bert hubert 🇺🇦🇪🇺🇺🇦

Software developer, entrepreneur, former government regulator, current government advisor, amateur scientist.  https://berthub.eu/ - Nederlands account bert_hubert@mastodon.nl

Website: https://berthub.eu/
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6317-0670
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bert-hubert-b05452/
Location: The Netherlands

Public Key

npub1x5rldse034lrakl92u9dxdq2fx5x8kdht7kaxc3dda4u2de29teswkzpt5

NIP-05 Address

bert_hubert_at_eupolicy.social@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsr2plkcvhc6l37m0j4wzknxs9yn2rrmxm4ltwnvgkk7679xu4z4ucpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsjjhzl5

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1x5rldse034lrakl92u9dxdq2fx5x8kdht7kaxc3dda4u2de29teswkzpt5

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Last Notes

2026-08-30 11:05:59 UTC

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We should be tremendously grateful to have such great choices. Both SQLite and DuckDB are works of art.

2026-08-22 18:15:03 UTC

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The author had previously committed very questionable code that inserted random sleeps to 'fix' problems & I'd managed to talk him out of that. I guess that should've been a warning already.

2026-08-16 16:53:47 UTC

I need you to know I just did a software demo for a live audience, and it actually worked at the first attempt. In these dire times for software development, I like to celebrate these small wins.

2026-08-11 08:15:15 UTC

We can all learn from my heatpump's current status: "The appliance operates to reach the desired value."

2026-08-10 13:44:54 UTC

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Also, when I'm done with this setup, which is NOT CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET, I'll write it up. It is not easy to find a solution without an app in the cloud, especially if you want to do smart things. This is a #Remeha Confida R290 (Propane) setup with #modbus.

2026-08-10 12:49:34 UTC

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Today I sussed the bizarrely incomprehensible documentation of the #heatpump & managed to convey when electricity was cheap, and that it would then be allowed to do some extra heating. And behold it did. Yesterday I also tried this but did not have all settings right. It feels good to "move with the grid"!
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/071/286/506/714/062/original/67fc43fff544d76e.png

2026-08-09 21:41:14 UTC

"A woman is loaned a ZX Spectrum from a library in the Netherlands, 1984." - Photo by Rob Bogaerts / Anefo. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX_Spectrum
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/067/712/523/550/373/original/24562f5441f611a5.jpeg

2026-08-09 14:54:05 UTC

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fake citaat helaas, het is al vele malen uitgediept, het is verzonnen. Het woord populist bestond niet in 1937. @npub144f…3wln - dit zou de bron zijn, en daar staat dit ook niet: https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/braa002nati01_01/braa002nati01_01_0001.php

2026-08-07 09:41:52 UTC

Food for thought.
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/053/561/670/678/839/original/dde19dfa5a831b01.png

2026-08-04 21:57:49 UTC

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As @npub1kpe…csgn pointed out, there is more lovely (Dutch) artwork of the Tower of Babel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel_(M._C._Escher)
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/039/471/606/546/720/original/dd376d798eb1c36a.jpeg

2026-08-04 21:32:58 UTC

Typing something on how modern software sucked even pre-AI, and picked this glorious painting to explain "the stack": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tower_of_Babel_(Bruegel)
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/039/370/046/272/810/original/47f9bf1326ee0e2a.jpeg

2026-08-04 13:31:07 UTC

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this changes all the time, and is/was very much an aspect of how a phone system worked at the time. It may have worked like that at some point, perhaps purely due to human logistics.

2026-08-04 09:44:40 UTC

I'm sick of doing digital sovereignty video calls over Teams. Signal is not quite there in terms of video quality, and I'd love to self-host something. But things like Jitsi and BigBlueButton appear to have so many moving parts that I worry about running them (securely). Did anyone build something minimal perhaps?

2026-08-04 09:32:40 UTC

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I can guarantee a fun conversation in any case! not sure if I'm interesting enough, but I'm game!

2026-08-03 07:55:03 UTC

I read the comments

2026-08-02 11:29:57 UTC

"[moderates] tend to offer compromises that aren’t particularly useful: AI is just a tool, and everything depends on how you use it. That’s true enough, for almost everything. But will people use it wisely? Do they know how? Are we teaching them?" https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/ai-for-decision-makers/

2026-07-31 10:05:13 UTC

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same - I'm always happy that other people also want to read my posts but otherwise I'd still be writing them just to make up my mind!

2026-07-31 08:20:01 UTC

AI: Considerations for people who make decisions. There is enormous pressure to deploy AI, and if you believe the LinkedIn thought leadership, you'd think that if you don't get on board NOW you'll be lost forever. Meanwhile other people severely detest AI, so much so that it damages their (worthwhile) arguments against it. Below, thoughts on what to do now, and what things might best be postponed. Finally, some stimulating words on what we actually DO at the office: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/ai-for-decision-makers/

2026-07-26 09:27:08 UTC

"Whichever way, AI scepticism now feels like the consensus. As for what to do in preparation for a crash, you’re basically on your own. But if the music does stop playing, an awful lot of people are positioned and ready to say they told you so." - https://ftav.substack.com/p/this-is-nuts-whens-the-crash

2026-07-25 15:27:15 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.social/@countdownY2K38/116981000386926357
I predict that by the time this hits us life will be so chaotic and disrupted already that the epochalypse will be a footnote. And this is not good btw.
#note1mmh…dym6

2026-07-22 21:45:55 UTC

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just reported it as you suggested on Dutch radio. 🫡

2026-07-20 07:10:12 UTC

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The original site is here, should the US government allow you to visit it: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-secures-landmark-legal-victory-lock-pornographic-website-domain-and

2026-07-20 07:04:22 UTC

Because a (terrible terrible no good) Dutch owned website contravened Texas law, Verisign was ordered to remove the domain name from the .COM zone, and they complied. This has happened before, and it will likely happen again. If a US state doesn't like what you do, your .COM domain name may disappear on you. Mirror of Texas statement, cuz the original is not accessible from the EU: https://archive.is/kOmc4#selection-838.0-838.1

2026-07-16 10:12:21 UTC

The world of climate science has been correct in predicting our climate upheaval. However, it is now clear things are even worse, in ways that we don't understand nor can predict. Here an insight into what is going on from The Economist (gift link): https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2026/07/15/the-rate-at-which-earth-is-absorbing-energy-is-alarming-climate-scientists?giftId=MWZlZGI0MjUtM2RjYS00ZjM4LThjOTMtZDYzZWExOWQzMWVh&utm_campaign=gifted_article (if it expires, let me know, I'll make a new link).

2026-07-15 11:51:50 UTC

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We love them here! They are known as "Neighbor & Neighbor" in The Netherlands. But unlike anywhere else, we made them talk! We also love Krtek btw!

2026-07-15 11:25:21 UTC

In Dutch, but applies to governments across Europe & beyond. Governments are *utterly* dependent on IT systems, but simultaneously keep their distance from IT. Here a comparison with how a large organization deals with a broken toilet: fighting with vendors. And this is exactly how they deal with IT problems too. Feast your translator on: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/ben-je-van-de-it-of-niet/

2026-07-12 20:45:29 UTC

So I wrote a tool to trawl the Dutch address database and find the remotest house in famously cramped the Netherlands. And lo, I found it, and people had even written about how unique it is. It is slightly more than 1 mile removed from the closest other dwelling. This is what passes for "remote" here! https://mastodon.nl/@bert_hubert/116908871738795785
#note1nty…8zsy

2026-07-05 15:11:32 UTC

I smell like WD40 now. But my problems are (dis)solved!

2026-07-02 21:46:15 UTC

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Hmf, the GLONASS data is not cooperating. Needs more work. I had some ideas on detecting of Ukrainian "long range sanctions" were impacting GLONASS performance. Will try again.

2026-07-02 21:02:21 UTC

I still find this hard to believe, but there are NO HEDGEHOGS in the Americas. Here in Europe we get these extremely cute 🦔 visitors in our gardens, as a treat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/852/385/082/315/820/original/3f59f7c5741619fa.png

2026-06-26 20:48:01 UTC

RE: https://social.nlnetlabs.nl/@nlnetlabs/116816697794903207
Expect more of this from projects that care about the long term quality and maintainability of software. Also expect more whining from LLM-powered developers that this is not fair to them.
#note175x…w5zu

2026-06-12 22:12:15 UTC

Via Derek Lowe, a solid discovery of a new kind of antibiotic, utilizing all kinds of weird things. Not an immediate drug, but any new class of antibiotics is wonderful news: https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/new-antibiotic-idea-old-source

2026-06-09 16:57:58 UTC

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You can do it bubble!
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/721/203/426/561/769/original/649e25fe33825aa8.jpeg

2026-06-08 20:51:18 UTC

So to mentally prepare for an eventual bursting of the AI-bubble, perhaps this Friday, this is how it went for the dot com boom. There was an initial retraction, followed several partial recovery/bust events, and finally the NASDAQ lost 80% of its value: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/716/452/296/650/926/original/963fe546f0ac1d5e.png

2026-05-12 06:07:33 UTC

51! 🥳

2026-05-05 15:16:04 UTC

The world is now so full of ridiculous things that at least I struggle to deal with it all. But this is not an 'us' problem. The (political) world really is idiotic. I needed to vent a bit, so I made a list of things that are impossible to believe, yet are very much what is happening. Perhaps seeing it in writing will help you deal better with the situation. https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/the-impossible-things-we-have-to-believe/

2026-04-28 10:48:01 UTC

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Amazing stuff to read btw, this is all being sold in the open:
https://iproyal.com/proxies-by-location/south-america/brazil/

2026-04-28 10:33:36 UTC

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After some suggestions I'm now serving a gzip-bomb, but since these IP addresses only visit me once, I don't know if they suffer ill effects. But rest assured knowing many dozens of gigabits of content are now being served every second!

2026-04-28 10:10:20 UTC

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So I did another experiment and redirected the crawlers to a ~10GB file. This was a brief experiment, but it is reassuring to know my setup can stream 300+Mbit/s without ill effects!
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/481/785/584/070/672/original/165488ef4435a732.png

2026-04-28 09:31:09 UTC

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Their runs look like the graph below. I assume they task their network of residential proxies with a massive list of URLs to retrieve, and as the list gets smaller proxies run out of work:
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/481/629/704/322/954/original/780b460df9d54503.png

2026-04-27 17:57:24 UTC

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(the crawlers are back in full force! but they are all getting some great news about Taiwan in response to their queries)

2026-04-27 11:56:27 UTC

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As an experiment, I briefly sent the crawlers with a specific Chinese language setting to https://www.foreignersintaiwan.com/blog/taiwan-is-a-country-heres-why and they *all* vanished. Very odd & I can't quite explain it. Still, not complaining!

2026-04-26 14:47:05 UTC

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Meanwhile, the IP addresses used mostly come from Brazil. Iraq, USA, India, Bangladesh, Chile, Argentine, France. This from a site hosting Dutch parliamentary documents.
country | count
---------+-------
BR | 9214
IQ | 3685
US | 3597
IN | 2291
BD | 2116
CL | 1822
AR | 1697
FR | 1667
CA | 1577
PK | 1570
TR | 1499
ES | 1449
GB | 1323
PH | 1248
IT | 1246
CO | 1219
RU | 1151

2026-04-26 14:45:32 UTC

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Automated this a bit, and it is fascinating that the bulk of what looks like residential proxies has their language set to zh-CN:
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/471/541/921/742/040/original/8331fb360ef92301.png

2026-04-26 09:59:27 UTC

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Here are 91,372 IP addresses pretending to be normal browsers, while sending a *single* query to me today. http://berthub.eu/tmp/singlequery-2026-04-26.csv - feel free to block them all!

2026-04-26 09:20:29 UTC

RE: https://social.treehouse.systems/@mgorny/116465292654071299
There are millions of these single query scrapers. As open projects we should band together and block them preemptively. This is the only way we can put a stop to this.

2026-04-07 16:03:48 UTC

Amazing that to stay sane in 2026 you have to convince yourself that a presidential threat that "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" is actually not serious.

2026-03-27 21:12:15 UTC

After receiving the first LLM-generated pull requests, I have decided to blanket no longer look at those. When studying a PR, I take into account who made it, and if they've previously been careful developers. LLM-generated code I have no idea about, and the amount of scrutiny required is just too much. Because I have to assume you have no idea what you are doing.

2026-03-16 12:57:15 UTC

europeans when asked to help unblock the strait of hormuz
Hadas Weiss on Bluesky
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/238/957/635/504/326/original/6daeff28ed158f5a.mp4

2026-03-15 14:55:54 UTC

RE: https://mstdn.social/@stux/116233310369807694
It might also be a good idea to work on the efficiency of Mastodon. The server apparently requires significant resources for what appears to not intrinsically require a lot of CPU cycles.
#note18sr…nazs

2026-03-13 09:24:40 UTC

Only answer if you have direct and personal experience please. Is there ANY way on IOS (NOT ON ANDROID) to get Signal to help you clean its massive storage? I've manually tried to delete some large things but it is not helping. It is using 11GB and I can't do a thing anymore. Help?

2026-03-13 07:43:26 UTC

Tempted to write a post that software development lost the plot a long time ago, and that the recent LLM developments are merely the icing on that cake. Software these days is not the painstaking work by people like @npub1cm0…enqe or @npub10ny…582h or @npub1p66…ee02 who write the best code they possibly can. Over the past decade, "the software world" has been developing in a very different way than that.

2026-03-10 16:57:13 UTC

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Interestingly, lots of governments are also making this very mistake!

2026-03-10 16:47:08 UTC

From a presentation I'm doing tomorrow:
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/205/891/768/436/405/original/93891581bd6ec792.png

2026-02-27 08:58:30 UTC

RE: https://social.overheid.nl/@stasdigi/116137945588485139
I'm not often hopeful, but The Netherlands now has a (junior) minister for digital affairs & sovereignty, and her office has joined the Fediverse, from the official Dutch government Mastodon server:
#note1uf3…95e8

2026-02-18 11:35:01 UTC

Microsoft loves to play word games stating that *they* did not evict the chief International Criminal Court prosecutor from the cloud. But this is exactly what they did, and now they are trying to correct the UK parliamentary record, where they had tried to spin this (incorrectly): https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/18/microsoft_asks_uk_parliament_to_correct_record/

2026-02-08 13:28:48 UTC

I am losing it at how many of my peers have forgotten what software engineering is. It is not typing in lines of code.

2026-02-07 12:13:43 UTC

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Here is a compendium of pain points. Additions welcome: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/what-the-open-world-must-do-better/

2026-01-29 09:08:00 UTC

From Politico, @npub1w64…zvuh @npub18k9…30hx and me on how the Netherlands is about to see its national government service login infrastructure move to US spying/sanction regulation: https://www.politico.eu/article/netherlands-eu-us-tech-digid-donald-trump-policy/

2026-01-20 17:52:22 UTC

Don’t threaten me with a good time Satya
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/928/689/949/034/225/original/77591eb95f9a3624.jpeg

2026-01-19 08:27:49 UTC

People, with #Greenland raising awareness of our massive 24/7 dependence on US clouds for vital services, I made a list of what (government) stuff would break here under US sanctions. It is EXTREMELY depressing. Can I suggest that people also make a list like this one for their own countries? It is getting quite some traction here: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/dashboard-amerikaanse-afhankelijkheden/

2026-01-19 08:21:54 UTC

This mad king message from Donald Trump has now been confirmed by many very reliable sources to be real. Unbelievable:
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/920/789/532/719/160/original/196b665791438d95.png

2026-01-14 10:13:37 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.social/@hennavirkkunen/115888721732640894
I’ve been informed this is an official account and that makes it good news!
#note1lpm…vemt

2026-01-10 11:51:59 UTC

Please people, if you respond to an article, please respond to things actually IN the article, not what you imagined to be in there!

2026-01-10 11:21:45 UTC

In a recent FT article, the director of Cybersecurity Belgium claimed it was impossible to store data within the EU. "Dream on" he said. This reflects the widespread lack of IT understanding among executives, who should urgently wise up & help us regain our digital autonomy: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/ft-on-european-cloud/

2026-01-07 12:06:57 UTC

To compete with AWS and other hyperscalers, you need more than technology. Large incumbent cloud providers are also selling comfort to corporate employees. And if you too want to rake in billions of revenues, you had best be selling that too: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/aws-and-microsoft-are-selling-much-more-than-cloud/

2026-01-07 07:44:59 UTC

RE: https://hachyderm.io/@thomasfuchs/115849377743052250
These are fun observations but AI is not like these things and will continue to disrupt our lives for decades. https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/an-ai-premortem/

2026-01-04 10:27:17 UTC

From a long fermenting blog post draft. Venezuelan oil is not that interesting since it is tricky to process & thus very expensive, while oil demand is declining:
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/836/341/994/405/933/original/f46527f6c1edcd4a.png

2026-01-03 21:20:37 UTC

Now, in the Obama/Bin Laden version of this photo, you could spot different colored wires indicating different classified networks. Not so much here. Also note the Twitter screen in the background. /cc @npub1zzp…6887
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/833/254/269/899/339/original/05dac764bb7c9450.png

2026-01-02 12:19:07 UTC

Nonsense in the FT: "Miguel De Bruycker, director of the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium (CCB), told the Financial Times that it was “currently impossible” to store data fully in Europe because US companies dominate digital infrastructure". Nonsense, yet policymakers believe this - I talk about our *Self-inflicted* cloud crisis in this piece: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/our-self-inflicted-cloud-crisis/

2026-01-01 12:00:04 UTC

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signal has mostly been saying "trust us, only Amazon can do this, and it is harder than you think, nerd". Not very satisfying. Taking Signal a notch down in terms of trustworthiness.

2025-12-29 18:06:33 UTC

The responses to my posts on nuclear power just now have confirmed an older finding: the biggest enemy of successful nuclear power may be the fans of nuclear power.

2025-12-29 16:58:19 UTC

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Good link on the challenges of molten salt: https://thebulletin.org/2022/06/molten-salt-reactors-were-trouble-in-the-1960s-and-they-remain-trouble-today/

2025-12-29 16:24:23 UTC

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thing is, if you follow the history of (small) nuclear power, the promise is always that THIS design will be safe, simple, affordable AND run on fuel that we actually have. And it always turns out you can't get all of these at the same time. Molten salt has proven to be VERY tricky for example. By now, you need to be a believer to assume that this time it will work.

2025-12-29 16:14:40 UTC

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A true believer! I just updated https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/nuclear-no-yes-maybe-but-not-like-this/ but it is aging well.

2025-12-29 16:05:04 UTC

'In practice, a “small” reactor brings all the big problems of a conventional reactor: dangerous radioactive fuel, complex safety systems, and the risk of catastrophic failure or sabotage. The only thing that’s truly small about SMRs is their inability to benefit from the economies of scale that, in theory, were supposed to make large reactors affordable — but never actually did.' - https://www.climateandcapitalmedia.com/the-nuclear-mirage-why-small-modular-reactors-wont-save-nuclear-power/

2025-12-29 09:46:55 UTC

RE: https://graphics.social/@metin/115802096953677093
This reminds me of the *multiple* kids named Lanesra by (mostly) fathers trying to sneak their favorite football team past the rest of the family. https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-35244969
#note1hql…hvw2

2025-12-23 21:17:49 UTC

US issues sanctions / visa bans on several EU (former) officials. Amazing stuff, check out the language used. But by all means let us run our governments & vital services on US cloud providers! (let us NOT, to be clear).
https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/12/announcement-of-actions-to-combat-the-global-censorship-industrial-complex/

2025-12-23 10:32:38 UTC

So how about Europe's cloud woes? A lot happened in 2025, and things became much clearer. We truly can't continue to wed our governments to 🇺🇸 clouds. While there are encouraging developments, it is incredibly odd that neither cloud buyers nor the European 🇪🇺 software/hosting industry are seeing the urgency to act. But, governments & regulators could forge a useful path towards a solution in 2026:
https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/the-european-cloud-2025/

2025-12-21 19:54:40 UTC

Pretty cool - it turns out that the way I write my blog posts is called 'BLUF': Bottom Line up Front, and it was standardized by the US Army in their information management guidelines: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BLUF_(communication)

2025-12-21 12:20:33 UTC

Rule of thumb, whenever you are about to type in that people should "just" do something, step away from the keyboard and read up on the situation. If it were a "just" thing it would've happened by now. I know I'm a broken record on this subject, but you can really improve your thinking by just (lol) treating "just" as a signal word you are likely not seeing the whole picture.

2025-12-21 12:07:41 UTC

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You might be surprised to learn that a lot of thinking has been done already on why this obvious thing hasn't happened. https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/our-self-inflicted-cloud-crisis/

2025-12-21 11:53:24 UTC

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I invite you to read through https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/the-european-cloud-ladder/ and ponder what it is you think people should just build. Also take a look at https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/beware-cloud-is-part-of-the-software/

2025-12-19 17:48:55 UTC

“Don’t say you are good at Vibe Coding. Say you are a… Smooth Sloperator”

2025-12-17 07:04:13 UTC

RE: https://squeet.me/display/962c3e10-94b744dc-07045abf8e5e1471
Two new #galileo satellites launched, strengthening Europe’s own “GPS”, already used by all our phones and newer cars. And in a first, launched on our own Ariane 6 rocket.
#note1wpw…nw69

2025-12-14 10:21:43 UTC

Thursday, the EU launched a European Digital Infrastructure Consortium for Digital Commons. During this launch, EU & national authorities were *crystal clear* on how large our digital autonomy challenges are in the Trump era. I delivered a keynote in which I outlined how dependent we are technically and culturally on US big tech, and I offered some modest advice: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/keynote-opening-digital-commons-edic-eu/

2025-12-13 23:09:58 UTC

@npub1ysw…uzpe
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/714/777/204/941/986/original/a69267768a8cc7da.jpeg

2025-12-07 17:36:45 UTC

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18:32:46.713663 IP 52.136.217.168.443 > 192.168.1.41.54694: Flags [.], ack 7968, win 65535, length 0
- yes!

2025-12-07 17:28:09 UTC

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The machine is "OFF" and it is STILL sending data to Microsoft Azure. You could not invent this world.

2025-12-07 17:17:06 UTC

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Also this is some ESP8266 level performance! It's MAC address is registered to Miele, which is a nice touch.
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/679/412/780/872/478/original/d99e46280d1749ab.png

2025-12-07 17:03:20 UTC

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And yes, I personally know what to do to stop this. But it is not about me, it is about population level exploitation of data. Bah again.

2025-12-07 17:01:27 UTC

Was forced to install the Miele app because it is the only way to tell the washing machine to clean itself. It asks you for permission to have third parties process and analyze your data no less than **8 times**. Ridiculous. I bet it will keep on asking until you give up. Also it is probably selling my data anyhow. Bah.

2025-11-29 11:39:12 UTC

Anytime you see Microsoft or any US company state the CLOUD Act is not such a big deal for Europe, do ask them if they can reassure us on FISA 702 and EO12333 as well. You will not get an answer. Here @npub1w4r…8cxz sets it out nicely: https://edri.org/our-work/promises-unkept-the-eu-us-data-privacy-framework-under-fire/

2025-11-28 16:49:55 UTC

European thinkers and policy makers are acting and talking as if the US federal government and courts are still "normal", or will soon be so again. They will not, and we should update our world view. Secondly, when we discuss data retention, we often do not specify that this could be a 24/7 location database of all EU phones and cars. If that is the goal, everyone should be super clear about that: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/hello-europe-joe-biden-is-gone/

2025-11-25 17:21:51 UTC

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Hi Patrick - Dutch Parliament just passed a motion demanding that the government change its position to "against" for that vote. Government almost always follows such motions. But not always!
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/611/484/352/661/329/original/60f341a7bb93f80e.png

2025-11-20 08:47:41 UTC

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as another way to look at it, this is maybe 10 kilos of hydrocarbons. And the car behind it has a tank of 35 kilos of them which it burns routinely.

2025-11-06 21:00:10 UTC

20th of November, 19:30, aula TU Delft, symposium "Security of Science". Talks by Major General Hanke Bruins Slot, also a former minister of the interior, and me. I promise you this will be worth your time! Nearly free tickets available through https://vvtp.nl/article/symposium-info1 - hope to see you there!
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/504/756/234/620/627/original/f101e170fa8a9127.png

2025-11-02 08:35:32 UTC

This Sunday I find the need to repost "Dear anonymous internet user asking for help". If you want help with the open source software I provide freely, and you are a giant corporation, do not hide behind a fake name or email address: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/anonymous-help/

2025-10-25 12:51:40 UTC

The Netherlands is heading to the polls (again), and there are over 1000 candidates to choose from! Here is what people receive at home to prepare. The original Reddit post notes "so nice of the municipality to send me a blanket now that it is getting colder!" https://www.reddit.com/r/thenetherlands/comments/1ofonph/wat_fijn_dat_de_gemeente_een_dekentje_opstuurt_nu/
https://eupolicy.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/434/886/678/726/434/original/a2cfabf206941b17.png

2025-10-23 18:50:12 UTC

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yes, thank you! With a bit of a close read this is rather alarming if you see what they are reporting "progress" on...