151
I have a theory that software drives people insane
I have a little pet theory that software drives people insane. Not in the "wash your hands every thirty minutes like Howard Hughes" kind of way, but more ...
Topics /
Society, Policy & Culture
The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 715 posts.
152
AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making
Note: This has been cross-posted to my company's blog, in case you think there is some use in sharing with someone in a format that looks more authoritative. Link here .
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Claude mixes up who said what
Claude sometimes sends messages to itself and then thinks those messages come from the user. This is categorically distinct from hallucinations or missing permissions.
155
Across the US, people are dismantling and destroying Flock surveillance cameras
Anger over ICE connections and privacy violations is fueling the sabotage. PLUS: 10,000 drivers call on Uber to repay stolen wages, a man is arrested at a public hearing about a data center and more.
156
The internet is kind of a predatory cesspit now
Personal blog of Stephen Diehl - Software engineer writing about technology, programming, and the future
157
Apple Just Lost Me
AndreGarzia.com website
158
Going Dark, and the era of law enforcement hacking
I’m coming down from spending a few days at Usenix Security, right here in my hometown of Baltimore. This means that my days have been taken up with two kinds of conversation: first, explaini…
159
I'm being cyberattacked by Tesla, Inc
A bungled Assetnote scan
160
Disney erased FiveThirtyEight
Nothing on the internet lasts forever. But Disney’s 10-year mismanagement of FiveThirtyEight is its own story.
161
Apple defeats liability for not scanning iCloud for CSAM
This case involves Apple’s handling of user-uploaded files hosted in private iCloud storage. Instead of adopting PhotoDNA to scan hosted files for CSAM, Apple created its own proprietary alternative, NeuralHash, which apparently wasn’t as good. So Apple U-turned on its...
162
Civic Hygiene – avoid building technologies that could be used by a police state (2013)
Imagine, just for a moment, that the Government wanted to keep a record of everyone's sexuality. They need to know this detailed demographic data because it will be highly useful in civic planning. It will help them work out what provision needs to be made for sexual health services, how many children are likely to be…
163
And then the men with guns tell you to do it anyway
In early February 2011 Egypt was in the middle of a political revolution. One morning, everyone's phones suddenly pinged with an alert. The Armed Forces asks Egypt's honest and loyal men to confront the traitors and criminals and protect our people and honour and our precious Egypt. A series of messages arrived all…
164
Parental controls aren't for parents
I found a stranger texting my 12-year-old on a 'kid-safe' Gabb phone. Parental controls are broken.
165
The AirPods Effect
How earbuds influence our beliefs and push us apart.
166
Understanding is the new bottleneck
Agents can write code faster than we can absorb it. Here's why it still matters for humans to understand what they build — and some techniques for doing that efficiently: explainer docs, quizzes, micro-worlds, and shared spaces.
167
‘ELITE’: The Palantir app ICE uses to find neighborhoods to raid
"Internal ICE material and testimony from an official obtained by 404 Media provides the clearest link yet between the technological infrastructure Palantir is building for ICE and the agency’s activities on the ground."
168
Born Against, or why hobby programming communities are against LLM usage
I came across a GH thread related to chess engine development that made me think of why hobby programming communities are increasingly hostile toward LLM development. While the thread doesn’t give a lot of insight into answering the question, it prompted me to think about it a bit. I’ve seen similar sentiments…
169
iOS 27 is adding a 'Create a Pass' button to Apple Wallet
Apple is letting users build their own Wallet passes in iOS 27. After 14 years of PassKit, the supply-side problem is finally being solved from the demand side.
170
The Coming Loop
Loops, harnesses, and why even loop skeptics may end up with them.
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CIA suddenly stops publishing, removes archives of The World Factbook
Somewhat devastating news today from CIA: One of CIA’s oldest and most recognizable intelligence publications, The World Factbook, has sunset. There's not even a hint as to why they decided …
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Anthropic's Scion is heavily inspired by Mononoke
It is important to provide credit.
175
Doomscrolling ourselves to death
James Marriott’s The New Dark Ages
176
Why is every rationalist blog post way too long?
For my piece on Catholic miracle apologetics , I read (correction: skimmed) a 25,000-word post by rationalist blogger Scott Alexander. My piece, which cited (but does not focus on) his, ended up being a cool 2,700 words. I don't think it would benefit from being longer, and it was the result of me cutting around 70%…
177
Crypto in 2026: Oh, This Is the Bad Place
Personal blog of Stephen Diehl - Software engineer writing about technology, programming, and the future
178
What happened to TheNumbers.com
If you work in or around the film industry, there is a decent chance you have used the work of The Numbers this month, whether you realise it or not.
179
The hypocrisy of cyberlibertarianism
I like the Internet. I am old enough to remember the pre-Internet era and despite the younger generations pining for those simpler days, I was there. Paper maps were absolutely horrible, just you and a compass in your car on the side of the road in the middle of
180
Nasdaq's Shame
How to rig an index to appease a billionaire