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In defense of cryptocurrency
Last week a group of technologists, including Bruce Schneier, sent a letter to Congress outlining their concerns around cryptocurrency and urging Congress to regulate the space. Now let me be the f…
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Society, Policy & Culture
The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 700 posts.
242
The war on gifted education
Why the landslide loss for San Francisco's school board is a victory for American meritocracy
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High beef prices and the destruction of independent cattle ranching
Agricultural economists manipulated data to block Congress from acting on high beef prices and the destruction of independent cattle ranching. Why? Because they think monopolies are good.
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No, you can’t save £30 per year by switching off your “standby” devices
Every few years, a dodgy stat does the rounds claiming you can save £££ if you switch off all your gadgets at the wall. The standby mode of your TV is bleeding you dry!!! Energy Saving Trust@EnergySvgTrustA quick way to #saveenergy at home is to turn off tablets, laptops and consoles as soon as you stop using them…
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You can build a skyscraper anywhere in Davis, California
Update: Everything in this article about Davis is also currently true in the following cities:
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Please save Hacker Lab
July 31 st 2022 has come and gone. Hacker Lab has closed but the community in Sacramento and the need for these kinds of inspiring and supportive makerspaces is still very much alive.
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Why does science news suck so much?
Science News, Physics, Science, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
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It looks like I’m moving to Mastodon
Elon Musk laid off about half of Twitter this morning. There are many terrible stories emerging about how this went down, but one that particularly struck me was that he …
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Senators Urge FTC to Probe ID.me over Selfie Data
Some of more tech-savvy Democrats in the U.S. Senate are asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate identity-proofing company ID.me for “deceptive statements” the company and its founder allegedly made over how they handle facial recognition data collected on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service …
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Schroedinger's streaming service just died
The sex industry has pioneered every new communications tool since the printing press: in my own lifetime, I've watched it take the lead in VCRs, desktop publishing, BBSes, digital text, digital images, digital videos, live streaming services, cryptocurrency, and VR. It would be easy to conclude that being interested…
252
Cinema’s greatest scene: ‘Casablanca’ and ‘La Marseillaise’ (2015)
Casablanca is widely remembered as one of the greatest films of all time, coming in at #2 on the AFI’s top 100 list and similarly regarded by many other critics. You can quibble with its exac…
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What we can deduce from a leaked PDF
Matthew Butterick
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P. J. O'Rourke, 1947-2022
Brilliant writer, beautiful soul
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“Autistic people can’t acknowledge when they’re wrong”
I have heard this sentence many times in my life, always in the workplace. This puzzles me as I pride myself on seeking out things I am wrong about and learn...
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Life advice from NYC chess hustlers
Marcel, E.G.G.S. and Nathaniel Tell All
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My journey through the American immigration system as a computer engineer
It sounds surreal to even say it out loud, but I’ve been living in America for the majority of my life, ever since I was a teenager. And for 18 of those years, I was legally a transient – hop…
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The Social Recession: By the Numbers
Fewer friends, relationships on the decline, delayed adulthood, trust at an all-time low, and many diseases of despair. The prognosis is not great.
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The “misinformation problem” seems like misinformation
If anything people have become better informed
263
On anti-crypto toxicity
Crypto is known for its toxicity towards outsiders. Similar attitudes are emerging from some who oppose crypto.
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Why do new cars look like wet putty?
"Wet Putty" whips are everywhere. What’s behind it? ... a BBSP investigation
265
The AI Art Apocalypse
This image was created by an AI, MidJourney. All I had to do was type in a prompt (“wildfire”) and aspect ratio. This AI is pretty good, but nowhere near the state of the art, and AI like it are, over the next few years, going to make art like this available within seconds at […]
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Nobody optimizes happiness
People don’t seem to try very hard to make themselves happier. Why not?
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In defence of the boring web
Having recently had the pleasure of doing most of my internet interactions on a tablet or a smartphone because my laptop was ‘hors de combat,’ I was able to further reflect on the state of the modern web. 1 With Web 2.0 being already passé, Web 3.0 being not the latest fad any more, and talks of Web 4.0, 4.5, and 5.0…
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The tyranny of the wagon equation
A mathematical extension to ACOUP's recent blog post on military logistics