🇪🇺 Erik Kemp 🇳🇱️ @Erik@mastodon.utwente.nl

Amazing essay:
Nolen Gertz on Nihilism.

"As the idealist focuses more and more on how reality ought to be, the idealist becomes less and less concerned with how reality is. The utopian views of the idealist may be more compelling than the dystopian views of the cynic, but dystopian views are at least focused on this world, whereas utopian views are, by definition, focused on a world that does not exist."

https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/what-nihilism-is-not/

@privacyint

After 'winning' the Big Brother awards of Bits of Freedom, SyRI (System for Risk Indication) is now ruled unlawful. Article 8 (on privacy) of the European Convention of Human Rights has overruled the lawful basis for SyRI.

Judgement: "The fair balance criterion of the ECHR is not met."

And: The lawful basis for using SyRI is not transparent enough, and does not allow for adequate monitoring.

English article:
https://www.privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/3363/syri-case-landmark-ruling-benefits-claimants-around-world

Court:
https://www.rechtspraak.nl/Organisatie-en-contact/Organisatie/Rechtbanken/Rechtbank-Den-Haag/Nieuws/Paginas/SyRI-wetgeving-in-strijd-met-het-Europees-Verdrag-voor-de-Rechten-voor-de-Mens.aspx

Prachtig :)

A brilliant idea and funny video :-)
How to reduce honking in Mumbai. This must be very effective!

https://www.dumpert.nl/item/7837443_0f8ed63b

@utoday @switchingsoftware

Very cool, Marleen Stikker( @marleen) mentioning your website in the Dutch Higher Education press, as the place to look for ethical alternatives to existing applications :)

@kensanata @troodon

Interesting read, thanks for sharing 🙂

@Are0h

You're definitely right that respecting someone's humanity is the basis of being a decent person, and I would even say that treating everyone you meet as an equal will make your life a lot nicer, because you discover that everyone has their own story.

The reason why I'm asking it is because I don't have the experience that this online space is hateful, and I'm curious how you encounter this toxicity.

I'm not minimising what you're saying, I'm interacting with you because I'm curious.

@Are0h

Is it that bad? I feel like there are a lot of humane, honest and real interactions in this space, if the growing fediverse is the space you are referring to!

@ChrisTalleras I think it's a great idea :) For me, I read posts more seriously if it comes from someone I have spoken to in real life, or with whom I've had a one-on-one conversation online. I feel I need to know someone at least a bit, in order to put a post into context. More interaction and actual conversations will definitely lead to getting to know each other a little better :)

Last week, I was attending a fascinating lecture about India, titled: "India, an invisble country".

The speaker is Fons Stoelinga, the Dutch ambassador to India from 2012-2018.

He says that the challenges India faces are unprecedented, and he easily grabbed my attention for 1,5 hours.

He talks about culture, politics, Hindu-nationalism and the justice system.

Please share what you think!

The video can be found online:
https://vimeo.com/386817594

@sanjayuvacha
@noorul
@gautambhatia

Here are some more pictures of Alice and Eve 2020 ( I heard it might become be a yearly event!)

#aliceandeve2020
#womeninscience
#utwente

Alice and Eve was a fascinating event, celebrating the accomplishments of women in computer science.

In the attached pictures you see some of the insights two speakers, whose topics where specifically about gender-related differences.

I think this might resonate with some of the Fediverse developers?

Looking forward to the program of today:
Alice and Eve: A celebration of Women in Computing

Some amazing researchers of the University of Twente have organised the event together. Thanks Marieke Huisman, Marielle Stoelinga, Sophie Lathouwers and Alma Schaafstal!

See the full program at https://fmt.ewi.utwente.nl/events/aliceandeve2020/

@maiwann
Very cool! I have a Mastodon instance for people into Obstacle Course Running, called ocr.social, but I've not really promoted it a lot, which is probably the reason why I have zero active members 😛

Great New York Times article by Nicholas Kristof:

This Has Been the Best Year Ever
https://nyti.ms/2MBGkBL

With one of the insights, about fears of overpopulation:
"They don’t realize that when parents are confident that their children will survive, and have access to birth control, they have fewer children."

Wat een prachtig artikel over de Parents Circle Families Forum in Israël en Palestina. Daar wordt je wel even stil van. Maar voor mensen met zo'n doorzettingsvermogen als Bassam Aramin en Rami Elhanan heb ik heel veel respect.

https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/de-een-is-israelier-de-ander-palestijn-samen-pleiten-ze-voor-wederzijds-begrip-het-is-niet-ons-lot-om-elkaar-dood-te-maken~b1032784/

Jorrit Bergsma wint de 10 kilometer!
Man wat gaat dat hard :)

Hi! I'm still curious about your favourite music.

I put 35 of my favourite songs in a playlist some weeks ago: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6AKa7T6Y0RMVcO5MVCsUCw?si=3ZmdxDnXTuGly4NAGBmBmw

Do you have your favourite songs in a playlist too? Please #shareyourmusic! :)

Interessante podcast over (on)gelijkheid tussen mannen en vrouwen. Feminisme dus, maar dat blijkt vaak een woord te zijn waar iedereen zijn eigen betekenis bij bedenkt.

Met als gast Julia Wouters over haar nieuwe boek : "Zijkant van de macht". In gesprek met Marlies Dekkers, die internationaal bekend is door haar eigen modelijn.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Xx4WYj0B3fbp7vbU8POUg?si=lhFx40IdRHSf4Tt-EHHshw

@judeswae @Gargron Then I am not up to date with the latest Fediverse statistics, and those people do not show up in my timelines :) Is there already a network graph somewhere for comparing instance sizes?