Category: Theory
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A plea for protocols
The antidote to the abuses of big tech is the very thing that gave birth to the Internet itself: decentralized, neutral technical protocols. The thought that inspires my work. Ever since I started work on Nupedia and then Wikipedia, a thought has always inspired me: just imagine the stunning possibilities when people come together as…
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We need to pay more for journalism. A lot more.
I’m going to say a few obvious things, and then then a few unobvious things, about the business model for news publishing. Obvious thing #1: One of the most consequential facts of the Internet age is that news content has become free of charge. We all watched in morbid fascination in the 1990s and 00s…
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Why Racism Is Wrong
Denial of individual humanity The problem with racism is the collectivism—the tribalism—the treatment of people as mere tokens or representatives of their races. That, as it turns out, is a profoundly appalling and consequential attitude to take. Treating people as mere tokens of their race literally dehumanizes them. Why? Because it ignores, often accompanied by…
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How and why I transitioned to Linux—how you can, too
First published Jan. 17, 2019; updated Nov. 15, 2019 Let me briefly tell my Linux story. If you’re thinking about moving to Linux, and wondering how you’d do so, it might give you some pointers and inspiration. The back story My first introduction to the command line was in the 80s when I first started…
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Why does information privacy matter, again?
It’s not just because you are a criminal and the coppers might catch you. Or because you really, really hate big corporations who just want to sell you stuff more easily. Or because you’re paranoid. If that’s as far as your thinking goes, when people start talking about “privacy” on the Internet, you really need…
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Stop giving your information away carelessly!
27 tips for improving your cyber-hygiene Who is most responsible for your online privacy being violated? You are. Privacy is one of the biggest concerns in tech news recently. The importance of personal privacy is something everybody seems to be able to agree on. But if you’re concerned about privacy, then you need stop giving your…
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How I locked down my passwords
If you’re one of those people who uses the same password for everything, especially if it’s a simple password, you’re a fool and you need to stop. But if you’re going to maintain a zillion different passwords for a zillion different sites, how? Password management software. I’ve been using the free, open source KeePass, which…
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How I set up private email hosting for my family
Here’s how I actually set up my own private email hosting—sanger.io! I already finished choosing a private email hosting provider. So what was the next step? I still had to choose a plan with my chosen provider (InMotion Hosting, which didn’t pay me anything for this) and make it official. The details are uninteresting; anybody…