Travel Tips for Globetrotting Geeks - A Guide to Mastering the Art of High Tech Travel From wired:
“So you’ve decided to leave the comfort of your nerd-friendly lair and head out to explore the larger world. Perhaps a conference in Bangkok beckons, or maybe a Linux gathering in Europe. Even a trip with the family to some deserted isle?
Whatever the case, no self respecting geek goes globetrotting without preparation, research and a serious stash of appropriate gadgets. To save you from having to scour the net, here’s Wired’s guide to mastering the art of high tech travel.
Inspector Gadget
Here’s the first question: what gear should you bring? Furthermore, how do you keep it powered up and safe from harm and/or theft?
For full details on what you need to make sure all your gadgets have plenty (and the right kind) of electricity, check out our Stay Plugged In While Traveling guide. Once you have your power adapters in order, it’s worth asking which devices you should bring and which ones you can get by without.
Laptops
The laptop is tempting, and in many cases a must-have, especially if your destination is a conference or meet-up. But if you’re just traveling for pleasure, a good internet cafe is all you need. Going “topless” also spares you the added weight and hassle of lugging a computer around.
If you do have to bring your beloved portable, PACK A CABLE LOCK. This gives quite a piece of mind if you want to leave your hotel room for a dinner without having to worry that your hardware is gonna be missing when you get back.
The availability of internet cafes abroad varies, but generally speaking, they are not hard to come by unless you get well off the beaten tourist path. Do some searching and see what those who have already been to where you are going have found.
Tip: Mac users take note, you will almost always find Windows PCs in internet cafes.
Tip: A number of internet cafes have started banning USB sticks, which ruins your ability to Carry Your Desktop Anywhere with Portable Apps. The practice isn’t widespread enough to preclude carrying a USB stick, but you may encounter a few spots where your thumb drive is frowned upon. On the plus side, more and more have Firefox installed.
Tip: Bring a USB stick that is…”
Read more
Google’s Street View Meets Resistance in France
From slashdot:
“Google has begun to scan the streets of Paris as part of its Street View service, but the company may be hindered from publishing them unedited. The reason? French privacy laws. Google may be forced to blur faces or use low-resolution versions of the photographs. The Embassy of France in the U.S. has a page devoted to French privacy laws, that says the laws are needed to ‘avoid infringing the individual’s right to privacy and right to his or her picture (photograph or drawing), both of them rights of personality.”
France Puts Spying on French Residents On Hold - For the Moment From yahoo:
“The French government will “suspend” the use of new software for recording the personal habits and affiliations of its citizens in a police database, following an outcry by civil rights groups.
Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie took the decision Tuesday to suspend trials of the Ardoise software while officials consider how to reconcile privacy rights and operational needs, her spokesman confirmed Thursday.
Ardoise is the front end for a new police central database, Ariane, which is destined to replace those used by France’s two law enforcement groups, the Police and the Gendarmerie.
Still in a test phase, Ardoise and Ariane are intended to help combat crime by encouraging the services to share information, and by allowing them to data-mine the pooled data. The existing Police computer, STIC, and that of the Gendarmerie, Judex, hold information about criminals, suspects, witnesses and victims of crime.
Campaigners say that Ardoise infringes civil liberties by allowing law enforcers to tag a person’s file with annotations including “runaway child,” “handicapped,” “homeless,” “trade unionist,” “alcoholic,” “narcotics user,” “transvestite,” “transgendered,” “homosexual,” “prostitute,” “person who frequents prostitutes,” “psychologically disturbed” or “member of a sect,” simply by picking them from a list.
“Membership of trade union or one’s sexual preferences have no place in a police file in a democracy,” said online rights group Odebi, adding that it is not enough simply to suspend implementation of the database.
The database also holds information about religion, sexual orientation and race, according to the Interior Ministry.
It’s not the first time that a French government has faced protests over the creation of a central database linking government computer systems. The government’s plans to create the System for Administrative Files Automation and the Registration of Individuals (Safari) caused a scandal when they were uncovered in 1974, leading to the creation of the National Data Processing and Liberties Commission (CNIL). Safari also prompted a series of tough data protection laws obliging database owners to register their activities with the CNIL and giving citizens the right to correct data held about them.
The CNIL is among the organizations angered by Ardoise, because the government has not sought the necessary legal approval for combining the data held in the various police databases, its president Alex Türk wrote in an open letter to the Minister of the Interior on April 15. Such processing is supposed to be approved by the CNIL and by a statutory order of the Council of State.
The Ministry replied to that letter saying that the field for storing a person’s sexual orientation, religion or race in Ardoise is only supposed to be completed if it is relevant to an investigation, and that the CNIL has in any case already approved storage of the same kinds of information in the Police database STIC.
Tuesday’s suspension only concerns the test phase for Ardoise “for the simple reason that software can’t enter service until the CNIL has given its opinion and Council of State has examined the statutory order concerning the new system,” the Alliot-Marie’s spokesman Gerard Gachet wrote in an e-mail Thursday.
After the CNIL’s April 15 letter, Alliance Police Nationale, a trade union for police officers, called for the test version to be amended in accordance with CNIL’s recommendations so that its use could not lead to discrimination.
Another police union, Synergie-Officiers, said the software had been created too hastily, without consideration of operational needs or officers’ opinions.
But Synergie-Officiers supported storage of information about the race and religion of suspects and victims. In France some violent crimes attract tougher sentences if motivated by racial or religious hatred, and the union warned that if campaign groups want such hate crimes pursued more vigorously, then police need a way to identify the relevant information about attackers and victims during investigations.”
Tags: france, big+brother, privacy+threatened, software, civil+liberties
Read & Go: New E-Newspaper / Book Reader in France 
Jumping on the e-reading bandwagon like Kindle (except without a keyboard), Orange and partners Le Monde, Le Parisien, Les Echos, L’Equipe and Télérama are joining together to offer a wireless, touch screen mobile e-newspaper reader that resembles a flat, black Etch a Sketch (sans knobs). They are still testing the product.
The Read&Go has a storage capacity of 1 Gb – more than 200 newspapers – and also contains a e-library of thirty or so books (literature, comic strips, children’s and practical publications, etc.) provided by Feedbooks, Médiatoon (Dargaud, Dupuis, Lombard et Kana) and Mango editions.
I’m still waiting for an e-reader for my Nintendo DS
. I’d use that!
More info here (pdf)
[via]
Tags: france, orange, e-reader, kindle, newspapers, wifi, touchscreen
Digitizing The Mona Lisa 
Lumiere Technology digitized the Mona Lisa and describes the process.
Watch the video
Tags: paris, france, mona+lisa, louvre, art, videos, digitzing
Carrefour will offer downloadable movies From electronista:
“France-based Carrefour Group will launch a movie download service, the world’s second biggest retailer announced at the PEVE Digital Entertainment conference in Paris on Friday. The service will allow customers to buy movies or rent movies and rent TV programs. The Group already operates supermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores that carry DVDs in Europe, and wants to expand its focus on entertainment, bringing it closer to customers.
Carrefour’s international non-food chief, Christophe Geoffroy, said the shopping experience would be simple and fast, with downloads taking about 3 minutes, suggesting a possible streaming experience. He went on to say video-on-demand market in Europe isn’t great, but is expected to grow. Some analysts predict Europe’s movie download market will be worth over about 690 Euros (over $1 billion) by 2011.
Carrefour isn’t the only or the first major retailer to seize the opportunity, as earlier this week, British retailer and grocer Tesco opened its own music and video site, with a larger focus on MP3 album and singles sales.
The group would continue to sell DVD videos at its current stores throughout France, Spain, Belgium and Italy, of which it has a 13.3% market share. Pricing for its downloads, nor a launch date, have yet been announced.”
Tags: france,, carrefour,, download+movies
Possible Price Cut on iPhones in France From macnn:
“Apple is in discussions with Orange about lowering the cost of the French iPhone, Les Echos reports. The newspaper cites an inside source, who claims that Apple is putting pressure on Orange to change to a subsidized pricing model, under which the public would have to pay less for the device. At present Orange is charging at least €399 ($635), making not only for an expensive product, but one of the most costly versions of the iPhone in Europe. Apple is said to be disappointed with sales of the iPhone in France, which recently crossed the 100,000 threshold, and in Europe in general. This is likely one of the reasons for price cuts elsewhere, which have seen the 8GB iPhone fall to £169 in the UK, and just €99 in Germany. Apple may also be hoping to clear out inventory in advance of a 3G iPhone release this summer. Orange is said to be willing to go along with Apple’s plan, but negotiating for a better revenue-sharing agreement in order to compensate for lower profits on each iPhone sold.”
Tags: france, apple, orange, iphone
Karma! Sony BMG busted for software piracy in France From gizmodo:
“Ouch, that payback, it can be a bitch — Sony BMG, distributors of rootkit-installing CDs and litigious foe of P2P users worldwide, has just been busted in France for using pirated software on its servers. And it gets even worse: Windows admin tool developer PointDev says a Sony BMG was caught when an IT staffer actually called up for support and gave a pirated license number to the phone tech. That’s some pretty shady behavior for a company that’s rammed anti-piracy measures down its own customers’ throats — too bad it’s probably not going to feel the hit of the €300,000 ($475,000) lawsuit nearly as hard as the college students it routinely sues for $5,000.”
Ma Pomme Tao - Mixing Apples with Apple 
What do you get when you take my preferred computer platform, Macintosh - and mix it up with Vietnamese cuisine, a postcard perfect medieval French village and friendly service? Answer: My new favorite restaurant/Mac store in Sarlat!
I’m not kidding. This is a Mac Store AND a Vietnamese restaurant; yes, all in the same place. (Not an official Apple store, but a reseller.) What could be a better combination?
The awesome collective power of Mac and Southeast Asian food beckoned us to give Ma Pomme Tao a try and now a mention because it was one of those awesome and unique finds when wandering around France. Actually, I probably wouldn’t have mentioned it if the food was bad, which it wasn’t. In fact, the food was exquisite.
Most of the restaurants in Sarlat cater to the tourist looking for regional specialties like cassoulet, confit de canard, foie gras and other heavy yet yummy dishes from the southwest, but the beauty of Ma Pomme Tao, is that if you are in Sarlat for more than a few days, once in a while you will need something different: say, a store that sells Macs and iPods, oh and meal-wise, something other than meat slowly cooked and drenched in goose fat. Ma Pomme Tao was the refreshing alternative and offers all that, even vegetarian dishes; what a concept! Seriously. Vegetarian dishes are hard to find here.
We couldn’t wrangle our entire party of 6 to the restaurant, so we had to order out. More points go to Ma Pomme Tao for having take out! Everything we ordered was really excellent even the xung-xa (jelly) desserts they offered us for free. (What we ate: Vegetarian nems, shrimp nems, bo-bun, beef lemon lemongrass salad, crispy noodles and vegetables, the luc-lac beef, 5 spice pork meatballs, beef sate skewers, shrimp wrapped around sugar cane.)
Highly recommended.
Ma Pomme Tao
37, avenue Thiers
24200 Sarlat-la-Canéda France
+33 5 53 59 71 88
*reservations are required*
email: tao-la-cantine@orange.fr (restaurant)
email: postmaster@ma-pomme-tao.com (store)
Related: hotels in sarlat
Get to Know France Intimately by Playing This Game 
Oftentimes people will refer to their region’s department by a number, which totally perplexes me since I just have no idea what they’re talking about. I just don’t know them. Also there are numbers on license plates that indicate where the driver is from, so if you know which number represents their corresponding department, you’ll know where they’re from, for what that’s worth. (For now, at least. I heard they will be getting rid of these numbers on plates, so you won’t know where that driver is from.) With all of France’s regions, departments, numbers, etc., and there are a LOT to know (for a relatively small country), it might or might not help you to learn some of them. So if you’d like to get to know France more intimately, play this game. Here, you’ll get quizzed on French prefectures, regions and departments (by name, by number), and rivers. It’s hard! But, it can be helpful when reading the news about France and when someone, say at a party, tells you about 21. You can happily respond, “You’re from Cote d’Or? LOVE that department.” Or something to that effect.
Play a game or two at Geographix
Apple Store in Paris - Coming Soon 
According to paris addict, the very first Apple Store will be opening in the gallery of the carousel of the Louvre! This location currently houses the Virgin Mega Store, but I guess they’re outta there soon. Yay! Now you can easily find that new MacBook Air Apple just released. The ultra-thin MacBook you can fit into a manila folder.
Merci! An insanely ginormous THANK YOU to Martin, who heroically saved this blog from hell (aka a wacky evil bug in WordPress). You are the best, Martin!!
A Gift for Travelers 
I’ve been doing the last minute shopping thing! I tried not to but, anyway. I thought I’d mention this GPS as a gift idea. We have an older model but LOVE this thing. We don’t get lost any more (and believe me, we’d get lost a LOT.)
Yay. You can use this nifty Tom Tom Go GPS in all the places you travel in the car (and walking around).
Get the traveler in your life a fun gadget, and they’ll never have to deal with unfolding maps (and having to refold those things!) again.
Tom Tom Go GPS
Kindle and Philippe Starck 
Some are calling Kindle an amazing reading device from Amazon, but others, like French Designer Philippe Starck, have some issues with its design. I hate to admit it (seeing that Philippe Starck designed this) but I don’t find this digital book reader a very pretty designed gadget either. Watch the video here.
More about Kindle
Sorry about the Downtime Why Travel to France is acting a little kooky and will continue to do a bit more of that today. I’m in the process of switching servers because I’m getting so much more traffic on the site than ever before. I’m not complaining. Thanks, visitors!
While I’m in geek mode, if you are looking for a great company that can host your server, I highly recommend Liquid Web. They are simply the best. Excellent and highly skilled customer service 24/7 - 365 days a year. That includes being open at 3am on Christmas! If you ever have any problems, they are on it right away. (Do you think you can find a French server company open on the weekends, let alone on Christmas? Answer: NO.)
Liquid Web
4210 S Creyts Road
Lansing, MI
48917-9526, U.S.A.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand Teams up with Google Earth 
Here’s a video with our favorite aerial photographer giving a shout out to Google Earth. (He takes some funky farm animal photos too.)
Download it and you can view 500 photos from environmentalist and French photographer and Yann Arthus-Bertrand as a layer in Google Earth.
Video - The Earth from Above (Google Earth)
[via]
Apple Store France - One Day Sale 
Don’t miss today’s special one-day shopping event, Friday, November 30th.* Go to the Apple Online Store for a special one-day-only holiday shopping event. You’ll find lots of iPod, iPhone, and Mac gift ideas.
Go Shopping
*Shopping event is available only at the Apple Online Store on Friday, November 30, 2007, from 12:01 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. GMT and at Apple Retail Stores. Check your local Apple Retail Store for special hours. Sale prices are available while supplies last.
iPhone in France 749 euros ($1112) From AFP:
“The Apple iPhone handset, incorporating mobile phone, multimedia access and music functions, was to go on sale in France with a promotional blitz late on Wednesday, following European launches in Britain and Germany.
Apple hopes that global sales from the initial launch in the United States in June to the end of next year will total 10 million units.
Orange, the mobile phone and Internet arm of France Telecom has obtained exclusive rights to sell the so-called “smartphone” in France. It said on Wednesday that the headline launch price would be 749 euros (1,112 dollars)* when the device first goes on sale late on Wednesday through 12 outlets before a full launch on Thursday.
Orange says that more than 50,000 people in France have already placed orders for the iPhone, which comes with a base cost of 649 euros plus a charge of 100 euros for access to other mobile phone networks.
Existing customers of Orange who do not want wider access will be able to buy the device for 549 euros ($815), or for 399 euros ($592) with a user subscription through Orange.
However, the phone is already on sale at lower prices via several French Internet sites despite the threat of legal action by Orange.
The iPhone was first launched in the United States on June 29, with three-month sales running at 1.4 million units.”
*NOTE: The original article in AFP states that 749 euros equals 505 dollars, but the real conversion is $1,112.
How Well Do You Know Your World? A Game! 
Fun game. You’ll be prompted to find and click on countries, world capitals, cities, famous landmarks - and it’ll tell you how far you were from the actual place. I think my good friend’s 3 year old is better at this game than I am. Oops. Well. I know where France is! And L.A. Sort of.
Play Now
Related: More games:
Cities Game
How Well Do You Know the World Map?
Ouverture Facile
Jeu chiant
L’expresso empoisonné
Run n Roll
Recyle
The Museum
Parallel Parking Game
Ladybugs
Boulangerie the Game
Solitaire
Bloggino 
Paris-based developers (2or3things) has just launched a new service (in beta version) called Bloggino. It’s basically the equivalent of the American Tumblr, where you can “microblog” and publish your text, video, and photos via your mobile phone or by chat services like Yahoo, Jabber, ICQ, MSN, GTalk, etc.
Bloggino
France Plans to Cut Off Internet Pirates From FT:
Internet users in France who download music and films without paying for them could find their web access shut down by a government body, under a ground-breaking industry agreement backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
he plan, which Mr Sarkozy is to endorse in a speech on Friday, will put France at the forefront of the battle against internet piracy with a three-strikes-and-you-are-out policy against repeat offenders.
The proposed enforcement body would use information collected by internet service providers on their high volume users to detect illegal file-sharing. Persistent offenders would be cautioned but could see their internet accounts suspended or terminated if they ignored as few as two warnings.
The proposals have been drawn up by an independent review headed by Denis Olivennes, the chairman of Fnac, a French entertainment retailer.
The music and film industries, internet service providers and the government are all likely to sign up to the plan.
In exchange for the clampdown on illegal downloading, the music industry has agreed to…
Read the full article
iPhone in France From MacNN:
Unofficial reports have indicated what French iPhone customers can expect from the wireless plans that Orange will be offering in conjunction with the impending release. MacGeneration (1 | 2) that the data will be virtually unlimited – for services such as visual voicemail, emails and internet – but Orange says that it reserves the right to limit the data plan to 500MB per month. The company supposedly has upwards of 20,000 handsets available for the launch, which it will have the most stock through its stores on the Champs d’Elysées, in Lyon Cordeliers, and the Marseille Orange Center, with the number of handsets being between 500 and 1000 per shop, while the vast majority of its other stores having between four and 30. Pricing for plans will range between 50 and 120 Euros.
Orange will be reportedly allowing users to unlock their iPhone within the first six months of the contract for 100 Euros, with free unlocking thereafter. The carrier is working hard at optimizing its products and services for the upcoming launch, with the web portal having undergone some maintenance to comply with the iPhone. While Orange’s video service and Unik plans are not yet available for the device, the company should be refining them shortly after launch. reports (
The AppleCare for the iPhone will not be available right away, and any warranty replacements will be handled through Apple, rather than Orange. The Bluetooth headset, dual dock, AC adapter, and the iPhone stereo headset will be available…
Read the full article
Some November Events in France 
Plantes, Fruits et Légumes d’hier et d’aujourd’hui / Past and Present Vegetables
Nov 9, 10, 11, 2007, 10am-6pm - Domaine de Saint-Jean de Beauregard
Domaine de Saint-Jean de Beauregard is well known for its 17th-century château as well as its gardens à la Française. November’s event celebrates plants, vegetables and fruit from past to present.
Entrance Fee: €11 (regular admission); €8 (reduced for large groups, members and students of horticulture groups/schools, large families); free for under 10 y.o.
Website: Domaine de Saint-Jean de Beauregard
Le Parc Australien / Australia Park
Until November 11, 2007, Carcassonne
A five-hectare area just outside of Carcassonne’s Medieval village will make you forget that you’re in France. At Le Parc Australien, you’ll step inside another world that will get you playing a didgeridoo like a pro, and speaking like they do Down Under.
Website: Le parc Australien
Boulogne-sur-Mer’s Herring Festival
November 17, 18, 2007, Boulogne-sur-Mer
Get your herring before they no longer exist! Boulogne-sur-Mer takes advantage of the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau then mixes it with fish.
Ubuntu Release Party in Bordeaux
November 17, 2007, 10am - Bordeaux
Fun Geeks of France are getting together to celebrate the new releases of Ubuntu, Gutsy and Gibbon, Free Software. They’re be a demo of their free version of Guitar Hero called, “Frets on Fire.” Bring food to join in on the Potluck.
Website: Gutsy Party
[thanks for the tip, Angry B!]
Lyon Christmas Market
November 24, 2007, Place Carnot, Lyon
One of my newly favorite cities in France, Lyon, starts its holiday spirit early, so head on down for your dose of gastronomy, live music, arts and crafts.
Chicken Festival
November 24, 25, 2007, Clôtres Jacobins, Saint-Sever, free admission
Grab a most delicious roasted chicken in he medieval town of Saint-Sever. The town celebrates its huge population of chickens every year by eating them!
Website: Saint-Sever
Festival des 38e Rugissants / 38th Festival of the Roars
November 20 to December 1, 2007, Grenoble
Grenoble invites talented musicians and groups from all over the world, and features their fascinating nomadic music at venues all over the city.
Website: 38e Rugissants
Paris Banlieues Tango / Tango in the Suburbs
Until November 27, 2007, Le Satellit Café, Paris
It’s time for Tango, which mean Paris Banlieues Tango, a festival celebrated in the suburbs of Paris.
The French Bowling Experience Remember how I said that everything except flower shops and cemeteries would be closed today, being Toussaint and all? I lied. There were all kinds of places open today, at least in the north. We went out to lunch in Calais, so some restaurants were open, then we went to Cité Europe, a fairly large shopping mall à l’Américaine, also in Calais; all stores were open! The cinema was open and the bowling alley was open, so off we went jouer au bowling (to go bowling). By the way, “bowling” in French is pronounced like BOO-ling, so I always imagine it’s some sort of kooky crazy bowling game with warped balls.
Out of a party of 5, 4 of us decided to play, and I didn’t expect to see any cultural differences in the game but things came up straight away:
1. The game goes by quicker - probably because people never stick with one ball; you simply grab any available ball at the rack, a veritable free for all. (You don’t have to wait for your ball to return!) Most of the racks were overflowing with balls at each lane, leaving none on the shelves.
2. It’s more difficult to bowl - I think this is because of #1 above: you don’t play with the same ball. That’s MY excuse, anyway, and I’m sticking to it.
3. Bowling Etiquette, WHAT Bowling Etiquette? This doesn’t seem to come into play in France. Bowlers next to you go onto the approach even if you’re already aiming and just about to take your shot (You know how you’d wait for the guy next to you to bowl first before you do? That’s what I’m talking about.) Bowlers use other bowlers bowling balls without asking permission (#1). That seems to works fine, however.
4. Lane Guards for Kids - I hadn’t gone bowling for a while so maybe these are everywhere now - but I previously hadn’t seen these lane guards for kids, so they don’t get any gutterballs. That’s ingenius. Now, if they only had those for us adults…
5. Patience - The whole arcade/bowling alley had a power failure so we couldn’t play for 10 to 15 minutes. We had to sit there in the dark. For some reason, I sort of assumed French people would get really riled and grumbly. But no! None of that! I would’ve thought they’d give everyone an extra game to play but they didn’t.
6. The YUCK Factor - Bowling shoes. Yes, that always grosses me out majorly because you have to wear those ugly, nasty shoes that 5 billion people have worn before you. That’s like in the U.S. too. Only. After we finished our game, I went to return the shoes and left them on the counter. The employee told me to just return them back into the shelf where I found them! Which means you’ve worn shoes that 5 billion people have worn before you AND the shoes were never sprayed… OMGOMG!
Happy Halloween! 
In between stuffing yourself on candy corn today, play this time waster game called Bashing Pumpkins!
Play now
