Julf Helsingius
@daland.bsky.social
Swedish-speaking Finn from Helsinki, living in Amsterdam.
Involved with the Internet for way too long, geek, technologist stuck in policy jungle. Like things that go - and go "beep".
Involved with the Internet for way too long, geek, technologist stuck in policy jungle. Like things that go - and go "beep".
Reposted by Julf Helsingius
5 minutes.?
You meant to say 5 seconds.
You meant to say 5 seconds.
The President wouldn't last five minutes as an air traffic controller, and after everything they've been through - and the way this administration has treated them from Day One - he has no business shitting on them now.
November 10, 2025 at 8:14 PM
5 minutes.?
You meant to say 5 seconds.
You meant to say 5 seconds.
"AI" is killing independent web sites.
"The sad thing is that the big tech companies are taking over. Do we want to carry on working for them for free? The answer is no."
www.holland-cycling.com/blog/321-hol...
"The sad thing is that the big tech companies are taking over. Do we want to carry on working for them for free? The answer is no."
www.holland-cycling.com/blog/321-hol...
Holland-Cycling.com - Holland-Cycling.com stops in 2026
After 13 successful years Holland-Cycling.com will stop its activities at the beginning of 2026. Now that the cycling season of 2025 has come to an end the website will no longer be updated.
www.holland-cycling.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:54 AM
"AI" is killing independent web sites.
"The sad thing is that the big tech companies are taking over. Do we want to carry on working for them for free? The answer is no."
www.holland-cycling.com/blog/321-hol...
"The sad thing is that the big tech companies are taking over. Do we want to carry on working for them for free? The answer is no."
www.holland-cycling.com/blog/321-hol...
Reposted by Julf Helsingius
Two panels commemorating the contribution of Black American soldiers towards the liberation of the Netherlands in World War Two have been quietly removed from a cemetery in Limburg. It follows a complaint by right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission.
Op Margraten zijn twee panelen over zwarte Amerikaanse bevrijders van Nederland opeens weg. ‘Past bij beleid van de regering-Trump’
Op Margraten zijn twee panelen over zwarte Amerikaanse bevrijders van Nederland opeens weg. ‘Past bij beleid van de regering-Trump’
Op de Amerikaanse begraafplaats in Margraten is het opeens stil geworden rond de zwarte Amerikanen die hielpen Nederland bevrijden. Twee panelen die hun bijdrage herdachten – én wezen op hun strijd tegen racisme binnen het leger – werden zonder toelichting verwijderd.
www.nrc.nl
November 8, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Two panels commemorating the contribution of Black American soldiers towards the liberation of the Netherlands in World War Two have been quietly removed from a cemetery in Limburg. It follows a complaint by right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission.
Reposted by Julf Helsingius
Eleven of the parties in the provincial parliament of Limburg have now requested the Limburg government to look into the possibility of creating a (temporary) memorial for our Black American liberators in cooperation with Eijsden-Margraten (where the cemetery is located).
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
Limburgse Statenleden willen tijdelijke herdenkingsplek voor zwarte bevrijders
Statenleden willen een gedenkteken voor zwarte Amerikaanse bevrijders nu hun informatiepanelen in Margraten zijn verwijderd
www.nrc.nl
November 8, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Eleven of the parties in the provincial parliament of Limburg have now requested the Limburg government to look into the possibility of creating a (temporary) memorial for our Black American liberators in cooperation with Eijsden-Margraten (where the cemetery is located).
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...
Reposted by Julf Helsingius
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 9:23 AM
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
"If all that doesn’t suffice – if Democrats still threaten to prevail next year – the administration has a multi-agency infrastructure set up to trumpet allegations of voter fraud and threaten legal action"
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Trump’s assault on voting intensifies as midterms loom:‘a wholesale attack on free and fair elections’
White House is manipulating voting system, from redistricting to rule changes, to affect midterms
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:59 PM
"If all that doesn’t suffice – if Democrats still threaten to prevail next year – the administration has a multi-agency infrastructure set up to trumpet allegations of voter fraud and threaten legal action"
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Julf Helsingius
We joke about the Torment Nexus and all that, but...
The truth is science fiction warned us endlessly not to let fear control us.
"Fear is the mind killer"
"Fear is a path to the Dark Side"
etc.
Silicon Valley claimed to love SF, then built a machine to amplify fear as a means to control people.
The truth is science fiction warned us endlessly not to let fear control us.
"Fear is the mind killer"
"Fear is a path to the Dark Side"
etc.
Silicon Valley claimed to love SF, then built a machine to amplify fear as a means to control people.
November 8, 2025 at 7:49 PM
We joke about the Torment Nexus and all that, but...
The truth is science fiction warned us endlessly not to let fear control us.
"Fear is the mind killer"
"Fear is a path to the Dark Side"
etc.
Silicon Valley claimed to love SF, then built a machine to amplify fear as a means to control people.
The truth is science fiction warned us endlessly not to let fear control us.
"Fear is the mind killer"
"Fear is a path to the Dark Side"
etc.
Silicon Valley claimed to love SF, then built a machine to amplify fear as a means to control people.
Just got an email informing me that yet another gadget has been turned into an useless doorstop. Again reminded that "the cloud" just means someone else's computer.
vacuumwars.com/neato-ending...
vacuumwars.com/neato-ending...
Neato Confirms That Cloud Services Are Ending for Robot Vacuums
Neato Robotics has confirmed it will phase out its cloud services, ending app connectivity for all Neato robot vacuums. The company cites evolving cybersecurity and privacy regulations as the reason b...
vacuumwars.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Just got an email informing me that yet another gadget has been turned into an useless doorstop. Again reminded that "the cloud" just means someone else's computer.
vacuumwars.com/neato-ending...
vacuumwars.com/neato-ending...
Reposted by Julf Helsingius
Ten percent of Meta's revenue is from scams and illegal content. I hate them so much.
Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show
Meta projected 10% of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods, and it internally estimates that its platforms show users 15 billion scam ads a day, company documents show.
www.reuters.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Ten percent of Meta's revenue is from scams and illegal content. I hate them so much.
The simulation is collapsing
Not literal Matrix-style unreality. Something more precise and insidious: the manufactured consensus that authoritarianism was inevitable, that resistance was futile, that most people had become—or would become—what the sociopaths are.
www.techdirt.com/2025/11/06/t...
Not literal Matrix-style unreality. Something more precise and insidious: the manufactured consensus that authoritarianism was inevitable, that resistance was futile, that most people had become—or would become—what the sociopaths are.
www.techdirt.com/2025/11/06/t...
The Simulation Is Collapsing
Tuesday, Republicans got crushed in elections across New Jersey, Virginia, and New York. Not close races. Not razor-thin margins. Massive defeats in states they’d convinced themselves were winnable…
www.techdirt.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:46 PM
The simulation is collapsing
Not literal Matrix-style unreality. Something more precise and insidious: the manufactured consensus that authoritarianism was inevitable, that resistance was futile, that most people had become—or would become—what the sociopaths are.
www.techdirt.com/2025/11/06/t...
Not literal Matrix-style unreality. Something more precise and insidious: the manufactured consensus that authoritarianism was inevitable, that resistance was futile, that most people had become—or would become—what the sociopaths are.
www.techdirt.com/2025/11/06/t...
"Leadership is about leading people by convincing them of your vision. Not just feeding them what the polls say will work. If you want people to follow you, it means you need to be worth following."
www.techdirt.com/2025/11/06/m...
www.techdirt.com/2025/11/06/m...
Mamdani’s Win Shows That Believing In Something Beats Performative Hatred
Last week, I wrote about how the Trump administration has replaced any sort of concept of governance with governance-by-trolling—a government optimized purely for making a huge segment of the count…
www.techdirt.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:33 PM
"Leadership is about leading people by convincing them of your vision. Not just feeding them what the polls say will work. If you want people to follow you, it means you need to be worth following."
www.techdirt.com/2025/11/06/m...
www.techdirt.com/2025/11/06/m...
Reposted by Julf Helsingius
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia is one of many experiments designed to replace human-generated writing with LLMs. But Ryan McGrady argues that its defining feature is its use of technological power to re-exert top-down authority over information and knowledge.
buff.ly/odvgs4q
buff.ly/odvgs4q
November 4, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Elon Musk’s Grokipedia is one of many experiments designed to replace human-generated writing with LLMs. But Ryan McGrady argues that its defining feature is its use of technological power to re-exert top-down authority over information and knowledge.
buff.ly/odvgs4q
buff.ly/odvgs4q
Reposted by Julf Helsingius
When I grew up, “being woke” used to be called “being a decent human being.”
MAGA Nazis are waging a propaganda war against empathy and basic human decency, to normalize being a selfish, hateful asshole.
MAGA Nazis are waging a propaganda war against empathy and basic human decency, to normalize being a selfish, hateful asshole.
When I grew up, “being woke” used to be called “being a decent human being.”
MAGA Nazis are waging a propaganda war against empathy and basic human decency, to normalize being a selfish, hateful asshole.
www.malloy.rocks
October 29, 2025 at 2:45 PM
When I grew up, “being woke” used to be called “being a decent human being.”
MAGA Nazis are waging a propaganda war against empathy and basic human decency, to normalize being a selfish, hateful asshole.
MAGA Nazis are waging a propaganda war against empathy and basic human decency, to normalize being a selfish, hateful asshole.
Dear Geert, it is exactly because of this kind of nonsense from the Trump rulebook that caused voters to reject you.
nltimes.nl/2025/10/31/l...
nltimes.nl/2025/10/31/l...
Leader of Dutch far-right PVV suggests Tuesday election was rigged, but has no evidence
The leader of Dutch far-right political party PVV used his social media account to push unsubstantiated claims about the legitimacy of the Dutch General Election held earlier this week. The political ...
nltimes.nl
October 31, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Dear Geert, it is exactly because of this kind of nonsense from the Trump rulebook that caused voters to reject you.
nltimes.nl/2025/10/31/l...
nltimes.nl/2025/10/31/l...
Calling D66 "centrist" misses the whole point. D66 is centrist only by being neither left or right - they are progressive, social liberals. Thanks to them Netherlands has gay marriages, supermarkets open late at night and on Sundays, and the right to end of life.
www.politico.eu/article/rob-...
www.politico.eu/article/rob-...
Centrist D66 beats the far right to win Dutch election, national press agency announces
Rob Jetten is in pole position to become the new prime minister.
www.politico.eu
October 31, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Calling D66 "centrist" misses the whole point. D66 is centrist only by being neither left or right - they are progressive, social liberals. Thanks to them Netherlands has gay marriages, supermarkets open late at night and on Sundays, and the right to end of life.
www.politico.eu/article/rob-...
www.politico.eu/article/rob-...
Reposted by Julf Helsingius
An encouraging sign that the "anti-woke" campaign of far-right populist Geert Wilders and his PVV has backfired, while the progressive-liberal D66 shows a huge increase in popularity.
It is very much becoming a very polarized field of "educated liberals" vs "let's blame someone else" populists.
It is very much becoming a very polarized field of "educated liberals" vs "let's blame someone else" populists.
October 30, 2025 at 2:23 PM
An encouraging sign that the "anti-woke" campaign of far-right populist Geert Wilders and his PVV has backfired, while the progressive-liberal D66 shows a huge increase in popularity.
It is very much becoming a very polarized field of "educated liberals" vs "let's blame someone else" populists.
It is very much becoming a very polarized field of "educated liberals" vs "let's blame someone else" populists.
"The next time you purchase a “smart” device, consider this:
Who truly owns it—you or the company that manufactured it?
Because sometimes, even a vacuum cleaner can become a spy."
codetiger.github.io/blog/the-day...
Who truly owns it—you or the company that manufactured it?
Because sometimes, even a vacuum cleaner can become a spy."
codetiger.github.io/blog/the-day...
The Day My Smart Vacuum Turned Against Me
Would you allow a stranger to drive a camera-equipped computer around your living room? You might have already done so without even realizing it.
The Beginning: A Curious Experiment
It all started ...
codetiger.github.io
October 28, 2025 at 3:19 PM
"The next time you purchase a “smart” device, consider this:
Who truly owns it—you or the company that manufactured it?
Because sometimes, even a vacuum cleaner can become a spy."
codetiger.github.io/blog/the-day...
Who truly owns it—you or the company that manufactured it?
Because sometimes, even a vacuum cleaner can become a spy."
codetiger.github.io/blog/the-day...
Reposted by Julf Helsingius
The mobile data traffic growth in Finland (excl. FWA) was only 1.6% between 1H 2024 and 1H 2025. The fixed data traffic for 1H 2025 isn't reported yet. @traficomfinland.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 11:37 AM
The mobile data traffic growth in Finland (excl. FWA) was only 1.6% between 1H 2024 and 1H 2025. The fixed data traffic for 1H 2025 isn't reported yet. @traficomfinland.bsky.social
"Is that a Doritos bag in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"
www.dexerto.com/entertainmen...
www.dexerto.com/entertainmen...
October 26, 2025 at 9:55 AM
"Is that a Doritos bag in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"
www.dexerto.com/entertainmen...
www.dexerto.com/entertainmen...
‘This research conclusively shows that these failings are not isolated incidents,’ says EBU Media Director and Deputy Director General Jean Philip De Tender. ‘They are systemic, cross-border, and multilingual, and we believe this endangers public trust.’
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...
Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time – regardless of language or territory
An intensive international study was coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and led by the BBC
www.bbc.co.uk
October 23, 2025 at 8:03 AM
‘This research conclusively shows that these failings are not isolated incidents,’ says EBU Media Director and Deputy Director General Jean Philip De Tender. ‘They are systemic, cross-border, and multilingual, and we believe this endangers public trust.’
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...
www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...
October 23, 2025 at 7:48 AM