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The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 1,046 posts.
I've done a lot of activism for software freedom, over the years. At first it was purely for software freedom and related topics, (such as security, autonomy and privacy) but eventually this has evolved into something more holistic. I believe that the software I use should be held to higher ethical standards than only…
...also don't tell lies. But I'm getting ahead of myself already. I keep running into people online who openly say that they use AI to do their writing for t
The backlash against data centers is difficult to understand if your salary depends on your not understanding it.
I asked Claude to look up the X-Plane 12 API and try to fly a Cessna from Hainan to somewhere nearby. It kept a pilot's log. Everything below is Claude's own notes from during the flight. I occasionally had to remind it to keep the pilot log running, and had to tell it when it crashed as xplane would quickly restart…
A new book shows the value of memorable defining moments on customer and employee experiences.
A stiff drink is recommended
A bit more than a year ago, we did something a bit weird. We took a few cans of spray paint and we went out on the street. Not to pain...
I’m tired of this phrase and this simple way of thinking about tools. This blog post is a wandering train of thought on the topic of what tools are and why it matters to be even slightly more mature in how we think about them.
There’s a certain kind of person who’s becoming extinct. You’ve probably met one. Maybe you are one. Someone who actually understood the tools they used. Someone who could sit down at an unfamiliar system, poke at it for twenty minutes, and have a working mental model of what it was doing and why. Someone who read…
At first, I thought I was addicted to internet forums. Then Facebook appeared and soon after I discovered Reddit, Hacker News, 9GAG, Instagram and other form...
We analyzed 4 million IRS 990 filings to map where $3 trillion in U.S. nonprofit revenue actually flows. The data is public — nobody had compiled it.
A conversation with lead producer Laura Kröger on the making of Odysseus and what it would take to become a permanent institution.
Ozempic-style drugs are being tested far beyond diabetes, for heart failure, addiction, Alzheimer's and aging. The share of such trials has roughly tripled in fifteen years.
The world’s richest 0.1 percent (8 million people) produces more carbon pollution than the world’s poorest 3.5 billion people combined, reveals new Oxfam analysis. Published ahead of the UN climate summit (COP31) in Türkiye, the report exposes how the world's super-rich are driving climate breakdown through their…
Our official statement to the digital rights community about why RightsCon 2026 will not take place in Zambia
Leak show feds tracking anti-ICE Reddit users like "Budget-Chicken-2425"
Over the last few months we’ve examined the extent of the construction industry’s productivity problem.
the gospel for those out of distribution
PRAGUE, 18 February 2026 – A landmark international study across five Central European countries has found hazardous chemicals in every single pair of headphones analysed, from premium models to cheap imports. Authors say the results reveal a systemic failure in consumer safety regulation acros...
I constantly hear about how much everybody hates email. Look, I receive just as many spam messages and useless email-based notifications and stuffy vapid “regarding my previous email” work messages as the next gal. I get it. But I’ve found there’s something magical about email as a medium of communication, and as a…
Press Release for the V-Dem Institute Democracy Report 2026: "Unraveling The Democratic Era?"
And that’s a problem for economic development
The U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) has formally changed the name for "Lake Ontario" to "Lake America" in the United States. Since we update Google Maps …
For the first time, investors and market participants can access a single, real-time source of prices and trading activity across the UK bond market, following the launch of its bond consolidated tape, operated by ETS Connect UK.
Federal courts have overwhelmingly rejected the Trump Administration's radical expansion of mandatory detention. Despite this, ICE continues to arrest and detain tens of thousands of people each month…
