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Time to end the speed limit in US airspace?
It's time to end the speed limit in US airspace
Topics /
Society, Policy & Culture
The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 952 posts.
422
Conferences are inadvertently excluding many attendees from foreign countries
This is not an easy post for me to write, being a bit of a criticism / “you can do better” note for organisers of conferences that cater to a global community.
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Are we doing this again? Yes, we're doing this again
Y esterday I was rudely summoned away from a beautiful autumn day of wild foraging by The King.
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Twitter showed us its algorithm – what does it tell us?
On March 31, Twitter open-sourced its recommendation algorithm. It turns out to be a standard engagement prediction algorithm of the kind most major platforms use; I explained how these algorithms work in a recent essay . The source code release makes for an interesting case study of social media transparency. Let’s…
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When tech says ‘no’
The tech industry always has a reason why any new laws or regulations are bad - indeed, so does any industry. They always say that! The trouble is, sometimes it’s true, and some laws are (or would be) disasters. So which is it? Well, there are three ways that people say ‘NO!’
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Bye, Gemini
The Gemini protocol was a big part of my COVID-19 lockdown experience. Discovering this underground, small protocol, having long discussions on the mailing list, and most importantly for me, developing software. My terminal Gemini browser, Amfora, was my first public FOSS project, something actually intended for a…
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Facebook confirms it will drop news sharing in Canada under bill C-18
Google has been in the spotlight for the past few weeks with reports that it has been testing removal news links from search results. The move sparked outrage from MPs, who grilled executives earlier today at Canadian Heritage committee. But now it appears Google has company: the Globe and Mail reports that Facebook…
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How to participate in Monday’s oral arguments re: Internet Archive
We’re standing up for the digital rights of all libraries in court! On Monday at 1pm ET, the Southern District of New York will hear oral argument in Hachette v. Internet Archive, the lawsuit against our library and the longstanding library practice of controlled digital lending, brought by 4 of the world’s largest…
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ARRL hails FCC action to remove symbol rate restrictions
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the national association for amateur radio, connecting hams around the U.S. with news, information and resources.
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Introducing Superalignment
We need scientific and technical breakthroughs to steer and control AI systems much smarter than us. To solve this problem within four years, we’re starting a new team, co-led by Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike, and dedicating 20% of the compute we’ve secured to date to this effort. We’re looking for excellent ML…
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Private spies hired by FBI and corporations infiltrate Discord, Reddit, WhatsApp
Leading “threat intelligence” firms are creating fake online personas to gain access to every corner of the web.
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Five Kinds of Friends (2022)
The word “friends” has at least five different meanings: Allies Backstage intimates Fun friends Mutual interests friends Soc...
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Leo Tolstoy on why people drink (2014)
“The seeing, spiritual being, whose manifestation we commonly call conscience, always points with one end towards right and with the other towards wrong, and we do not notice it while we foll…
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The false positive rate of AI detectors and its effect on freelance writers
The massive false positive rate of general AI detectors had a devastating effect on freelance writer Michael Berben: being falsely accused of cheating, he lost his job.
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Shining a light on the digital dark age
Without maintenance, most digital information will be lost in just a few decades. How might we secure our data so that it survives for generations?
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Bruce Lee and Me
A reflection on the 50th anniversary of my friend's death.
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Searches for VPN Soar in Utah Amidst Pornhub Blockage
Utah's Google search volume for "VPN" is soaring following PornHub's decision to shut down access for the state in response to strict ID laws.
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The falling nutritional value of crops
The mineral content of wheat and rice is lower today than sixty years ago. Why is that and what does it mean for how we eat?
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The planning of U.S. physician shortages (2020)
Misguided modeling created a "physician surplus" narrative, the harmful consequences of which we are still dealing with today.
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Cruel optimism and lazy pessimism
Do you remember the avocado toast guy? I read Johann Hari’s Stolen Focus recently (you should read it, it’s great), and I learned that someone1 has come up with a name for this sort of modern reinterpretation of “let them eat cake”: cruel optimism. Cruel optimism, the way Hari interprets it2, boils down to the folly…
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GitHub Renamed Me (2014)
Github Renamed Me - We will change your SSH keys and you will like it
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The Disappearance of the Ashtray
These things used to be pieces of furniture
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Why aren't motherboards mostly USB-C by now? (2021)
I’m beginning to think that the Windows PC that I built in 2015 is ready for retirement (though if Joe Biden can be president at 78, maybe this […]
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The Mao-Kissinger Meeting of 1973
The archives of declassified foreign relations documents from the United States, China and other countries can give us some insights. I’ve enjoyed reading some of the documents in Wilson Cent…
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What I learned unsubscribing from 22 newspapers
Online newspaper subscriptions have a reputation for being difficult to cancel, but new guidance from the FTC may change that.
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No one wants simplicity
We think we do, but in fact every web developer will happily sacrifice simplicity to the first shiny thing promising them relief from the mildest of ailments.