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Every blog post that took off on Hacker News, ranked by the votes of its best submission. 8,149 posts.
Society, Policy & Culture
Any year
New Car: An Accessible Minivan
We have a new vehicle, a Honda Odyssey Elite customised for my wheelchair, and for me to drive with hand controls.
What makes housing so expensive?
Buying a home is by far the largest purchase most of us will make, and paying the rent or mortgage will be our largest monthly expense.
AI Is Breaking the Moral Foundation of Modern Society
I’ve been thinking about why AI feels like such a destabilizing force for society, and it isn’t just the threat of even greater…
Bank transfers as a payment method (2021)
Bank transfers have exploded as a payment method in India and may become more common in much of the world.
95% of climate models agree: the observations must be wrong
I’m seeing a lot of wrangling over the recent (15+ year) pause in global average warming…when did it start, is it a full pause, shouldn’t we be taking the longer view, etc.
The Schizoid Difference
something not often talked about is the barrier that seemingly exists between the self and other people. that almost impermeable barrier, where you try to co...
Creative workers deserve better than a choice as to who rips them off
Spotify's relationship to artists can be kind of confusing. On the one hand, they pay a laughably low per-stream rate, as in homeopathic residues of a penny. On the other hand, the Big Three labels get a fortune from Spotify. And on the other other hand, it makes sense that the rate for a stream heard by one person…
51 Star Flag (2011)
Math, Science and Technology tidbits written for the average person.
A Theory of Grift
Plus! Buy The Change You Wish to See in the World; Schmuck Insurance; Uncertainty; Block Trading; Ads
The power of ignoring mainstream news
"The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers." - Thomas Jefferson
The legal implications of remote working cross-border
I wrote my law school dissertation on a very niche area of law which interests me a lot, and perhaps interests you too.
Will Your College Go Out of Business Before You Graduate?
I’ve been getting a lot of questions from High School kids asking whether or not they should go to college. The answer is yes.
How often do superior alternatives fail to catch on?
Many of us rely on a Qwerty keyboard, at least when we are typing at a laptop. It is often said that the Qwerty keyboard is inferior to clearly better alternatives like the Dvorak keyboard. However, this appears to be largely a myth backed by dubious science. There is the similarly often repeated story of … Continue…
Two types of privacy
"Privacy" can mean different things in different contexts. Tracking-reduction and tracking-evasion represent different goals with some conflict and overlap.
Why Japan Is Doomed
Japan's debt crisis has been building for a decade. Back in 2001 I wrote an essay on Japan's exploding debt and the dire consequences of what I called Japan's Runaway Debt Train (2001) :
Two-Factor Authentication and the Police State
In Britain - and many other countries - the police can legally force you to divulge your passwords. Whether it's to an encrypted file, a social network, or your email account, the state can legally rifle through your most intimate thoughts and (potentially) pose as you online. As we've recently seen, this can be done…
OpenAI's Woke Catechism
How a Few Activists Made ChatGPT Deny Basic Science
Dear WordPress
Has it really been 10 years? It seems just yesterday we were playing around on my blog, and the blogs of a few high school friends. Two of those friends are married, one isn’t anymore, two are stil…
The Most Expensive Eating Disorder
Disclaimer: I have never personally met Bryan Johnson. Reading this again, I realized that this article is quite harsh at times. Overall, I do like him and I am grateful that someone like Bryan exists as he is propelling the whole field of longevity forward by making it more popular. I also like the way […]
Show your work: The new terms for trust in journalism
The transparency movement has finally come of age. Power has shifted to the users. Their trust has to be earned in different ways now.
Someone needs to go to jail
A solution to the Epstein problem
Macwright.com redirects HN readers away
Farewell to orange
The President and the Bomb, Part IV
Why the problem of "the President and the bomb" isn't about the "crazy President," but something far more pernicious and possible.