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The distinction between free speech as a legal right and cultural value
In the neverending debate surrounding Twitter under Elon Musk, the distinction between free speech as a legal right and cultural value can get confused.
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Wildfire smoke is exposing millions of Americans to extreme pollution levels
Stanford researchers have developed an AI model for predicting dangerous particle pollution to help track the American West’s rapidly worsening wildfire smoke. The detailed results show millions of Americans are routinely exposed to pollution at levels rarely seen just a decade ago.
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Global Encryption Day: Demand End-to-End Encryption in DMs
Today is Global Encryption Day, a day to highlight why encryption is critical for a safe, private internet.
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No Congress 2022: Looking forward to decentralized alternatives and Camp 2023
The CCC sees no other option than to cancel the Chaos Communication Congress again this year. Instead, we call on local groups for decentralized and independent alternative events. The Chaos...
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Twitter restricted in Russia amid conflict with Ukraine
NetBlocks metrics confirm the restriction of Twitter in Russia from the morning of Saturday 26 February 2022. Facebook servers have subsequently been restricted as of Sunday. The restrictions are in ...
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The Flickr Foundation
Welcome to the new home of the Flickr Foundation! We are a new US 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to keeping the wonderful Flickr collection around for 100 years. Big goals, little steps.
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The Great Decentralization? Geographic shifts and where tech talent is moving
Distributed work may hold the key to creating forward thinking metropolises.
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New type of ultraviolet light makes indoor air as safe as outdoors
A new type of ultraviolet light that is safe for people destroyed more than 98% of airborne microbes in a room within five minutes, a study found.
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Chaos Computer Club saves the German healthcare system 400M Euros
Zur Verbindung mit dem Gesundheitsdatennetz „Telematik“ sind in deutschen Arztpraxen spezielle Router vorgeschrieben. Nach nur fünf Jahren Laufzeit soll nun ein Gerätetausch alternativlos sein – so...
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Health effects of the use of non-sugar sweeteners: a review and meta-analysis
Non-sugar sweeteners have been developed as an alternative to sugars and are widely used both as an ingredient in pre-packaged foods and beverages and added to food and beverages directly by the consumer.
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Tinder’s pricing algorithm can charge users up to 5x more for same service
Tinder Plus users around the world must engage with an opaque and unfair personalized pricing algorithm, according to new research by Mozilla and Consumers International.
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It’s Time to Reaffirm Our First Amendment Right to Boycott
The Supreme Court must affirm that politically-motivated consumer boycotts are protected by the Constitution.
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World military expenditure passes $2T for first time
(Stockholm, 25 April 2022) Total global military expenditure increased by 0.7 per cent in real terms in 2021, to reach $2113 billion. The five largest spenders in 2021 were the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom and Russia, together accounting for 62 per cent of expenditure, according to new data on…
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Humanity’s broken risk perception is reversing global progress
Human activity and behaviour is contributing to an increasing number of disasters across the world, putting millions of lives and every social and economic gain in danger, warns a new UN report.
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Mozilla’s Vision for the Evolution of the Web
Mozilla's mission is to ensure that the Internet is a global public resource, open and accessible to all. We believe in an Internet that puts people first, where individuals can shape their own experience and are empowered, safe, and independent.
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Battersea Power Station in London unveils the newly restored Control Room A
⦁ Battersea Power Station has revealed the fully restored Control Room A, the first of the Grade II* listed building’s two original Control Rooms which
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The history of the end of poverty has just begun
The decline of global poverty is one of the most important achievements in history, but the end of poverty is still very far away.
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Reducing the risk of nuclear war should be a key concern of our generation
The consequences of nuclear war would be devastating. Much more should – and can – be done to reduce the risk that humanity will ever fight such a war
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Claims AI can boost workplace diversity are ‘spurious and dangerous’
Research highlights growing market in AI-powered recruitment tools that claim to bypass human bias to remove discrimination from hiring.
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Vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 detected in London, UK
News originally published on the Global Polio Eradication Initiative website. The Global Polio Laboratory Network (GPLN) has confirmed the isolation of type 2 vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV2) from environmental samples in London, United Kingdom (UK), which were detected as part of ongoing disease surveillance.
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I Choose Optimism
I bet you are wondering about the title of this piece. Has Blumner gone bonkers? Doesn’t she know that the world is on fire with authoritarianism on the ris ...
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No minimum parking requirements? No problem for Fayetteville, Arkansas
This article is part of the series The Costs of Parking Mandates Find audio versions of Sightline articles on any of your favorite podcast platforms, including Spotify, Google, and Apple. In 2015, the city council of Fayetteville, Arkansas, adopted a radical but simple idea: do away with minimum parking mandates and…
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AI translates Hokkien, an unwritten language, for the first time
Peng-Jen Chen is well aware of how language barriers can affect people’s ability to communicate. Chen grew up in Taiwan speaking Mandarin Chinese, but his father, Sheng-Jiang Chen, a 70-year-old retired factory lead technician, hails from Southern Taiwan, where Taiwanese Hokkien is widely spoken. Though the two…
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Ocean plastics: How much do rich countries contribute by shipping their waste?
Many countries ship plastic waste overseas. How much of the world’s waste is traded, and how big is its role in the pollution of our oceans?
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The Math Myth (2016)
Math professor David Edwards sent me this short essay on mathematical education. Printed with his permission. The Math Myth Themath myth is the myth that the future of the American economy is dependent upon the masses having higher mathematics skills. This myth goes back to at least Sputnik, when the Russians were…