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bert_hubert

@[email protected]

Software developer, entrepreneur, former government regulator, current government advisor, amateur scientist. https://berthub.eu/

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@bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

As I type away into the void, hoping to achieve something, I sometimes wonder if it is worth it. Do people read this stuff? There are now 222 articles on https://berthub.eu/articles/ and sometimes one of these gets read really well. But what about the "back catalog"? Turns out that a lot of traffic is in fact coming from the 200 older pieces: (UPDATE: this is a good thing)

0 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/now-how-to-g... 6614 1 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/maar-hoe-bou... 2292 2 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/a-coherent-n... 1797 3 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/the-european... 1723 4 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/dear-hosting... 1604 5 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/beware-cloud... 1461 6 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/cloud-kootwi... 882 7 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/cyber-securi... 864 8 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/out-of-offic... 855 9 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/you-can-no-l... 742 10 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/manifest-big... 658 11 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/cloud-in-soo... 582 12 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/is-europe-ju... 556 13 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/cloud-overview/ 543 14 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/taking-the-a... 516 15 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/how-tech-los... 460 16 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/beste-hoster... 446 17 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/servers-in-d... 438 18 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/reverse-engi... 424 19 https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/on-long-term... 411
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bert_hubert OP ,
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@briankrebs Thanks, been at it for a bit! I also took a lot of inspiration from your talk in Rotterdam many moons ago on the whole spam ecosystem. Was an eye opener. The conference with the boat where I understand you had an interesting meeting afterwards!

bert_hubert OP ,
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@briankrebs True - I do keep track of if people make it to the end of articles. This informs me if I should spend more time on making things readable or not. https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/tracking-free-audience-statistics/

@bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

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/

@bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

“Going to the cloud” can mean renting services/servers that you could get from anywhere. There’s little lock-in. The same four words “going to the cloud” might also mean locking your operations to a specific cloud provider, forever. This difference vital, yet often ignored: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/beware-cloud-is-part-of-the-software/

@bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

If you've seen me drop out of presentations or obligations over the past few weeks, here's a little bit on why. Plus I try to share some experiences on how the little things in life are the big things: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/out-of-office-in-every-life-some-rain-must-fall/

@bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

I have read the paper behind the enthusiastic press release below. The discovery appears legit, and it actually cures laboratory mice that would otherwise have died. Some aspects of this discovery are extra interesting, like that it targets a relatively untargeted part of bacteria. All in all good news: https://phys.org/news/2025-03-breakthrough-moment-class-antibiotics.html?ref=fixthenews.com

@bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

Me, being subtle.

A slanted table on which are perched logos for Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents. The documents slide towards the Microsoft cloud, under which hides an NSA logo. There is a European Flag in the top right corner.
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@bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

As Heathrow airport is knocked out of service for 24 hours by a single fire, now is a good time to ponder how resilient our (cyber) infrastructure is. And if it is ready for war(like) conditions. Spoiler: no. https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/cyber-security-pre-war-reality-check/

@bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

Massive result in Dutch parliament just now. They passed 10 separate motions to enhance digital resilience, run more of our own servers & reduce dependency on US cloud technology.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/dutch-parliament-calls-end-reliance-us-software-2025-03-18/

@bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

With a quote by me. Very happy to see this problem getting traction outside of tech circles: https://www.politico.eu/article/push-for-eurostack-as-eu-us-tech-tensions-grow/

@bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

For the people speculating about "jailbreaking" the F35 so you could fly it without US support. The thing is so maintenance heavy it won't fly after a week if you stop supplying it proprietary parts and loving US vendor help. The software is only a tiny thing relatively speaking. This goes for a lot of high-end military kit.

@bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

So I didn't know, but Europe already has a backup of PubMed, the database of biomedical research publications. The US PubMed broke down over the weekend. And here is our alternative: https://europepmc.org/

@w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

VOA - European leaders across much of the continent vowed to stand by Ukraine after a White House meeting between U.S. President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy turned into a heated exchange, with Trump calling Zelenskyy "disrespectful." https://www.voanews.com/a/european-leaders-stand-by-ukraine-after-heated-exchange-between-trump-zelenskyy-/7993337.html

bert_hubert ,
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@w7voa Hang in there Steve! Thank you so much for your reporting.

@bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

Many European governments are in the process of moving most of their INTERNAL communication to US controlled servers, in full view of the US intelligence apparatus. The political situation in the USA is however not going to get any less scary. Any (forced) migrations over summer might no longer be very wise. https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/26/europe_has_second_thoughts_about/

@bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

The legality (not wisdom) of putting European private data on US clouds hinges on the availability of the US Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. Trump neutered this board, and the European parliament has taken notice & asked the European Commission what they think:

Thorn e enma intarnctin diericeinn thic wnnl + tha Drivarc aus Galan in Minmi e e Comnittee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs = European Parliament The Chairman IUST-SEC/LIBE D (2025) 2901 Mr Michael McGrath Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection European Commission Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200 D 300788 06.02.2025 1049 Brussels Dear Commissioner McGrath, The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE Committee) closely follows all matters linked to the European Commission’s adequacy finding for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework mechanism. It was in view of the Commission’s assessment that the European Parliament adopted its resolution of 11 May 2023 on the adequacy of the protection afforded by the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (2023/2501(RSP)). Furthermore, during a LIBE Committee mission to Washington in May 2023, LIBE Members had an opportunity to discuss EU-US data transfers with Members of the US Congress, representatives of the US Departments of Justice and Commerce, as well as the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission. One of the issues considered in the above-mentioned resolution are the competences of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), an independent body responsible for ensuring that privacy and civil liberties are safeguarded. The EU-US Data Privacy Framework established a new review mechanism, allowing individuals in the EU whose personal da
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@tante@tldr.nettime.org avatar tante , to random

I increasingly think that accepting the "digital souvereignity" narrative was a pyrrhic victory for European and non-European NGOs. It might have lead to a bit of money here and there but it also plays super into the cards of right-wing thinking.

bert_hubert ,
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@tante there is also no money. Or at least not at any scale for doing things. Meanwhile European governments spend 100b euros a year on proprietary software and services. 1% toward autonomy would go a long way!

@ErikJonker@mastodon.social avatar ErikJonker , to geopolitics group

The EU is not only facing a tradewar (bad enough in itself) but potentially a total break-down in relations with the USA. I hope all scenarios and plans are ready. Also for example for the digital side of things. What if we have to quickly pull back our data/services from companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google etc. for critical data/applications? 🤔
geopolitics@a.gup.pe icon geopolitics group

bert_hubert ,
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bert_hubert ,
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bert_hubert ,
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@tinkel @jmcs @ErikJonker geopolitics@a.gup.pe icon geopolitics group I showed you an independent legal analysis. Do you also have a link to one that backs up your claims? That would be mighty interesting. And novel btw.

bert_hubert ,
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@tinkel @jmcs @ErikJonker geopolitics@a.gup.pe icon geopolitics group You link to a Microsoft page a far as I can see? Is that your independent legal analysis? Or am I missing something?

bert_hubert ,
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@mkoek @tinkel @jmcs @ErikJonker geopolitics@a.gup.pe icon geopolitics group also the word "might" is doing a lot of work there. The document states there are no details. I also note that the Microsoft page does not in fact say anything about the CLOUD act. And it does say there are "circumstances where data will continue to be transferred outside of the EU". So we have nothing really. Unless @tinkel comes up with the promised link to an independent legal analysis.

The EU Data Boundary is a geographically defined boundary within which Microsoft has committed to store and process Customer Data and personal data for our Microsoft enterprise online services, including Azure, Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Microsoft 365, subject to limited circumstances where Customer Data and personal data will continue to be transferred outside the EU Data Boundary. This documentation provides details about those transfers. The online services included in the EU Data Boundary commitment (referred to in this documentation as EU Data Boundary Services) are identified in the Microsoft Product Terms as part of the services agreements.
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  • Reply
    • @bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

    My call for European governments to retain at least a core IT/communication/email/file capability that is independent of US clouds. Named after the iconic Radio Kootwijk which we built in response to the English cutting off our communications with Indonesia in 1916: https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/communicating-without-musk-and-trump-cloud-kootwijk/

    @tante@tldr.nettime.org avatar tante , to random

    A lot of the time if a structure or event is not what you need it to be, it got where it is for a reason. A lot of the time the structure will fight to keep itself intact.

    bert_hubert ,
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    @tante even if that reason is no longer there, or even if no one remembers it!

    @tante@tldr.nettime.org avatar tante , to random

    People always tell me it's weird that I don't know my blood type. Just never had a use for that information. But in conversation I get the impression that everyone does. Weird.

    bert_hubert ,
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    @tante no one has any use for that information since no medical place is going to trust you to provide that information correctly (and right they are). Also, I have no idea either.

    @bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

    Here is an example of what can happen after 3 hours of no fresh data. The apparent distance to Galileo satellite E23 suddenly jumped by 1.5 meters. This does not mean Galileo positioning is off by 1.5 meters since there are lots more satellites contributing to the “fix” but it still isn’t great.

    From: @GNSS_Changes
    https://botsin.space/@GNSS_Changes/113609675962218803

    bert_hubert OP ,
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    @chrisn @GNSS_Changes humanity can do amazing things when it wants to… and yes this is rare.

    @ocornut@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar ocornut , to random

    It’s been a bit frustrating and embarrassing to repeated ping people on stalled threads related to sponsoring/funding. Sometimes for many years in a row. But in my experience it paid off enough to keep doing it. :( :)

    bert_hubert ,
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    @ocornut getting money from people is never automatic & always requires hustle, I'm afraid. Wonderful that your work is succeeding though!

    @bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

    Thank you Mastodon and the Fediverse for being an example of communicating without billionaires and US venture capitalists calling the shots. We're going to need more of this.

    @bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

    Canceled my subscription. If you can’t find it in you to support the non-fascist, you can f*ck right off.

    @bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

    Mastodon plushie 1136 has arrived in Nootdorp, and is keeping an eye on me as I type this!

    @bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

    “Never underestimate the bandwidth of a truck full of tape” coming for your power grid.
    https://www.economist.com/interactive/essay/2024/06/20/solar-power-is-going-to-be-huge
    from The Economist

    @bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

    It is almost impossible for anyone to tell if a scientific journal is doing real peer review anymore or not. Even flagship magazines mess it up these days. You might as well link straight to the preprint and treat it as “possibly correct” just like you should (sadly) treat stuff you find in a journal. And I say this as an active peer reviewer.

    From: @emilymbender
    https://dair-community.social/@emilymbender/112627451177959400

    @bert_hubert@fosstodon.org avatar bert_hubert , to random

    Can I remind my EUropean 🇪🇺 friends to please vote for the European Parliament 6-9 June? I know you are all reasonable people & your vote would be most welcome!

    Use your vote in three languages on the European Parliament building in Strasbourg.
    ALT
    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    People should have "radios, batteries and a generator" ready in the rare case of disruptions to the power grid, advises NOAA.

    bert_hubert ,
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    @w7voa EGNOS, the European WAAS equivalent, is reporting severe degradation. Dashboard https://egnos.gsc-europa.eu/aviation-portal/aviation-dashboard

    image/jpeg