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The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 8,148 posts.
Recent revelations about PRISM, the NSA’s massive program of surveillance of civilian communications have caused quite a stir. And rightfully so, as it appears that the agency has been grante…
Every April, I try to wade through mounds of paperwork to file my taxes. Like most Americans, I’m trying to follow the law and pay all of the taxes that I owe without getting screwed in the process. I try and make sure that every donation I made is backed by proof, every deduction is backed by logic and documentation…
When the U.S. security state announces that Big Tech's centralized censorship power must be preserved, we should ask what this reveals about whom this regime serves.
In yesterday’s (Thursday) OpenFalklands blog, I noted that while a week may seem long in politics, even a single day can feel like an eternity […] Read More
I just watched former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm’s TED Talk. She provides some nice insight as to what it is really like as a politician trying to grapple with the new realities of t…
It’s easy to say “Break up Big Tech companies!” Depending how politics unfold, the thing might become possible, but figuring out the details will be hard. I spent the last sixteen years of my life working for Big Tech and have educated opinions on the subject. Today: Why and how we should break up Google.
I've been teaching my oldest kids (ages 7, 8, 9 and 11, as I write this) how to take the city bus to and from their school for the last two years. It's gone unequivocally well, with the kids slowly progressing from riding with me for the entire trip, to…
People who work get bored when they don't work. People who don't work never get bored.
The science of psychedelics is everywhere – but we should treat it with serious scepticism
Fighting the FCC is futile at this point, but Bob has a way to (in a way) save Net Neutrality
Seriously. Please just leave me alone.
I've spent the past three years researching and writing a book about the history of psychological warfare in the United States. It’s called Stories Are...
All the better to control you
In college I would crash expensive parties (even got to hang with Elton John & Lance Armstrong) with a few tricks I developed. I demonstrate them inside:
Last year after talking for a while with someone during a conference they asked me for my LinkedIn to be able to connect with me, to which I answered I didn't have one.
This is important: In July 2011, a federal appeals court ruled that the Transportation Security Administration had to conduct a notice-and-comment rulemaking on its policy of using “Advanced Imaging Technology” for primary screening at airports. TSA was supposed to publish the policy in the Federal Register, take…
This is a post over two months in the making as it’s pulled together some hard times from Pole. I hope it helps someone. While I stand by what I’ve done and my justifications, I can’t say they give me great comfort. Today is Midwinter in Antarctica. It is one of the most important dates … Continue reading "Alcoholism…
Why I have stopped working with IPFS and the distributed web
Image SourceThe United States could bounce back from the fall of Taiwan to Communist rule. It would have far more dire consequences for Japan. Consider this post a short, informal primer on why thi…
What statistics can teach us about observing 3 deaths at Burning Man in 2026.
