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Apple Won a Battle to Lose the War
Apple v. Epic indeed…
Topics /
Society, Policy & Culture
The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 629 posts.
482
Book Review: Fussell on Class
Summary and commentary on Paul Fussell's "Class: A Guide Through The American Status System"
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TikTok and the network effects of creativity
TikTok’s Warp Scan filter is a bizarre concept for a filter in and of itself, but the myriad of ways TikTok users put it to use just shows what happens when you throw random tools to the masses and allow for emergent creativity. It only takes a handful of innovators to unleash a meme tsunami.
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Facebook Political Problems
Facebook’s political problems stem directly from its size and drive for growth; they are societal issues, not antitrust ones.
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The case against crisis-mongering
We face problems. As have all societies ever.
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On Being Blacklisted
I understand why writers exhibit cowardice, but I don’t have much sympathy for them.
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Don't Be Anti Car. Be Pro Something Else.
People hate change. They have something of a tendency to dig their heels in and be against it just because it is new and different. They as...
488
Why the Substack hype is much ado about very little
Previously published at GBH News. I have nothing against Substack. The newsletter platform seems like a clean, simple tool aimed at helping independent writers charge subscription fees for their wo…
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Lee Ross and the “Fundamental Attribution Error”
...and to the psychologist who put it on the map.
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Why Read Classic Books?
This is my first attempt to “think out loud” about the question I get most often: why bother reading the Classics? This is still very much a work in progress: I think people don’t consider and adapt their own beliefs often enough (see also: mental liquidity ). I consider my opinions here to be very much loosely held…
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How factories were made safe
The fundamental cause was a wrong attitude towards the core question: who is responsible for safety?
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Chris Avellone about why he “didn’t fight any of this”
Since “updates” can usually get lost in the noise, the most recent updates are put first.
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Smart Phone, Dumb Terminal
Using your phone as a dumb terminal with a Bluetooth keyboard
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Teaching Students How to Cheat During the Pandemic
Modification of Kobayahsi Maru for all-virtual classes
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The Sovietization of the American Press
The transformation from phony "objectivity" to open one-party orthodoxy hasn't been an improvement
497
When Radiohead sampled Paul Lansky (2000)
The English rock band Radiohead uses a sample from my very first computer piece, mild und leise , (this is an mp3 file) on one of the tracks on their CD, Kid A . (Yes, they very graciously asked permission, and I gave it. ) In fact, I really like what they did with the sample; it is quite imaginative and inventive…
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Man Built a $188M Fortune Investing in Stocks Then Donated It to Charity
Jack MacDonald was a frugal attorney who wanted to build a big net worth to give it to charity thanks to his hobby of investing in the stock market.
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My letter to Medicaid, appealing my child's Medicaid denial
My daughter Sterling was denied Medicaid, despite having special needs and being medically complex. Here's what I said to the State of Indiana after denying Sterling's Medicaid application.
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Restaurant prices in the 19th and 20th centuries (2009)
Restaurant prices in the 19th century (followed by 20th, below) Note: Until the mid-19th century prices were often quoted in shillings and pence, or in Spanish dollars. One Spanish bit = 12½¢; One …
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Dear self: we need to talk about social media
Last year I discovered, much to my chagrin, that always-on internet socializing was costly for me. This was inconvenient both because I’d spent rather a lot of time singing the praises of social me…
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Irish teen invents magnetic liquid trap to remove microplastics in water (2019)
Read about the Irish teenager who won the Google Science award for the magnetic liquid trap that could clean an ocean of microplastics.
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The curious history of NovaMin toothpaste (2018)
I buy my toothpaste from overseas through eBay. Wonder why?
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I would like closure, but I'll take honesty
The New York Times is special.
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Serial swatter who caused death gets five years in prison
A 18-year-old Tennessee man who helped set in motion a fraudulent distress call to police that led to the death of a 60-year-old grandfather in 2020 was sentenced to 60 months in prison today.