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The “Million Dollar Homepage” as a Decaying Digital Artifact
The Library Innovation Lab is growing knowledge and community by bringing library principles to technological frontiers.
Topics /
Society, Policy & Culture
The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 4,917 posts.
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Wired is dropping paywalls for FOIA-based reporting. Others should follow
As the administration does its best to hide public records from the public, Wired magazine is stepping up to help stem the secrecy
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Arrest of suspected developer of Tornado Cash
On Wednesday 10 August, the FIOD arrested a 29-year-old man in Amsterdam. He is suspected of involvement in concealing criminal financial flows and facilitating money laundering through the mixing of cryptocurrencies through the decentralised Ethereum mixing service Tornado Cash. Multiple arrests are not ruled out…
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New health insurance “transparency data” looks suspiciously wrong
Blog for DoltHub, a website hosting databases made with Dolt, an open-source version-controlled SQL database with Git-like semantics.
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Seven diabetes patients die due to undisclosed bug in Abbott's glucose monitors
I wrote last month about my diabetes diagnosis this year and my difficult choice to wear a proprietary device (called a CGM) on my arm 24/7 to continuously monitor my glucose levels. Like my friend and colleague, Karen M. Sandler — who previously made a much higher-stakes choice to receive a proprietary implanted…
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Apple will use 100 percent recycled cobalt in batteries by 2025
Apple today announced a new 2025 target to use 100 percent recycled cobalt in all Apple-designed batteries.
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Workaholism leads to health problems, work addiction risk depends on occupation
Workaholism or work addiction risk is a growing public health concern that can lead to many negative mental and physical health outcomes such as depression, anxiety or sleep disorder. Perception of work (job demands and job control) may become a major cause of employees’ work addiction. The international group of…
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DOJ plans to strike against encryption while the Techlash iron is hot
There’s a story in today’s Washington Post “Cybersecurity 202” newsletter that confirms that the Department of Justice is capitalizing on the techlash in order to build up congressional support for the DOJ’s long-desired goal of legislation that will restrict your freedom to encrypt your data and
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The Next Chapter for Learning on YouTube
YouTube is introducing new products that will allow learners to go deeper on subjects they are passionate about and creators to provide structured learning content.
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70% of surveyed Americans say they can't do their job without internet
Over 65% of the world's population is regularly on the internet, with China and India having the most internet users.
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Air pollution linked to “huge” reduction in intelligence
Air pollution can have a “huge” negative effect on cognitive intelligence – especially amongst older men – according to a study released this past August.
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Request for Startups: News, Jobs, and Democracy
If you’re working on a startup or non-profit that addresses any of the challenges discussed below, we’d love to see you apply. News: We’re facing two major issues with news. The first is fake news. The business model for online media rewards the people who get the greatest number of page views, clicks and likes. That…
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A Brief History of Who Ruined Burning Man
In 1986, at the very first Burn, a crowd of complete strangers gathered around the Man once it was lit it on fire. Nobody had invited them. They didn’t know anything about the 10 Principles, or understand what The Man was...
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Tax prep companies: $90M lobbying against free tax-filing
Top tax prep companies spent over $90 million on lobbying in the past two decades since the IRS Free File Program’s launch.
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What “diversity and inclusion” means at Microsoft
From 2021 to 2022, I worked as a manager in Microsoft’s AI Platform division. I’ve been working in the software industry for over a decade, and while I’ve often encountered some combination of the words “diversity” and “inclusion,” how those words have been translated into culture and policy has varied dramatically…
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Internet voting is insecure and should not be used in public elections
All internet voting systems are insecure. The insecurity is worse than a well-run conventional paper ballot system, because a very small number of people may have the power to change any (or all) votes that go through the system, without detection.
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German state planning to switch 25,000 PCs to LibreOffice
The north-German state of Schleswig-Holstein plans to switch to open source software, including LibreOffice, in its administration and schools. In doing so, the state wants to reduce its dependence on proprietary software, and eventually end it altogether. By the end of 2026, Microsoft Office is to be replaced by…
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Is This Justice? Charging an Eighth Grader with a Felony for “Hacking”
A 14-year-old eighth grader in Florida, Domanik Green, has been charged with a felony for “hacking” his teacher’s computer. The “hacking” in this instance was using a widely known password to change the desktop background of his teacher’s computer with an image of two men kissing. The outrage of...
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Is the Living Computer Museum dead?
PCjs offers a variety of online machine emulators written in JavaScript. Run DOS, Windows, OS/2 and other vintage PC applications in a web browser on your desktop computer, iPhone, or iPad. An assortment of microcomputers, minicomputers, terminals, programmable calculators, and arcade machines are also available…
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