kieranhealy.org

Most-linked posts?

1. Using Metadata to find Paul Revere (2013)
   24 people · 49 mentions · first linked 2016-05-17
2. Using Metadata to find Paul Revere - Kieran Healy
   8 people · 9 mentions · first linked 2013-06-10
3. Nuance inhibits abstractions and is not a virtue of good sociological theory [pdf]
   5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2016-12-18
4. Blueberry Hill
   4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2025-08-08
5. Fuck Nuance [pdf]
   4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2015-08-27
6. The Kitchen Counter Observatory
   3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2020-05-22
7. /blog/archives/2015/06/12/americas-ur-choropleths/
   3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2018-08-31
8. Plain Text, Papers, Pandoc (2014)
   3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2016-06-05
9. A Sociology of Steve Jobs (2011)
   3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2019-10-05
10. 'American'
    3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2025-08-15

What Hacker News says?

1. Lammy · 2021-01-07

   > "Whatsapp chats are end to end encrypted so how can my data be shared with FB?" I would stress to them the difference between the encrypted contents of a chat the metadata ("it's data about data!") of that chat. Hopefully they will get it if you give an example of how just sending a message lets them profile you based on metadata like the exact time, geographic location, and recipient of the message, all without n…

   Comment linking /blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/

   on “WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using app”
2. decklin · 2013-06-10

   Submitted Using Metadata to Find Paul Revere as a story · 457 points

   HN discussion
3. selimthegrim · 2024-04-03

   https://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metad...

   Comment linking /blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/

   on “'Lavender': The AI machine directing Israel's bombing in Gaza”
4. apwheele · 2024-04-09

   Submitted The Eclipse via Satellite as a story · 175 points

   HN discussion
5. shadilay · 2021-07-17Recommends

   This was explored before in an excellent blog post. https://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metad...

   Comment linking /blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/

   on “Google Drive bans distribution of “misleading content””
6. panic · 2021-04-29

   Submitted Excess Deaths in 2020 as a story · 157 points

   HN discussion
7. wrycoder · 2021-04-03

   https://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metad...

   Comment linking /blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/

   on “533M Facebook users' phone numbers and personal data have been leaked online”
8. networked · 2016-03-27

   Submitted Fuck Nuance [pdf] as a story · 129 points

   HN discussion
9. mpweiher · 2012-12-16

   The Wapo article links to a graph that has the "deaths due to assault" (not limited to guns) for OECD countries: http://www.kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2012/07/20/america-... Luxembourg (total population 1/2 million) has the higher variance you mention, the rest of are pretty stable.

   Comment linking /blog/archives/2012/07/20/america-is-a-violent-country/

   on “Thinking the unthinkable”
10. benbreen · 2018-03-25

    Submitted Making Slides as a story · 114 points

    HN discussion
11. lkjhdcba · 2019-08-16

    Sometimes things are black and white though. The Chinese government is bad, and undermining it in any way, including through violence, is good. Nuance for its own sake is not a virtue [1]. [1] https://kieranhealy.org/publications/fuck-nuance/

    Comment linking /publications/fuck-nuance/

    on “A Walk in Hong Kong”
12. plg · 2019-10-05

    Submitted A Sociology of Steve Jobs (2011) as a story · 85 points

    HN discussion
13. sfRattan · 2017-03-14

    It's very reductive to claim that only addresses, bank account [numbers], and SSNs could be dangerous if leaked. What about people who discuss private matters in chat? (e.g. sexuality, medical history, drug use, etc.) Yes, we know that's a bad idea, but most people aren't HN readers. What about state actors using Facebook's metadata alone to quash democratic movements before they get off the ground?[1] To advertiser…

    Comment linking /blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/

    on “Is Facebook a Structural Threat to Free Society?”
14. Liu · 2011-10-15

    Submitted Siri in practice as a story · 70 points

    HN discussion
15. Lammy · 2026-09-21

    > in coordination with TLS-terminating CDNs Not what I'm saying. No coordination is necessary. I'm talking about metadata, not encrypted contents — just the fact that you made some number of connections, at a certain time, from a certain network, to a certain network, in a certain order, with requests and responses of a certain size. It really doesn't matter what's inside. - https://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/201…

    Comment linking /blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/

    on “What happened to the Snowden archive”
16. nQuo · 2011-10-11

    Submitted A Sociology of Steve Jobs as a story · 69 points

    HN discussion
17. dredmorbius · 2022-01-29

    "Fuck Nuance" http://kieranhealy.org/files/papers/fuck-nuance.pdf (PDF)

    Comment linking /files/papers/fuck-nuance.pdf

    on “Nuanced communication usually doesn't work at scale”
18. adulau · 2016-09-10

    Submitted The Plain Person’s Guide to Plain Text Social Science [pdf] as a story · 41 points

    HN discussion
19. Threeve303 · 2020-11-01

    Every so often I like to go back and read Using Metadata to find Paul Revere [0]. [0] https://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metad...

    Comment linking /blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/

    on “Danish military intelligence uses XKEYSCORE to tap cables in co-op with the NSA”
20. chrismealy · 2013-06-10

    Submitted Using Metadata to find Paul Revere - Kieran Healy as a story · 26 points

    HN discussion
21. jboynyc · 2017-12-06

    A sociologist has helpfully been visualizing the data on assault deaths for a few years now; here's the latest: https://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2017/10/02/assault-dea... The comparison always makes one thing unmistakably clear: the U.S. is an exceptionally violent country among OECD peers.

    Comment linking /blog/archives/2017/10/02/assault-deaths-to-2015/

    on “Portugal’s radical drug policy is working. Why hasn’t the world copied it?”
22. MBCook · 2016-02-19

    Submitted Walled Garden as a story · 19 points

    HN discussion
23. claytonjy · 2017-03-13

    Don't think this is what OP meant, but this explains something similar in a less-interactive way: https://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metad...

    Comment linking /blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/

    on “Rand Paul: NSA Routinely Monitors Americans’ Communications Without Warrants”
24. lainon · 2018-10-30

    Submitted A Co-Citation Network for Philosophy (2013) as a story · 13 points

    HN discussion
25. Lammy · 2020-12-08

    It bothers me how "privacy" has been redefined in recent years to mean "encrypted" and not "surveillance-resistant". We keep building things that make more requests I can't terminate locally, e.g. to a PiHole. Never forget the lesson in "Using Metadata to find Paul Revere": https://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metad...

    Comment linking /blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/

    on “Improving DNS Privacy with Oblivious DoH”
26. mdlincoln · 2015-08-13

    Submitted The Performativity of Networks [pdf] as a story · 12 points

    HN discussion
27. dfc · 2013-06-10Recommends

    kjh the author of this link has a greatintroduction to emacs: http://kieranhealy.org/resources/emacs-starter-kit.html He also has a lot of good reference material on latex/org-mode/pandoc. Definitely a good resource to have handy if you ever have a less-techie friend who wants to get away from MS word and its ilk.

    Comment linking /resources/emacs-starter-kit.html

    on “Using Metadata to Find Paul Revere”
28. interpol_p · 2025-08-08

    Submitted Blueberry Hill as a story · 10 points

    HN discussion
29. lotharbot · 2015-09-26

    It reminds me of the post about using metadata to find Paul Revere: http://kieranhealy.org/blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metada... Last-second blackmail isn't really the best way to defeat a political movement. Compromising the central figures in organizing the movement -- not necessarily "taking them out", but potentially just reducing their involvement or creating some alienation -- when the movement is still you…

    Comment linking /blog/archives/2013/06/09/using-metadata-to-find-paul-revere/

    on “From Radio to Porn, British Spies Track Web Users’ Online Identities”
30. joshus · 2011-08-11

    Submitted Text Editors in The Lord of the Rings as a story · 9 points

    HN discussion

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Linked by the same people?

• EEthan Zuckermanethanzuckerman.com
• TTony Finchdotat.at
• NNick Heerpxlnv.com
• EEx Urbeexurbe.com
• CCraig Hockenberryfurbo.org
• MMatt Webbinterconnected.org