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    1. What's the origin of the name of this website?

      I got invited recently and registered my account, but since hearing of it I was curious of where the name comes from. Tildes are dyacritics in Spanish that you put on top of vocals líké thís, and...

      I got invited recently and registered my account, but since hearing of it I was curious of where the name comes from. Tildes are dyacritics in Spanish that you put on top of vocals líké thís, and they stress syllables and help with pronunciation. Now, it is a coincidence, isn't it?

      14 votes
    2. Looking for opinions on how to moderate a community

      Hello. I moderate a reddit sub with about 450 thousand people and we have had trouble with transgender people facing abuse from idiots in two different threads. In one of them, a woman chimed in...

      Hello.
      I moderate a reddit sub with about 450 thousand people and we have had trouble with transgender people facing abuse from idiots in two different threads. In one of them, a woman chimed in and it got ugly (4 bans in the first 12 comments), in the other a trans woman took part and got shit for it (also featured a few users banned).

      Now, each of them had a very different approach. The first got defensive and stopped participating, while the second took the time to respond to the stupid but not offensive ones, trying to educate them.

      So even if this is something that bothers me a lot and makes considerably angry, I realised that maybe I should take a more nuanced view on this, and I should actually ask for more opinions on how to handle thiS, instead of simply applying my own standards and maybe making things worse and/or missing a chance to make things better. And since Tildes has always provided me with intelligent, thoughtful and interesting points of view and opinions, I thought this would be the best place for this question.

      And so here I am, asking anyone that would care to give an opinion: what would a good moderator do? How harsh or lenient should we be with ignorant but not offensive comments? Should we get involved at all if the discussion is not offensive? What would make our sub a nicer place to everyone? Any other thoughts?

      Thank you very much to all.

      20 votes
    3. Learning English from the ground up

      There was a recent thread on ~talk about which linguistics habits people find annoying, and much to my horror, I have most of those which were mentioned. After thinking about it a little more, I...

      There was a recent thread on ~talk about which linguistics habits people find annoying, and much to my horror, I have most of those which were mentioned. After thinking about it a little more, I realized that a lot of these habits were picked up from the media I consume and the people I interact with. I also feel that this problem is exacerbated by my poor knowledge of English grammar.

      While I was taught grammar at an elementary level in school, I didn't quite grok it back then, and mostly relied on my instinct, as to what "sounded" right. I have since forgotten most of what I had learnt, and my instinct is failing me - my grammar is atrocious, my punctuation is terrible and I only have auto-correct to thank for my spelling.

      I understand that English, like other languages, is constantly evolving. What is wrong now might be right tomorrow. However, I believe that this is no excuse for my shortcomings as there is merit speaking and writing in accordance with what is considered correct in the present day.

      I would like to learn English from "first principles", and would greatly appreciate if some users could suggest some books/resources which could help me (bonus points for resources pertaining to British English). Any other suggestions would also be great.

      Thanks, and have a nice day.

      24 votes
    4. Why is there guid-like parameter when requesting js or css?

      Hi, I looked through JS files and I noticed that all JS and CSS are called with weird parameter. tildes.css?aadf6c54 tildes.js?e6d30b42 third_party.js?4393e99 (I changed the string after ?) Does...

      Hi, I looked through JS files and I noticed that all JS and CSS are called with weird parameter. tildes.css?aadf6c54 tildes.js?e6d30b42 third_party.js?4393e99 (I changed the string after ?)

      Does anyone know why is it done and what does it mean?

      6 votes
    5. Batch-saving websites for offline viewing

      Anybody here have a good setup for batch-downloading articles/news from several sites you specify, similar to youtube-dl but for general websites? I'm sure it could be scripted with not too much...

      Anybody here have a good setup for batch-downloading articles/news from several sites you specify, similar to youtube-dl but for general websites? I'm sure it could be scripted with not too much effort but I'm interested what polished solutions there are.

      The idea would be so people with rare internet access could go to a hotspot weekly or something and sync that week's worth of content.

      12 votes
    6. Windows Controlled Folder Access

      I recently enabled controlled folder access in Windows 10. It restricts programs from modifying folders in a blacklist. I have all of the music/pictures/videos/documents/desktop folders and...

      I recently enabled controlled folder access in Windows 10. It restricts programs from modifying folders in a blacklist.

      I have all of the music/pictures/videos/documents/desktop folders and folders containing backups added, is there anything else I should consider adding?

      7 votes
    7. Where are the posting buttons?

      I've noticed in the last few days that buttons to post a new topic or comment seem to have disappeared from the site. I have to add /new_topic manually to open a post form and press Ctrl+Enter to...

      I've noticed in the last few days that buttons to post a new topic or comment seem to have disappeared from the site. I have to add /new_topic manually to open a post form and press Ctrl+Enter to post it.

      Is it just me?


      EDIT: If anyone having the same problem with Firefox, it's probably some rogue uBlock Origin filter. What helped me:

      • Go to the uBO settings.
      • Go to the "Filter lists" tab.
      • Push "Purge all caches" and then "Update now".
      • Wait for it to update.
      • Delete all caches and reload the page.

      Either that, or simply disable cosmetic filtering for the site.

      10 votes
    8. What is the purpose of the Activity tab at the top?

      The Most Votes/Most Comments/Newest are self explanatory, but what does "activity" mean? I looked at the FAQ and Mechanics blog posts and I didn't see anything explaining it. Is it similar to...

      The Most Votes/Most Comments/Newest are self explanatory, but what does "activity" mean? I looked at the FAQ and Mechanics blog posts and I didn't see anything explaining it. Is it similar to Reddit's "Hot" view? I'm especially curious because it appears to be the default.

      11 votes
    9. Question about how votes affect comment placement

      Sorry if this has been discussed already, I wasn't sure how to find it. I'm curious if votes on child comments affect the placement of their parent comments. Imagine this scenario: Comment 1 (25...

      Sorry if this has been discussed already, I wasn't sure how to find it. I'm curious if votes on child comments affect the placement of their parent comments. Imagine this scenario:

      • Comment 1 (25 votes)
      • Comment 2 (2 votes)
        • Comment 3 (150 votes)

      In this example, would the popularity of #3 cause #2 to be positioned above #1?

      Edit: Oh the nested list formatting looks weird. Comment 3 is meant to be a child of Comment 2, if that wasn't clear.

      8 votes
    10. Is there anyway to redirect to compact reddit on iOS?

      I dislike reddit's mobile site, as it is slow, filled with app popups, and my content blocker ends up creating software gore situations. On the other hand, i.reddit.com is faster, simpler, and the...

      I dislike reddit's mobile site, as it is slow, filled with app popups, and my content blocker ends up creating software gore situations.

      On the other hand, i.reddit.com is faster, simpler, and the one popup it has is easy to block with element hiding.

      Unfortunately, tapping on a username or subreddit link automatically redirects me to the newer mobile site, and I have to add /.compact to the end of the url.

      On Android, this is easily fixed by installing an Firefox extension to always use i.reddit, but iOS Firefox doesn't support addons.

      So is there anyway to avoid going to reddit's new mobile site? Maybe use a pi-hole to redirect www.reddit.com?

      5 votes
    11. Need help formatting on Tildes

      I have just posted on ~sports the last results of the major European soccer leagues, but it does not show as I'd want to. I read the Formatting help page, but I did not find an aswer to my...

      I have just posted on ~sports the last results of the major European soccer leagues, but it does not show as I'd want to. I read the Formatting help page, but I did not find an aswer to my question, so if someone would like to help I'd appreciate it.

      Basically I would like the post to look like this: Imgur link, but in the end it looks like the spaces I put in there do not show as you can see here: Imgur link.

      Is there any way to make the post looks like what I want? I read about the Tables section in the Formatting help page, but I do not need a bold header row, which looks like a requirement for a table.

      Thanks in advance for the help

      7 votes
    12. Advice for those who want a computer science career?

      Those that have pursued a career that deals with any type of computer science, what advice would you give to students before they get a job in it? What do you do on a daily basis? What would you...

      Those that have pursued a career that deals with any type of computer science, what advice would you give to students before they get a job in it? What do you do on a daily basis? What would you have wanted to know before you started?

      17 votes
    13. Secure, open-source alternative to Google Keep

      I was looking to maybe cut down on my Googleness and replacing Keep seemed like a good start. I need something that has a simple interface and most (if not all) of the same features as Keep. Any...

      I was looking to maybe cut down on my Googleness and replacing Keep seemed like a good start. I need something that has a simple interface and most (if not all) of the same features as Keep. Any suggestions? Also I'm on Android btw.

      42 votes
    14. Collapsed comments?

      I'm starting to see occasional collapsed comments when I open threads. The first time I saw one, I thought I'd accidentally collapsed the comment myself, but this one was definitely already...

      I'm starting to see occasional collapsed comments when I open threads. The first time I saw one, I thought I'd accidentally collapsed the comment myself, but this one was definitely already collapsed when I opened the thread.

      Is this related to the "tagging" system that Deimos discussed the other day? At the time, he said that "tags" wouldn't have any effect. Are these effects now working? What are the effects? Also, there was no actual decision about what the different tags would be, and what they would mean. As I said in that thread, I decided not to use these tags until: a) they were agreed and defined; b) they actually did something. I thought they were just placeholders for now. I'm confused.

      Or is there some other feature operating here? For example, people keep talking about "whisper" comments, and I'm not sure if they're just fantasising about a feature they would like, or if it's something that's actually planned. Are these those "whisper" comments?

      25 votes
    15. Need recommendation for codecademy-like course for PHP

      Hi there, It looks like codecademy took down their PHP course, which stinks becuase I love, love, love how that site approaches teaching by doing. Any other free resources out there for a...

      Hi there,

      It looks like codecademy took down their PHP course, which stinks becuase I love, love, love how that site approaches teaching by doing. Any other free resources out there for a do-not-show approach for learning PHP?

      Looking to get my feet wet so I'm a little less dangerous when tinkering with my WordPress templates.

      14 votes
    16. I'm having a hard time reading the Myth of Sisyphus, is there a more accessible intro to absurdism?

      I read some things about the philosophy and I'd really like to go deeper into it, but the book is so hard for me to read! I can't make sense of much of what I'm reading, maybe it's the vocabulary...

      I read some things about the philosophy and I'd really like to go deeper into it, but the book is so hard for me to read! I can't make sense of much of what I'm reading, maybe it's the vocabulary I'm not sure... Is there a more accessible book about absurdism?

      7 votes
    17. Total noob looking for (hopefully) simple greasemonkey script

      I have knowledge of the basic concepts of programming in general and html and some very basic knowledge of javascript, but this specific task is proving a little beyond me. I'm actually using...

      I have knowledge of the basic concepts of programming in general and html and some very basic knowledge of javascript, but this specific task is proving a little beyond me. I'm actually using tampermonkey, in case that matters.

      www.bricklink.com is a site to buy Lego from private sellers. By default, when looking at a shop's listing of items, it shows 25 per page. I would like to automatically switch to 100 per page every time.

      Here's a randomly selected store page (no affiliation) at the default 25 per page:

      https://store.bricklink.com/TheBricky#/shop?o={"itemType":"P","catID":"18","showHomeItems":0}

      Now, same page set to display 100 per page. Note how "pgSize" is added to the url but doesn't appear by default:

      https://store.bricklink.com/TheBricky#/shop?o={"pgSize":100,"itemType":"P","catID":"18","showHomeItems":0}

      What I would like is for pgSize to be set to 100 only IF

      "shop" appears in the url

      AND

      "pgSize" does not appear in the url OR "pgSize" does appear in the url but does not equal 100.

      Since Bricklink remembers pgSize per shop page per session, once pgSize is set to 100 for a particular shop greasemonkey doesn't need to do anything. Intercepting the url before the page loads would be nice but unnecessary since loading is fast and I'm not worried about bandwidth.

      I tried making this but wasn't sure how to input what I'm trying to test for in the url. Of course now that I've thought about it some more it seems the task is more probably difficult than I thought it would be at first. Any help would be appreciated.

      EDIT: This comment below seems to be working, although the way Bricklink makes their urls feels funky at times.

      10 votes
    18. Coding Noob Needs Help/Guidance on Small Project

      Hi, There's a certain site which hosts media files and has a player that depends on a lot of third-party resources to play, while browsers have native support for those file types. Those 3rd-party...

      Hi,

      There's a certain site which hosts media files and has a player that depends on a lot of third-party resources to play, while browsers have native support for those file types. Those 3rd-party resources are often blocked by ad blockers and I have no desire to white-list them. I would like to extract the direct link to the media file and make it playable on my custom web page.

      The link to the media file is present in the page source of each page, always on the same line. It's not anchored in HTML but present in the JavaScript for the player, like so:

          $(document).ready(function(){
            $("#jquery_jplayer_1").jPlayer({
              ready: function () {
                $(this).jPlayer("setMedia", {
                  [ext]: "https://[domain]/[filename.ext]"
                });
              },
      

      In this example it's on line #5. [ext] = the file extension.

      I want to build the following:

      • A web page with a form with a single input field meant to receive links from that specific file host
      • [Something] that extracts the file link from the source of the host's page
      • Present the linked file as playable in an embedded native player

      So far I've managed to create a form with an input box and a submit button, but it doesn't do anything yet. What is the best way to build the actual functionality? I know HTML/CSS. I have some rudimentary understanding of JavaScript/jQuery and Python3, so those would be my preferred tools.

      For those worried about piracy: The files in question are not copyrighted and I'm not looking to make copies. I just want to make them playable. This is for personal use.

      Thank you for reading this far. Any and all advice is welcome!

      10 votes
    19. Dying PBT Keycaps

      I just got my /dev/tty blanks in from Massdrop and I an thinking of dying them to match my current ABS colorway. I have looked at the guide and I think I am able to do all that, but I am wondering...

      I just got my /dev/tty blanks in from Massdrop and I an thinking of dying them to match my current ABS colorway.

      I have looked at the guide and I think I am able to do all that, but I am wondering what kind of look I am going to/can get by dying the gray and red caps?

      I assume the gray caps would just yield a slightly darker color, but I am curious if I can get an interesting shade of brown by dying the red keycaps with some other color (or just more brown?)

      Any hints on dying the colored caps or dying PBT in general are appreciated.

      6 votes
    20. Website Admin Question: How to Block Google?

      I have a personal website, and while I don't mind it showing up in SERPs for DuckDuckGo, Bing, etc. I do not want it showing up on Google at all. Google doesn't send traffic my way, I pay for my...

      I have a personal website, and while I don't mind it showing up in SERPs for DuckDuckGo, Bing, etc. I do not want it showing up on Google at all.

      Google doesn't send traffic my way, I pay for my site out of my salary from my day job instead of running ads, and preventing Google from indexing my site seems like the best form of nonviolent direct action I can take to protest their continuing dominance and their "embrace, extend, and extinguish" campaign against the Web.

      I figure the easiest way to do this is to add the following to my site's .htaccess file since I don't have access to the server config file:

      X-Robots-Tag: googlebot: none, noarchive, nosnippet, notranslate, noimageindex
      

      Are there any downsides that I should know about besides not showing up in Google results?

      11 votes
    21. Inexperienced Programming Question

      TLDR: What programming language would be useful for taking info in an excel file and producing a text file (that is organized and arranged in a particular way) containing that info? Which would be...

      TLDR: What programming language would be useful for taking info in an excel file and producing a text file (that is organized and arranged in a particular way) containing that info? Which would be useful for this problem but also helpful in general? And also, are there any recommended online courses where I could learn it?


      I have no real experience coding or anything but have always wanted to learn. Recently at work we've encountered a problem. My boss had created a matlab program in order to take text/numbers from an excel document and transfer them to a text file, but in an organized way.

      Say you have something you call "Pancakes" and the cell next to it has the number "3", as in there are three pancakes. I want to be able to create a text file that would read something like this:

      NUMBER OF PANCAKES

      • Pancakes: 3

      We recently have changed around the format of the excel document for a different item, for example "French Toast". I've tried to mess with matlab briefly but was unable to change the program to compensate, and I no longer easily have access to matlab.

      I'm seeing this as an opportunity to learn some programming and also fix some stuff at work. So what programming language would be useful for fixing this problem? Which would be useful for this problem, but also helpful in general? And also, are there any recommended online courses where I could learn it?

      Thanks for any help, I appreciate it.

      16 votes
    22. Standardizing tags: Grouping by continent?

      Example post. Should we add continent tags? We do it with europe and sometimes with asia or south america. But I've never seen north america alongside with usa or canada. When I searched for it,...

      Example post.

      Should we add continent tags? We do it with europe and sometimes with asia or south america. But I've never seen north america alongside with usa or canada. When I searched for it, north america tag was used just once, 93 days ago.

      8 votes
    23. Standardising tags: "eu" or "europe"?

      Are we using "eu" or "europe" for topics about Europe? I think we need to pick one or the other. I prefer "europe". EDIT The people have spoken, and the vast majority is in favour of "europe" (not...

      Are we using "eu" or "europe" for topics about Europe? I think we need to pick one or the other.

      I prefer "europe".


      EDIT

      The people have spoken, and the vast majority is in favour of "europe" (not "eu") for topics related to continental Europe. Topics related to the European Union itself can be tagged "europe.eu" (as per @nothis' excellent suggestion.

      14 votes
    24. [SOLVED] How is the inbox sorted?

      I'm here staring at my inbox for the third time trying to figure out how the hell the sorting in it works. It isn't alphabetically by subject or user, it isn't the recency of the first message...

      I'm here staring at my inbox for the third time trying to figure out how the hell the sorting in it works. It isn't alphabetically by subject or user, it isn't the recency of the first message (nor is it the recency of the latest message), and it isn't the number of messages. Testing it now, it also isn't the most recent you've opened, so I have no idea how this works or how to look for anything, not that it's big enough to matter much yet.

      Am I missing something obvious? I feel so lost.

      7 votes
    25. How to view subgroups?

      Is there a way to view all the subgroups in a group? Right now I don't see any way to access them without someone directly linking a subgroup. I think it would be helpful if there was a list of...

      Is there a way to view all the subgroups in a group? Right now I don't see any way to access them without someone directly linking a subgroup. I think it would be helpful if there was a list of subgroups in each group sidebar, or a link to a page of them.

      I just got here, so sorry if this has been covered elsewhere.

      4 votes
    26. Learning to Program

      Hi folks, I figured this would be a good place to ask a rather simple question. Where do I start to learn to code? I'm in high school, so I have (some) time to dedicate to it, and it seems there...

      Hi folks,

      I figured this would be a good place to ask a rather simple question.

      Where do I start to learn to code?

      I'm in high school, so I have (some) time to dedicate to it, and it seems there are a plethora of websites/resources out there, so I ask: what do you recommend, and why has it worked for you? I have no prior experience. I believe that this would really help out in the long run, as I will graduate high school with an Associate's Degree in Business. Thank you!

      EDIT: Thank you for all your responses! I'll start with Python and move on from there. You guys have been a great help, and I'll vote you up or reply.

      26 votes
    27. How do you get better at being creative?

      I'm starting a new phase in my life and with that, quite a few shifts in personality/hobbies. The big hobby that I've started to get into is filmmaking. I feel really comfortable and confident in...

      I'm starting a new phase in my life and with that, quite a few shifts in personality/hobbies. The big hobby that I've started to get into is filmmaking. I feel really comfortable and confident in the technical aspect, such as cameras and all the equipment used to make good films.

      The huge part that I've struggled with and continue to struggle with though is writing and creativity in general. I feel like I'm in some sort of restraint when it comes to my personal creativity since I suppressed a lot of my emotions when I was younger and now that's coming back to haunt me. I don't know how to "break free" from said restraints to become more creative again. Sometimes there have been little bursts of creativity that I've had sometimes after waking up as a remnant from dreams or potentially just the recovery of sleep but I don't know how to capitalize on it.

      Do y'all have any recommendations on how to become more creative or just to be able to come up with ideas more easily?

      9 votes
    28. Is there a mod that lets me play Doom 1/2 in Doom 3's engine?

      I don't mean with remastered graphics. I just mean the original Doom games. The reason for this is to have a better interface, some good gameplay tweaks (ie. freelook) and a way better multiplayer...

      I don't mean with remastered graphics. I just mean the original Doom games. The reason for this is to have a better interface, some good gameplay tweaks (ie. freelook) and a way better multiplayer framework. I know GZDoom does most of those things but it doesn't have a very good multiplayer framework (lots of desyncing) and it would have an even better interface. Another solution to this problem that's not running Doom 1 in Doom 3 if also very welcome. Thanks and sorry for the wall of text.

      4 votes
    29. Night/Dark interface request!

      Hi there! I do not know how to program anything and I am writing this from my android- has anyone created a night/dark mode with a black screen and light lettering yet? If so, please post the...

      Hi there! I do not know how to program anything and I am writing this from my android- has anyone created a night/dark mode with a black screen and light lettering yet? If so, please post the link!

      I suffer from chronic migraines- it would likely help more than just me!😄

      9 votes
    30. Concatenated tags - how do they work?

      I have a question about the technicalities of tagging, now that this ability is going to be spread around. I don't understand how concatenated tags work. I've seen occasional instances of tags...

      I have a question about the technicalities of tagging, now that this ability is going to be spread around. I don't understand how concatenated tags work. I've seen occasional instances of tags that look like "abc.xyz", and I've seen technical discussions about tags like this, but I've never really been clear about what this does. What does a tag like "abc.xyz" mean? How does it work?

      7 votes
    31. Making an apk that just links to a Hermit Lite app

      I've been using the Hermit app for Android to make a lite app for Tildes. It's awesome. Just one main problem. Because of some Android limitation shortcuts aren't allowed to be put in the app...

      I've been using the Hermit app for Android to make a lite app for Tildes. It's awesome. Just one main problem. Because of some Android limitation shortcuts aren't allowed to be put in the app drawer. I wanted to keep it there to make everything more organized. Does anyone know if it's possible to make an apk (so it can go in the app drawer) that will just link to my Tildes lite app?

      6 votes
    32. Good open source projects for beginners to contribute to?

      I'm looking for a project to contribute too. I'm not that experienced with programming, so I want something that isn't too complex. I'm also looking for a fairly young project. Big, mature...

      I'm looking for a project to contribute too. I'm not that experienced with programming, so I want something that isn't too complex. I'm also looking for a fairly young project. Big, mature projects don't really have much that a newbie can work on.

      27 votes
    33. Learning to pentest

      Hi, I need your help to learn pentesting. I'm programming for several years. I'm really good in C# and can write moderately complex apps in Dart, Python and JavaScript. I'm in highschool and work...

      Hi, I need your help to learn pentesting.

      I'm programming for several years. I'm really good in C# and can write moderately complex apps in Dart, Python and JavaScript. I'm in highschool and work for software development company as backend developer. But general programming starts to feel so boring...

      I've started to watch LiveOverflow on youtube (no link, there is no wifi here and I don't want youtube to drain my data) and it was so interesting - so I tried it. I've tried few CTFs, read many writeups, and now I've discovered CTF hack the box.

      When I know what to do, I have no problem googling and researching and later applying my knowledge. But I often discover, that I just don't know what I don't know.

      There is one CTF challenge that I haven't completed yet. It's 20 line html page, no javascript, nothing suspicous. No cookies. It has just form with password input, which sends post request to server. Here's the problem - how do I get the flag (the password)? I can bruteforce it, but it clearly isn't the correct way. I know that the php runs on apache, debian. I've tried getting some files, I've tried going up (../), sql injection, nothing works.

      And here's the general problem - what am I missing? What to learn? What should I google? I don't want ideas what I'm missing on this one example - Instead I need some sources where I learn generally about vulnerabilities I can exploit. Some blog, some website, something like this.

      Could someone here recommend me some sources where I learn about this? How did you start and what things do you generally check when you face something you have to break into?

      Thank you

      16 votes
    34. Links opening a new window?

      Is there some configuration that will cause links on ~tildes to open new tabs. Is this user configurable (Firefox on Gentoo) or is it server configurable, or account preference configurable? I'd...

      Is there some configuration that will cause links on ~tildes to open new tabs. Is this user configurable (Firefox on Gentoo) or is it server configurable, or account preference configurable? I'd like to be able to click once and have the content open in a new tab so I can return to the main page without having to reload.

      3 votes
    35. How do you go from "knowing" a programming language to actually making useful software?

      I'm in a bit of a rutt with my journey to learn how to write software, and I really have no idea where to go from here. I've taken a bunch of software engineering courses on edx.org, and I've done...

      I'm in a bit of a rutt with my journey to learn how to write software, and I really have no idea where to go from here. I've taken a bunch of software engineering courses on edx.org, and I've done a few personal projects with what I've learned, but I still don't know enough to be able to contribute to open source projects or make anything useful.

      TL;DR
      How can I learn to actually make things?

      28 votes
    36. Can anyone explain The Apparition?

      I just went to see the Apparition (recent French film about a journalist investigating visions of the madonna). I couldn't make head or tail of it. Has anyone got a coherent theory of what was...

      I just went to see the Apparition (recent French film about a journalist investigating visions of the madonna).

      I couldn't make head or tail of it. Has anyone got a coherent theory of what was going on, or is it just a shoal of red herrings that doesn't make any sense?

      3 votes
    37. The phenomenon of spammy Asian accounts on Facebook support forum

      That's a mouthful but I'm really curious what drives the situation when you go on the Facebook support forum, on popular threads there's tons of people posting absolutely nonsense comments that...

      That's a mouthful but I'm really curious what drives the situation when you go on the Facebook support forum, on popular threads there's tons of people posting absolutely nonsense comments that have nothing to do with the topic, and a lot of them are accounts from Asia... has anyone else noticed this? Are they just spamming to get account visibility?

      3 votes
    38. Compassion is power, but I'm power-averse

      This is a tricky personal conundrum of mine. I'll try to articulate it clearly. I believe in compassion, and I want to live in harmony with compassionate tendencies inside. But at the same time,...

      This is a tricky personal conundrum of mine. I'll try to articulate it clearly.

      I believe in compassion, and I want to live in harmony with compassionate tendencies inside. But at the same time, in the act of extending compassion, there appears to be an in-built power gradient: the "giver" is somehow in an "advantaged" position, and the receiver a more disadvantaged one.

      An example. I was once in a fast-food restaurant, waiting to order, and I saw the order-taker was obviously new and very nervous and skittish at her job. So after I placed my order I expressed how much I appreciate her service and that I thought she was doing a good job. It was truly what I wanted to say, and I thought she took this well, like, she looked more relaxed as she beamed.

      But then there was a power gradient. I gave her something that she wouldn't/couldn't have given me. She was the more distressed one, and this power gradient emphasized that. I don't mean that bystanders were made more conscious of her distress. I mean, it had the potential to make me more conscious of my privilege and her her lack thereof.

      And I'm aversive to power. I can be highly sceptical and critical of power. I don't feel easy to have power over someone else. I have had troubled relations with power figures in my life. I easily confuse the natural, benign activation of power with the reflexive, defensive, "shields-up" reaction that I often find myself in. To explain a bit, the latter is really a form of anxiety, perhaps a trauma from experiences of hypercompetition, isolation, and emotional neglect in the past.

      In the end, I thirst after commonality, equality, brothersisterhood, close and meaningful contact with others as they are, as human beings, on level ground, side by side, sharing the common condition in our vulnerabilities... But there's this aspect of my character, i.e. the tendency to get tense and look for a "higher ground" and occupy there, just to be on the safe (more powerful!) side. There's this haughty, difficult-to-approach, high-brow me, that I feel get in the way.

      I fee sad and somewhat confused about this. I think I'm partly venting, partly asking about your similar experiences. Please consider this topic fairly open-ended. If you have something to say about it, I'm eager to listen to you.

      Thanks!

      7 votes