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It sounds very strange in translation.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Tue Jun 9th, 2009 at 09:46:17 AM EST
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I suppose that what Cohn-Bendit means is more akin to 'hardware'.
by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Tue Jun 9th, 2009 at 10:10:41 AM EST
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I think he's just suggesting what is inscribed in memory. The ideological fundamentals that don't change easily.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Jun 9th, 2009 at 10:33:28 AM EST
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He means it's written on the hard disk, and cannot be erased (without extraordinary efforts, with a special software he kindly provides with)

Patrice Ayme Patriceayme.com Patriceayme.wordpress.com http://tyranosopher.blogspot.com/
by Patrice Ayme on Tue Jun 9th, 2009 at 10:38:17 AM EST
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by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Tue Jun 9th, 2009 at 10:43:19 AM EST
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Maybe Cohn-Bendit should read Impostures Intellectuelles.

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$E(X_t|F_s) = X_s,\quad t > s$
by martingale on Wed Jun 10th, 2009 at 02:36:39 AM EST
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Maybe he was speaking quickly and using some poorly-thought-out metaphors. Which doesn't, imo, subtract from the overall interest of what he has to say about French and European politics.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed Jun 10th, 2009 at 02:57:07 AM EST
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He was not speaking quickly neither is the metaphor from DCB: it's a classic one from french politics, because usually none of them know how to work a computer.

I distinctly remind JP Raffarin using the same metaphor, and the PS is a usual suspect also.


A free fox in a free henhouse!

by Xavier in Paris on Wed Jun 10th, 2009 at 05:01:33 AM EST
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Yes, in contrast to "software," a/k/a "symbolic-analytic work." <snort> Worth considering, too, are concommitant economic values of capital and expected investment returns, implied by the metaphorical license vested by Westworld legislatures in IT infrastructure, R&D, and marketing, rather than ecological drivers general advocated by "greens".

Econometric literature comparing corporate hardware and software investment over the past 40 years is substantial and indicative.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

by Cat on Tue Jun 9th, 2009 at 11:06:01 AM EST
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Why, because of the words "hard disk" rather than HDD? Or because the metaphor feels strange?
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Jun 9th, 2009 at 10:34:33 AM EST
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The metaphor is strange.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Tue Jun 9th, 2009 at 10:36:27 AM EST
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I sort of assumed it was hurriedly translated idiom, but if it's not, its weird. Hard drives are something I think of as fragile and volatile and passive, so the metaphor seems opposed to the intended meaning.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Tue Jun 9th, 2009 at 10:54:20 AM EST
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It's the literal and everyday translation of "disque dur". You think of it in the way you do because you're an IT professional. I don't think it's a killer metaphor, but the general sense seems clear to me.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Jun 9th, 2009 at 11:15:32 AM EST
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I guess that's why no-one does backups!
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Tue Jun 9th, 2009 at 11:31:28 AM EST
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From anecdotal evidence, I don't know many people who lost their computer harddrive, but I do know many who lost their external harddrive (the main cause seems to be dropping it).
by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Tue Jun 9th, 2009 at 11:47:40 AM EST
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"Real men don't backup."
"Then real men cry."

- Coder's proverb

If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Thu Jun 11th, 2009 at 02:48:34 PM EST
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It's one of lifes lessons that people always learn the hard way.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jun 11th, 2009 at 02:56:44 PM EST
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"software" also sounds very strage to me, both in translation and in the original French.

The brainless should not be in banking. — Willem Buiter
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jun 9th, 2009 at 12:47:06 PM EST
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It sounds odd in French. It sounds a little more odd in English, but just about within the limits of comprehensibility.

'Hard disk' is just eccentric, especially when it's 'the hard disk came up with', because it's not at all clear what it means, or who did the coming up with.

(Policy group? Rank and file membership? Collective hive mind? Guiding metaphysical oversoul? Magic eight ball?)

Excellent piece overall though.

Why isn't he running as a candidate?

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Tue Jun 9th, 2009 at 04:40:06 PM EST
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The "hard disk" produced, to translate literally. I take the expression to mean the habitual ideology ran through its usual grooves and did not invent anything new. Which is certainly true imo. Who dunnit? The leadership mostly.

Why isn't he running for French president (if that's your question)? I think he really believes in, and is well adapted to, the European sphere of politics. I heard him say on Sunday evening he wasn't French, though I thought he had dual nationality: wikipedia says:

Daniel Cohn-Bendit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Being officially stateless at birth, when he reached the age of 18 he was entitled to German and French citizenship, but he renounced the latter in order to avoid conscription.

That would be an obstacle.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Jun 9th, 2009 at 04:58:21 PM EST
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That seems rather strange to me. Both France and Germany had conscription. I know plenty of dual nationals who had to choose where they wanted to do their service.

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$E(X_t|F_s) = X_s,\quad t > s$
by martingale on Wed Jun 10th, 2009 at 02:58:08 AM EST
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Yes, I have a German friend still living here after first coming to France to avoid conscription in the early 1970s.

But it's true Cohn-Bendit was expelled from France in 1968, which would not have been possible had he held French nationality.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed Jun 10th, 2009 at 04:08:35 AM EST
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He was persona non grata throughout the sixties and seventies in FRance. That would explain the choice of German nationality.

A free fox in a free henhouse!
by Xavier in Paris on Wed Jun 10th, 2009 at 05:03:19 AM EST
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For ten years, from 1968 to 1978. But that was only possible because he did not hold French nationality.

French Wikipédia says:

Daniel Cohn-Bendit - Wikipédia

il naît en France de parents juifs allemands réfugiés en France en 1933 pour fuir le nazisme. Daniel Cohn-Bendit est apatride jusqu'à l'âge de 14 ans, où il opte pour la nationalité allemande[3] pour, dit-il, ne pas être soumis au service militaire en France. Il se définit toutefois comme « citoyen européen ».

He was "stateless till the age of 14, when he chose German nationality to, he says, not have to accept military service in France".  There's a reference to a Télélibre.fr interview where he says this.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Wed Jun 10th, 2009 at 05:41:06 AM EST
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Right the French quote is clearer. I imagine German Jewish holocaust kids are probably exempt from German service?

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$E(X_t|F_s) = X_s,\quad t > s$
by martingale on Wed Jun 10th, 2009 at 05:45:36 AM EST
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What's curious is that, at 14, he tried to avoid the military, which took place at 21. That's very insightful for a kid...

A free fox in a free henhouse!
by Xavier in Paris on Sat Jun 13th, 2009 at 04:17:08 PM EST
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He was 14 in 1959. Algerian War? That might have given him some insight.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sat Jun 13th, 2009 at 04:35:17 PM EST
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i think it works ok as analogy.

root axioms, what's buried so deep in the folders that even the owner isn't sure quite where, therefore difficult to access and tinker with.

i guess you call it the ideology driver!

with RAM as ideas that are bandied about in the short term, with the option of being deeper enshrined.

identity as function of memory.

wasn't it tim leary who'd refer to the brain as hardware and the ideas running through it as software?

hive mind is a bit similar, orthogonal.

"I freed thousands of slaves. I could have freed thousands more, if they had known they were slaves." -Harriet Tubman .

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Wed Jun 10th, 2009 at 03:04:39 AM EST
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ThatBritGuy:
Why isn't he running as a candidate?
For what, EP President?

The brainless should not be in banking. — Willem Buiter
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Jun 10th, 2009 at 04:09:06 AM EST
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