Category: Open

Paleizen voor het volk, plekken voor iedereen

De Schots-Amerikaanse Andrew Carnegie opereerde eind negentiende eeuw als een soort proto-Bill Gates: obsceen rijk worden als meedogenloze kapitalist, om dat geld vervolgens uit te geven aan maatschappelijke projecten die je belangrijk vindt. In het geval van Carnegie waren dat duizenden grote bibliotheken. Hij noemde ze paleizen voor het volk. Nu, ruim honderd jaar later, … Continue reading Paleizen voor het volk, plekken voor iedereen →

Turnitin User Agreement: I disagree

For the past one and a half year or so I've been studying Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. Today I wanted to hand in my very first and very tentative ideas about my Master's thesis. Using the archaic, mindnumbing, and Repetitive Strain Injury-inducing Blackboard digital learning environment I was confronted with the following screen: … Continue reading Turnitin User Agreement: I disagree →

World War II show us the value of having a private life

The Dutch National Committee for for 4 and 5 May asked fourteen Dutch citizen the following question: What is freedom? The answers to this question have been bundled in 'Het Vrijheidsboek' (The Freedom Book). Because of my 2014 Godwin-lecture I too was asked to share my thoughts. Below you'll find the full (Dutch) text of … Continue reading World War II show us the value of having a private life →

Behind the Scenes of the Internet: Julian Oliver & Danja Vasiliev

This week I was in the fortunate position to be able to attend a five day workshop at de Waag in Amsterdam. Julian Oliver and Danja Vasiliev hosted Behind The Scenes of the Internet. The workshop opened with a presentation on the influence of engineering on society. Julian and Danja refer to themselves as critical … Continue reading Behind the Scenes of the Internet: Julian Oliver & Danja Vasiliev →