In de tuin van een woning aan de Reigerhof in Rozenburg is een brommobiel in brand gevlogen. Het vuur sloeg over naar het huis, waardoor ook de gevel korte tijd in brand stond. De schade is groot.

Een wild plan, zo wordt het nieuwe Shift Landmark genoemd. Het futuristische gebouw in Rotterdam-Zuid moet mensen inspireren tot een duurzame manier van leven en werken. Het idee komt van een Amsterdammer, die juist Rotterdam uitkiest als dé stad waar grote ideeën werkelijkheid kunnen worden.

The more unusual you are, the more unusual it is to find people like you, advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith writes. With time, her world will expand

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Our teen daughter is a deeply sensitive, perceptive kid who longs for close friendship but often feels sidelined; she reads slights quickly, ruminates and compares herself harshly. Her 16th birthday was heartbreaking: the in-person warmth and social-media love she expected didn’t materialise, and she’s crushed. We try to parent with empathy and backbone, validating her feelings while nudging her towards agency: widening her circles, getting busier and repairing frayed ties without begging for approval.

But how do we wisely accompany a teenager whose self-worth is repeatedly tested by imperfect peers (in her mind at least) and the distortions of online recognition? What practices, language and boundaries help a highly sensitive adolescent convert disappointment into dignity and build friendships rooted in mutual regard rather than constant self-surveillance?

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Uncovered, a site for judging books by their first pages. “No cover. No bestseller sticker, no celebrity book club, no BookTok trend. You read the opening of a real book, blind, and answer the only question that matters: would you keep reading?”

The Resonant Computing Manifesto. “We can now build technology that adaptively shapes itself in service of our individual and collective aspirations. We can build resonant environments that bring out the best in every human who inhabits them.”

NASA has given an update on the Artemis III mission and, while sticking with an optimistic 2028 landing target for Artemis IV, offered a glimpse into just how much development work remains to be done at Blue Origin and SpaceX. Artemis III has been compared to Apollo 9, which tested the Apollo Lunar Module in Earth orbit, yet neither SpaceX nor Blue Origin is flying anything as close to the lunar landers. Blue Origin's test lander will be based on the company's current Mark 2 crew lander architecture, incorporating the major avionics, flight software, life support, and crew cabin. Orion, launched atop NASA's SLS, will dock to the side of the Blue Origin spacecraft for crew transfer; two crew members in orange Orion survival suits can baord the test lander, with Orion's software controlling the stack. An instrumented lunar surface spacesuit mass simulator, similar to the "Moonikin" manikin that flew aboard Orion for Artemis I, will also ride along on the Blue Origin lander. SpaceX's test is considerably simpler - just a docking system mounted on the nose of a Starship. That requires Starship testing to have reached the orbital stage first, which is why NASA will be closely watching the upcoming Flight Test 13. Starship V3 is still flying suborbital until SpaceX proves it can reliably relight an engine for controlled re-entry. Under the current plan, Blue Origin launches its lander into orbit first, where it can loiter for up to 30 days. Once it's checked out, a crew launches aboard Orion to rendezvous and dock with it. After that's complete, SpaceX launches its Starship test article to rendezvous and dock Orion in turn, though the crew won't board Starship, just verify communications and interoperability. SpaceX's vehicle will control that docked stack. Notably, SpaceX's docking capability was qualified in 2023, while Blue Origin only tested its pressurized docking system earlier this year. Jeremy Parsons, Artemis program manager, stated, "Artemis III will be a highly choreographed dance with a demanding launch sequence across multiple launch pads and equally demanding mission operations for our ground and flight crews, making it one of the most complex and ambitious missions NASA has ever undertaken." He is not exaggerating. Apollo 9 needed a single Saturn V launch; Artemis III needs three – an SLS, whatever Blue Origin ultimately uses to launch its lander (the company is still rebuilding its launch pad after May's explosion), and a Starship. The SLS has flown twice, including one lunar flyby. Starship has yet to reach orbit despite Elon Musk once claiming that uncrewed versions would be landing on Mars around now. It'll be an impressive feat if NASA can pull it off, even if SpaceX's piece of the puzzle looks a lot simpler than Blue Origin's. ®

Microsoft has open-sourced Comic Chat, its short-lived 1990s experiment in turning Internet Relay Chat (IRC) conversations into comic strips – and, for many users, their first encounter with Comic Sans. Microsoft Comic Chat was released in 1996 with Internet Explorer 3. It was conceived by David "DJ" Kurlander of the Microsoft Research Virtual Worlds Group as a new visual representation of conversation histories. Rather than displaying the scrolling sequence of text messages still familiar today, a chat was depicted across several cartoon panels, replete with characters, backgrounds, and speech bubbles. According to Microsoft, "the visual world of Comic Chat was the work of Jim Woodring, a highly regarded independent comic artist whose characters gave the software its distinctive look." This was long before generative AI, and the software generated its scenes using rules. "If someone wrote 'I like that,'" explained Microsoft, "the character might point to itself. If the text suggested anger, the character might frown or cross its arms." "Comic Chat was more than a clever skin for IRC. It was able to interpret conversational cues in the text and choose appropriate poses, facial expressions, gestures, and panel layouts. "That meant Comic Chat was not simply displaying messages but also making real-time editorial decisions about how a conversation should look and feel as a comic." It could be entertaining, even if the novelty wore off quickly for many users – something Microsoft tacitly acknowledged when it pulled the plug on the project in the early 2000s. That said, Comic Chat is a reminder of when the World Wide Web was a more optimistic place, full of experimentation. While the concept didn't really go anywhere (although its spirit lives on in emojis and gifs), it was innovative. Microsoft localized Comic Chat into 24 languages and bundled it with Windows 98. Comic Chat was also a natural home for Comic Sans, unlike an HR handout promoting the latest company event. In its post announcing the code's release under the MIT license, Microsoft stated: "Comic Chat was created during a period when software teams were willing to color outside the lines, literally and figuratively." ®

Both webcomics about small towns that are more than they seem. In Broodhollow by Kris Straub, everyone's excited to talk about the town's terrifying traditions. In Follow the Leader (navigation may not work on mobile) by Jonas Goonface, nobody wants to acknowledge the cult of cannibal children in the park. Neither reached their finale, but both are satisfying reads.

There's been at least three attempts to start chapter 3 of Broodhollow, but none of them stuck. Rumour has it you can find them on the internet archive. Kris Straub's other projects, including the lengthy sci-fi webcomic Starslip, could make for posts of their own, but browse his site if you're curious. Follow The leader was ended prematurely when Jonas became uncomfortable with the racism inherent in some of the imagery he was using (announced here and articulately defended in the comments). But he did give us a summary of the planned ending for closure. Jonas Goonface didn't stop making comics when he stopped Follow The Leader, he just started doing it for money. His impressive bibliography includes the critically acclaimed Godshaper (with Simon Spurrier). Most recently The Unsinkable Ship Of Fools (as nsfw as his itch page). Sadly his pre-FtL webcomics seem lost to linkrot.

Het verbod van de NS op tassen op lege stoelen past in een trend van sociale angst. Ongemerkt is de online leefwereld de norm geworden en komt het belichaamde leven ons steeds vaker bevreemdend voor.

De spanningen tussen de Amerikaanse president Trump en de Spaanse premier Sánchez begonnen al ver voor het WK. Als hoofd van een van de weinige linkse regeringen in Europa staat Sánchez de verspreiding van Trumps MAGA-agenda in de weg.

Het ziekenhuis in Delft hoeft niet langer te accepteren dat medicijntesten en onderzoeken met hartpatiënten van het ziekenhuis via een aparte op winst gerichte vennootschap van cardiologen lopen. Dat heeft de voorzieningenrechter donderdag geoordeeld.

Deze Afrikaanse franjeaap was al in 2008 gefotografeerd, maar nu pas is duidelijk dat het om een nieuwe soort gaat. „Ze hebben niet veel goeds te verwachten van mensen.”

Daniel Solove argues in the Wall Street Journal (alternate link) that giving people control of their personal data is not an effective way to regulate privacy in this era. Instead, we need to hold companies accountable for their actions, similar to what we do with food and drug companies. Measures such as rigorous data minimization, fiduciary duties, liability for negligent or reckless technological design, liability for algorithms that cause harm, and multi-stakeholder review of technologies will be far more effective.

Paper.

Schouderklopje voor uzelf want het bevuilen van onze aardkloot is afgelopen. In 2025 produceerde Nederland een schamele 449 kilo huishoudafval per inwoner en dat is een verpletterende ZES KILO minder dan in 2024. Minder restafval, minder Groente- Fruit- en Tuinafval-afval en minder oud papier. Een prachtrapport van het CBS, waaruit maar weer eens blijkt waar in dit land de daadwerkelijke vooruitgang plaatsvindt: niet in de randstad. Een gebied dat alles erbuiten graag vertelt hoe er geleefd moet worden, maar waar men zelf leeft als varkens in een naar poep meurende megastal. Ook afval scheiden is voor de grote steden teveel gevraagd. Alles wordt er elke dag van het jaar willekeurig op straat geflikkerd en blijft daar als het ff kan ook nog een maand of wat liggen. Dit terwijl Rinie en Tinus in Jipsingboermussel meerdere uren per week kwijt zijn aan het categorisch ordenen van alle teringtroep. Maar goed, een stuk minder afval per Nederlander dus. Geldt alleen niet voor Gordon, die is juist meer gaan afvallen. Chapeau aan alle voorbeeldige burgers en hoera voor DE REGIO.

Net als de cronut, komt de democratie uit Amerika. In het begin was de Amerikaanse grondwet zeer progressief. Inmiddels werkt het systeem niet zo best meer. Hoe heeft het zover kunnen komen?

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