📜 I wrote a new article: "Own Your Content"

📢 In it, I discuss how the Fediverse, through ActivityPub, is the antidote against walled gardens, oppressive advertising, data-stealing, surveillance, and enshittification by Big Tech™.

🔗 https://derickrethans.nl/own-your-content.html

💻 I gave a keynote based on it at #ipc25 in Berlin last week. I hope to soon make a recording too.

:fediverse: I also have an ActivityPub version which you can read at https://phpc.social/@blog@social.derickrethans.nl/114671233891315879

#fediverse #enshittification #activitypub

30 years of PHP: the Brilliant, the Bad and the Baffling by @Girgias - super fun talk at the new Rotterdam PHP usergroup 😂

Op 14 oktober vervalt de ondersteuning van alle huidige Microsoft Exchange mailserver versies. Voor die tijd moet iedereen die dat nu draait OF over zijn gegaan op een hele nieuwe versie OF migreren naar de cloud. En dat laatste zou, met alle gevolgen van dien, weleens per ongeluk kunnen gebeuren bij de Nederlandse demissionaire overheid. Doe het niet!
https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/demissionair-de-cloud-in-denderen/

30 years of #PHP - congrats to the language and the amazing community surrounding it!

You gave me a lot ❤️

Alan Turing died by suicide on 7 June 1954. Turing was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 and given a choice between imprisonment and probation. His probation would be conditional on his agreement to undergo hormonal physical changes designed to reduce his libido. Turing's conviction led to the removal of his security clearance and barred him from continuing with his consultancy for GCHQ. He was denied entry into the United States after his conviction.

#AlanTuring #GayRights #OnThisDay

I've written an unhealthy amount of words on "the cloud" and specifically Europe's woes. In the post below I tie many articles together into a hopefully useful overview. It may be good to know that nothing I write on the cloud is novel or original, I mostly hope to report things as they are. Which is scary enough already! https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/cloud-overview/

#Monopoly wasn't invented by the Parker Brothers, nor the man they gave it credit for. In 1904, Monopoly was originally called The Landlord's Game, and was invented by a radical woman. Elizabeth Magie's original game had not one, but two sets of rules to choose from.
One was called "#Prosperity", where every player won money anytime another gained a property. And the game was won by everyone playing only when the person with the least doubled their resources. A game of collaboration and social good.
The second set of rules was called "Monopoly", where players succeeded by taking properties and rent from those with less luck rolling the dice. The winner was the person eliminating everyone else.
Magie's mission was to teach us how different we feel when playing Prosperity vs Monopoly, hoping that it would one day change national policies.
When the Parker Bros adopted the game, they erased the "Prosperity" rules & celebrated "Monopoly".

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/ruthless-monopolys-secret-history/

Thank you, @MarkHoltom.

#indiedev #gamedev

“Permanent digital records” is an oxymoron. Digital is inherently ephemeral—it is why some people still prefer having physical copies of their media. A service shuts down and your digital memories go with it. XKCD years ago created an image that explains the frustration succinctly:

No lies detected.

I do not want your Gemini,
I do not want any AI.
I do not want it in my Chrome,
I do not want it in my home.
Not in my mail,
Even on sale,
Not in my app,
None of this crap.
I do not want it here or there,
I do not want it anywhere!

(with apologies to the estate of Dr. Seuss 🍳🍖)

@photography

"Keep Mars free of fascist skum,

Mars stands with Ukraine"

Los Angeles, California, March 1. Anya Narysheva via Facebook

#America
#protest

"We expected 2,000 people out in GOP-held Greeley, Colorado.

11,000 people showed up.

Something special is happening, folks. Now is the time to organize in every dimension possible and get to work."
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:p7gxyfr5vii5ntpwo7f6dhe2/post/3lkw5ii4g5c24

#Resist #Resistance #Protest #Rally #AOC #AlexandriaOcasioCortez #BernieSanders #Democrats #Dems #Politics #USPol #USPolitics #Colorado #USA

Finally, a large protest against the far-right and racism in the Netherlands. Amsterdam, right now.

I helped build a government AI system. DOGE fired me, rolled the AI out to the whole agency, and implied the AI can do my job and the jobs of the others they've fired.

It can't. But, what DOGE accidentally revealed about themselves in the process is fascinating. 🧵

I know I post a lot of photos of clouds but honestly, I think we should all spend more time looking to the skies. They speak a rare and valuable truth to us all.
*nods wisely*

#taxTheRich #UKPolitics #UKPol

Prohibition of Non-European Online Collaborative Suites in French Schools https://pad.cloud.abilian.com/s/xbcMDukhA#

Firm restatement of a ban on using services like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 in French schools, citing data privacy, the sensitivity of student information, and the need for educational neutrality. It emphasizes the use of French and European alternatives.

Note: This seems relevant for any EU jurisdiction

Ik heb een SURFdrive-webfolder aangemaakt met documenten over #digitalesoevereiniteit, onder andere:
✅ Content van 13 feb bijeenkomst overheid.
✅ Position papers van o.a.: Bert Hubert, VNG, AMS-IX en Reijer Passchier ingebracht bij het Rondetafelgesprek Digitale Soevereiniteit in de Tweede Kamer.
✅ Het EuroStack-voorstel (A European Alternative for Digital Sovereignty).
✅ Whitepaper van de Dutch Cloud Community.
✅ @SURF cloud sourcing strategie

🔗 SURFdrive-webfolder: https://edu.nl/digisoev

For other Kindle users:
https://www.theverge.com/news/612898/amazon-removing-kindle-book-download-transfer-usb
They're taking out the download feature Feb 26th, I'mma download all my books later today 😬

This came up yesterday and then again today. If it’s about you, you probably REALLY need it. I have it printed out by my desk.

20 Things I’ve Learned as a Systems (over)Thinker

https://cutlefish.substack.com/p/20-things-ive-learned-as-a-systems