patrickbeja.com

[Update 10 avril] Sans réponse d’aucun d’entre eux, j’ai envoyé un deuxième message au même groupe. Voir en fin d’article.

Bonjour à tous !

Comme j’en ai souvent parlé dans le Rendez-vous Tech, il me semble important de contacter nos députés pour les sensibiliser aux sujets qui nous préoccupent. Aujourd’hui, la loi sur le renseignement est au centre de toutes nos préoccupations. Elle est à mon sens dangereuses et mal comprise, et je veux faire ce que je peux pour faire en informer ceux qui vont la voter.

J’ai donc appelé cet après-midi six députés parisiens, de droite comme de gauche, pour leur faire part de mon inquiétude. J’ai laissé des messages polis et aimables demandant à être rappelé, et je vous encourage vraiment à faire de même. On peut avoir l’impression d’être une goûte d’eau dans l’océan, mais [ajouter ici une métaphore mielleuse sur l’idée que tous ensemble on est forts].

C’est vraiment on ne peut plus simple avec ce site, il vous guide à chaque étape :

http://sous-surveillance.fr/

A coté de ça, j’ai également décidé de suivre cet appel par un email qui détaille mon point de vue. Je le copie ici, et je vous encourage là aussi à faire de même, voir à copier tout ou partie de ce texte s’il vous convient.

Pour info, voici les compte Twitters (et donc les identités) des députés contactés :

Il s'agist de @ClaudeGoasguen @JF_Lamour @fdebeauce @SeybahDagoma @annick_lepetit @S_Mazetier. 3 droite 3 gauche 3 hommes 3 femmes. (2/3)

— Patrick Beja (@NotPatrick) April 3, 2015

Et dans tous les cas, appelez vos députés !! 🙂

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Mesdames et messieurs les députés,

J’ai appelé vos bureaux respectifs ce vendredi après-midi dans le but de vous faire part de ma préoccupation au sujet de la loi sur le renseignement sur laquelle vous allez être amenés à voter d’ici une dizaine de jours.

J’ai laissé des messages sur chacun de vos répondeurs, et je serai très heureux d’être rappelé pour connaitre vos positions sur cette loi. Je pourrai aussi vous donner à cette occasion le détail de ce qui me préoccupe dans l’approche qu’elle prend : nous sommes tous pour l’idée de donner aux services de police et du renseignement des outils plus efficace pour nous protéger, mais il semble que cette interprétation de notre protection allie une fausse idée de la technologie à une mauvaise compréhension de son application.

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When I first started watching Banshee, I thought this was kind of a crappy-but-fun show. Full of raw violence, bordering-on-pornography sex scenes, ridiculously outlandish storyline, silly comic book-y vilains… Yeah, that would be fun for a couple of episodes, and then I’d move on. Well, Banshee is all that, for sure. There is no sugar coating it: it’s trashy, and it’s certainly not for everyone. But it’s also so much more! It’s not the best show ever produced, but it is a bloody damn excellent one.

I could get into all the reasons why I think it’s so great: visceral action (some of the best fight scenes I’ve ever seen, TV and cinema included), excellent acting (not only do most of the performances make these outlandish characters believable, they also make you feel for them – before you realize they’re deeply troubled and twisted people, the lot of them!), outstanding writing (more happens in half a season than in two seasons of any other show; there’s no stretching things out forever just to milk a story; finish the story with a bang – or ten – and then make another story, even more satisfyingly eye popping than the first!), and so much more. The “easy things” in this show (sex and violence) are augmented by realized characters and incredible writing and production values, in a way I don’t think I’ve ever seen before (at least not for something “trashy”). So I could spend 30 minutes telling you about everything that’s cool about this show, but instead I’ll focus on one thing: Job, wonderfully portrayed by Hoon Lee.

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Hi all,

I wanted to say a few words about Gamergate. That’s not an easy task. The problem is that it is a very complex topic, easily mired in semantics and empty arguments. Discussions usually get derailed when people try to address the topics of ethics in video game journalism, and women’s representation in video games and the video games industry.

In order to keep my articles on topic, I chose to write three: one for each of these, and one for the topic I actually wanted to tackle. The aim is to compartmentalize the discussions and to avoid launching into unrelated circular debates, which ends up obfuscating the real questions.

So here are the three articles:

• On the nature of Gamergate
• On women’s representation in gaming
• On journalistic ethics in gaming

If you do me the kindness of reading them, please keep in mind the topic being addressed by each. The first one obviously touches on the other two, but does so through its specific lens, which is very limited. If you find you would rather get a serious discussion on those, the other articles are what you’re looking for.

I would also like to add a few disclaimers, so all the cards are on the table and you can judge these with all the information:
I am a life long gamer and have owned and enjoyed almost every gaming machine out there; that goes almost without saying. I could also be considered part of the gaming press, or at least gaming media: I have done freelance work for various publications when I was in Japan at the turn of the century, and have published sites, blogs and podcasts on video game related topics since the mid nineties. Finally, I was, until very recently, employed by a large video game developer as a PR manager, which makes me affiliated with the industry itself as well.
I suppose that makes me biased on all fronts. Personally, I like to think it also makes me informed on all fronts.

If you haven’t read this post, please do so first. Thanks!

Hi, how’s it going? Me? Oh, I’m great. Ok, this is going to be… interesting.

So I’ve been looking into Gamergate in the past few weeks. I’ve read a lot of articles about it, neutral, pro and con. But I haven’t limited my edification to “press” sites or blogs; I’ve gone through the hashtag on Twitter on a regular basis, I’ve browsed through Reddit and 8chan boards, I’ve read literature and documentation and watched videos that were linked from there, and more.

I honestly think I’ve done my homework, and I honestly believe I understand a reasonable amount of what makes the Gamergate movement. I’m sure many people will disagree with my characterizations, probably on both “sides” of the issue, and that’s fine. This is my assessment, and I believe it to be accurate, but you don’t have to agree.

One thing I would encourage you to do though, is to read the full article before commenting or deciding that I’m wrong or right. This is a very, very complex topic, and you can’t get the full picture by just reading the first few sentences.

Also please note that I’m not doing a “History of Gamergate” here. I’m just trying to give my understanding of what it is and how if functions today.

Ok, first things first: what is Gamergate?

Here is the easiest way I can summarize it: at its core, it is a hashtag that anyone can use to speak up, and that most are using to voice concerns that have to do with gender issues and ethics in gaming.

Who are the people who are part of Gamergate?

Members of the Gamergate movement are the people who identify themselves as members of the Gamergate movement.

That’s it. There is no official structure or organisation, and it can be anyone who uses the hashtag. Which is why it is also so difficult to understand.

How big is this movement?

Nobody knows. A few dozen thousand people maybe? Hard to say. The Gamergate hastag has seen over two million Tweets in two months, and is still active. Let’s say each Gamergater averages 10 to 20 tweets per month; we get 50 to 100K individuals. But really, this is shoddy guestimating. Again, nobody knows. What we do know is that it’s not an insignificant number of people.

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Before you read this post, please read that one first. Please. I’ll repeat the main point here in case you don’t: this article isn’t about ethics in video game journalism, and it isn’t about Gamergate. Gamergaters I’ve come across have consistently told me the movement was *not* about women. Well friends, I’m taking you at your word: this doesn’t interest you. I have other articles on those topics that do.

It’s really quite simple, and fairly easy to understand: games have been targeted at an exceedingly young white male audience, and the representation of women in them has been lacking at best, and insulting at worst. Some might disagree with the “at worst” part, but I don’t think many will disagree with the “at best” one. The only disagreement there would be about the reasons, explanations and justifications for that “lacking” representation. For most people though, it is likely linked to the fact that games are created almost exclusively by men. That much is difficult to dispute.

For my part, I tend to think of the result as insulting and embarrassing. Not as a feminist, but as a human being, who also happens to consider women to be human beings. I don’t agree with everything Anita Sarkeesian and Brianna Wu and others are saying, but only because I don’t think anyone ever agrees 100% with anyone else when discussing a complex topic. You can only fully agree with someone if they’ve simplified the discussion to the point that it looses its meaning. So I don’t agree with everything. But I agree with most things.

I can summarize it this way: in 20 or 30 years, when we look back at the games we were creating and playing, we’ll be embarrassed for how they “treat” women. The same way that we are embarrassed today when we look at how films or TV presented people of color only a few decades ago. Those seemed “reasonable” at the time, too.

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If you haven’t read this post, please do so first. Thanks!

Journalistic ethics in the video games press… That is one tough nut to crack.

Short version: There isn’t more of an issue today than there has been since video games were invented. Actually, there is probably less of an issue than there has ever been, for a number of historical reasons I won’t get into here. Issues in video game journalism exist, but no more than in other similar large industries. Also, they are discussed (and addressed) as they appear, usually by the gaming journalists community itself, which is important. Nobody is blind or hiding some kind of wide epidemic or conspiracy in that field. Thanks for reading!

Long version:

First, let me say this: if you think it’s a simple issue (“just be independent, damnit!”) then you are suffering from a serious lack of understanding of the mechanics of entertainment media, the economics of the web, and the curse of the human condition of “needing to eat to stay alive in order be able to keep creating media”. Also, while the core of the issue of ethics can be discussed and is important, it certainly doesn’t revolve around the media’s relationship with tiny indie developers or individuals’ support of crowd funded projects. So if we really want to discuss ethics in game journalism, let’s do that.

First, let’s look at three basic elements:

• The core issue in all journalism is indeed about being independent. About being able to write what you really think.
• The main impediment to independence in journalism is your subject matter pressuring you to alter your reporting.
• Creating media, like any other enterprise, costs money. And to get money, we have two options:
  • Get customers to pay
  • Advertising
  • That’s it. There isn’t a magical third bullet.

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Dear English speakers,

Interacting with a bilingual community is often a delicate balance, especially on social media, but it is something that is really important to me. I usually try to post mostly in French from morning to mid-afternoon Paris time (when the ‘mericans aren’t all awake yet), and in English in late afternoon and at night. This isn’t a hard rule, just one I try to follow more often than not, usually erring on the side of the more universal “burger speak” (sorry Brits, I couldn’t find a cutely offensive image for you guys. They were all just offensive. That’s right, I haven’t forgotten Waterloo).

Anyway! In the past couple of weeks, the French/English balance has been a bit out of whack, and I wanted to take a few minutes to explain what’s been happening, in case you’re not aware.

The core of it is that I am soon going to be leaving my day job (or, as people sometimes call it, my “real” job) to dedicate myself to the noble art of Podcasting and independent media. As you can imagine, it was a really tough decision (my job was really cool), but I am beyond excited about what’s coming next.

Still, excitement makes for poor sustenance.

Thanks for the laugh, Graham!

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Chers amis, l’heure est grave. Si vous ne l’avez pas fait, je vous invite à regarder cette vidéo. Le texte solennel vient après.

Donc voila, nous y sommes : je quitte mon “vrai” travail fin octobre. Une démission sèche, sans filet. C’était un emploi sûr, dans une grande société solide, qui développe des produits auxquels je suis fier de contribuer.
“Mais bon sang, quelle mouche a bien pu le piquer ?!”, vous dites-vous, effaré… Et bien j’espère apporter avec cet article quelques éléments de réponse. (more…)

Amis du Rendez-vous Tech, bonjour ! Excellente nouvelle pour ceux qui voudraient soutenir l’émission : je viens de lancer une opération de crowdfunding (sur la plateforme “Patreon”, très différente de Kickstarter ou Ulule). Si vous voulez en savoir plus, je vous invite à regarder la vidéo d’introduction ci-dessous. 🙂

Si vous êtes convaincu, rendez-vous sur la page Patreon !

Et pour ceux qui préfèrent les explications écrites :

J’ai créé le Rendez-vous Tech en 2009 pour parler d’un sujet important qui nous affecte tous : l’actualité de la technologie et d’Internet. Trop de gens comprennent encore trop mal cet univers parfois trop complexe ou rébarbatif, et beaucoup n’ont pas le temps de lire les dizaines d’articles et de sujets qui défilent chaque jour… Le but était donc simple : informer et distraire.

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Ressorti des archives, cet article publié à l’origine sur le site de NoWatch.net reste assez intéressant pour ceux qui veulent se lancer dans l’aventure du podcast audio. Je le re-publie tel quel pour ceux auxquels ça pourrait être utile, et je le mettrai sans doute à jour à l’avenir, pour qu’il reste une référence valable.

[MAJ octobre 2016 : nouveaux outils logiciels d’enregistrement]

Salut à tous !

Depuis que j’ai commencé le podcast, je reçois plusieurs fois pas mois la même question : un auditeur, curieux et particulièrement motivé, cherche à savoir ce dont il aurait besoin pour débuter. Enregistrement, montage, publication… tout ça n’est pas forcément simple, et mon premier conseil est toujours de faire des recherches soi-même sur le web (il y a plein d’infos et d’explications, et rien ne remplace la connaissance qu’on acquiert en faisant les choses soi-même). Mais je donne aussi une liste qui peut servir de très bon point de départ, voir de “package complet” pour débuter.

Voici donc cette liste, agrémentée de quelques explications, en espérant qu’elle réponde aux questions que se posent certains d’entre vous. A noter que je parle de podcasts audio uniquement ; pour un podcast vidéo, il faut multiplier le temps, l’énergie et le matériel nécessaire par… beaucoup ! 🙂

Podcast audio – le petit guide du débutant

Avant même de commencer, il faut :

• De la motivation, parce que ça sera plus dur que vous ne l’imaginez.
• Du temps, parce que ça prendra plus de temps que vous ne l’imaginez.
• Rester raisonnable. On peut commencer à un épisode par mois et augmenter la fréquence, le contraire est moins facile. Le pire étant de se lancer tête baissée dans un rythme qu’on ne peut pas tenir, et de s’épuiser en route. Nombre de podcasts meurent après trois ou quatre épisodes.
• Un but. Sachez ce que vous voulez faire, visez un sujet particulier et travaillez un minimum votre émission. Le mieux est de parler d’un sujet qu’on maîtrise, pour apporter de base une valeur d’information à vos auditeurs. Vous n’avez pas besoin d’être parfait (personne ne l’est jamais, et surtout pas au début), mais un minimum de rigueur vous aidera beaucoup à l’enregistrement.
• Un peu d’argent. Il est possible tout faire au système D, mais il n’y a pas de miracle, et vous aurez très vite envie (et besoin) de dépenser au moins quelques dizaines d’euros, voir un peu plus. Une broutille, pour créer un média diffusé dans le monde entier !

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