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    1. Daily Tildes discussion - suggestions for expansions/additions to Docs (and how you can help)

      Today I want to talk about expanding the information available on the Tildes Docs site. There's some info there, but there should be a lot more. Eventually, I'd like that site to include...

      Today I want to talk about expanding the information available on the Tildes Docs site. There's some info there, but there should be a lot more. Eventually, I'd like that site to include information about the site's goals, mechanics and so on, as well as things closer to standard "documentation", such as how the post formatting works, details on the tagging systems, etc.

      One specific thing that I know I'd like to add before long is kind of a "FAQ for mechanics" that can have answers for the common questions that keep coming up, like "why is the comment box at the bottom instead of the top?".

      To help with this, I've now open-sourced the files for both the Tildes Docs site and the Blog here now, so you can contribute to them directly if you'd like to: https://gitlab.com/tildes/tildes-static-sites/

      @flaque has already written a page to help with Markdown formatting that I'll add soon (but I wanted to see if he'd like to do it as a proper merge request so he gets credit as a contributor). Anyone else is welcome to contribute to the Docs as well, and I'd appreciate the help. However, if you're not sure if it's something that I'd want to add it might be best to ask first before you start writing.

      Outside of that, I'm open for suggestions about what you think would be good to include, or things that are already there that need work. Thanks!

      20 votes
    2. Extended Scripts for Tildes Alpha

      So, after a rather clunky script to open comment's link in a new tab with the left click, I got inspired by the idea of @kalebo and wrote also a script to quickly jump to new comments in a topic....

      So, after a rather clunky script to open comment's link in a new tab with the left click, I got inspired by the idea of @kalebo and wrote also a script to quickly jump to new comments in a topic.

      I thought about writing a dedicated script but felt like it was going to become overly complicated for a user to import different script.

      These script are all meant to give the community some QoL while lightening the pressure on @deimos so he can work without too much stress from all the requests. As soon as the feature are implemented you should get rid of those script that in some parts felt like bad hacks to me that I was writing it.

      I know the button to scroll to new messages is in a quite bad position (top center of your browser page) but I couldn't bear to deal with tampermonkey issue and its GM_AddStyle meta not working properly so I had to use the basic CSS provided by spectre already loaded in tildes.net.

      If someone knows how to figure out that goddamn meta, let me know.

      ========= UPDATE ============

      Edit: So apparently tampermonkey has issues with styles that are not yet fixed and firefox has some issue in general with script that inject stuff in the page (understandably).

      For tampermonkey the solution is simple. Use violentmonkey instead. you can just copy the script and it will work.

      For Firefox it's a little more dirty unfortunately but I cannot find other solutions. You need to open the internal URL about:config. Then search security.csp.enable and double click to disable it. After this the script will work.
      Firefox has a very strict policy and the only real solution would be to write an extension and I don't think it's worth the effort in the current state of development.
      For full description of what that policy does, check the official doc from mozilla: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/CSP#Threats

      12 votes
    3. Minor updates to Privacy Policy and Terms of Use... for minors

      As I mentioned in the post on Monday, I've spent some time this week trying to make sure that I should be in good shape for the GDPR (which takes effect tomorrow). In the end, the change in...

      As I mentioned in the post on Monday, I've spent some time this week trying to make sure that I should be in good shape for the GDPR (which takes effect tomorrow).

      In the end, the change in minimum age for some EU member states seemed to be the only issue, so I've just updated the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use to account for that. You can see the exact changes that I made here, on GitLab.

      And on that note, now that the Docs pages are open-source, I added a "view history" link that shows at the top of pages on the Docs/Blog if they've been edited, so that people can click to see the full edit history of the relevant page on GitLab.

      Because of these changes, if you're older than 13 but below the minimum age in your country (for example, in Germany and France it's 16), you'll have to stop using Tildes now. At this point, it's unlikely that anyone is affected by this. As a side note, if anyone knows of a comprehensive, updated list of what the minimum age is for different countries, please let me know. I'd love to link to a list so that people can easily check if they don't know what their country's minimum age is, but I wasn't able to find one.

      17 votes
    4. Feature request: Title editing

      Now I know editing titles is a slippery slope, but hear me out. One of the most annoying things from Reddit is that you make a typo in the title and it's there forever. It would be nice if on...

      Now I know editing titles is a slippery slope, but hear me out.

      One of the most annoying things from Reddit is that you make a typo in the title and it's there forever. It would be nice if on Tildes you could edit a certain amount of a title - say 1-2 characters. Then you could fix most typos without opening the doors to people trolling by completely changing titles.

      I'm not sure if this is possible, but it would be a nice thing to consider down the road.

      14 votes
    5. Six quality films from the directors of this year's Cannes Film Festival

      Quick intro: My personal problem with Reddit's movie sub is with its narrow perspective on films. I know it might sound elitist, but I just found most of the discussions to be circlejerks or full...

      Quick intro: My personal problem with Reddit's movie sub is with its narrow perspective on films. I know it might sound elitist, but I just found most of the discussions to be circlejerks or full of references/memes done to death. The anti-theater Netflix-can-do-no-wrong attitude is confusing at best (considering the overwhelming love for Nolan/PTA/Taratino who are championing the analog film experience). /r/truefilm is full of insightful writing but it's not exactly a welcoming place for newbie cinephiles who got into films via MCU, Star Wars, or other blockbuster franchises. Don't get me wrong, I visit both subs everyday, but I kind of wish there's a balance: A place where you can have both casual discussions about high-brow cinema AND in-depth essays about comedy with dick jokes.

      Hence why I am writing this while ~movies is still fresh (hopefully I am adding something of value and not come off too rambly). Now of course I could just start a post asking for foreign film recommendations, but I just don't find those post to go anywhere, they usually just end up with people listing out films without any thought or explanation. Cinema is about your personal experience in relations to what you see on screen, and I think we are doing ourselves a disservice if we watch something and just shrug it off as "it's great you should watch it" or "it sucks". So putting money where my mouth is, here are some recommendations for non-english films. Sorry for the long set-up, but I hope this encourages a dialogue, even if you disagree with the above or my recommendations.

      ANYWAY. I settled on 6 because I didn't want it to a Top-5 list and 4 seems too short. 6 just feels right. Cannes just ended and I feel like it's a good time to start talking about the directors of this year's festival as their newest films will be available in the near future. So in no particular order, here are six quality films from the directors of this year's Cannes:

      1. "Mountains May Depart" (2015) - Jia Zhangke
        An ambitious piece of work that spans 25 years with an intro that goes for about an hour before the title card. Even if you don't like the film, the confidence of Jia Zhangke is in full display here.
      2. "Secret Sunshine" (2007) - Lee Chang-dong
        If Lars Von Trier films aren't realistic enough for you, here's a good one to kickstart your misery. After I finished watching it for the first time, I had to go for a walk and ended up wandering the city for 3 hours. It affected me in such a meaningful way. Surprising funny, if you can see the irony in it.
      3. "Ida" (2013) - Pawel Pawlikowski
        The cinematography! The framing in this movie is incredible, as if Ida is having a silent ever-going conversation with God. Not to mention the beautiful black and white!
      4. "A Separation" (2011) - Asghar Farhadi
        It was my first Farhadi film, and I quickly went on a hunt for all other Farhadi films right after. The writing grips you and really puts you in the place of all the characters. I could recommendation any other of his films, but to me, A Separation is perfect writing and a must-watch for any screenwriters.
      5. "Nobody Knows" (2004) - Hirokazu Kore-eda
        Heartbreaking. You know how the characters will end up (spoiler: not a good place) but you can't look away. I'm glad Kore-eda won Palme d'Or. Can't wait for his new one!
      6. "Vivre sa vie" (1962) - Jean-Luc Godard
        The only film pre-2000 on my list, but it's a film that feels quite modern. I've always felt that "Vivre sa vie" should be everyone's first Godard film instead of, say, "Breathless". It's the most coherent and it's a easy watch. It's a good starter movie before you take a deep dive into Godard's filmography (his work ranges from groundbreaking to borderline unwatchable IMO).

      Agree? Disagree? Sorry if I sound too much like Cinefix, haha. What do you think? Which other Cannes directors should I check out?
      7 votes
    6. State of Tags as a Mechanic

      Through what I've seen with the tag system, it seems completely superfluous and often detrimental to a post that requires a full read. Sure, it helps identify funny posts and gives warnings and...

      Through what I've seen with the tag system, it seems completely superfluous and often detrimental to a post that requires a full read. Sure, it helps identify funny posts and gives warnings and the like, but it seems too powerful a system for sensitive people to abuse. Tagging a joke comment as "Fluff", "Funny", "Joke", or "Troll" devalues a post, as it spoils everything in the post before you read it. A lot of humorous posts rely on punchlines at the end or misdirection via links or lengthy stories, and the punchline is achieved by leading the reader on until the end. The site's preamble states that it doesn't aim to provide a "safe-space" as well as not become completely unmoderated. I feel like we don't need big warning signs going "FUNNY JOKE" on a post because it cheapens the impact and makes the site feel too "safe", in that we have to carefully curate comments and warn others about "dangerous" comments.

      On another point, the tags are one word. Posts are often many words, and span many subjects. Placing one word on a comment can make a reader come to a quick conclusion on whether or not they'll enjoy reading a post, and a post might get glossed over very easily due to such an ambiguous descriptor.

      Tl;dr, Tags both devalue and cheapen comments by allowing users to gloss them over by looking at a one word descriptor of a possibly long post

      11 votes