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Ben “bushing” Byer has passed away
We are deeply saddened by the news that our member, colleague, and friend Ben “bushing” Byer has passed away.
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You can't trust Amazon Underground
Bid on the RGP-Domain discours.es. Bid now from €10 and secure the domain at an early stage!
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A Historical Tour of Silicon Valley
A tour of Silicon Valley
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I Am Alex St. John’s Daughter, and He Is Wrong About Women in Tech
My name is Amilia St. John and I am the daughter of Alex St. John. Yes, that one. For those not following the horrific toddler meltdown my…
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Security Risks of TSA PreCheck
Former TSA Administrator Kip Hawley wrote an op-ed pointing out the security vulnerabilities in the TSA’s PreCheck program: The first vulnerability in the system is its enrollment process, which seeks to verify an applicant’s identity. We know verification is a challenge: A 2011 Government Accountability Office report…
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World Population Growth
Explore global and national data on population growth, demography, and how they are changing.
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Hyperloop Freight is a Joke
As the ongoing attempt to build a Hyperloop tube in California is crashing due to entirely foreseen technical problems, the company trying to raise capital for the project, Hyperloop One, is lookin…
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When Accessibility Gets Labeled Wasteful
Note on Accessibility There has been some concerns about the contrast on this blog, unfortunately some find it hard to read light text on a dark background while others prefer it. I am looking into…
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Blitzted: The Third Reich as a Society on Drugs
So my copy of Norman Ohler’s splendidly-titled Blitzed showed up. This could have been a really disappointing book – in the acknowledgments, Ohler mentions a Berlin DJ friend who told him Nazis took masses of drugs, and I can well imagine going from that beginning to lurid Hitler Channel kitsch. But Ohler has achieved…
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USPS Discrimination Against Atheism? A Study by Atheist Shoes (2013)
Stupendously comfortable handmade shoes, inspired by the minimalist aesthetic of the Bauhaus and crafted from the finest leathers known to humanity. Designed in Berlin, and handmade in Porto, all our materials are sourced in Europe (Germany, the Netherlands & Portugal).
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The War on Cash
Corbett Reporteers will be no stranger to the war on cash. I’ve made videos discussing it, conducted interviews about it, written articles examining it and dissected it on the radio .
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The Brexit Possibility
Brexit’s downsides are clear; might tech help realize upsides in building something new based on a new world order?
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The meaning of trust in the age of Airbnb
I am on holiday in Bavaria, where, in between the beer and schnitzels, I have been contemplating the nature of trust. A rather old-fashioned guest house happily took our reservation and let us run …
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'Dirty Jobs' Mike Rowe Meets the Koch Brothers
If you haven't seen it, my name appeared a few weeks ago in a headline next to Koch Industries
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Law Enforcement Uses Border Search Exception as Fourth Amendment Loophole
In recent months, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have sought access to private data on the cell phones of two journalists. Such incidents are offensive because they threaten the independence of the press and pose specific risks to confidential sources. This government overreach also...
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The Montreux Jazz Festival archive is now online
EPFL’s Metamedia Center will soon finish digitizing the Montreux Jazz Festival archive, and an initial selection of concerts has been made available at montreuxjazz.com.
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Developers don't build cheaper housing because we make it illegal (2014)
One of the protests against allowing more housing construction is that supply and demand has failed – that developers only want to build luxury units or that the global elite will invariably buy al…
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London vs San Francisco – back and forth
This site is mainly a storage cupboard for things I've tinkered with along the way, such as:
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Microsoft will donate $1B in cloud services to nonprofits and universities
As Satya Nadella announced today, we’re committed to putting the Microsoft Cloud to work for the public good. That’s why Microsoft Philanthropies, with support from Microsoft Research and Microsoft Business Development, will donate $1 billion in Microsoft cloud services to nonprofits and university researchers over…
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Fewer Than 1000 Brits Googled “What Is the EU?” After Referendum
I’ve never seen such snobbery in my life. The post-Brexit condescension has been nauseating. The media, pundits, and academics have desperately tried to paint the Brexit voters as ignorant, backwoods troglodytes who only voted to leave the EU because they don’t like brown people.
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