Legacy software are these awkward pieces of software you inherit, cannot get rid of and eventually slowly rot at the heart of your system. The ones that are essential, and yet date from the years when punch cards, optical readers and switch-boards were the cutting edge of IT. Yes, and...
Over the past 10 years, we went from “You do You, you be yourself”, to “You do You, whatever dude”. Once the cornerstone of support, acceptance and inclusivity, the phrase “You do You” is now less a program than a shrug. Whatever floats your boat. This is so emblematic of our...
Or, how life is often too much and not enough At first, there is nothing, the void of creation. Then we build this up into something. Until we reach a point where life seems either futile or overflows with needs. It always seems to clank one way then the other,...
What will the people think? What will they remember about me? A common worry, even when we don’t care. Maybe especially so. And if it is a worry, then we have to admit it has at least some importance in our life. I was recently discussing choice and end-of-life dignity....
This post took me a surprisingly long time to write. It was not the difficulty of the subject or the lack of inspiration. Not even existential boredom. On the contrary. The reason was that raw material never stopped flowing. A flood of information. Political scandals come slushing down the hill...
Many Universal Threats, But Where Is the Universal Vision? We stopped voting. We actively avoid news. We don’t read. Don’t we care anymore? Maybe. Unlikely though. It could possibly be just a matter of era. A generational mood. Despondent, blasé times. When we don’t blame the leadership, we blame the tools. The...
March 2020. A weather so balmy, yet most of us locked up. It did not take long before many came up with grand plans for the future. All would be well in the “world after”. Certainly, a sound intellectual exercise during an enforced pause in our life plans. At least,...
The last time you read from me, it was in The Price We Pay. I was addressing numerous conversations I had, heard or read about alternative life choices, regrets and guilt. Whether moral, economic, emotional, sentimental, it seems sometimes a default conversation. As a way to map out our choices,...
No regrets. No guilt. Another movie star pays for his life of parties. A football team loses the game in stoppage time because they stopped pushing after 90 minutes. Getting a sun tan gives skin cancer. Smoking kills. Any of these sentences shocked you? No, I did not think so....
31 years ago, I was glued to my TV screen watching the first bombs falling on Baghdad. It was on CNN. And it gave a new meaning to “live reporting”. Today, concerned by the war in Ukraine, I watch live streaming from Kiev and frontline combat videos uploaded a few...
August 16, 2024
My Heritage | Travel Trunks and Suitcases
August 2, 2024
August 9, 2024
August 30, 2024
From Ghent to Likasi, the Heart of Darkness
September 20, 2024
November 15, 2024
November 1, 2024
WWI in Soissons, Henri Penotet and the Big Bomb
November 8, 2024
November 29, 2024
December 6, 2024