Netherlands

As I was passing through Amsterdam, OSM lied to me several times. I don’t have the tools and means to correct the maps for various complex reasons starting with not having a good Internet connection, but really an Amsterdam local should get involved anyway because I’m not sure of all these problems.

Misinfo:

• Brouwerij Troost (52.36616°N, 4.87318°E) ← shutdown
• Manamana (52.35410°N, 4.89033°E) ← apparently shutdown; someone should verify
• Hecke Electronica (52.35243°N, 4.88725°E) ← shutdown; owner retired. It should be updated to say “/Formerly/ Hecke Electronica” until something replaces it
• Flower Burger (52.37226°N, 4.88566°E) ← replaced with a /cashless/ croissant shop.
• CT Coffee & Coconuts (52.35267°N, 4.89150°E) ← replaced with another similar shop. Not sure if other Coffee & Coconuts locations closed or just this one.

Missing info:

• Bierfabriek Amsterdam (52.37007°N, 4.89375°E) ← cashless¹!
• Brouwerij De Engel (52.37007°N, 4.89375°E) ← building is rightfully unnamed since the brewery was only there a couple years before bankruptcy. It should be updated to say “/Formerly/ Brouwerij De Engel” so people actually know the brewery is no longer there, until something else is established there.

¹ When a cashless merchant sells alcohol, it’s a trap and an injustice. Having records of alcohol consumption stupid and reckless because it denies consumers their GDPR Art.5 right to data minimisation. And it has consquences. E.g. a scandinavian home buyer was denied a loan because the bank discovered he bought alcohol regularly. Anyway, there will always be dumb consumers who pay for alcohol electronically, but in the very least OSM should mark cashless bars as cashless so wise consumers can easily avoid them. I walked out of my way to visit Bierfabriek only to discover they were cashless. Unlike other cashless bars, they were at least diligent about posting it.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/2631940

Archived version

In January 2023, the Dutch city of The Hague introduced a first-of-its-kind municipal ordinance banning advertisements for fossil fuels, fossil-powered transport, and the aviation sector in all public spaces, including bus stops, billboards, and other outdoor media platforms managed by the city.

[...]

Shortly after its introduction, the ordinance was challenged by travel companies which argued that the ban was too broad and restricted their commercial interests.

However, in April 2024, a Dutch court ruled that the city of The Hague acted lawfully in introducing the ban. The court recognized the city’s right — and responsibility — to protect public health and the environment, especially in the context of the climate crisis. This ruling not only safeguards the fossil ad ban but also sets a legal precedent for other cities worldwide to follow.

[...]

All but one supplier of electronic components in Amsterdam has shut down. The most recent shop to go under was Hecke Electronica. This was actually a mere retirement by the owner in his mid-70s. But all the other shops could not overcome the struggle for business.

According to the owner of an electro shop which sells light bulbs (not components), it’s not interesting to sell components because you do a lot of talking and only to get a sale that earns 20 cents.

A shop that traditionally only sold plastic toy models (“MUCO”) has allocated half the shop to:

Things they seem to be missing are along the lines of:

The masses of Amazon.com consumers did this. People who prioritise saving a couple euros above the environment while looking the other way as exploited human factory workers pee in jars to keep up with the pace of reverse-centouran robots that keep people’s noses on the grindstone for lousy wages. Only to then toss new non-defective goods into a landfill because they did not reach Bezo’s profitability standard amid warehouse space shortages.

I will only shop offline, with cash. And my focus is on repair, so I need hacker tools to repair broken appliances that consumerist Amazon patrons dump on curbs. So from where I sit this is dystopia unfolding. Unbanked people are fucked. Law may not directly explicitly force you to lick a bank’s boots but if you don’t you’re simply marginalised like an insect under a steam roller.

At the same time, the number of shops selling useless junk souvenirs to tourists is uncountable. But not a single Bus Pirate in town. Clogs and shot glasses won’t help fix a washing machine PCB that has bricked itself due to an anti-repair design.

I always have a hard time finding these things locally:

• malt vinegar powder and liquid (not Sarsons.. I know where to get that and there is nothing wrong with it but just want to try something different)
• steel cut oats (sometimes called Irish oatmeal but I've seen the standard rolled oats also called Irish and that's not what I'm after)
• Liquid Smoke
• Flipperzero (unlikely on any shelves, but worth asking)
• Bus Pirate
• Mongolian Fire Oil -- not sure if there is a generic name for this stuff but it’s a kind of spicy hot oil with a quite unique character
• Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

Any shops in Amsterdam worth a look?

cross-posted from: https://lemy.nl/post/1616675

Na twee handelsdagen vol klappen en blauwe plekken op de beurs kunnen beleggers dit weekend bijkomen. Hoewel? Velen zullen zich voorbereiden op morgen, als de beurzen weer opengaan. Houdt de paniek aan door de handelsoorlog die de Amerikaanse president Trump woensdag ontketende?

Beursanalist Corné [...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/27388490

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/31374897

Archived

While the fund is open to researchers of all nationalities, it appears to be a direct response to growing concerns among American scientists about the tightening restrictions on academic freedom under President Donald Trump. Researchers in the U.S. have raised alarms over increasing government censorship, political interference in fields like climate science and gender studies, and tighter controls on scientific communication. France has already launched a program to lure disillusioned American scientists, and the Netherlands now aims to follow suit.

[...]

Dutch universities have already expressed interest in recruiting American researchers. The Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), which represents the country’s 14 public universities, confirmed they are exploring ways to bring in U.S. scientists. “It seems like a good idea to us,” a UNL spokesperson said, emphasizing that strengthening Dutch innovation is a priority. The universities also see it as a way to stand in solidarity with American academics facing restrictions.

[...]