Week 25/2026
Cause one of us is getting older
NSFW
This week's NSFW ist from Kovacs, again. But this time it's not Austrian Mira Lu Kovacs,(she's so great, though, see Weekly 19/2026!) but Dutch/German (Sharon) Kovacs - Dulce Perro (Sweet Dog):
She will perform in Budapest on November 27th - that is always worth a trip.
Retrospect
#arsboni
Lots of content was delivered via this channel this week.
Prof. Paulina Jo Pesch talked about AI and law studies.
Dr.Dr. Erich Prem discussed digital humanism.
Dr. Georg Serentschy analysed Digital Regulation
and last, not least, Prof. Dr. Alke Martens spoke about (agentic) AI.
At the face to face sessions in the laundry I experimented with the light in the #laundry; this time it's a warmer, more yellowish tone - again, any feedback on the technical aspects of what I am doing here would be highly appreciated.
I also continue to experiment with shorts - here are 3 examples:
I am still not sure yet whether these snippets help in interesting people for the main content, so, again, I would really profit a lot from people with more knowledge guiding me here.
How to write
Prof. Dr. Barbara Prainsack was so kind to share with us at the department her experiences with academic writing. That was an excellent opportunity to read her very instructive text "Don’t write on Fridays! My reflection on reading and writing" again
She also directed us to the whole volume of the Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly with 15 more reflections on legal writing in it that I am currently reading, still hoping to make my writing and my approach to writing better, after 40 years of struggling.
App Reversing Workshop
Within the Vienna Doctoral College on Digital Humanism, Prof. Dr. Martina Lindorfer from TU Wien kindly invited us - and Barbara Prainsack and her group - to a workshop on App reverse engineering. The venue (Zemanek Hörsaal) was new to me and very nice and the way to get her educated me about a Hungarian mathematician, Rózsa Péter
The workshop was mainly given by Jakob Bleier who did an excellent job in educating non-tech people like us on ways of analysing secrity loops in (Android) apps. We were, inter alia, introduced to mobsf.live that is a ready to use kit to start with the analysis - for good or for bad reasons.
ARSO 2026
Wednesday brought me to TU Wien again, this time to the 22nd IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impact (ARSO 2026) to discuss ethical, social and legal implications of AI-robotics. The session, carefully arranged by Professor Tatsu Inatani from Kyoto University, was a wonderful conversation among Japanese and Austrian colleagues, with Prof. Yasuo Deguchi, Prof. Minoru Asada and Prof. Tatsu Inatani on the Japanese and Prof. Barbara Prainsack, Prof. Astrid Weiss (and myself) on the Austrian side.
It was - again - interesting to see how different and how common Eastern and Western viewpoints are when it comes to AI regulation - in all relevant disciplines (ethics, STS, law, computer science etc.).
Prospect
Ars Iuris Annual Conference
On Tuesday, June 16th, the law school's doctoral program Ars Iuris will hold its annual conference in Juridicum's top floor. This is an excellent opportunity to see and hear outstanding presnetation of young scholars in all fields of the law.
Free entry, registration requested, no stream.
Inaugural Lectures
Three of my colleagues will hold their inaugural lecture on Wednesday. This is the program:
Free entry, registration required.
Kölner Tage Datenschutzrecht
On Thursday I will be on the panel of a big conference in Cologne: Kölner Tage Datenschutzrecht 2026. I will be quite challenged by my talk - topicwise (Data Act) and timewise (10 minutes).
I like the conference design a lot, as it unites many very competent people in very short time.
Paid event, registration and remote participation possible.
Digital Humanism
As this year's digital humanism conference (warm recommendation!) is approaching, I will have a 2 hours interview/debate at Krone TV on Wednesday. This will be part of "Wiener Wissen", I don't know the release date yet.
I will also speak at the Vienna Doctoral College on Digital Humanism this Friday, June 12th.
Look and Feel
Fantômas
Fantômas (a silent film serial from 1913/1914) was screened with live-music (in parts) in Konzerthaus. Gabriel Cazes and Nicolas Giraud performed a wild mixture of melodies and instruments
with references to Paolo Conte or La vie en rose. A Fantômas sequel will be screened in October at the same venue.
More than 5 hours of the serial - without any music at all - can be watched on YouTube.
Arte has a documentary about the film's different iterations (including those with Louis de Funes in the sixties) and their success.
I learned that a new version with Guillaume Canet as Fantômas and Ana Girardot as Hélène Gurn is in the making and will be in the movies in early 2027.
40 years after the Waldheim Affair
A dear reader and friend made me aware of a recent OE1-radio show about the Waldheim affair from spring 1986. This is very interesting for those who can remember (like me for whom this was an important moment of politicization) and for those who can't (to understand this country's recent history).
Karl Smolle appears as a call-in listener quite unexpectedly, reporting first hand insights on his communications with Waldheim then. And it's the very first time I came across a Lou Reed song on the affair.
How can it be that I've missed this until now?
Pro Domo
Just in case you read Recht der Wirtschaft (RdW) and wonder, due to this week's table of content, whether I finally, after 40 years of aberration, found my true destiny as corporate lawyer:
No, this is neither Birgit nor Katrin nor me - it's Birgit's and my son Felix with his very first (and very well written!) legal article. I'm quite proud, happy, grateful to his academic mentors and peers, and also a little nostalgic.
Have a wonderful week and take care of yourself!
Kind regards
Nikolaus (Forgó)
