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The latest blog posts to take off on Hacker News. 210 posts.
It’s Not Too Late for Uber to Avoid Stupid Patent of the Month
“Good Spirit,” he pursued, as down upon the ground he fell before it: “Your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life!” – Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol As our devoted readers are aware, each month we highlight a...
EFF in Court to Argue NSA Collection from Internet Backbone Is Unconstitutional
Oakland - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will argue on Friday before a federal court that the National Security Agency (NSA) is violating the Fourth Amendment by copying and searching data that it collects by tapping into the Internet backbone. The hearing on a motion for partial summary...
Bioluminescent trees as an alternative to electric lighting
When people think of Registered Apprenticeship, they may picture careers in construction, manufacturing, or the skilled trades. But apprenticeship is also creating exciting career pathways in industries that keep our communities beautiful, safe, and thriving — including turfgrass management and groundskeeping. New…
Federal Court Throws Out Six Weeks of Warrantless Video Surveillance
Update: On December 15, Judge Edward Shea issued his written opinion in United States v. Vargas, which you can read here. The public got an early holiday gift today when a federal court agreed with us that six weeks of continually video recording the frontyard of someone's home without a search...
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The Recurse Center is a self-directed, community-driven educational retreat for programmers in New York City.
Google News to shut down in Spain
After 9/11, one of our engineers, Krishna Bharat, realized that results for the query “World Trade Center” returned nothing about the terror...
Illinois General Assembly passes bill to ban citizens from recording police
The Illinois General Assembly just passed a bill that would prevent citizens from recording the police.
MIT indefinitely removes online physics lectures and courses by Walter Lewin
MIT is indefinitely removing retired physics faculty member Walter Lewin’s online lectures from MIT OpenCourseWare and online MITx courses from edX, the online learning platform co-founded by MIT, following a determination that Dr. Lewin engaged in online sexual harassment in violation of MIT policies.
Chaos Computer Club Website Blocked by UK ISPs
A significant portion of British citizens are currently blocked from accessing the Chaos Computer Club's (CCC) website. On top of that, Vodafone customers are blocked from accessing the ticket sale...
What We Learned From 40 Female YC Founders
We’re excited to launch Female Founder Stories [http://www.femalefounderstories.com/], a collection of interviews with 40 of Y Combinator’s female alumnae. We asked them about things like how they got started, their experience at Y Combinator, their experience as female founders, and what they wish they’d known when…
Why Can't I Take an Orange Through Customs?
Fruit flies, agroterrorism, and how a healthy snack became a threat to national security.
New Search Strategy for Firefox: Promoting Choice & Innovation
Ten years ago, we built Firefox to keep the Internet in each of our hands — to create choice and put people in control of their lives online. Our focus h
China Just Blocked Thousands of Websites
自2011年以来用技术对抗审查。我们使用AI监控审查并在全球范围内扩大言论自由。
WhatsApp Co-Founder Donates $1M to FreeBSD Foundation
The FreeBSD Foundation is pleased to announce it has received a $1,000,000 donation from Jan Koum, CEO and Co-Founder of WhatsApp. This ma...
The USA Freedom Act: What's to Come and What You Need to Know
Update, Nov 18: The USA Freedom Act does not renew the entirety of the Patriot Act, which consisted of over 100 sections changing numerous electronic surveillance laws. The USA Freedom Act does extend three provisions of the Patriot Act: the "lone wolf" provision, the "roving wire tap" provision,...
Unsealed Filing Shows DOJ Misled Appeals Court About NSL Gag Orders
A court filing unsealed late Wednesday shows that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) made a highly misleading argument to an appeals court in October during a hearing on the constitutionality of National Security Letters (NSLs). On October 8, the Electronic Frontier Foundation argued before the...
It’s time to extend the US Privacy Act to EU citizens
Last summer’s Snowden revelations not only highlighted the urgent need for surveillance reform but also severely damaged relations between t...
FBI's "Suicide Letter" to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Dangers of Unchecked Surveillance
The New York Times has published an unredacted version of the famous “suicide letter” from the FBI to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The letter, recently discovered by historian and professor Beverly Gage, is a disturbing document. But it’s also something that everyone in the United States should read...
The Invention of Sliced Bread
Sliced bread: the greatest thing since...sliced bread.
France signs a five-year national deal with Elsevier
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