kernelle

Belgium’s defence minister Theo Francken is considering a voluntary military service programme aimed at increasing the amount of young people working in defence.

Belgium abolished its compulsory military service in 1995 and has no intention of reinstating a mandatory initiative, RTBF reports, but Francken sees a voluntary programme as a means of recruitment and plans to launch it "as soon as possible".

“All young men and women aged 18 will receive a letter from me inviting them to join the defence for one year,” said Francken.

thebulletin.be

Since the introduction of the NIS2 legislation in October last year, 1224 organisations from critical sectors have already registered with the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium (CCB). During this period, the number of reports of cyber incidents increased by 50%.

Cybercrime is set to explode in the coming years. The new European Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2) aims to improve the cyber security and resilience of essential and key services in well-defined sectors in the EU.

Pioneering role Belgium was the first European member state to fully implement the new NIS2 directive. Meanwhile, half of the EU member states still need to transpose it into national law

news.belgium.be

https://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/Good.html

The internet is an amazing melting pot, but is that a good thing or a bad thing? Written by Sir Tim Berners-Lee - yes the internet guy, this article highlights technologies that are trying to improve the negative side effects of our modern day internet. A Fediverse must read.

https://wikitok.vercel.app/

Ever spent hours following one Wikipedia link to the next? Introducing, Wikipedia Doomscrolling. I'm truly sorry for any lost productivity due to WikiTok.

https://www.moddb.com/mods/doom-infinite

Doom doesn't need any introduction, but this roguelike mod does. Doom Infinite brings procedurally generated levels, random weapon variations, new items, new abilities and much more. Calling this the best Doom mod ever made is a matter of opinion though, but if you disagree, I might just rip and tear.

https://www.mudconnect.com/

MUD's or Multi-User Dungeons are the original MMORPG's. Active since the 70's, MUD's still have a place on the internet. Being mostly text*-based adventures, it's a deep rabbit hole of early internet multiplayer gaming. The MUD Connector will find the perfect MUD for you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_individual_trees

Trees? trees.

Earlier this week a painting by the artist Jacob Jordaens that was stolen by the Nazis from a flat in Mechelen (Antwerp Province) 85 years ago was returned to the descendants of its rightful owners. The painting was handed back at the Dossin Barracks Holocaust Memorial and Information Centre in Mechelen.

vrt.be

The winners of this year’s Oscars, the Academy Awards that recognise technical and artistic merit in the film industry, are being announced on 2 March. With 13 Oscar nominations, a record for a movie in the category ‘Best International Feature Film’, Belgian coproduction 'Emilia Pérez' is one of the favourites. But several other nominated films have Belgian input.

vrt.be

In 2024, observant citizens forwarded more than 9 million messages to suspicious@safeonweb.be . In record year 2023, there were 10 million. On average in 2024, we received 25,900 messages per day. We would like to sincerely thank all internet users who continue to do so! Together we are making the internet a safer place.

With this information, we were able to detect and redirect exactly 1,644,732 suspicious links. Indeed, less attentive internet users who do click on such a link are redirected by us to a warning page and thus not scammed.

news.belgium.be

Lost in the woods, party boy Nathan encounters a troll under a bridge and embarks on a quest for a magical elixir that will forever change his life.

Written & Produced by Jacob Wysocki Directed & Edited by Tony Infante Co-produced by Gabriel Diaz & Tyler Phillips

Surgeons at Leuven University Hospital have transplanted four organs into a 2-year-old toddler during one single operation. It is the first time that all the abdominal organs of a toddler have been transplanted during a single operation in Belgium. The stomach, liver, pancreas and small intestine were all transplanted in the young patient in a single operation.

The two-year-old toddler had a genetic disorder that caused a nerve problem in the intestines. As a result, the child could not absorb food in the usual way but had to do so through a catheter. The prolonged use of the catheter in turn caused infections. On top of this, the baby had liver problems. All this meant that all abdominal organs had to be replaced. The operation was a success.

vrt.be

Scientists from the Centre for Brain and Disease Research at Leuven University and at VIB.AI have succeeded in creating synthetic DNA using artificial intelligence. The AI model was able to design 'enhancers', or 'switches', that can be used to activate specific genes. "Groundbreaking," the team says. The results of the research have been published in the renowned scientific journal Nature.

vrt.be

The Flemish Peace Institute on Thursday launched a new online knowledge portal on gun violence in the European Union. Gunviolence.eu features an incident monitor that provides a global picture of firearm incidents in all member states.

The platform's incident monitor lists up-to-date information based on media reports from more than 350 local news sources. The tool will also generate a monthly trend report.

"Thanks to the sophisticated algorithm and self-learning nature of the AI technology used, this monitor will become a crucial tool for a more robust and effective approach to firearm violence by law enforcement," said director Nils Duquet.

belganewsagency.eu

Note: minority report anyone?

In the Antwerp town of Willebroek the decision has been taken to continue a project to reduce street lighting for the sake of nocturnal animals. Grid operator Fluvius and the Flemish Nature and Forestry Agency have joined forces to deploy "smart street lighting". It means the municipality can save up to 40 per cent on its energy bill but "on top of that, we expect several bat species to benefit too" says René Meeuwis of the Nature and Forestry Agency.

vrt.be