Rustdesk started as an open-source alternative to TeamViewer. Now, it offers more than just remote desktop access, making it handy for casual self-hosting.

With no need for (dyn)DNS, port forwarding, or a VPN, you can get:

• Remote terminal
• File transfer
• Tunneling (similar to SSH port forwarding)
• Remote desktop

I think it’s a solid choice if you have a simple one-server setup.

Governments all around EU, as well as the EU itself, are fighting hard against privacy, free thought and communications.

If you or your company stores user's personal information, make sure to use tech infrastructure from outside the EU!

Surprise: the highest taxed country in the world managed to increase taxes!

At a certain moment you don't feel the pain anymore. It's not that it's gone. You just got used to it. You lose connection. With your emotions. With your body. With your sense of self.

Then you let go.

Fite me

The Night of Enitharmon's Joy by William Blake (1795)

What signals do you look for? Do you decide based on reason or instinct?

Summary:

STEM participation in Flemish secondary schools fell for the fourth consecutive year, reaching its lowest level in ten years. Last school year 35.5% of pupils chose a STEM track, down from 36.44% the year before and below the government target of over 40% by 2030. The decline continues despite more than a decade of intensive promotion. Employers' group Voka warns this hurts capacity for addressing major challenges like climate and digitalisation — six of ten shortage occupations are STEM roles, Voka chair Frank Beckx says. Ann Caluwaerts (Imec, STEM platform) calls the trend "a time bomb under our prosperity."

Summary:

VAF will lose €734,000 in funding, affecting its Media and Game funds while Film Fund allocations remain unchanged. The cut represents about 10% of the roughly €7 million annual Flemish dotations the fund has received in recent years.

An additional €169,000 from the Education cabinet for the Game Fund may also be removed, further reducing support for games. VAF and the minister’s office are in discussions amid a difficult regional budgetary situation.

The Flemish government expects the expanded audiovisual stimulation scheme, which forces media companies active in Belgium to subsidise Belgian media—which now includes videoplatforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok—to partly compensate. The minister says the new scheme will yield €26 million extra for the sector, with over €11 million earmarked for VAF.

Summary:

The Flemish government, led by Environment Minister Jo Brouns (CD&V), plans to significantly increase the fees for citizens wishing to appeal against approved building permits. Currently set at €200, the fee is proposed to rise to between €400 and €500. This move aims to deter misuse of the appeal process and expedite permit procedures.

Brouns emphasizes that the increase is intended to signal that only serious appeals should be filed, while still allowing individuals to challenge permits if they experience genuine personal harm. The government acknowledges that processing such appeals can cost society around €5,000 per case, highlighting the disparity between the appeal costs and the societal expenses involved.

Despite the anticipated revenue of only €1 million from this measure, it is viewed as a step towards a more streamlined permitting process, a key promise of the Flemish government. The complexity and lengthy nature of obtaining permits have been problematic for developers, compounded by the ability of various stakeholders to contest permits, leading to protracted legal battles.

Additionally, the Flemish government aims to simplify and accelerate permitting procedures, although previous attempts have faced setbacks from the Constitutional Court. Recent rulings have mandated that provinces will now review local permit applications to prevent conflicts of interest, ensuring that municipal construction projects can proceed without interruption.