2521
The Great Toilet Paper Scare of 1973 (2014)
Following a poorly-timed Johnny Carson joke in 1973, millions of Americans hoarded every toilet paper roll on the market and induced a mass hysteria.
Topics /
Society, Policy & Culture
The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 4,917 posts.
2522
2523
Are we happier when we spend more time with others?
In this topic page, we explore data on loneliness and social connections and review available evidence on the link between social connections and well-being.
2524
The US can reach 90% clean electricity by 2035 without increasing consumer bills
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 9, 2020 Media Contact: Chelsea Eakin, ceakin@climatenexus.org, 347-371-1305 New national re…
2525
Interview with Ed McManus, Technical Advisor for HBO’s Silicon Valley [audio]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe iTunes [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/y-combinator/id1236907421] Google Play [https://play.google.com/music/m/I7pbd3gcjjeifbnm3wf7ag66ane?t=Y_Combinator] Stitcher [http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/y-combinator] RSS…
2526
Wildfires in Big Basin Redwoods State Park
We are devastated to report that Big Basin, as we have known it, loved it, and cherished it for generations, is gone. Early reports are that the wildfire has consumed much of the park’s historic facilities. We do not yet know the fate of the park’s grandest old trees.
2527
Five rational arguments against Apple's 3.3.1 policy
Many developers are up in arms about a new policy from Apple that mandates all iOS applications to be written in either a flavor of C or JavaScript. It’s original motivation is apparently to prevent Adobe’s imminent Flash-to-iOS compiler in CS5 from working, but the collateral damage is…
2528
New PFAS discovered with novel testing method
The “forever chemicals” found in the Cape Fear River were detected through a non-targeted testing method developed at UNC-Chapel Hill that broadens researchers’ abilities to identify the hazardous compounds.
2529
The Inner Ring (1944)
When Boris entered the room, Prince Andrey was listening to an old general, wearing his decorations, who was reporting something to Prince Andrey, with an expression of soldierly servility on his purple face. “Alright. Please wait!” he said to the general, speaking in Russian with the French accent which he used when…
2530
Mapping connections of anti-offshore wind groups and their lawyers
Today we released a new CDL report: “Legal Entanglements: Mapping Connections of Anti-Offshore Wind Groups and their Lawyers in the Eastern United States,” a deep look into litigation efforts against offshore wind in the Northeast.
2531
Corporations Are Crappy Archivists
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…
2532
The Internet Archive transforms access to books in a digital world
In honor of Open Access Week, and particularly this year’s theme of structural equity, we wanted to highlight a project from the Internet Archive that is doing extraordinary work promoting access to knowledge. The bad news: that project is also under legal threat. The good news: the Archive, with...
2533
EFF to Ninth Circuit: No Software Exception to Traditional Copyright Limits
Copyright’s reach is already far too broad, and courts have no business expanding it any further, particularly where that reframing will undermine adversarial interoperability. Unfortunately, a federal district court did just that in the latest iteration of Oracle v. Rimini, concluding that...
2534
Silicon Valley is transforming the military-industrial complex? (2024)
Anthropologist Roberto González (Professor, San José State University) examines how America’s military-industrial complex has been rapidly expanding from the Capital Beltway to Silicon Valley. Although much of the Pentagon’s budget is spent on conventional weapons systems, the Defense Department has increasingly…
2535
2536
The Anti-Ownership eBook Economy
Pulling back the curtain on the evolution of ebooks offers some clarity to how the shift to digital left ownership behind in the analog world.
2537
2538
85% of People Want Global Ban on Single-Use Plastics
An Ipsos poll finds overwhelming global support for banning harmful plastics and chemicals, with 87% backing reduced plastic production worldwide.
2539
An Update About Changes to Facebook’s Services in Australia
If Australia’s proposed news regulation becomes law, we will reluctantly stop allowing publishers and people in Australia to share local and international news on Facebook and Instagram.
2540
Proposed illegal image detectors on devices are ‘easily fooled’
Proposed algorithms that detect illegal images on devices can be easily fooled with imperceptible changes to images, Imperial research has found.
2541
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2543
120 days until Google restricts side-loading, declaring war on Android freedom
Starting 2027, Google will block apps on Android devices whose developers have not registered with Google, paid, and given their ID. It’s fair to say that Google is becoming Apple: Your device, their rules.
2544
2545
Culture eats policy
The government has a culture problem, making it difficult to implement well-intentioned policies.
2546
Covid-19 contact tracing study finds children key to spread
Researchers from the Princeton Environmental Institute find the continued spread of novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is driven by only a small percentage of those who become infected.
2547
The core Internet institutions abandon the US Government
In Montevideo, Uruguay this week, the Directors of all the major Internet organizations – ICANN, the Internet Engineering Task Force, the Internet Architecture Board, the World Wide Web Consortium, the Internet Society, all five of the regional Internet address registries – turned their back on the US government. With…
2548
We’re 10 today
On our tenth birthday we can look back on a year in which our free and open world map has gone from strength to strength, being deployed by large companies such as Apple, Mapquest and Foursquare, and relief organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and the American Red Cross.
2549
Winter & Cold Weather EV Range Loss in 7,000 Cars
All vehicles lose efficiency and range in very cold weather. Electric cars are no different. The good news, however, is that this range loss is temporary and not as limiting as many people may think.
2550
Founder Ethics
One of the most valuable parts of Y Combinator is our community. As of Summer 2014, we have funded over 1,400 founders, and as the YC family grows, the continued strength of our network depends on founders behaving well. Starting with this batch (YC S14), we’ll be asking founders to review YC’s statement of founder…