"Privacy is dead, and social media hold the smocking gun." (2/2) Nevertheless, these companies (such as Facebook, Twitter, Google) claim that they didn’t “shoot” privacy. It wasn’t a murder because all these photos published on Instagram, these brief messages posted on Twitter, were made wilfully. No one forced the users to do so. In a sense, they are not totally wrong. In my opinion, social media are not the ones holding the smocking gun, they are the ones who gave it to the internet users. We did the rest. We decided to shoot. Moreover, these corporations recall that people agreed with the data policies. They have digitally signed it when subscribing. As result, not only did the users publish their private information knowingly, but also, they gave them the legal authorisation to collect them. Despite this, we can ask ourselves wether or not we had another option? In short, could we be up to date with our environment, with our society, without social media? Do you want to know more about this university in which you are interested by, before applying? Join this group of students on Facebook! Do you want this cool graphic app on Google Drive for your report on chemistry due for tomorrow? Allow the company to access to all the information linked to your Drive! Do you want to have a dynamic professional network and appear as an up-to-the-minute person to an employment agency? Sign up on LinkedIn! Today’s society is instantaneous. Everything flashes by. So, if you don’t want to be left aside, being connected thanks to social media is not an option but an obligation! At the same time, this deep metamorphosis of our society didn’t take place in a second, in a shot, as Pete Cashmore advocates it. It took time but didn’t make a sound. To sum up, privacy is dead. Today, we don’t take it for granted and tomorrow, we will pay to have some. Nonetheless, even if social media started it, we are also responsible. We accepted these conditions but they were in reality imposed, not by companies like Facebook or Twitter, but by our society. It evolved slowly but before we realised our privacy was at stakes, it was already too late. Under those circumstances, the real question is not whether privacy is alive or dead but whether or not we can resuscitate it! Thanks in advance for any correction or comment ^^!

"Privacy is dead, and social media hold the smocking gun." (1/2) “ We collect the content and other information you provide when you use our Services, (...) information about the people and groups you are connected to and how you interact with them, (...) contact information you provide if you upload, sync or import this information (such as an address book) from a device, (...) information from or about the computers, phones, or other devices where you install or access our Services”. This may seem to you as an extract of George Orwell’s famous novel, 1984, but it’s actually not the words of Big Brother but the ones of someone you know much better and probably interact with every day: Facebook, the archetype of social media, these online communications channels devoted to content-sharing, interaction and community-based input. Pete Cashmore one day declared “Privacy is dead, and social media hold the smocking gun.” To put it simply, in our ultra connected society, does the word “privacy” still have a meaning? First, we will discuss about the possible death of our privacy. Second, we will argue that social media are not necessarily to be considered as responsible. Third, we will deliberate in order to know if this phenomenon has been as abrupt as suggested in the quote. Nowadays, there is no need to be a secret agent of the NSA to know what Mr. X’s favourite movies are, where does he live, with whom his married, what did he look like at the last party he went to, etc. By googling one’s name, in 90% of the cases, you will find a photo of that person. However, this is only what you, as a random user of the internet, can find. As underlined at the beginning, with the quote of Facebook’s data policy, we immediately realise that every byte of information is being collected, stored and sold. With all these tiny but significant details, it’s a piece of cake for these corporations to make a meticulous and thorough summary of every user’s private and public life. At the present time, the huge majority communicates, exchanges and therefore, build their personal life thanks to these social media: you ask some help by WhatsApp, invite your friends to your party this Friday via Facebook and call your grandmother on the other side of the planet using Skype! When we know that these pieces of information are all collected by social media, yes, we can affirm with Pete Cashmore: privacy is dead!

"Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies" Thomas Jefferson In the 19th century, the 3rd president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson said “Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.” But, what does this quotation exactly means?To put it simply, we could summarise it by saying that banks are the establishments that have the power to reduce to chaos our society and cause greater damage that any other “traditionnal” war. Sadly, history prooved us that Jefferson’s quotation was more than correct. Indeed, nowadays, all our world is based on economy and this globalised economy is supported by banks. As a result, the close down of the planet’s biggest banks such as HSBC would jeopardize the entire world stability. For example, in 2008, with the subprime crisis, many banks almost had to shut down. People were not able to pay they debts anymore and banking establishments found themselves with thousands of houses or other types of private properties that had been given as guarantee for their clients’ loans. Government have felt forced to save the banks by injecting millions of dollars to avoid bankruptcy. This event is actually the origin of a global crisis, especially devastatrice in the United States. Until now, many countries still face great difficulties due to the banks’ management errors. To put it in a nutshell, banking establishment have nowadays an incredible power over our society that they are maybe not able to manage it correctly. They then become a bigger threat than any other army. Thanks for any corrections ;) !

When do we use prepositions in Chinese? I have been learning chinese for two years. However, I never know when to use and where to put chinese preposition. For example, can you say? - 我在房间里正在学习汉语。= I'm studying in my room. - 我把书放桌子上。= I put the book on the table. 谢谢给您的帮助!

返回学校 今天, 我返回学校了. 我很高兴看见我的朋友! 现在, 暑假结束了! 我有一个新的老师. 他教哲学. 这是第一的年我学习哲学. 我希望喜欢哲学! 谢谢给你的帮忙!

How do we use 干杯 ?

When do you use the measure word 份?

复杂 or 难 ? 大家好! I just learnt today 复杂. However, I don't know what are its differences with 难... When do you use 复杂, when do you use 难?