Top posts
Every blog post that took off on Hacker News, ranked by the votes of its best submission. 694 posts.
The Death of the Magazine
Or what happens when journalism forgets about quality writing
The Public Interest Internet
What if the internet were public interest technology? Is that too wildly speculative? I think not. I am not talking about a utopian project here — a public interest internet would be a glorious imperfect mess and it would be far from problem-free. But while there is a lot of solid thinking about various digital issues…
Proton is transitioning towards a non-profit structure
To ensure our mission always comes first, Proton is transitioning to a non-profit structure and formalizing our promise of people before profits.
The Engagement Is Better on Bluesky
Bluesky is the lobby to the open web. Find and build your community here.
"All your base are belong to us" intro to my 2004 MIT Spam Conference talk
As I've mentioned before my talk at the 2004 MIT Spam Conference was about using one machine learning system to beat another. In that case ...
The European Union's remarkable growth performance relative to the United States
The EU has outperformed the US on per-capita output growth; in terms of output per hour worked, some EU countries are as productive as the US
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.
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…
A Theory of Grift
Plus! Buy The Change You Wish to See in the World; Schmuck Insurance; Uncertainty; Block Trading; Ads
Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master: The Medieval Guild (2018)
I became fascinated with guilds when I moved to Germany. Being an avid reader of all medieval history I could get my hands on, I was well aware of the Hansa (slang for Hanseatic) League’s ris…
High Levels of Banned PFAS Detected in Hershey's Packaging
The U.S. legacy producer The Hershey Company offers a “ growing portfolio of delicious snacks to pair with every occasion. From indulgent treats to a boost of protein between meals, or a bag of popcorn to share during movie night, we love creating moments of goodness through our 90+ brands .”
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 […]
Birds aren't real – how to create your own "bird"
Did you know that birds aren't real? They are actually mobile devices that have cameras and microphones to maintain surveillance by the government. You may be asking yourself why they do not just use the cell phones in everyone's pocket; hey, I don't know; I don't make the rules.Now that I have completely destroyed my…
Faking William Morris, Generative Forgery, and the Erosion of Art History
Buying fake William Morris prints on Etsy and other early signs of epistemological collapse
Turning the Tables on AI
How about using it not to think less but *more*?
America's best-paid CEOs have the worst-paid employees
Broadly speaking, the role of an establishment economist is to come up with new ways of saying, "actually, your boss is right." In other words, the world we're living in is the best possible world, and the fact that you got contact burns from collapsing on the scorching sidewalk outside of the grocery store where you…
The likelihood of unilateral solar geoengineering
People are starting to take geoengineering seriously.
PSA: Internet Archive "glitch" deletes years of user data and accounts
Recently at Internet Archive a “glitch” (their choice of word) deleted a great many accounts, including my account that had been at archive.org/details/@ging...
Flags Are Not Languages
Famous Birthdays has been described as a “ Wikipedia for Gen-Z ”. It’s an insight into popularity across the internet of influencers, not just from traditional stage and screen but also social media channels such as TikTok and Instagram.
The short history of global living conditions and why it matters that we know it
Very few think the world is making progress. In this article, we look at the history of global living conditions and show that the world has made immense progress in important aspects.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Can Be Cleaned for $7.5B
The eradication of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is achievable within a decade, and The Ocean Cleanup aims to make it happen faster and more cost effectively.