Society

Even simple actions online can take a toll on the environment.

Many companies build their businesses on open source software, code that would cost firms $8.8 trillion to create from scratch if it weren't freely available. Research by Frank Nagle and colleagues puts a value on an economic necessity that will require investment to meet demand.

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TUAW, a site that was shut down 10 years ago, was sold to a private equity firm, then to a company in Hong Kong, and has now stolen its old workers' identities and is running their old work through AI summarizers.

This is quite amazing to me. Never heard of these before. The great northern coast of Russia is inside the Arctic Circle, and the shoreline is hundreds of miles from civilisation almost the whole w…

A Bitcoin mine moved to a small town in Texas. One by one, the residents fell ill.

Geert Hofstede developed the Cultural Dimensions Theory to explain the differences between cultures around the world. Learn more here.

The AI bubble is reaching a tipping point?

Ever wondered how come martech is a US$700bn industry, but the ads you see are still crap? Clue – it's because the data foundations are crap, says Brand Traction's Jon Bradshaw. Following former UM privacy chief Arielle Garcia's takedown of the "garbage" data broking sector, Bradshaw challenges industry to provide proof that data-driven targeting actually makes advertising more effective – or in fact makes it worse. He's spoiling for a debate – and has three deep, recent studies that show: broad reach beats targeting for incremental growth; that the cost of targeting outweighs the return; and that second and third party data does not outperform a random sample. First party data does beat the random sample – but contextual ads massively outperform even first party data. And they are much, much cheaper. Now, says Bradshaw, let's see some counter-evidence from those making a killing.

Yossi Kreinin has a new blog post out about how the push for greater efficiency in organizations leads to negative outcomes, because it leads to teams pursuing local efficiency goals rather than do…

Long before cyberpunk went mainstream in the west, a fever dream from an outsider director catapulted Japanese filmmaking back into international relevance.

It was once a misdemeanor to tip someone in Washington. Now, we have some of the best labor laws for tipped workers. So what's next for the practice of tipping?

Japan still loves cash and vending machines, but new banknotes containing hologram technology won't work in many machines without upgrades.

The largest donor of the 2024 presidential campaign, by far, is Timothy Mellon, the reclusive billionaire and heir to the Mellon banking fortune. Mellon was already the largest donor after donating $25 million each to the Super PACs supporting the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump (MAGA Inc.) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (American Values 2024). Then, Mellon donated another $50 million to MAGA Inc. on May 31, the day after Trump was convicted of committing 34 felonies.

Edelman, world’s largest public relations company, paid millions by Saudi Arabia, UAE and other repressive regimes

As an Ivy alumnus, I witnessed the process in action.

Demonstrations are on the rise, and scientists are revealing which types work best.

The AI bubble is reaching a tipping point. As we continue to follow the GPUs, navigating what comes next will be essential.

Five Lessons of the Nazi Takeover

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When it comes down to it, it’s best to think of advertising as a coordinated, decades-long campaign to annoy the heck out of you. And it works pretty well.

America’s founding document is now an all-but-meaningless scrap of paper. Happy Fourth!

Social mobility is the movement of individuals, families, households or other categories of people within or between social strata in a society. It is a change in social status relative to one's current social location within a given society. This movement occurs between layers or tiers in an open system of social stratification. Open stratification systems are those in which at least some value is given to achieved status characteristics in a society. The movement can be in a downward or upward direction. Markers for social mobility such as education and class, are used to predict, discuss and learn more about an individual or a group's mobility in society.

Freedom is the power or right to speak, act and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws".