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Top posts
Every blog post that took off on Hacker News, ranked by the votes of its best submission. 580 posts.
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Lord Camden on NSA Surveillance
I’m doing a deep dive into the pre-history of the Fourth Amendment, and am continuously amazed at how perfectly the condemnations of the “general warrants” that incensed the Framers apply to the programmatic authority granted the NSA under the FISA Amendments Act. The legal challenge to that statute is currently hung…
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“How Do TSA Employees Feel About Working For a Despised Agency?”
This one comes from Rod. “Would you know if the TSA higher-ups acknowledge the outcry against the agency and how they are attempting to handle said outcry? And are the screeners themselves aw…
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Stackoverflow Is A Difficult Community to Participate In
These are a few of the reasons why I have difficulty in participating in the StackOverflow community. I was once a very active user, but due to these reasons, and a few unstated, I am unable to participate in the community anymore. The Eternal September Issue. Many new users of StackOverflow...
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Here’s to the Misfits
The school I went to in England used to proudly display their famous alumni in black and white photos circling the theatre lobby. From John le Carré, to John Cleese, the list included notable actors, top politicians and accomplished actors. What the school didn't tell admiring visitors though, is
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I'm calling this Bubble 2.0, and it's ready to burst
The smart, fashionable startup-people these days are all trying to come up with brilliant and innovative new business models that disrupt struggling industries and synergize for break-out growth potential forming new markets. (Ahem. At least that's what they say.)
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A myth called the Indian programmer
They are the poster boys of matrimonial classifieds. They are paid handsomely, perceived to be intelligent and travel abroad frequently. Single-handedly, they brought purpose to the otherwise sleep…
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This Girl Snuck Into a Russian Military Rocket Factory
Значение ISO нелегальных фотографий находится в прямой зависимости от серьезности последствий задержания. Открытое акционерное общество «НПО Энергомаш имени академика В.П.Глушко» является ведущим предприятием в мире по разработке мощных жидкостных ракетных двигателей для космических…
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Starbucks, Google and Amazon: the tax crash of Monday afternoon
It is rare that US companies are ever held to account by their shareholders: US law does not encourage it. It is rarer still that they are held to account in the UK and yesterday's Parliamentary Accounts Committee hearing on the tax affairs of three of the biggest of them...
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What Could Have Entered the Public Domain on January 1, 2012?
What Could Have Entered the Public Domain on January 1, 2012? Under the law that existed until 1978 . . . Works from 1955 The End of Eternity, The Body Snatchers, Why Johnny Can’t Read: And What You Can Do About It, Rebel Without a Cause, Lady and the Tramp, To Catch A Thief, Picasso’s Don Quixote, […]
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We consistently underestimate kids.
I've long believed that we seriously underestimate kids. Hanging around with my friend's daughters who were 2, 3, and 5 when I was in college was really illuminating as I found myself interacting and conversing with his (admittedly smart) 2 year o...
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Malthusianisms
(See also: Umeshisms, Anthropicisms) Why, in real life, do we ever encounter hard instances of NP-complete problems? Because if it’s too easy to find a 10,000-mile TSP tour, we ask for a 9,0…
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Elsevier charges authors to make items "Open Access", then charges to read them.
[This is a long post – in summary Elsevier breach licences and charge readers for Open Access. I also ask the world to verify and amplify my conclusions].
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Cheaper than free: paying for music after searching for a free download
A few months ago, we began tracking the starting point of every sale that happens on Bandcamp. In the course of looking at the data (which we’re using to help us plan out what to do next), we…
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Facebook the Devourer
I can't find a way to write this article without it sounding like a rant, so why fight it? The views and opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily represent the views of my employer.
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Income inequality, as seen from space
Last week, I wrote about how urban trees—or the lack thereof—can reveal income inequality. After writing that article, I was curious, could I actually see
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Bill Thurston has died
Bill Thurston, who made fundamental contributions to our understanding of low-dimensional manifolds and related structures, died on Tuesday, aged 65. Perhaps Thurston’s best known achievement…
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