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The Cruel Fantasies of Well-Fed People
The astonishing story of how a movement’s quest for rural simplicity drifted into a formula for mass death
Top posts
Every blog post that took off on Hacker News, ranked by the votes of its best submission. 13,069 posts.
Society, Policy & Culture
Any year
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The internet as existential threat
Some days I wonder if we are completely screwed. So today’s post is a perhaps slightly hysterical outburst.
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Signal Technology Foundation is now open for donations
You can now donate to support Signal, the secure messaging service, directly.
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The Future of AI
The Parents’ Paradox: AI, Ethics, and the Limits of Machine Morality This post is based on a talk I gave at The AI & Automation Conference in London on February 25, 2026, and my slides. A…
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The "Take It Down" Act
We've opposed the Take It Down Act because it could be easily manipulated to take down lawful content that powerful people simply don't like. Last night, President Trump demonstrated he has a similar view on the bill. He wants to sign the bill into law, then use it to remove content about — him....
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Gig Companies Violate Workers Rights
Major digital labor platforms, also known as gig companies, operating in the United States misclassify gig workers as independent contractors, denying them labor rights.
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Uganda's internet Shutdown
Two days ago, through its communications regulator, Uganda's government ordered the "Suspension Of The Operation Of Internet Gateways" hours before the country's general election. This action was confirmed by several users and journalists who got access to the letter sent to Internet providers.
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"Big 3" science fiction magazines including Asimov's and Analog acquired
For other news from February, see my previous grapevine. This report is available free to the public. If you like my writings on genre issues, consider backing my Patreon.
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End artificial scarcities to increase productivity
My colleagues and I realized this over beer: dry erase markers cost almost nothing, yet a lecture hall never contains functioning dry erase markers.
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One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence: 2016 Report
Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030
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Don't Trust Google (2002)
Many people have been writing about Google this week - either in response to the Newsweek cover story , or to the recent Wired article about Google’s growing pains, and its happy motto: “Don’t be evil”.
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Assange Hearing Day 3
In yesterday’s proceedings in court, the prosecution adopted arguments so stark and apparently unreasonable I have been fretting on how to write them up in a way that does not seem like caricature or unfair exaggeration on my part. What has been happening in this court has long moved beyond caricature. All I can do […]
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“CEO said a thing” journalism
"CEO said a thing!" journalism involves parroting the claims of a business leader or executive with absolutely no context, correction, or challenge whatsoever, no matter how elaborate the delusion.
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How the United Arab Emirates Intelligence Tried to Hire Me to Spy on Its People
Recently, we’ve been overwhelmed with news of horrors, attacks, monsters who murder the innocent in the name of a faith they don’t truly know. I’m publishing t…
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Richard Feynman on education in Brazil
From Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!:
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ECJ finds IAB Europe responsible for TCF consent spam popups across the Internet
Europe's top court rules that IAB Europe is responsible under the GDPR for the "TCF" consent system, which authorities have already found to be in violation of the GDPR.
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Requiem for a bank loan
A brief retrospective on an attractive product First Republic used to offer, and a wider discourse on the banking crisis.
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Why airlines tend to be unionized
The explanation lies in the interaction of labor laws and aviation regulations. Let's consider labor laws first. The law compels a company to negotiate with a labor union. If it cannot reach an agreement, however, and the union goes out on strike, the company is able to hire replacement workers and continue its…
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German Data Privacy Commissioner Says Article 13 Inevitably Leads to Filters
German Data Privacy Commissioner Ulrich Kelber is also a computer scientist, which makes him uniquely qualified to comment on the potential consequences of the proposed new EU Copyright Directive. The Directive will be voted on at the end of this month, and its Article 13 requires that online...
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Bitcoin is Worse is Better
2011 essay on how Bitcoin’s long gestation and early opposition indicates it is an example of the ‘Worse is Better’ paradigm in which an ugly complex design with few attractive theoretical properties compared to purer competitors nevertheless successfully takes over a niche, survives, and becomes gradually refined.
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Twitter's descent into the extractive
Twitter started out life as a wonderfully inclusive society. There were very few rules and the ones there were the people loved. Thou shall be brief, retweet to respect. Under this constrained freedom, Twitter prospered and grew rapidly for the joy of all. Budding entrepreneurs built apps that m…
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British Spy Agency Considers Journalists a Threat, Vacuums Up Their Emails
Terrorists, hackers, and journalists. According to a recent Guardian article covering new Snowden documents, British spy agency GCHQ considers all of these individuals threats—various levels of threats, but threats nonetheless. One intelligence report goes so far as to say, "Of specific concern are...