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GiveDirectly Planning to Give $30M in Basic Income to East Africa
Money always helps, but for the poorest, one large lump sum can last a long time. A long-term universal basic income also looks promising.
Topics /
Society, Policy & Culture
The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 304 posts.
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U.S. Supreme Court Curbs Excessive Design Patent Damages
The Supreme Court issued an important ruling today in the long-running patent battle between Apple and Samsung. The appeal involved some of Apple’s infamous design patents on rounded corners. The Federal Circuit had ruled that Apple was entitled to all of Samsung’s profits from the infringing...
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Ranking TV Shows That Got Canceled
What do the TV shows Firefly, Twin Peaks, and Freaks and Geeks all have in common?
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Debian turns 23
Today is Debian's 23rd anniversary. If you are close to any of the cities celebrating Debian Day 2016, you're very welcome to join the party! If not, there's still time for you to organize a little celebration or contribution to Debian....
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How Mickey Mouse Evades the Public Domain
Every time Disney’s beloved mouse is about to enter the public domain, U.S. copyright law magically changes. Does he deserve special protection, or should he be relinquished to society?
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Of course Zuckerberg wants to bow to Chinese censorship
Remember when Zuckerberg dared to wear a hoodie to his IPO party?The easiest way to be disappointed is to expect others to act contrary to their self-interest. So really, we shouldn’t be disappoint…
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T-Mobile’s Binge On Optimization is Just Throttling, Applies Indiscriminately
Back in November, T-Mobile announced a new service for its mobile customers called Binge On, in which video streams from certain websites don’t count against customers’ data caps.[fn]To be fair, T-Mobile’s plans don’t have traditional data caps—they just slow down to “2G” speeds once customers...
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The impact of Prince’s death on Wikipedia
“Prince is synonymous with indulging in yourself shamelessly and with passion. His music and his cultural impact mean more than words can offer.” “He taught me that being black wa…
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Secret Court Takes Another Bite Out of the Fourth Amendment
Defenders of the NSA's mass spying have lost an important talking point: that the erosion of our privacy and associational rights is justified given the focus of surveillance efforts on combating terrorism and protecting the national security. That argument has always been dubious for a number of...
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Make the Web Work for Everyone
Updated 2016/07/22: Commenters found a few data errors (thanks!) which have now been corrected. Millions of websites have compatibility problems on one or more of the major browsers, leading to ...
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Why Forcing Apple to Write and Sign Code Violates the First Amendment
EFF filed an amicus brief today in support of Apple's fight against a court order compelling the company to create specific software to enable the government to break into an iPhone. The brief is written on behalf of 46 prominent technologists, security researchers, and cryptographers who develop...
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How Breakfast Became a Thing
Do you think breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Then you fell for an ad campaign designed in 1944 to sell more cereal.
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Airbnb purged 1,000 "entire home" listings days before preparing data snapshot
Adding data to the debate
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How Police Officers Seize Cash from Innocent Americans
Under civil forfeiture laws, police officers can take money from people with no proof of any wrongdoing, and without filing criminal charges. How does this work, and what happens to the money?
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Researchers use light to coax stem cells to repair teeth (2014)
Noninvasive laser therapy could radically shift dental treatment and lead to a host of broader clinical applications in regenerative medicine
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The Fining of Black America
We analyzed the cities most likely to generate substantial revenues from fines. The best indicator that a government will levy excessive fines? If a large proportion of the city's citizens are Black.
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Rogue One – An Engineering Ethics Story
Written by Zachary G. Pirtle. Originally published anonymously. Reflects my views alone. This post went viral when published in 2016, with comments by Cory Doctorow on Boing Boing , Marginal Revolution, and others. I’ve published other research on science fiction and policy that I discuss on my a
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Dear Al-Jazeera: thank you for doing the right thing
Our AI transforms your ideas into immersive, interactive stories in just a few clicks — built to drive 17x more engagement than static pages.
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What Could Have Entered the Public Domain on January 1, 2016?
What Could Have Entered the Public Domain on January 1, 2016? Under the law that existed until 1978 . . . Works from 1959 The films North by Northwest and Ben-Hur, the play A Raisin in the Sun, the books The Naked Lunch and Starship Troopers, the first episodes of The Twilight Zone, and more. . . Current US law…
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What HP Must Do to Make Amends for Its Self-Destructing Printers
Tell HP: Say No to DRM. Dion Weisler President and CEO HP Inc. 1501 Page Mill Road Palo Alto, CA 94304 September 26, 2016 Dear Mr. Weisler, I write to you today on behalf of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to defending technological freedom, human rights and privacy in...
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Rule 41 Proposes to Grant New Hacking Powers to the Government
The government hacking into phones and seizing computers remotely? It’s not the plot of a dystopian blockbuster summer movie. It’s a proposal from an obscure committee that proposes changes to court procedures—and if we do nothing, it will go into effect in December. The proposal comes from the...
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