More choice on privacy just means more chances to do what’s best for big tech | John Naughton

A study of how Facebook, Google and Microsoft have applied the EU’s new GDPR rules shows users are being manipulatedOne of the most influential books published in the last decade was Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein. In it, the authors set about showing how groundbreaking research into decision-making by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky decades earlier (for which Kahneman later won a Nobel prize) could be applied to public policy. The point of the book, as one psychologist puts it, is that “people are often not the best judges of what will serve their interests, and that institutions, including government, can help people do better for themselves (and the rest of us) with small changes – nudges – in the structure of the choices people face”.Nudge proved very popular with policymakers because it suggested a strategy for encouraging citizens to make intelligent choices without overtly telling them what to do. Thaler and Sunstein argued that if people are left to their own devices they often make unwise choices and that these mistakes can be mitigated if governments or organisations take an active role in framing those choices. A classic example is trying to ensure that employees have a pension plan. Their employer can encourage them to choose a plan by emphasising the importance of having one. Or they can frame the decision by having every employee enrolled in the company plan by default, with the option of... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2018-07-08 00:00:00 UTC ]

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Nobel prize for literature: Who is Svetlana Alexievich?

Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich won the Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday. Her first novel, "The Unwomanly Face of the War," published in 1985 and about the untold stories of women who had fought against Nazi Germany. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2015-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Guardian | 2015-08-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon wants 'all businesses to survive'

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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James Fenton receives PEN Pinter Prize

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[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Guardian | 2015-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Modiano’s Nobel Win Is a Boon to David R. Godine

Boston-based indie publisher David R. Godine saw a major sales boost last October when French author Patrick Modiano won the Nobel Prize for Literature, bringing its revenue for the year up 30% over 2013. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Is Korea Worthy of a Nobel Prize for Literature?

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Yes, Virginia: Winning the Nobel Prize DOES Sell Books

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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5 reasons Alice Munro was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (+video)

Merit trumped politics this year when modest, retiring, universally admired Canadian author Alice Munro received the Nobel Prize in Literature.  Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2013-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Who Will Win a Nobel Prize?

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[ Slate | 2013-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Place Your Bets: Who Will Win the Nobel Lit Prize?

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-09-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tranströmer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature

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[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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