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Outraged about the Google diversity memo?
Science News, Physics, Science, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
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Society, Policy & Culture
The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 13,064 posts.
1112
DraftKings is using AI to behaviorally target chronic gamblers
Online sports betting company DraftKings is using AI to target customers who are most likely to place losing bets and respond to gambling promotions. This kind of targeting is a form of online behavioral advertising, which is when companies personalize the ads they show you based on the data they’...
1113
Brave and Firefox to intercept links that force-open in Microsoft Edge
Brave and Firefox implement support for the microsoft-edge: URL scheme. Brave to hijack Bing search links. Plus, the history of all this anti-competitive crap.
1114
Xerox scanners and photocopiers randomly alter numbers in scanned documents
Xerox scanners/photocopiers randomly alter numbers in scanned documents Please see the “condensed time line” section (the next one) for a time line of how the Xerox saga unfolded. It for example depicts that I did not push the thing to the public right away, but gave Xerox a lot of time before I did so. <iframe…
1115
Just Too Efficient
On a Spring 2019 walk in Beijing I saw two street sweepers at a sunny corner. They were beat-up looking and grizzled but probably younger than me. They’d paused work to smoke and talk. One told a story; the other’s eyes widened and then he laughed so hard he had to bend over, leaning on his broom. I suspect their jobs…
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Why is Apple acting like an asshole?
Today Apple announced at their media event that the final public release of iOS 14 ships tomorrow, which came as quite a shock to all third-party developers.
1118
Stop pushing the web forward
Fair warning. You’re going to hate this one. I want to stop pushing the web forward for a while. I want a moratorium on new browser features for about a year or so.
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Decrement carbon: Stripe's negative emissions commitment
Funding negative emissions technology through Stripe's environmental program.
1121
NASA paywalls first papers arising from Curiosity rover – I am setting them free
a blog about genomes, DNA, evolution, open science, baseball and other important things
1122
You block ads in your browser, why not in your city?
There are defences against badvertising on the internet, and you should use them. But there are defences against bad advertising in real life too, and you should use them too. Put badvertising in its place: nowhere!
1123
Professor suspended for saying 那个 nà ge
August 28, 2020 @ 6:53 pm · Filed by Victor Mair under Fillers and pause words , Grammar , Mannerisms , Speech-acts
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No More “Insight Porn”
If you’re not getting something actionable out of it, you’re probably wasting your time
1125
Netflix Posted Biggest-Ever Profit in 2018 and Paid $0 in Income Taxes
The popular video streaming service Netflix posted its largest-ever U.S. profit in 2018—$845 million—on which it didn’t pay a dime in federal or state income taxes. In fact, the company reported a $22 million federal income tax rebate.
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I wish tech companies knew more about me
I wish tech companies knew more about me | exotext
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HP Instant Ink is “ink as a service”
HP never stopped innovating. From its origins in the 1930s as a leading electronics manufacturer to its role in the birth of PCs and performance servers, it has always demonstrated incredible ingenuity.
1129
Square thinks I don’t exist
Seriously. During the signup process, they ask for some personal information: your name, home address, phone number, and Social Security Number. They hand it off to an identity verification service , which scrapes, say, public records and credit reports, to ask questions that only you can answer:
1130
“I will slaughter you”
You might know that I've posted funny emails I've received on my blog several times in the past. The kind of emails people send me when they experience problems with some device they own (like a car) and they contact me because my email address happens to be visible somewhere. People sometimes say I should … Continue…
1131
The PC is not dead, we just don't need new ones
When was the last time you needed to buy a new PC? Two years ago? Three years ago? The last PC I built was in 2009. I had to upgrade because I pushed the previous one I built to the limit and that was
1132
Self hosting is important
Computers are amazing tools and Internet is an amazing network, we can share everything we want with anyone connected. As for now, most of the Internet is neutral, meaning ISP have to give access to the Internet to their customer and don't make choices depending on the destination (like faster access for some…
1133
On my resignation as regulator of the Dutch intelligence and security services
I’ve seen some mediocre automated translations of my Dutch language resignation statement go round. To prevent any confusion, please find the story here in English: Until today I was one of the three members of the board that checks warrants for the Dutch intelligence and security services. This board is called…
1134
If we want a shift to walking, we need to prioritize dignity
Why does walking feel so intuitive when we’re in a city built before cars, yet as soon as we return home, walking feels like an unpleasant chore that immediately drives us into a car?
1135
I regret migrating to Codeberg
A brief comment on Codeberg’s new terms, and why a free-software host deciding which projects are welcome worries me more than the bans themselves.
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Is this the end of social networking?
Scott Rosenberg , in a piece with the title “Sunset of the social network” , writes at Axios:
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Facebook is the new Excel
If you’re building a SaaS startup, then your biggest competitor isn’t a competitor. It’s Microsoft Excel. That was the mantra a few years ago. Add in Google Docs and it still holds true. Contact lists, mailing lists, accounts, invoicing, mark...
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Garry Tan, the CEO of YC, accused me of unethical reporting
Garry Tan, the CEO of venture capital firm Y Combinator, accused me of unethical reporting. This is my response.
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If America's so rich, how'd it get so sad?
Or: How the 2020s broke our brains
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California law enforcement misused state databases more than 7k times in 2023
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LACSD) committed wholesale abuse of sensitive criminal justice databases in 2023, violating a specific rule against searching the data to run background checks for concealed carry firearm permits.The sheriff’s department’s 6,789 abuses made up a majority...