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Tell HN: Aaron Swartz's website is offline

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Re: Tell HN: Aaron Swartz's website is offline

#71

Post by SuddsMcDuff »

jwr wrote: post #39
the_clarence wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is a good source of information? By that I mean: - not about daily information (which are usually as fast as possible and don’t take the time to really understand the situation) - not biased - not about juicy news, but world topics that are ~objectively important I feel like there should be a subreddit for that.

Every source of information will be biased, and you have to take that into account by being critical. I found that the best source for me is The Economist: once per week, written by smart people, with good summaries of anything that is important. Delivered digitally (with an excellent audio version, too). It is "biased" in the sense that the editors hold a set of opinions and you have to be aware of it. I do not agre…

> "Every source of information will be biased, and you have to take that into account by being critical."

A thousand times this. Bias is everywhere. I think people who say they're looking for an 'unbiased' source of information are really looking for a source of information they can just blindly consume without doing any pesky thinking. And if you're blindly consuming information without thinking, you're allowing someone else to think for you.

Re: Tell HN: Aaron Swartz's website is offline

#72

Post by Jaruzel »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #42
perfmode wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm happy to make a contribution towards the preservation of his site. If there is a Venmo to which I may contribute, please let me know. Also, I'm not sure how it is presently configured, but if the site is presently a dynamic CMS, it might be worthwhile to export the static assets and host the site on S3/GCS/IPFS. And to publish a tar.gz copy along with a signature checksum.

I have archived Aaron's site into a WARC file if someone wants to host it. Also in cold storage in the event there are any gaps in what the Internet Archive has.

I'm happy to host a copy, as I was just about to crawl his site for my own personal archive.

Re: Tell HN: Aaron Swartz's website is offline

#73

Post by ForHackernews »

the_clarence wrote: post #32
soneca wrote: post #20

His post "I hate the news" (0) was(is) very influential for me personally. It was seminal in what become a rather significant change in my habits and view of the world. I am now very conscious that news are entertainment, purely and simply. With the goods and bads of any other entertainment form. From time to time, while explaining my position to others (often seen as kind of radical), I refer this post. I hope it co…

What is a good source of information? By that I mean: - not about daily information (which are usually as fast as possible and don’t take the time to really understand the situation) - not biased - not about juicy news, but world topics that are ~objectively important I feel like there should be a subreddit for that.

Since 1998: https://aldaily.com/

Re: Tell HN: Aaron Swartz's website is offline

#75

Post by craftyguy »

smokeyj wrote: post #65
nazka wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hard to go wrong with these two: - NPR: https://www.npr.org - Reuters: https://www.reuters.com They can be a little bit dry sometimes but that's what professional neutral news has to be. I like also: - Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com - And Politico: https://www.politico.com And finally a financial blog I love, Matt Levine Money Stuff (it's free from his newsletter): http://link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/join/4w…

Did you read GP's link? And you came to this conclusion?

To be fair, they were replying to a request for news sources..

Re: Tell HN: Aaron Swartz's website is offline

#76

Post by craftyguy »

coolbeanboiii3 wrote: post #28
jasonvorhe wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on which precedent did you arrive at this conclusion?

Right now there is an addition to the next budget bill in the US senate that is about to outlaw the ability for federal or local government agencies doing business with any company or individual involved in the BDS movement. If you are going to penalize my freedom to NOT buy products the originate from a specific location, it is a slippery slope to see what other forms of protest might be curtailed in order to alter…

>Edit: Downvote me all you want, doesn't make it less true.

I suspect you're being downvoted because you're off topic and not contributing to the discussion in a constructive way. On the other hand, HN and reddit users have a habit of downvoting comments they disagree with.

Re: Tell HN: Aaron Swartz's website is offline

#77

Post by josefresco »

soneca wrote: post #20

His post "I hate the news" (0) was(is) very influential for me personally. It was seminal in what become a rather significant change in my habits and view of the world. I am now very conscious that news are entertainment, purely and simply. With the goods and bads of any other entertainment form. From time to time, while explaining my position to others (often seen as kind of radical), I refer this post. I hope it co…

While I like and respect who Aaron was and what he did for us all, I cringed when reading "I Hate the News" because it came across as very naive. It's the same logic young people use to justify not voting, also the same logic my fellow parents use as reason for not attending town meeting.

Find new sources, find your news. While today's news doesn't effect you directly, it might tomorrow, or it might effect your friend, loved one or neighbor. What Aaron is ranting about is the "business" of news which is fair. If the nightly news on your TV news network of choice offers nothing for you, find your local news, follow a reporter, a journalist and get involved. Actual journalism is what informs, enriches and protects American democracy. See also the "fourth estate".

Re: Tell HN: Aaron Swartz's website is offline

#78

Post by peterwwillis »

the_clarence wrote: post #32
soneca wrote: post #20

His post "I hate the news" (0) was(is) very influential for me personally. It was seminal in what become a rather significant change in my habits and view of the world. I am now very conscious that news are entertainment, purely and simply. With the goods and bads of any other entertainment form. From time to time, while explaining my position to others (often seen as kind of radical), I refer this post. I hope it co…

What is a good source of information? By that I mean: - not about daily information (which are usually as fast as possible and don’t take the time to really understand the situation) - not biased - not about juicy news, but world topics that are ~objectively important I feel like there should be a subreddit for that.

If you're into radio, PRI's The World (https://www.pri.org/programs/the-world) and the BBC World Service (https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio) both do a great job covering world news, as well as the Associated Press, Reuters, Al Jazeera, and the Christian Science Monitor.

Re: Tell HN: Aaron Swartz's website is offline

#79

Post by l9k »

sixo wrote: post #54
f055 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went from The Economist to Foreign Affairs few years ago when Eco became unbearably filled with an agenda. You might want to check FA out.

Can you describe their agenda, or point to a description of it? It's conspicuously centrist and pro-global-capitalism (see: articles essentially saying "human lives on earth has definitely gotten better under capitalism" (and not explicitly saying "world-average QoL is the correct metric by which to measure progress", nor addressing counterfactual hypotheses), + anti-trump + pretty skeptical of brexit. These are sort…

The Economist is somehow accused to have a bias in every direction. Some would call it "Ecommunist"pushing a far-left agenda, others decrying a right capitalist ideology.

Re: Tell HN: Aaron Swartz's website is offline

#80

Post by sigi45 »

soneca wrote: post #20

His post "I hate the news" (0) was(is) very influential for me personally. It was seminal in what become a rather significant change in my habits and view of the world. I am now very conscious that news are entertainment, purely and simply. With the goods and bads of any other entertainment form. From time to time, while explaining my position to others (often seen as kind of radical), I refer this post. I hope it co…

But 'purley and simple' doesn't fit.

News/consume gives you the zeitgeist. No popculture/news no zeitgeist.

Also news doesn't work when no one reads them. So for him it works and for you also but it would probably remove an important organ if noone would spend any money on it. Yes we are far from it and yes there is too much news but his viewpoint is too simple.

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