5011
New
The latest blog posts to take off on Hacker News. 13,065 posts.
Society, Policy & Culture
Any year
5012
Why Telegram had to follow Apple and Google when they suspended a voting app
telegra.ph/why-telegram-had-to-follow-apple-and-google-when-they-suspended-a-voting-app-09-252021229 points168 commentsSociety, Policy & Culture details
Telegram gives its users more freedom of speech than any other popular mobile application. Unlike other apps, Telegram can't be pressured by shareholders, cloud providers or advertisers into unjustified censorship. Telegram doesn't exist in isolation, however. It depends on other companies to function, from banks and…
5013
Demonopolizing the Internet with Interoperability
The Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery has just published my editorial, "Competitive Compatibility: Let's Fix the Internet, Not the Tech Giants," explaining how interoperability was once an engine for competition and user empowerment – and how that ended.
5014
Big problems at the timezone database
The last time I wrote about the timezone database on this blog, the database was under threat from a lawsuit. Fortunately that lawsuit w...
5015
Facebook is other people
This is what "democratization" looks like
5016
Your face is not a bar code: arguments against automatic face recognition (2001)
An abridged version of this article appeared in Whole Earth 106, Winter 2001, pages 74-77.
5017
EFF Flew a Plane over Apple's Headquarters
For the last month, civil liberties and human rights organizations, researchers, and customers have demanded that Apple cancel its plan to install photo-scanning software onto devices. This software poses an enormous danger to privacy and security. Apple has heard the message, and announced that it...
5018
If AT&T Had Managed the Phone Business Like Google
Imagine a Silicon Valley strategy implemented with the United States phone system 100 years ago. It's not a pretty picture.
5019
Apple's Texas-Sized Problem
Link to: https://popular.info/p/apples-texas-problem
5020
What Does Evergrande Meltdown Mean for China?
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace2021176 points226 commentsTech Industry & Business details
The impact of Evergrande has caused financial distress to spread faster and more forcefully than Beijing’s financial regulators expected, putting pressure on them to move quickly to stop the contagion. But they cannot rescue Evergrande’s creditors without also undermining their fight against bad debt.
5021
Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account
Accounts that have never been disabled include the accounts for Rocket League (a game whose Mac support [Epic discontinued in January 2020][rl]), and separately, Unreal Engine. My understanding is that none of those accounts are affected by Apple’s decision not to reinstate the Fortnite developer account.
5022
Definitive Account of the CIA/Media/BigTech Fraud
An axis of the CIA, Big Tech and the DNC-allied wing of the corporate media spread an absolute lie in the weeks before the 2020 election. We now have definitive proof.
5023
Introducing Age Verification
Roblox is a global platform where millions of people gather together every day to imagine, create, and share experiences with each other in immersive, user-generated 3D worlds.
5024
I quit – Peak indifference, big tobacco
Peak indifference, big tobacco, disinformation and death
5025
The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used
This month marks the publication of "The Actual Star," a new, wildly ambitious, wildly successful novel by Monica Byrne, spanning 3,000 years of history from the ancient Maya to a distant future.
5026
Internet Freedom Around the World Declines for 11th Consecutive Year
Read Freedom House’s annual survey & analysis of internet freedom around the world in the Freedom on the Net 2021 report— The Global Drive to Control Big Tech.
5027
Robots Must Be Ephemeralized
There is a subfield of robotics research called “sim-to-real” (sim2real) whereby one attempts to solve a robotic task in simulation, and the...
5028
5029
Microsoft ruined passwords, now aims for a passwordless future
Purism makes premium phones, laptops, mini PCs and servers running free software on PureOS. Purism products respect people's privacy and freedom while protecting their security.
5030
When McDonalds Came to Denmark
Every few months, a prominent person or publication points out that McDonalds workers in Denmark receive $22 per hour, 6 weeks of vacation, and sick pay. This compensation comes on top of the general slate of social benefits in Denmark, which includes child allowances, health care, child care, paid leave, retirement…
5031
Elite Biases Make Policy Biases
A 2014 paper predicted U.S.
5032
Why does no one ever talk about Sweden anymore?
Very weird, isn't it?
5033
Russia restricts opposition election voting app
Mobile app store metrics from NetBlocks confirm the removal of a popular opposition election tracking app from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The incident comes as Russia ...
5034
5035
On YouTube’s recommendation system
How YouTube's recommendation system works: Understand how videos are suggested and how to optimize your content for discovery.
5036
Treasury Dept. Seeks to Track Transactions of Personal Bank Accounts over $600
The Biden administration is proposing that banks be required to report all transactions greater than $600 to collect more tax revenue. This policy is poised to suffocate businesses and stifle the financial privacy of Americans.
5037
Pieces of Shit
I listened to this song last night.
5038
Instagram Ruined Photography for Me
The story of why I stopped taking photos
5039
Useful Spy Books
Reading a good book is a great joy. And recommending a good book is almost as enjoyable. I’ve long been fascinated by books on espionage, and this contributed in no small part to me eventually joining the Dutch intelligence world, and later, rejoining it in some fashion. If you have favorite books that should be on…
5040
Futarchy: Robin Hanson on prediction markets
Transcript of interview