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Every blog post that took off on Hacker News, ranked by the votes of its best submission. 4,917 posts.
Society, Policy & Culture
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The Final Speech from The Great Dictator (1940)
I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s…
Google fined €150M, Facebook €60M for for non-compliance with French legislation
This page is no longer available. Order to comply or sanctions issued by the CNIL may be made public. In this case, a time limit shall be specified in the decision. Once this time period has expired, the organisations that have been given formal notice or sanctioned are no longer identified in the public decision. For…
EU-banned pesticides found in rice, tea and spices
foodwatch laboratory tests reveal the presence of pesticide residues in everyday foods — including substances not approved in the EU.
Octopuses, crabs and lobsters to be recognised as sentient beings under UK law
Octopuses, crabs and lobsters will receive greater welfare protection following an LSE report demonstrating they have capacity to experience pain or distress.
China blocks Wikimedia from entering World Intellectual Property Organization
5 October 2021, San Francisco, CA, USA — China today blocked the Wikimedia Foundation’s bid for observer status at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for the second time after the Foundation’s initial application in 2020. WIPO is the United Nations (UN) organization that develops international…
New method turns ocean water into drinking water, without waste
The energy-efficient desalination system produces fresh water without chemical additives and transforms leftover salts into useful materials.
Happy 20th birthday Debian
Today is Debian's 20 anniversary. This anniversary would have been impossible without a strong community of users and developers. That's why for its commemoration, we asked the Debian community what Debian meant to them. Below you have a...
EU Agencies Falsely Report More Than 550 Archive.org URLs as Terrorist Content
CORRECTION: This post previously identified the sender of the 550 falsely identified URLs as Europol's EU Internet Referral Unit (EU IRU). The sender was in fact, the French national Internet Referral Unit, using Europol's application, which sends the email from an @europol.europa.eu address. The EU IRU has informed…
EFF Wins Access to License Plate Reader Data to Study Law Enforcement Use
San Francisco—Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) have reached an agreement with Los Angeles law enforcement agencies under which the police and sheriff’s departments will turn over license plate data they...
The New Internet
Tailscale's CEO, Avery Pennarun, explores the future of the internet, discussing the evolution of networking, the issues with today's complex systems, and how Tailscale is simplifying connectivity for developers with a new, more efficient approach. Discover the vision for a New Internet.
Bitchat for Gaza – messaging without internet
Bitchat is a new messaging app that allows users to chat securely with or without internet access. Download it today via the App Store or Google Play store to begin communicating safely, even when connectivity disappears. Why Bitchat is needed Palestinians are dependent on Israel for their access to electricity,
Computer Scientists Ask Supreme Court to Rule APIs Can’t Be Copyrighted
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a brief with the Supreme Court of the United States today, arguing on behalf of 77 computer scientists that the justices should review a disastrous appellate court decision finding that application programming interfaces (APIs) are...
It’s raining PFAS: rainwater is unsafe to drink even in Antarctica and Tibet
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are man-made hazardous chemicals that are spread globally in the atmosphere and as a result they can be found in the rainwater and snow in even the most remote locations on Earth. During the last 20 years, guideline values for PFAS in drinking water, surface waters and soils…
Apple's Browser Engine Ban Persists, Even Under the DMA
Apple's rules and technical restrictions are blocking other browser vendors from successfully offering their own engines to users in the EU.
Canadians are running out of time to oppose Bill C-22
Bill C-22, Canada’s Lawful Access Act, passed the House and is before the Senate. It threatens encryption and expands surveillance. Learn more + sign the petition.
We can still stop California's 3D printer surveillance scheme
Ignoring EFF’s warnings about the dangers and impossibility of implementing a new mandate for 3D print surveillance software, the California State Assembly has signed off on legislation to do just that. In the process, legislators amended the bill to make it even more confusing, while failing to address the risks to…
The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think
Across 33 rich countries, only 5% of the population has high computer-related abilities, and only a third of people can complete medium-complexity tasks.
Trump’s new social media platform found using Mastodon code
From media reports and individual findings that various people have presented to us, it seems that the new social media platform owned by the former president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, so-called Truth Social, is using Mastodon’s source code with various visual adjustments. The platform has not formally…
The FBI Is Tracking Our Faces in Secret, and We’re Suing
There can be no accountability if there is no transparency.
Denmark data breach exposes 8.8M people's personal data
Det Centrale Personregister (CPR) har konstateret en alvorlig sikkerhedshændelse. Ved at misbruge en dansk virksomheds lovlige adgang til at søge...
People prefer friendliness, trustworthiness in teammates over skill competency
People who are both trustworthy and competent are most sought after when forming teams
Nearly 20% of active Twitter accounts likely to be fake or spam
TL;DR - From May 13-15, 2022, SparkToro and Followerwonk conducted a rigorous, joint analysis of five datasets including a variety of active (i.e.
Surveilance bill rushed through Australian parliament in 24 hours
New Australian surveillance bill enables police to hack your device, collect or delete your data, and take over your social media accounts.
U.S. house prices are rising exponentially faster than income
Across the U.S., home prices have outpaced income. Our data reveals how the American dream of homeownership is becoming a nightmare.