This morning before work, I had to put my bank in Paris on the phone through to my bank in Tokyo.
I seriously don’t know which one of the two spoke the least English.
This morning before work, I had to put my bank in Paris on the phone through to my bank in Tokyo.
I seriously don’t know which one of the two spoke the least English.
Today was the 6th of August, a special day for the Japanese people (I blogged about it a year ago).
Threading on this very tenuous connection, here are a few links of interest to japan-curious readers:
In case you are wondering (you probably aren’t) about this sudden surge in Japan-related material: it’s not [just] me getting all mushy on a Sunday evening and missing people and places 10,000 miles away…
You see, August is also the month where one has to send in their application to take the JLPT in December. Being a glutton for punishment, and despite standing absolutely no chance whatsoever, I have decided to go for Level 2 this year. Well, I think I have. I still have three weeks of studious browsing of the Japanese web to convince myself that this money would be much better spent on cheap imported shochu.
Say no more!
We have what you need:
Behold, the
Wear one at the office and get envious looks from all your coworkers (possibly a few sexual harassment lawsuits too).
I finally took the time to format and update a small paper I wrote last month on the creolization process and its interpretations in cognitive science.
Despite its pompous title, it is very much layman-oriented and designed as a general presentation of creolization.
What is creolization, I hear you ask?
Well, it’s a fascinating phenomenon observed in communities where kids raised by speakers of a pidgin end up spontaneously producing a more grammatically advanced language of their own (a creole). Not only does it happen in practically every known instance of such pidgin-speaking communities, but a similar process has been observed in Nicaragua with sign language.
Beyond their ethnological and linguistics interest, Creolization studies give great insights as to how humans learn to speak and the cognitive process involved.
If you have some interest into either of these fields, you can read the whole thing here:
Creolization and Cognitive Theories of Language Acquisition
And by the way, don’t let the pedantic tone fool you… I don’t have the slightest idea what I’m talking about in there: I am neither a linguist nor much of a cognitive scientist. This particular assignment just happened to have enough wiggle room that I could escape the dreary droning of a typical math’n’physics paper in my choice of topic.
Feel free to post comments, additional info or point out some of the gross inaccuracies no doubt littering the text in the comment area provided to that effect.
You know…
Breezing past some über-snooty Parisian nightclub’s door personnel, wearing your most casual Summer pants and flip-flops, may be the epitome of scenestery cool.
But is sure as fuck doesn’t make it any easier to dance in them.
I’m not sure if anything can still be done for the reputation of this blog, seeing how the past 24 hours have seen an unusually high amount of somewhat sensible, even possibly useful information put here. Frankly, I don’t know if my blogger’s ethics will ever recover.
I will try nonetheless.
Wars of the Geeks is officially over, silly inconsequent navel-gazing is now back for the month.
Let’s start by what should have been yesterday’s sum up of how to succeed at cooking an enjoyable Summer evening with friends. It goes a little something like this:
[steps sideways, does two entrechats and starts singing while tap-dancing to the beat]
Shake but do not stir, serve fresh with cocktail straws.
Such a fabulous evening that our little Cinéma de quartier might very well be on its way to become a regular bi-monthly.
Then there also was yesterday’s recipe: another kind of enjoyable dish. Though it’s made of much harder-to-find of ingredients and I am not even quite sure I remember myself how the cooking process went.
If you absolutely want to try at home, I think it involved a bottle of contraband Absinth, eye-burning Japanese menthol eye drops, one of the most furious thunderstorm of the Summer and lots of Parisian girls running by in the street, wearing but thin blouses soaking wet from the sudden rain.
Also what appears to be a medium-sized rodent stuck to my living room table in a puddle of melted wax and solidifying liquor. But I will only be able to confirm that when I finish removing the few dozens glasses and beer bottles stacked over it.
Time for some Q&A here…
Below are a few of the most oft-heard questions/statements about my previous panic-level-3 announcement regarding a serious security issue in WP and how to easily fix it temporarily (one checkbox to untick)… Along with answers:
Is the date the 1st of April?
If you are running WordPress as your blogging platform and if you have been trusting enough to leave User registration enabled for guests, DISABLE IT IMMEDIATELY (in wp-admin >> options: make sure “Anyone can register” is not checked).
Additionally, delete or disable ANY guest account already created by people you are not sure about.
Or more exactly: I am back closer to an internet connection. Still somewhere down south, albeit in a more family-oriented settings.
These five days in the boondocks were absolute paradise and helped reminding me that, was the choice to come down between: big city and the internets on one side, friends, sun, fresh veggies, cheap wine and homegrown on the other, I’d easily slide toward the latter as a permanent way of life.
During my blissful stay in the heart of French Aveyronais region, I:
Back in P-town this week-end.