First of all, I wish you an excellent year 2026. May it be filled with good cheer and, above all, good health. I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions, but I think I’m getting old because this year I’m making an exception.

Basically, here are my two resolutions. The first one is simple. I want to populate this website a bit more. Not that writing brings me joy, but I see it as killing two birds with one stone. I won’t write just for the sake of it, so I’ll embark on some personal projects that I’ll tell you about later.

The second one is quite simple: I want to reduce my dependence on GAFAM. I already started in 2025, but 2026 will be the year of confirmation.

But first, why?

It all started when I realized the fragility of our emails. In a digitalized world, our mailboxes contain our lives: finances, health, entertainment, social networks, and so on. We receive everything by email, and generally, we use a free email service (Gmail or Outlook). The fact that these services are free means they are monetized in other ways, which usually means targeted advertising. We tend to accuse our smartphones of “spying” on us by listening to conversations, but we forget that our entire digital lives are based on advertising because we refuse to pay for things that should be paid for.

Worse still, our governments are also starting to attack our privacy on the internet. In France, proof of age is now required to visit adult websites. The arguments are always the same: protecting the most vulnerable (in this case, minors). My opinion is very mixed. This argument doesn’t hold water for me because it’s always for security reasons that we introduce repressive laws into common law. Indeed, we cannot oppose the protection of minors, and once the law comes into force, it will be extended to broader cases. As long as democratic governments lead our states, I think the application of the law will be contained. But in times like ours, where the rise of authoritarianism is inevitable, we are giving future governments the legislative tools to control our digital lives. I mean, what could go wrong, right ?

The second problem is that if the law passes without issue, the technical solution to ensure the majority of visitors to adult films has been left to the discretion of private companies. Imagine what will happen when these companies fall victim to a data breach or a cyberattack. In addition to leaking identity proofs, digital ransoms will become much more effective. But, hey, they will keep your data safe, right ?

I am not saying that we shouldn’t fight against the scourge of minors accessing pornography. On the contrary, I believe that the way our governments are combating this in an insufficiante and counterproductive way. In my humble opinion, just as with drug consumption, protecting minors from pornographic content requires complementing coercive methods with more prevention.

Finally, ChatControl, a Danish initiative in the European Parliament to protect minors from pedocriminality, wanted to end end-to-end encryption and have our messages and images read by artificial intelligence. If content is flagged as suspicious, humans will verify it. Without being a computer genius, one can imagine that the number of false positives (i.e., content classified as problematic but isn’t) will be very high, rendering the proposal ineffective. The only consequence will be the end of secure messaging and a new way to weaken our defenses against tomorrow’s authoritarian regimes. I let you check this website that explain better than me the possible consequences of ChatControl.

We need to fight against the pedocriminality very hard, but we should also keep our fundamental rights protected.

Before receiving targeted ads about my romantic misadventures or potential chronic illnesses, I decided to take the lead. Here’s how I’m de-Googling my digital life:

1. Emails: This is what pushed me to migrate and leave GAFAM. I wanted a service that respects privacy and is European. On my shortlist, I kept Tutanota 🇩🇪 and Proton Mail 🇨🇭. After much reflection, I chose Proton and subscribed to one of their paid plans. I’m gradually migrating important services (my bank, Doctolib, PayPal, etc.) to it.
2. Messaging: I’m trying to migrate to Signal, which seems to be the perfect alternative to WhatsApp. The main problem with messaging is that migration doesn’t depend solely on me but also on the people I talk to. Let’s say that whenever possible, I reply on Signal to those who message me on WhatsApp or Messenger. It’s never pleasant, but strangely, it works because those same people now contact me directly on Signal.
3. Cloud storage: Like emails, drives contain a significant portion of important files (e.g., identity documents, medical files, etc.). I opted for Proton Drive, which is included with my Proton subscription.
4. VPN: I didn’t know I needed a VPN, but the more time passes, the more I think it’s important to have one. If only to use Wi-Fi networks other than your own or unsecured ones.
5. No Chromium-based internet browser: This isn’t too hard because I’ve always preferred Firefox. Monopolies are dangerous, whether economic or in internet browsers. We’ve already seen what can happen with ManifestV3. Once again, Google is a private, profit-driven company. They don’t maintain Chromium out of kindness but because there’s an interest in controlling their clients’ internet browsers. Ad blockers directly oppose their interests, and I foresee a world where ads will no longer be blocked on all Chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Vivaldi, Brave, Opera, etc.).

In 2026, I plan to leave Windows on my desktop computer. I’ve always kept a Linux/Windows dual boot, using Windows mainly for gaming. Since gaming has become “easy” on Linux, thanks to Proton (nothing to do with emails) and especially Steam, I no longer see the need to keep Windows. Especially since Microsoft is increasingly including ads within its OS.

What I don’t plan to do right away

Often, when my relatives notice my “radicalism,” there are two reactions:

1. Why are you doing this? I don’t know. I think it’s closely related to the fact that I experienced the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia. During this revolution, the internet played a very important role in sharing information and ideas in a country where traditional freedom of expression was stifled (newspapers, television, youth centers). It was precisely because the internet was free, and social networks had little or no ties to governments, that the revolution took place.
2. But you still have an iPhone? Yes, I don’t completely leave GAFAM. I keep an Apple computer and use an iPhone as a smartphone. I don’t think I’m radical enough to completely leave GAFAM, but there are simple things that can mitigate these companies’ grip on the internet and our lives.

And you? What are your New Year’s resolutions ?

I’m a huge fan of chkobba. It’s by far my favorite card game, and I love playing it with my grandmother, who herself learned it from my great-grandfather—tracing the game back to the 19th century in our family.

At the start of each round, after the cut, the first player draws a card and decides whether to keep it or discard it. Generally, if the card is weak (Ace, 2, or 4, for example), players tend to discard it. If you keep the card, you draw 2 more cards to complete your hand. The second player then deals themselves 3 cards and places 4 cards face-up on the table.

My question: From which card is it profitable to keep the first drawn card?

As with any good question, we first need to clearly define the problem. I define “profitable” as the card that allows me to capture the most cards (and thus earn the most points). I’m not considering the special cases of 7s and diamonds, which are tied to three other ways of scoring points (dinari, barmila, and sab3a el haya). So, “profitable” here simply means: which card allows me to earn the most points on average.

I wrote a short Python script to investigate this. For those interested, you can find the code on GitHub. With this script, I simulated 2 million first rounds and collected the statistics. This is essentially a Monte Carlo simulation, for those familiar with the method.

Disclaimer: When I play a card, I can either capture a card of the same value or capture a combination of cards. In the case of a combination, I always choose to capture the maximum number of cards possible.

My Findings (Math Ahead!)

1. The expected number of cards captured, based on the first card drawn (and kept), follows a non-linear law (a second-degree polynomial fit works very well, with R² = 0.999). However, this is just a fit; the underlying distribution is more complex. In other words, the average number of cards you can capture with the first card drawn is not proportional to its value. This makes sense when you consider the number of possible combinations for each card. A 2, for example, can only capture another 2 or two Aces. A King, on the other hand, offers many more combinations. In fact, every turn in chkobba is a variant of the subset sum problem, which is NP-complete and becomes increasingly complex as the card value increases. In chkobba, the highest card, the King (el rey), is only worth 10, so it remains manageable for both computers and human brains. From the Queen onward (inclusive), keeping the card allows you to capture an average of at least one card (1.06 cards for the Queen, 1.36 for the 10).

2. If we look at the probability distributions of the number of cards captured based on the value of the first card drawn, three broad categories emerge:

   • Weak cards (Ace, 2, 3): These don’t allow you to capture many cards (certainly fewer than the table cards). The probability of capturing at least one card ranges from ~30% to 38%.
   • Mid-range cards (4, 5, 6, 7): These show a gradually increasing efficiency. The 7 captures an average of 0.93 cards, with a ~63% chance of capturing at least one card. Given the central role of the 7 in other chkobba rules, I’d argue it’s worth keeping from the 7 onward—even though, technically, stronger cards exist.
   • Strong cards (Queen, Jack, King): These have the highest capturing power, averaging more than one card captured. The Queen captures at least one card 64% of the time, while the King does so 75% of the time!

Conclusion

If we ignore other scoring methods (dinari, barmila, sab3a el haya), it’s best to keep your card starting from the Queen. However, since these rules do exist and the 7 plays a central role, I personally keep cards starting from the 7. The 6 can also be interesting, but I don’t keep it—you’ve got to take risks in life!

It’s also funny to note that most chkobba players already play optimally. Simulating 2 million first rounds to reach a well-known conclusion isn’t exactly groundbreaking. Still, I’m glad we now have quantitative insights into the advantages of each card.

What about you? What’s your chkobba strategy? Do you keep the 6?

Ma soutenance de thèse a eu lieu le 19 décembre 2018. Le fonctionnement des soutenances à l’université de Sherbrooke est différent de celui en France. Il y a deux soutenances distinctes le jour J:

• une privée en compagnie du jury de thèse où l’étudiant présente en vingt minutes les résultats sayants du doctorat suivie d’une séance de questions-réponses de plusieurs heures.
• une publique, ouverte à tous et qui doit être la plus accéssible possible.

Le titre de ma thèse est: Effets des corrélations électroniques et du champ magnétique dans les semi-métaux de Weyl.

Les semi-métaux de Weyl étant des objets aux propriétés topologiques interessantes, l’intérêt premier de mon travail réside dans une meilleure compréhension de cette phase dans des matériaux fortement corrélés (comme par exemple Mn3Sn). Pour y aboutir, j’ai fait le choix d’étudier le modèle d’Hubbard sur un modèle de semi-métal de Weyl sur réseau. Pour résoudre ce problème, le choix de la théorie du champ moyen dynamique est apparu pertinent et cela sur deux points important:

• Cette méthode fonctionne exactement dans la limite des dimensions spatiales infinies et donc, a fortiori pour les matériaux de dimension trois.
• J’ai apporté la preuve de son application pour la prise en compte l’effet orbital induit par un champ magnétique externe. Cette preuve ouvre la voie à l’étude de l’anomalie chirale dans les semi-métaux de Weyl corrélés.

Pour mener à bien ma recherche, je me suis appuyé sur les programmes de Reza Nourafkan mais j’ai aussi l’occasion de developper mes propres programmes avec, notamment, un programme de théorie du champ moyen dynamique basé sur la théorie de la perturbation itérée comme solutionneur d’impureté et divers programmes de calcul de propriétés de transport.

La vidéo ci-dessous est la soutenance publique. Je me suis inspiré du cours de Jean Dalibard au college de France pour l’introduction à la topologie. Le manuscript de ma thèse est disponible sur le site de l’université de Sherbrooke ici.