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Top posts
Every blog post that took off on Hacker News, ranked by the votes of its best submission. 13,067 posts.
Society, Policy & Culture
Any year
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PayPal’s Objectionable Terms Are Back, $2500 Fines for Content They Don’t Like
Two weeks ago Paypal introduced language into its terms and conditions that allowed them to withdraw $2500 from your account for each time they believed you "promot[ed] misinformation" or you sent, posted or published "messages, content, or materials that, in PayPal’s sole discretion, (a) are harmful, obscene…
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EFF Outlines Plan to Fix the Broken Patent System
San Francisco - The U.S. patent system is in crisis, but there are clear steps Congress and the White House can take to mitigate the impact of vague patents, patent trolls, and a weak legal process to protect competition and creativity, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) explains in a new...
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Perfect example of real-life hacking
In 1999, UC-Davis civil engineer David Phillips was grocery shopping when he noticed something peculiar. Healthy Choice Foods was offering frequent-flyer miles to customers who bought its products. But a 25-cent pudding would bring 100 miles — the reward was worth more than the product itself. Recognizing a good…
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Three NSA Whistleblowers Back EFF's Lawsuit Over Government Spying Program
San Francisco - Three whistleblowers – all former employees of the National Security Agency (NSA) – have come forward to give evidence in the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) lawsuit against the government's illegal mass surveillance program, Jewel v. NSA. In a motion filed today, the three...
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Simple questions to help reduce AI hype
AI is a young field full of amazing potential. This mystery and lack of understanding allows for hype to grow unchecked.
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EFF Files FOIA Suit Over U.S. Marshals’ Cell-Tracking Spy Planes
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit to shine light on the U.S. Marshals Service's (USMS) use of small aircraft mounted with controversial cell-phone tracking systems. The Wall Street Journal revealed last year that the...
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EFF statement on U.S. Supreme Court's decision to uphold TikTok ban
Shutting down a communications platform or forcing its reorganization based on concerns of foreign propaganda and anti-national manipulation is an eminently anti-democratic tactic, one that the US has previously condemned globally.
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The reality of celebratory gunfire
A must-see interactive analysis of Celebratory Gunfire, including animations and projections on how far and how fast bullets travel
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Science fiction hasn’t prepared us to imagine machine learning
It resembles the Library of Babel more than HAL.
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Punk, or why I don't stream anymore
If you’re the sun, I’m a black hole – The Stephen Hawking, Say Anything
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Web3 doesn’t care about privacy
In web2, we are beholden to centralized entities that monopolize and profit off of our data. Web3 promises to release us from these shackles by enabling everyone to access data living on the blockchain. While it is certainly appealing that institutions no longer have the power to hold our data hostage, it is still…
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Drivers who keep their windows down are exposed to 80 percent more air pollution
Discover how Surrey researchers show driving with windows down increases exposure to air pollution by around 80%, with implications for health.
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Microsoft, I Forgive You
Microsoft is different now. The evil masterminds are all retired. No more Ballmer jumping around screaming for developers, developers, developers. No more Gates plotting monopoly schemes for world …
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Google introducing tool for under-18s to remove images of them from search
Today we’re announcing a variety of new policies and updates to help keep kids and teens safe as they spend more time online.
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How Thai authorities use online doxxing to suppress dissent
A sustained, coordinated social media harassment and doxxing campaign – which we codenamed JUICYJAM – targeting the pro-democracy movement in Thailand has run uninterrupted, and unchallenged, since at least August 2020. Through our analysis of public social media posts we determined that the campaign was not only…
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How Paul Graham Gets It Wrong in “Economic Inequality”
Paul Graham (PG) is one of my favorite writers. His Essays are just about all well worth the time to read (and sometimes re-read). It’s not…
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Swearing
Written pieces, talks, and other bits by Zach Holman.
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Why the sun is a poor dumping ground for nuclear waste (2010)
A physicist explains why the sun is a poor dumping ground for nuclear waste.
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Big Tech has already made enough money in 2024 to pay all its 2023 fines
Big Tech (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft)'s annual revenue dwarfs total fines. The cost for privacy is insignificant to them.
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The Single-Page-App Morality Play
Writing at the end of the world, from Hveragerði, Iceland
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Monopoly Technology Platforms Are Colonizing Education
Perspectives is an opportunity for Fellows and others to share their ideas in short, accessible essays. IPE/BC Fellows hold a range of views and interests relative to public education.
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Leave Facebook
One vote doesn’t seem like much. On its own, it hardly matters at all. But if you think of yourself as part of something bigger — America, let’s say — then that one vote can make a difference. Many…