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.

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

  • We are no longer human

    We are no longer human

    It is said that evolution always moves forward and that it can not move backward. An amphibian, once it is an amphibian, can not go back to being a fish. Man can not return to being an ape. Species go from one form to another but always more complex, always more specialized. While this isn’t…

  • Impact of the Diginotar hack

    Impact of the Diginotar hack

    In June 2011 Diginotar, a Dutch provider of SSL certificates, was hacked. The hack was probably carried out by hackers working for the government of the sovereign nation of Iran for the purpose of obtaining forged SSL certificates for a number of high level domains, such as Google and Yahoo, among others. With the help…

  • Applying a patch to wine to solve wine bug #8826

    Applying a patch to wine to solve wine bug #8826

    Wine bug #8826 is about not having visible fire and smoke in the game Silent Hunter 3 until zoomed out really far. Not seeing the smoke and fires can be a bit strange, especially if you can hear the fire blazing, but nothing is visible. This post will attempt to explain how to apply a…

  • Anonymous threatens to destroy Facebook (or not?)

    Anonymous threatens to destroy Facebook (or not?)

    In strong words, Anonymous condemns Facebook for its violation of user’s privacy. In addition, the collective announces that on November 5, Facebook will be destroyed. November 5 is Guy Fawkes’ Night in the UK, on which people celebrate the foiling of the gunpowder plot to blow up the House of Lords. The Guy Fawkes’ mask…

  • U-Boot

    U-Boot

    Ever since I was a young boy, I have been fascinated by submarines. Especially by the German u-Boot from World War 2. I don’t know why, but there is something about this sinister, deadly warship that really attracts me. Yes, I know there have been major advances in submarine technology. I know that today’s submarines…

  • Prius

    Prius

    One of the things I have always wanted to do, ever since Toyota launched the Prius, was drive one. Not too long ago, “thanks” to an accident, I had the opportunity to drive a Prius. It was a new model, which Toyota touts as the most advanced car in the world. That raises a person’s…

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“There are two different kinds of people in the world: those who want to know, and those who want to believe.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

Philosopher