19 November 2015

Anonymous, Dark web and a spider's web






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Two articles I stumbled upon recently: " How Terrorists Communicate – Tech Secrets of The Dark Web" on Linkedin Pulse and "Anonymous hackers could be Islamic State’s online nemesis" on the Conversation.com which linked pretty nicely with a book I have just finish: the 4th installation in the new Millenium series.

I found the first author's explanation about the "Dark/deep webs" quite clear and interesting, even if I can't concur with his conclusions around more freedom restrictions. The illustration below in particular summarizes pretty well what he is describing:

 
  We routinely access a fraction only of what is on the web, as most of it is hidden in the deep, available only if one possesses the right keys. And it is pretty murky down there. But helpful if you need to protect yourself from authoritarian regimes for example. Exactly where the Anonymous hackers and the IS operate.


About "The girl in the spider's web" now.
It's not bad. The characters are there, more or less similar to those of the first three books of the series; but not quite. I don't know, is it the dialogues, the attitudes?
The author spends a lot of time developing them though. To the point that it slows the story down sometimes. And I am not sure about the almost "out of this world power" of the baddy here. Not monstrously believable.
The plot is also, and consequently maybe, a bit simplistic. Not up to the complexity of the other books. Disappointing. And why o why do we get to the bottom of things as early as the beginning of the 4th quarter of the book?
Finally and to come back to the beginning of this post, the most interesting parts were those about the hackers, maths, and the psychology of autism. The discussions about the future of AI and the worries it might cause in the scientific communities were a fascinating read too (what a robot 1 million time faster and clever than a human might want to do with that human? Which brings us back to I Robot, Terminator or Matrix.. What will the point become for an intelligent AI of of us being around?)

Not quite what you' d expect for a thriller.




15 November 2015

129 morts, 352 blessés dont 80 en état critique..

http://mobile.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2015/11/14/l-attentat-le-plus-meurtrier-de-l-histoire-de-france_4809782_4355770.html


2ème attentat à Paris depuis un an, le plus meurtrier depuis la seconde guerre mondiale il parait. La France est a nouveau en etat d'urgence. Pas de symbole, juste des gens qui participaient à un concert, des quidams assis à la terrasse de cafés, dans des quartiers populaires de Paris.
Subitement Paris se rapproche de Bagdad et Beyrouth, où justement des attentats similaires ont eu lieu très récemment. Comme si tout était orchestré ensemble.
Kamikazes à Paris ca choque. On se croyait invincibles, loin de tout ça.

Angoisse au ventre samedi matin. Coup de fils et textos a la famille, aux amis sur Paris pour vérifier que tout va bien. Et textos des amis ici qui manifestent leur solidarité.
Et radio en boucle depuis 2 jours. Pour essayer de comprendre.

Je pense a toutes ces vies détruites. A Paris, à Bagdad, à Beyrouth... Et ailleurs..


Et aux 352 blessés à la vie ruinée..
Et aux familles des terroristes, étrangères a cette haine, qui devront vivre dorénavant avec le poids de tout ce sang versé ...