interoperability

Despite a two-year transition period, we are uncertain what compliance will look like—either a universally more transparent internet that enshrines privacy or a more compartmentalised environment where the experience in the EU is different than outside of the EU, however this primer from the Verge is a helpful one for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that becomes enforceable on 25 May 2018 after its passage in April of 2016.
In addition to simplifying the regulatory landscape for international business transactions, the directive also aims to return control of telemetry and personal data to the natural persons from whence it came. Aside from expanded requirements that clearing-houses be faithful and accountable stewards of the data they’ve banked and meaningful terms of consent and assent, there’s an interesting portability requirement. Not only will European Union residents be able to request their on-line dossiers in full, one’s autobiography must also be easily and readily transferable between platforms, if one so chooses to migrate one’s curated histories from one social media host to another, which also works to undermine walled-gardens and fights against the hegemony of the few or one by allowing more players access to the sector.

trump l’oeil

Despite the fact that the Obama portraits were privately funded, their popular reception was enough apparently to motivate the US congress to draft legislation which Trump eagerly signed into law the Eliminating Government-funded Oil-painting Act—EGO Act in short-form, that strips funding for official portraiture. Though the title specifically references oil-paint, the language of the enacted bill seems to cover all media but fails to address the rather fraught funding sources for Trump’s own past artistic commissions.

swiss spaghetti harvest

If these pranks and hoaxes suggested by a neural network (previously) are a preview of what artificial intelligence thinks would be entertaining and appropriate for April Fools’ then I think we have legitimate reason to fear the Internet of Things. Granted, the data-set that the machine had to draw from was limited, some of the practical jokes are outright metaphysical:

Conference call two people then, when your kid asks what it is, say “Dinner.”

If you rip up a toilet paper roll, then leave them a ransom note.

Hide an alarm clock in someone’s keyboard who isn’t a very good typist.

Check out the entire list and let us know your favourites and how you might pull them off.

transumanza

The Local’s Italian edition reports that the country is seeking to add the traditional nomadic herding practise of transhumance to the UNESCO register of intangible cultural heritage—following the successful bid to have Neapolitan pizza included last December. Ultimately derived from the Latin for crossing ground, the term includes herding-customs and the season driving of flocks of livestock to greener pastures. Of course, the profession of shepherds is not exclusive to Italy but central and southern regions of the country have preserved much of the ancient networks of herding routes—referred to as tratturi, some of which are still in use.