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Society, Policy & Culture
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Inequality and Skin in the Game
(Chapter from Skin in the Game)
The threat of technological unemployment
There is a widely reported threat to our economy: robots are going to replace human workers. It is nothing new... In 1930, Keynes, the famous economist introduced the term "technological unemployment"... We are being afflicted with a new disease of which some readers may not yet have heard the name, but of which they…
Security Risks of TSA PreCheck
Former TSA Administrator Kip Hawley wrote an op-ed pointing out the security vulnerabilities in the TSA’s PreCheck program: The first vulnerability in the system is its enrollment process, which seeks to verify an applicant’s identity. We know verification is a challenge: A 2011 Government Accountability Office report…
No tipping means better business
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Rogue One – An Engineering Ethics Story
Written by Zachary G. Pirtle. Originally published anonymously. Reflects my views alone. This post went viral when published in 2016, with comments by Cory Doctorow on Boing Boing , Marginal Revolution, and others. I’ve published other research on science fiction and policy that I discuss on my a
LineageOS will be a continuation of what CyanogenMod was
We aren't going anywhere.
Superintelligence: The Idea That Eats Smart People
This is the text version of a talk I gave on October 29, 2016, at Web Camp Zagreb [ video ] (45 mins)
2016's most-edited Wikipedia articles
Which English Wikipedia articles were edited most in 2016? Find out what captured editors’ interests.
Confronting the Credibility Gap for Crewed Exploration of Mars
Confronting the Credibility Gap for Crewed Exploration of Mars (Notes from talk on September 22, 2016, at the Mars Society Conference. ...
Small payments sharply diminish gap in responses to partisan factual questions
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, and business professionals.
Tor blocked in Turkey as government cracks down on VPN use
The Turkey Blocks internet censorship watchdog has identified and verified that restrictions on the Tor anonymity network and Tor Browser are now in effect throughout Turkey. Our study indicates that service providers have successfully complied with a government ...
Technology in Hostile States: Ten Principles for User Protection
This blog post is meant to generate a conversation about best practices for using cryptography...
On Digital Minimalism
The Curmudgeonly Optimist People are sometimes confused about my personal relationship with digital communication technologies. On the one hand, I’m a computer scientist who studies and improves these tools. ... Read more
My Priorities for the Next Four Years
Like many, I was surprised and shocked by the election of Donald Trump as president. I believe his ideas, temperament, and inexperience represent a grave threat to our country and world. Suddenly, all the things I had planned to work on seemed trivial in comparison. Although Internet security and privacy are not the…
Yahoo installed a backdoor for the NSA behind the back of the security team
[Update (12/14/16): Reuters has specified that the rootkit was implemented as a Linux kernel module. Wow.]
One More Sign World Is Shrinking – eBay Is for Suckers
If you live in an economy where officials are corrupt, contracts are hard to enforce, and trust is scarce, everyday transactions are burdensome and time-consuming. If you don’t want to get scammed,…
Tech worker resistance is crucial to preventing human rights abuses in the U.S
Hi, I am Valerie Aurora, systems archictecture consultant, writer, and cat appreciator. At Bow Shock Systems , I solve difficult systems problems in networking, file systems, and operating systems. In 2023 I moved permanently to Amsterdam after 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Sharing National Security Letters with the Public
*On August 10, 2017, we updated this post with additional National Security Letters (NSLs) we received where, either through litigation or legislation, we have been free…
Sane Thinking About Mental Health Problems
Epistemic status: exhortatory and personal, but pretty confidently my true belief CW: suicide mention When I was a teenager, I was depressed. And the way I thought mental illness worked, the way I…
The Music Industry Shouldn't Be Able to Cut Off Your Internet Access
EFF, Public Knowledge, and the Center for Democracy and Technology Urge The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to Protect Internet Subscribers in BMG v. Cox. No one should have to fear losing their Internet connection because of unfounded accusations. But some rights holders want...
Why I still won’t review for or publish with Elsevier
In 2012, I signed the Cost of Knowledge pledge, and stopped reviewing for, and publishing in, all Elsevier journals. In the four years since, I’ve adhered closely to this policy; with a coupl…