I usually say Benoit Mandelbrot but with Michel Barnier becoming prime minister of France two days ago I might have to change my answer in terms of who's more famous. Benoit Mandelbrot is still way cooler though.

I grew up in the building (on place Bellecour in Lyon) which was used as Gestapo HQ. You don't go into the basement of that building without thinking about it, even if it's just to get your bike. I also remember when he was brought back to Lyon for trial when I was in middle school.

Pre-cutting the cheese is the way to go (speaking as a Frenchman living with PTSD from having witnessed the way American people gut a piece of cheese when serving themselves from a cheese platter).

Many years ago I interviewed to run Product for a startup. They asked me to present what I thought they should do. I built and presented a deck in Google slides. Years later I was still receiving access request emails as the deck was being passed around to new employees of the company.

De-board the plane before the door closes. Karma *will* crash this flight.

Article is from June 2023. "Late last year" would presumably be after June 2023?

Everyone on X right now whose blue checkmark was just returned: "I didn't pay a cent to Elon! I don't know why the blue check is back, I swear. Also, my dog is a rescue."

I'm guessing she's in Nice or nearby.

Some disassembly required