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Hello world... again! Am I Ugly in Grey, or what ??

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Looking for the The Google Font? It is Catull, but found out more about the Google logo by reading the Google Font Page

Fancy reading my Spam collection ? It's even getting multilingual

Linux, Linux, Linux, Linux... want to try it ??? Knoppix is really nice. And easy. Download, burn, reboot. Et voila, Linux is running...

Sex, Icons and Videogames - 05 février 2006

Iconoclasm

Literally, iconoclasm is the destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually for religious or political motives. In Christian circles, iconoclasm has generally been motivated by a literal interpretation of the second of the ten commandments, which forbids the making and worshipping of "graven images".

L'art figuratif en droits juif, chrétien et musulman (via le NouvelObs)

Aniconism is the conviction that artists should not depict human beings. This conviction can be found in several cultures.

The Crescent: A Symbol, Not an Icon

Islam is a monotheist religion with a pure concept and understanding of The Creator as a transcendental God. It is fully against incarnation. That is why the Islamic art and architecture is very distinct and you would not find any statues or even pictures of Prophet Muhammad

Sale bête: Libertas aut molestia

Ce qui m’étonne le plus, c’est l’insensibilité, peu crédible en fait, de ceux qui ont cherché exprès à jouer ce tour puéril, digne, somme toute, des fils de commentaires excédés de chez Little Green Footballs (non, je ne lie pas). Certaines personnes d’une tendance dite « libérale » (sens européen) s’offusquent de la réaction des fidèles en Arabie saoudite ou ailleurs. Soit. Mais j’ai tout de même l’impression qu’il s’agit ici d’un moyen fortuit d’assener des gens dits « inférieurs » ou « superstitieux » ou tout simplement « pas comme nous » plutôt que d’une vraie passion illimitée pour la liberté d’expression.

Et via les commentaires, la satire est une arme (j'ai vite traduit et ajouté quelques liens)

Je pense que les débats sur la liberté d'expression n'ont toujours pas trouvé de réponse adéquate au fait que la satire (et cela inclut l'art de choquer et d'offenser) peut aussi bien être utilisée par les faibles pour faire un joli doigt aux puissants, pour moquer les régnants...; ou bien elle peut être utilisée par les puissants contre des cibles plus faibles, pour exciter les haines ethniques, préserver et renforcer les préjugés populaires ou même préparer des persécutions, des invasions et des guerres. L'exemple type de la seconde utilisation est [ Julius Streicher et son journal Der Stürmer]. L'argument de la liberté de la presse n'a pas été un argument de défense assez solide dans son cas. [voir Nuremberg: Julius Streicher ]

About cocking a snook:

To "cock a snook" at someone is a bit more elaborate than simply thumbing one's nose. To "cock a snook" is a classic display of derision, properly performed by spreading the fingers of one hand, touching the tip of your nose with your thumb while sighting your opponent along the tips of your other fingers (what the British sometimes call a "Queen Anne's Fan," but what we more commonly call a "five-finger salute"), and waggling your fingers in the most annoying way possible. As a gesture, it doesn't really mean anything, but it does convey utter contempt rather well.

Speaking of huge black penises, Lusty Lady: Cock Size Obsession by RKB.She also got a blog Lusty Lady, and some nice photos

Pretty pictures by Stéphane Fugier (another set on his own website) (via Social Porn via reddit NSFW)

A Million Little Pieces, the drug rehab memoir, is more a work of fiction. So people are suing : Oprah's li'l liar sued (via NY1: In the Papers)

Another suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court by social worker Jennifer Cohn, fumed that as a "health care professional" she recommended the book to people with substance abuse and legal problems because of its "redemptive theme."
Cohn is seeking $10 milllion on behalf of consumers she claims were injured by Frey's fibs.

A bookmarklet to get feedback from delicious about the url you're reading: delicious linkback (via wannabe 2.0)

Wired has a long article on the new version of Lego Mindstorms: Geeks in Toyland

Lego's Danish brain trust soon realized that their proprietary code was loose on the Internet and debated how best to handle the hackers. "We have a pretty eager legal team, and protecting our IP is very high on its agenda,"[...] After a few months of wait-and-see, Lego concluded that limiting creativity was contrary to its mission of encouraging exploration and ingenuity. Besides, the hackers were providing a valuable service. "We came to understand that this is a great way to make the product more exciting," Nipper says. "It's a totally different business paradigm - although they don't get paid for it, they enhance the experience you can have with the basic Mindstorms set." Rather than send out cease and desist letters, Lego decided to let the modders flourish; it even wrote a "right to hack" into the Mindstorms software license, giving hobbyists explicit permission to let their imaginations run wild.

NYTimes: Forget the Freedom Fries. All Is Forgiven, Chérie has reviews of various books related to France. I noticed the wonderful book of pictures, The Frenchman, a photographic interview with Fernandel, edited by Taschen

The Obakemono Project is a Gaijin’s guide to Yokai, the fantastic folk monsters of Japan (via Drawn! The Illustration Blog).

My favorite so far is the Aburasumashi - 油すまし (あぶらすまし) (I like its looks )

[The] Japanese archipelago is home to as rich a tradition of goblins, ghouls, and monsters as you'll find anywhere on Earth. A motley collection of animated objects, transformed animals, ogres, demons, and human freaks, these creatures are collectively known as youkai (yoh-kye), or bakemono (bah-keh-mo-no). They feature in countless folktales, prints, and paintings, often rendered with as much humor as horror, a troupe of beasts as charming as they are terrifying.

Blog Carnival lists a few carnivals (in english for most of them). Any equivalent in French ??

Expat Carnival, about expats describing their experience.

Another one, the Carnival of Gamers, this week on Slashdot, with Look Over There about the almost ignored treasure of old videogames and videogames conservation.

05 février 2006 Clés: