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Topics /
Society, Policy & Culture
The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 4,917 posts.
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Verisign .com Domain Name Registry Consumer Class Action
WHAT'S THE ISSUE?
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René Girard has died
News, research, and insights from Stanford University.
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Total eclipse of the Internet: traffic impacts in Mexico, the US, and Canada
Cloudflare’s data shows a clear impact on Internet traffic from Mexico to the US, and Canada, following the path of totality of the total solar eclipse that occurred on April 8, 2024
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Mozilla Announces $225,000 for Art and Advocacy Exploring A.I.
Mozilla’s latest awards will support people and projects that examine the effects of AI on society At Mozilla, one way we support a healthy internet i
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Open call – your field recordings of obsolete sounds wanted
Recordings of disappearing, obscure and obsolete sounds wanted for new global collaborative sound project Obsolete Sounds.
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DPA blocks facial recognition system in Italy and MP proposes moratorium
Italian DPA argues the SARI Real Time facial recognition system lacks a legal basis and, as designed, it would implement a form of mass surveillance. On 14 April, a member of the Italian Parliament, Filippo Sensi, proposed a moratorium on the use of video surveillance tools that use Facial Recognition.
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A Contrarian View of MITx: What Are We Doing?
I love MIT but confess being frustrated . The MITx announcement added to my frustration. As outlined below, I argued against OpenCourseWare (OCW) before it was announced. I was not persuasive and lost the debate. My view of how MIT should take advantage of the digital revolution was unusual then, but is more common…
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Captcha Patent Is an All-American Nightmare
A newly formed patent troll is looking for big money from small business websites, just for using free, off-the-shelf login verification tools. Defenders of the American Dream, LLC (DAD ), is sending out its demand letters to websites that use Google’s reCAPTCHA system, accusing them of infringing...
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Make your own microforest (2025)
The Miyawaki method of reforestation inserts small, densely packed wild acreage into urban environs. It’s proving wildly successful.
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How the Government Deceived Congress in the Debate over Surveillance Powers (2013)
ANDREA MITCHELL: “Why do you need every telephone number? Why is it such a broad vacuum cleaner approach?” JAMES CLAPPER: “Well, you have to start someplace.”—NBC Meet the Press, this past Sunday Concerned about the surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans, last year Senator Ron Wyden asked...
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EFF: Some Facts About Carrier IQ
There has been a rolling scandal about the Carrier IQ software installed by cell phone companies on 150 million phones, mostly within the United States. Subjects of outright disagreement have included the nature of the program, what information it actually collects, and under what circumstances....
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How Copyright Industries Con Congress
I’ve yet to encounter a technically clueful person who believes the Stop Online Piracy Act will actually do anything to meaningfully reduce—let alone “stop”—online piracy, and so I haven’t bothered writing much about the absurd numbers the bill’s supporters routinely bandy about in hopes of persuading lawmakers that…
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Parking reform legalized most of the new homes in Buffalo and Seattle (2023)
Studies from two very different cities showed the same result.
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Italy Blocks Reproductive Health Websites Women on Web and Women Help Women
This report documents the blocking of Women on Web (WoW) and Women Help Women (WHW) domains in Italy based on OONI data.
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Most websites don't need cookie consent banners
Learn why most websites don't need cookie consent banners and how privacy-first design can improve user experience while simplifying compliance with GDPR…
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ADHD and monotropism (2023)
Monotropism was formulated as a theory of autism, but as time has gone on it has become clear that many diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) identify strongly with many aspects of the theory.
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Infrared thermometers to screen for Covid: more marketing than medical evidence
Many restaurants, theatres and offices are using infrared thermometers to get the country back to work. Multiple companies are advertising these as a way to ‘reassure’ employers and employees. In China, security guards have even been given infra-red spectacles in order to detect people with fever. But where’s the…
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CO₂ and Other Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Human emissions of greenhouse gases are the primary driver of climate change. The world needs to decarbonize to reduce them.
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The Anti-Palantir Manifesto
Nym CEO Harry Halpin responds to Palantir manifesto with one that defends human freedom and privacy against techno-fascism.
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