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Society, Policy & Culture
The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 742 posts.
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On me, and the Media Lab
(Please be sure to read the addendum at the end of this post.) A week ago last Friday, I spoke to Joi Ito about the release of documents that accuse Media Lab co-founder Marvin Minsky of involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s horrific crimes.* Joi told me that evening that the Media Lab’s ties to Epstein went… Read More »On…
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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.
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ET Don't Phone Home
I recently became aware of this article where a Google exec says - he’s serious - that ‘Nest owners should probably warn their guests that their conversations are being recorded’. That’s assuming the owners themselves are even aware of what these devices are doing, and the likely truth is that they do not. Like needy…
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How the Great Pyramid at Giza Looked in 2560 BCE
The current outer surface of the Great Pyramid at Giza is made of rough limestone blocks, colored a dark sandy brown from hundreds of years of pollution and wea
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Candidates for Mozilla's IRC Successor
These candidates were assessed on a variety of axes, most importantly Community Participation Guideline enforcement and accessibility, but also including team requirements from engineering, organizational-values alignment, usability, utility and cost. To close out, I’ll talk about the options we haven’t chosen and…
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When it comes to composition and length, passwords mostly don't matter
When it comes to composition and length, your password (mostly) doesn’t matter.
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Our Dazzling Night Sky When the Milky Way Collides with Andromeda in 4B Years
This is what our night sky is going to look like in 3.9 billion years: Wow! So what’s going on here? Using data from the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers at
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The Internet and the Third Estate
Mark Zuckerberg suggested that social media is a “Fifth Estate”; in fact, social media is a means by which the Third Estate — commoners — can seize political power. Here history matters…
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Why Are Creators Paying for TikTok’s Mistake?
TikTok is an app that makes it easy for people to make short lip-synching videos, which unsurprisingly makes it a goldmine of creativity and memes. TikTok recently got in hot water with the Federal Trade Commission because it failed to comply with Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)....
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My Parents Are Flat Earthers
For decades, my parents have been working up to Flat-Earther beliefs. From Egyptology to Jehovah's Witnesses to theories that human built the Moon billions of years in the future. Surprisingly, it doesn't affect their successful lives very much. For me, it's a fun family pastime.
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Dear Mozilla, please stop spamming
Detailing Mozilla's failures to send newsletters only to users who actually opted in.
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The crisis in physics is not only about physics
Science News, Physics, Science, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
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Medical records on the blockchain – the history of a bad idea
Patients having some sort of “control” over their own medical data is a perennial favourite blockchain pitch. We may have found the source.
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Anonymous Google Employees Voted Arms Control Persons of the Year
For Immediate Release: January 10, 2019 Media Contact: Tony Fleming , director for communications, (202) 463-8270 ext 110
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Protest against the EU radio lockdown
We are facing a EU regulation which may make it impossible to install a custom piece of software on most radio decives like WiFi routers, smartphones and embedded devices. You can now give feedback on …
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Microsoft Tells FTC Repair Poses a Cyber Risk
In comments submitted to the Federal Trade Commission, Microsoft Corp. is arguing that repairing its devices could jeopardize the cyber security of Trusted Platform Module (TPM) security chip. Don&…
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Reverse Engineering a Xinjiang Police Mass Surveillance App
This report presents new evidence about the surveillance state in Xinjiang, where the government has subjected 13 million Turkic Muslims to heightened repression as part of its “Strike Hard Campaign against Violent Terrorism.” Between January 2018 and February 2019, Human Rights Watch was able to reverse engineer the…
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The global population pyramid
Global demographic transition signals a shift from young, growing populations to older, stable ones, reshaping societies and economies.
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Childhood's End: The digital revolution has turned into something else
To those seeking true intelligence, autonomy, and control among machines, the domain of analog computing, not digital computing, is the place to look.
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Firefox Personal Data Promise
Tech companies are using the word “privacy” a lot these days. What do they mean when they say it? To one company, privacy means keeping your informatio
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Our Boss Will Call Your Boss
On February 17, seven Blackwater-like security contractors were arrested in Haiti while driving in unmarked vehicles and transporting illegal weaponry and tactical equipment. They claimed to be on a government mission. Four days later the US “rescued” them. None are expected to face charges. What happened?
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Approaching Peak Housing Dysfunction in California
San Bruno, California laid out a detailed blueprint for more housing. One developer followed that blueprint. $3 million and 3 years later, the city killed his project anyway.