Untimely meditations
One man's thoughts, observations and rants
Welcome to the personal blog of Joop Beris. I blog about a wide variety of topics, ranging from atheism to information security and lots in between. I welcome feedback on my articles but there are some guidelines. Feel free to share articles you like by using the sharing buttons but please give me credit if you want to share something. Also, check out my privacy policy and other legalese.
Please note that the things I write here do not represent the views of anyone else but me. I do not represent an organization or a business and I have nothing to sell. My views do not necessarily coincide with or represent those of my employer. Just throwing that in there for legal reasons.
Below you’ll find the most recent things I’ve written. Feel free to check them out, leave a comment and share them with others who might be interested.
Latest posts
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Another letter from Ivo
Dutch minister of Justice Ivo Opstelten is certainly being a busy boy. Just a few days have passed since his last letter and now he has written another one, equally worrying or perhaps more so. In short, he is suggesting in an as yet not public letter that the Dutch police should have the right…
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#OpDutchPirateBay – Anonymous threatens to attack The Netherlands
On October 6, the Anonymous movement announced an attack on The Netherlands, in retaliation for several Dutch providers blocking access to The Pirate Bay, a well known torrent site. The group spoke (anonymously of course) of being displeased by this blockade.
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All your data are belong to us
Organisations that are considering a move to the cloud would be wise to consider the effects of that move on the privacy and confidentiality of their data. That is the conclusion of a new report published by the University of Amsterdam. The university of Amsterdam examined the risks of such a move for educational institutions…
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“Hand over those decryption keys…or else”
Another day, another worrying proposal from the Dutch government. As we await the formation of a new cabinet, Dutch minister of Security and Justice, Ivo Opstelten is seeking to change Dutch law to make it mandatory for suspects of certain crimes to hand over their decryption keys so that law enforcement officers can have access…
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The Clean IT project, another threat to our privacy and online rights?
In an attempt to reduce the impact of the terrorist use of the Internet, the European Commission is funding the Clean IT project. The aim of this project is to examine the question “if we can reduce the impact of the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes, without affecting our online freedom”. However, a…
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The power of instruction
The power of instruction is seldom of much efficacy except in those happy dispositions where it is almost superfluous. — Gibbon
Recent comments
Surely you have outstanding points. To add on your 10 reasons, I would say, for a very long time keeping…
This. This is one of the best comment i’ve seen. If god does not exist, then theoretically all BS surrounding…
Your not atheist, your agnostic
This is a pretty old article but it is still the most popular on the site. It has received nearly…
“What can be asserted without evidence may be dismissed without evidence.”
Christopher Hitchens
Author and journalist
Hello Beris, I think you need to clarify this, the true meaning of an Atheist is someone who absolutely doesn’t…