12001
Topics /
Society, Policy & Culture
The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 13,067 posts.
12002
12003
The $50,000 San Francisco Home
Breaking down the numbers to construct a truly affordable housing model.
12004
12005
Nuclear power is too safe
If you don't pursue safety in a way that is cost effective, you are killing people.[David Okrent]
12006
The web runs on tolerance
If you've ever tried to write a computer program, you'll know the dread of a syntax error. An errant space and your code won't compile. Miss a semi-colon and the world collapses. Don't close your brackets and watch how the computer recoils in distress. The modern web isn't like that. You can make your HTML as…
12007
12008
12009
12010
Disappointing Findings on Anti-Poverty Cash Transfers in the USA
Conditional cash transfers (CCTs) are rapidly expanding as a poverty-reduction strategy around the world. Following the publication of positive findings…
12011
12012
Plug-in solar is coming. Plug-in batteries should follow
Plug-in batteries could help millions more households access the bill-saving benefits of home energy storage. With plug-in solar now on the way, Regen argues that the government should make plug-in batteries next.
12013
Brainwashing is sorcery
Can’t bring yourself to slaughter a nearby village, or a long-time associate?
12014
My techno-optimism
Special thanks to Morgan Beller, Juan Benet, Eli Dourado, Karl Floersch, Sriram Krishnan, Nate Soares, Jaan Tallinn, Vincent Weisser, Balvi volunteers and others for feedback and review.
12015
12016
How to grip Bronze Age swords
An ordinary Late Bronze Age European sword of the so-called Naue type II. It has a bronze hilt of hollow scales riveted to the...
12017
Conquest of the Incas
I wrote about the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs five years ago during the early days of this blog. The conquistadors have since remained a fascination of mine, but I haven’t had a chance to go bac…
12018
Instagram Ruined Photography for Me
The story of why I stopped taking photos
12019
Richard Prince, the world’s highest-grossing “photographer”
How to make hundreds of millions of dollars by taking pictures of other people's pictures.
12020
After Mac?
So, there are new MacBooks and many people are unhappy . Tl;dr: Apple thinks thin-and-light is more important than well-equipped-and-powerful.
12021
Revisiting Stereotype Threat
A Reckoning for Social Psychology
12022
Richard Stallman: "I Wished I Had Killed Myself"
I received a review copy of Steven Levy's seminal book Hackers back in the 1980s, but never read it. I did, though, keep it, because it lo...
12023
The Future Programming Manifesto
It’s time to reformulate the principles guiding my work. [Revised definition of complexity in response to misunderstandings]
12024
Fanatics Is Building a Weird Monopoly over Sports Trading Cards
Fanatics has rolled up power in all areas of sports merchandising. And now it's coming for baseball, football, and basketball trading cards.
12025
Old tech is haunted
We're making scientists and ghost-hunters kiss
12026
Physically Demanding Work Tied to Male Fertility
Occupational factors associated with higher sperm concentrations and serum testosterone
12027
Epic corporate jargon alternatives
I’m working on a list of corporate jargon alternatives. There are already plenty of resources telling you what you should be saying instead, such as “soon” for “ASAP” or “waiting” for “holding pattern” and the like. But they usually lack that flair of ostentation we have come to be accustomed to. Therefore, I had the…
12028
Confronting the Credibility Gap for Crewed Exploration of Mars
Confronting the Credibility Gap for Crewed Exploration of Mars (Notes from talk on September 22, 2016, at the Mars Society Conference. ...
12029
U.S. universities, rich in data, struggle to capture its value, study finds
A UCLA–MIT Press paper highlights a lack of data infrastructure and data strategy in U.S. higher education.
12030
When swiping supplants scissors: The hidden cost of touchscreens
The history of technology is full of innovators who got their start creating with their hands. Steve Jobs cites a calligraphy class at Reed