# digital disruption (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 2 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover digital disruption. Page: Feed: --- ## [Brainbaking on Deconstructing A 17th Century Letter](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/08/brainbaking-on-a-deconstructing-17th-century-letter/) _2026-08-22 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ Favorited Deconstructing A 17th Century Letter by Wouter Groeneveld (Brainbaking) This type of thing is always highly fascinating to me. Using artefacts, here 17th century letters that survived to present day by happenstance and thus not having been delivered, to say something about life in those times, habits, language, and rituals. Now try and imagine \[…\] ## [(untitled)](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/08/26708/) _2026-08-20 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ Looking at the websites of some AI events and their programmes. Hundreds of sessions over several days. You’d think that they’d expect you to have your AI tools grab the program and e.g. match it to a local list of interests or people, given the amount of info they dump on you on the site. \[…\] ## [Last Flickr Embeds Finally Removed](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/08/last-flickr-embeds-finally-removed/) _2026-08-17 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ I today replaced the last handful of embedded Flickr images with self hosted copies, that merely link back to the source at Flickr. This way I am certain that no tracking by Flickr is possible when you visit this site. Five years ago, I stopped embedding Flickr images for new posts. I also started to \[…\] ## [Is zoervleisj een soort rendang?](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/08/is-zoervleisj-een-soort-rendang/) _2026-08-17 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ Gespot in Maastricht afgelopen weekend. Is zoervleisj een soort rendang? Enquiring minds want to know. Wel zoervleisj gegeten vrijdagavond, maar geheel niet aan rendang gedacht tijdens de maaltijd. Misschien vandaag dan maar rendang? ## [Eclipse](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/08/eclipse/) _2026-08-13 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ Yesterday we saw the sun set at the beach near Zandvoort. We were there because of the 89% or so solar eclipse that peaked around eight in the evening. Well in time we walked onto the beach to set up our lightweight chairs and through our eclipse ‘glasses’ looked due west where the sun was \[…\] ## [Cat’s Cradle and Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/08/cats-cradle-and-sirens-of-titan-by-kurt-vonnegut/) _2026-08-08 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ The past few days I read two titles by Kurt Vonnegut, because they were mentioned in Among Others by Jo Walton that I read last month. The protagonist in Walton’s book, set in 1979/1980, is an avid reader, also of science fiction and fantasy and her reading includes Vonnegut’s work. Based on those mentions I \[…\] ## [On Reading and Influencing EU Legal Proposals – The Timeline](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/08/on-reading-and-influencing-eu-legal-proposals-the-timeline/) _2026-08-05 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ One hand was raised when I asked "Who has read or looked at the actual EU Inc legal proposal itself?" in a session where we discussed the EU Inc proposal and how after adoption it will come to significantly impact the day to day operations of the group of participants. That single hand was already \[…\] ## [Thessaly / Philosopher Kings Trilogy by Jo Walton](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/08/thessaly-philosopher-kings-trilogy-by-jo-walton/) _2026-08-04 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ I came across a recommendation by Cory Doctorow of Jo Walton‘s work, on July 1st. I bought a range of her works then, and in the past month read what I bought. Among them the Thessaly trilogy which I read in the last 2 weeks, consisting of three books, The Just City, The Philosopher Kings \[…\] ## [Week Notes 31-26 London Edition](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/08/week-notes-31-26-london-edition/) _2026-08-03 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ It’s summer, hot and dry, and we spent the week in London, not quite the right place to cool down. A week of dunking ourselves from the almost too cold air conditioned hotel room near Finsbury Park into the stuffy, iron smell of the underground where the tunnels were hazy with a dark fog of \[…\] ## [Camden Market](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/08/camden-market/) _2026-08-03 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ A 19th century warren next to Regent’s Canal. Back in 2018 I walked through here along the canal from King’s Cross to Regent’s Park with friends remembering a friend we lost. This time the three of us explored the archways of the railroad and the alleyways between them, where originally goods were transferred between canal, \[…\] ## [Screen Share With Real Control (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/khNoGbVYF7W5) _2026-08-03 · **Sponsored**_ Collaborative screen sharing with simultaneous remote control — open source, like Screenhero. ## [Zines at the British Library](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/08/zines-at-the-british-library/) _2026-08-03 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ The past week in London we also visited the British Library for a bit, reading and writing while enjoying coffee. Many people used the publicly accessible parts, I suspect to be able to read or work in a place that had more comfortable temperatures than their homes elsewhere in the stuffy city. People using all \[…\] ## [My Smallest David Hockney Exhibition](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/08/my-smallest-david-hockney-exhibition/) _2026-08-01 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ A year ago we were in Paris to visit a very large exhibition of the work of David Hockney. It was amazing, and we spent much more time there than anticipated. Hockney had an active role in this exhibition and also created new work for it. It turned out to be his last as well, \[…\] ## [The Good Gym Is Still Running](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/07/the-good-gym-is-still-running/) _2026-07-31 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ I think the last time E and I met Ivo Gormley was in 2012, when we had a pleasant dinner together on Great Queen Street talking about what it was like as a Londoner to have the Olympics take place in your own living environment. I knew Ivo from open data work, and his 2009 \[…\] ## [The three cornered container](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/07/the-three-cornered-container/) _2026-07-24 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ In reply to The three cornered container by Chris Corrigan What stands out to me reading this, is that I feel I have an intrinsic preference for the emergent area of the triad. And can quickly loose interest towards the design corner, and specifically the built parts. While I see others flock to those other \[…\] ## [Learning How to be Idle on Vacation](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/07/learning-how-to-be-idle-on-vacation/) _2026-07-24 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ In reply to Learning How to be Idle on Vacation by Peter Rukavina Your post resonates a lot, Peter. In my journey of the last years overcoming burn-out my inability to rest, other than sleep, stands out. There’s always things to do, work, at home. Simultaneously so much time ticks by procrastinating as well, the \[…\] ## [Static Website Envy](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/07/static-website-envy/) _2026-07-23 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ This spring E took down her WordPress blog and replaced it with a static website. In the past weeks she did the same for her business website (and added her own sales channel to it, with just the payment provider as third party element). Now I have static website envy. Until 2002 I had static \[…\] ## [Berghütte / Galel by Fanny Desarzens](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/07/berghutte-galel-by-fanny-desarzens/) _2026-07-19 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ A lovely novella and the 2022 debut by francophone Swiss author Fanny Desarzens (1993). I read the German translation, titled Berghütte (mountain cabin), Galel (the name of one of the characters) is the French title. Three men, with few words between them, share a deep friendship which unfolds every summer against the backdrop of the \[…\] ## [Among Others and My Real Children by Jo Walton](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/07/among-others-and-my-real-children-by-jo-walton/) _2026-07-19 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ It’s been a while since my last post in the Books category early February, 32 fiction books further by my count. Recently Cory Doctorow pointed to the work of Welsh / Canadian author Jo Walton on the occasion of the publication of her latest novel Everybody’s Perfect, and I read some of her work these \[…\] ## [Recovery by Switching to Roles and Activities and Away From Tasks](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/07/recovery-by-switching-to-roles-and-activities-and-away-from-tasks/) _2026-07-15 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ Over the past month or two, after our return from Portugal I’ve been slowly improving and overcoming my burn-out. I’m at a point where I am eager to do certain things again, notice E and Y and my love for them much more again, can get energised from facilitating a workshop with a client, started \[…\] ## [(untitled)](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/07/26518/) _2026-07-06 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ Favorited Ikigai Collective by David Orban Yes, this type of exploration is important. Without a set purpose as goal, but certainly not without purpose as an experience and source of meaning. I don’t think I have the bandwidth at the moment, and I certainly do not fit the criteria to increase the little group’s diversity, \[…\] ## [Make any domain metal (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/FPxBTQW8xstc) _2026-07-06 · **Sponsored**_ Turn any domain into a blacked-out metal landing page with an email waitlist ## [US Supreme Court Ends The Pretence of The EU – US Data Privacy Framework](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/06/us-supreme-court-ends-the-pretence-of-the-eu-us-data-privacy-framework/) _2026-06-30 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ European Data Protection makes it illegal to transfer person identifiable data to outside the EU. Unless there is equivalence in data protection, or an agreement with guarantees and oversight deemed adequate. For the USA this is the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (DPF). This framework depends on the existence of the independent oversight body FTC, and \[…\] ## [Agentic Skills As Knowledge Management System?](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/06/agentic-skills-as-knowledge-management-system/) _2026-06-30 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ In a session today there was some discussion about agentic skills. A skill is mostly a markdown text file often named, yes, skill.md with a natural language text plus some front matter, describing some specific workflow or bit of knowledge or capability. Somebody external opined that such skills were a good way of codifying organisational \[…\] ## [Not Fully Digitally Sovereign Versus Increasing Cost of Leaving](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/06/not-fully-digitally-sovereign-versus-increasing-cost-of-leaving/) _2026-06-29 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ In a session earlier today the deployment of a tool was discussed in an organisation’s information environment that is otherwise fully dominated by Microsoft products. After a presentation a director asked “if we add this tool to our (Microsoft) mix, aren’t we working in opposition to our wish for more digital autonomy and digital sovereignty”? \[…\] ## [Open State Foundation zoekt nieuwe directeur](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/06/open-state-foundation-zoekt-nieuwe-directeur/) _2026-06-25 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ Bij de Open State Foundation (waar ik voorzitter ben) zoeken we een nieuwe directeur! Herken jij je in het profiel (PDF), en ben je net zo bevlogen als ons team om digitale transparantie bij de overheid te bevorderen en onze democratie te versterken? Dan horen we heel graag van je! Nadrukkelijk ook als je vindt \[…\] ## [(untitled)](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/06/26499/) _2026-06-25 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ In reply to Setting up Webmentions by Alex Hyett It’s always good to see a blogger adding Webmentions to their site. Cross-blog conversations are to me what blogging is about. And Webmentions are a useful piece of plumbing to make it so. If your set-up works, then this should show up at your end. Blog \[…\] ## [A Weekend in Grisons](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/06/a-weekend-in-grisons/) _2026-06-20 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ Last week I spent a few days in Switzerland. I went to Zürich on Thursday to meet up with a few people, having a pleasant chat with Beat Döbeli about his 30 year old PKM system Biblionetz, and a nice dinner with long time open data friend André Golliez, who chairs the Swiss Data Alliance. \[…\] ## [Four Gun Salute Going To The Office](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/06/four-gun-salute-going-to-the-office/) _2026-06-17 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ The Open State Foundation has its office on the old naval yard in the heart of Amsterdam. Right next to the national maritime museum, in the 17th century warehouse of the Dutch admirality, and across from the 1960’s former Base Commander’s home our (as I’m a board member there) offices are surrounded by other small \[…\] ## [Zeg DOEI! tegen Big Tech](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/06/zeg-doei-tegen-big-tech/) _2026-06-07 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ Het is DOEI! Dag, de eerste zondag van de maand om mezelf en anderen aan te moedigen weer een stapje te zetten weg van BigTech. Stap je mee? Blogpost: ## [(untitled)](https://www.zylstra.org/blog/2026/06/26463/) _2026-06-05 · Ton Zijlstra · Interdependent Thoughts_ Favorited The Archivist In Me Turned This Blog Into a Book by Wouter Groeneveld On occasion I’ve mentioned here that one way of ensuring longevity of this blog is to publish it as one or more books with a proper ISBN, and have the national library store their two obligated copies. We did this in \[…\] ## [Who Gets to Print the Dollar?](https://digitaldisruptionchair.substack.com/p/who-gets-to-print-the-dollar) _2026-05-13 · ESSEC Digital Disruption Chair_ Stablecoins promised to democratize money. What they are really doing is forcing a reckoning over who controls it. ## [Prime Noise-Cancelling Picks (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/ccae1z1zKhYm) _2026-05-13 · **Sponsored**_ Browse Prime-eligible, 4-star-and-up noise-cancelling earbuds with fast shipping and deals ## [AI's Energy Problem Was Here Before the War. It Will Stay After.](https://digitaldisruptionchair.substack.com/p/ais-energy-problem-was-here-before) _2026-03-25 · Jeremy Beaufils · ESSEC Digital Disruption Chair_ The conflict in Iran forced a structural constraint into the open. But the math was already broken. ## [Edge AI: When Big Tech Goes Small](https://digitaldisruptionchair.substack.com/p/edge-ai-when-big-tech-goes-small) _2026-02-10 · Jan Ondrus · ESSEC Digital Disruption Chair_ From cloud-bound to pocket-sized: the new AI infrastructure. ## [A new path with Photonic Quantum Computing](https://digitaldisruptionchair.substack.com/p/a-new-path-with-photonic-quantum) _2026-01-12 · ESSEC Digital Disruption Chair_ Let there be light particles: what if the quantum breakthrough isn’t in electrons, but in light itself? ## [Should AI Learn to Dream to Achieve AGI?](https://digitaldisruptionchair.substack.com/p/should-ai-learn-to-dream-to-achieve) _2025-12-18 · ESSEC Digital Disruption Chair_ From LLMs to World Models, the Race to go Beyond Language. ## [The Age of Generative Answers](https://digitaldisruptionchair.substack.com/p/the-age-of-generative-answers) _2025-12-11 · ESSEC Digital Disruption Chair_ GEO, AAO, AEO… How AI is reshaping online search and what business leaders should be doing right now ## [Analog Computing: Are the Billions Invested in GPUs Going to Waste?](https://digitaldisruptionchair.substack.com/p/analog-computing-are-the-billions) _2025-12-04 · ESSEC Digital Disruption Chair_ A 2,000-year-old technology could save us from the impending AI Bubble pop.