Everything evil proliferates in the mostly inaccessible outer reaches of the internet. Call it the darknet and don’t confuse it with the deep web. Popular search engines—such as Google, Bing and Yahoo—tap into only a sliver of the information that resides on the internet–perhaps as little as 4%. That’s called the “surface web,” and it’s … Continued
The film One Child Nation brilliantly documents a 35-year human tragedy. The Chinese Communist Party decreed in 1979 that families could have only one child, setting in motion a retinue of horrors that included mind-numbing propaganda, forced abortion, mandatory sterilization, exploitative adoption and lifelong feelings of abandonment. The narrative builds slowly, beginning with an interview … Continued
As democracies look the other way, China is exporting the surveillance, censorship, social control and genocide it perpetrates within its own borders An activity as mundane as an English class can arouse the suspicion of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). That’s why the authorities routinely show up in classrooms to check students’ ID cards. Almost … Continued
China is investing billions to hold sway in Third World countries, perfecting and exporting surveillance technology, and brutally persecuting its citizens at home and abroad—all in a bid to become the next global superpower. This special section of Luckbox explores the growing China threat. When Deng Xiaoping rose to power in 1978, the Chinese Communist … Continued
As democracies look the other way, China is exporting the surveillance, censorship, social control and genocide it perpetrates within its own borders An activity as mundane as an English class can arouse the suspicion of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). That’s why the authorities routinely show up in classrooms to check students’ ID cards. Almost … Continued
Business is booming for companies that identify and combat bogus news stories, doctored videos and counterfeit goods Fakery permeates life in the 21st century. On every continent but Antarctica, humans and smart machines are laboring around the clock to churn out falsehoods. They’re lying to gain unfair political advantage, peddle bogus merchandise, sabotage competing businesses, … Continued
Tens of millions of American workers have had a second job—usually to help pay the bills but sometimes to fuel a passion or scratch an itch. Their extra-curricular activities tend to fall into one of two categories. When an employer sets the hours and determines the pay, it’s a part-time job that’s sometimes known as “moonlighting.” … Continued
Two side-hustle gurus side hustled their way into the full-time side-hustle business. Chris Guillebeau began by blogging part-time about money-making sidelines for travelers, and Nick Loper started with a part-time comparison-shopping website for shoes. After those humble beginnings, both went on to learn the nuances of side hustles and then began sharing that wisdom. Now, … Continued
Confronting the grim but reasonable probability that humankind has only a limited future Author and mathematician Nicholas Taleb popularized the phrase “fat tail” in his seminal book The Black Swan. When a bell curve has a fat tail, there’s a greater likelihood of having a difficult-to-predict event like 1987’s Black Monday, the burst of the … Continued
Technology’s shocking invasion of privacy gained momentum in the early 1970s when supermarkets began installing closed circuit television cameras to monitor the aisles for shoplifting. Not many customers complained, and management seemed indifferent to the philosophical implications. So from there, tech’s invasive powers continued to grow. By the mid-1980s, supermarket chains were compiling vast stores … Continued