choice of the parents, and the implant is a commercial product that you buy for your child. But you have to do it at the child’s birth. Interesting context, isn’t it?

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Taxed in 3 clicks or the universal money extraction

3 clicks. That’s all it took me to declare my income to the French government so I can be taxed later. Sweet. Regarding the taxes, it seems the government deployed the technical swat team to extract the money out of the citizens. Every year they get better and better. This year, you could even declare your income from your smartphone by flashing a QR code both on Android and iPhone. Also you have the option to get their mail delivered only electronically, no paper anymore. The webapp is as fast as a high level app. Really, I give them 20/20.

Remember though, the Internet voting or the anti-democratic catastrophe ? Now I see where exactly the priorities are. They don’t ask me to install a JVM before they can tax me. Poor voting team, they must be really jealous when they see the tax team working with iMacs and iPhones when they only get to work on Windows 2000.

Well, well, still very good, high five to the tax team.

Book review : The caves of steel (Asimov)

The caves of steel

Done ! I finally finished this book. I had started it a long time ago, just after reading The naked sun, its immediate sequel in the robot series of Asimov. When I read The naked sun I got completely hooked by the robot character in the book “R. Daneel Olivaw”. So even if I started in the wrong order I decided to discover the series and start from the beginning by reading The caves of steel. Personally I preferred by far The naked sun and I will probably write a review about it more detailed than this one. But until I find the time to do that, here are my impressions about The caves of steel.

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“Of course ! I’m a professional monkey”

What a lousy week

Welcome back

Last week I took a day off on Friday. So when I came back to work on Monday morning I was all bright and shiny ready to work happily. Then, a product manager came to me with a ten feet face. She said “we are so late, the journalists are not happy, I received a very angry email from them saying that the website we launched last week is crap.” Then she pulled out a pile of post-its and as she was sticking them on the wall she said “We need to do all this. It’s for last week.” That set the tone of my lousy week.

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Movie review : Prometheus

Noomi Rapace - Prometheus

This week-end I went to see the movie Prometheus. I got a mixed feeling out of it. A part of me loved being propelled years away in the future, and the other part is frustrated to come back to the present without any more answers, my mind is still hungry. The movie tells the story of the quest of humans to meet with their galactic “engineers”  – our original creators. With this interesting plot, I expected the movie to be more philosophical but in the end it is another alien movie, but still a good one. I have 4 impressions to share about the movie:

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A relic from the past that makes you gasp and marvel at the present

Evolution of the role of software engineer

Guess !

Quiz question : do you know what that is ?

If you were not a software geek during the 70’s, you probably have no idea. As a tip though, you should know that this represents in fact a one line machine instruction. So, have you guessed? No idea? Well, in that case, I’m very happy to introduce you to the punched card ! Ok, as a highly cultured reader you probably knew, but in my case I had no idea until I discovered it during my blogging coma. It’s a big discovery ! When you know what I discovered you’ll gasp and marvel.

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