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    1. Bitcoin

      Bitcoin doesn't really fit in any of the overall headers; I'm trying it here. It's the main reason I found tildes. For me, Bitcoin is both 'tech' and 'politics.' Lol

      4 votes
    2. Anyone else confusing quotes and OP comments when scrolling through a thread

      I'm glad we got that extra highlight for OP comments on a post. However, sometimes when scrolling down a post, and looking for OP's comments, I will stop thinking I've found one when actually it's...

      I'm glad we got that extra highlight for OP comments on a post. However, sometimes when scrolling down a post, and looking for OP's comments, I will stop thinking I've found one when actually it's just a quote inside someone else's comment, which is highlighted with the same color.

      Maybe we could get rid of the quote highlight and just use the indentation and lighter background? Or use another color for either of the two? Or do you think it's fine like it is now?

      NOTE: I always browse of mobile and use the solarized dark theme, not sure if this is the same with other settings.

      10 votes
    3. Who’s who after a brain transplant? Where does identity reside?

      Let’s imagine two women: Millie and Bonnie. Millie has a body-wasting disease. Her body is slowly breaking down, organ by organ. The only organ which is untouched is her brain. However, the body...

      Let’s imagine two women: Millie and Bonnie.

      Millie has a body-wasting disease. Her body is slowly breaking down, organ by organ. The only organ which is untouched is her brain. However, the body that supports that brain is deteriorating, and she is near to dying.

      Bonnie is a healthy person who suffers an unfortunate accident. She takes a sharp blow to her head which damages her brain, killing her instantly, but leaving her body intact and healthy.

      Due to the magic of non-existent futuristic medical technologies, doctors transplant Millie’s brain into Bonnie’s body.

      Who is the resulting person? Who is walking around? Is it Millie because it’s her mind, or is it Bonnie because it’s her body? Or is it someone else?

      For legal purposes, we identify a person by their physical attributes: fingerprints, retinal patterns, dental history, face. According to that methodology, this person is Bonnie, because she has Bonnie’s physical attributes. If she used Bonnie’s passport, she would be able to travel because her face and fingerprints match the photo and fingerprints in the passport. She would be accepted as Bonnie.

      However, this person does not have any of Bonnie’s knowledge or memories. She remembers Millie’s life and friends and education. If we asked her to sit an academic exam about a topic that Bonnie learned, she would fail, but she would pass an exam about a topic that Millie learned; she is therefore entitled to use Millie’s academic qualifications as her own. Her encephalograph would show Millie’s brain patterns. She would recognise Millie’s family and friends.

      If Millie and Bonnie each committed a crime before the transplant, should the post-transplant person be held responsible for either crime, or both, or neither? If she was in court, a witness would identify her as Bonnie, who was at the scene of one of the crimes. However, she would not remember committing Bonnie’s crime, but would remember Millie’s crime. Can she be held responsible for a crime she doesn’t remember committing (that brain is now dead)? Can she be held responsible for a crime noone saw her commit (that body is now dead)?

      So… who is she? Is she Millie or Bonnie, or is is she some new composite person: Minnie?


      Partly inspired by a couple of science fiction works:

      • 'I Will Fear No Evil', by Robert A Heinlein

      • The Star Trek DS9 episode 'Dax', by Peter Allan Fields and D.C. Fontana

      18 votes
    4. What if tildes remaned invite only?

      But was just really generous with giving out invite codes to its users, even host invite request threads where anonymous (non-registered) users can request an invite or something? I think this...

      But was just really generous with giving out invite codes to its users, even host invite request threads where anonymous (non-registered) users can request an invite or something?

      I think this could work and would help with the whole tree aspect tildes is holding on. Everything leads back to a tree. Groups, users, tags even mods and admins. Perhaps even keep the tree visible to only people in said tree and mods/admins, depending on user privacy settings.

      What would the benefits of remaining invite only and cons?

      28 votes
    5. Do we need to see the vote count?

      What is the reason for displaying vote count? Could we bring even more focus to the content of a post/comment by not displaying the vote count? What would we lose if vote count is removed? Edit:...

      What is the reason for displaying vote count? Could we bring even more focus to the content of a post/comment by not displaying the vote count? What would we lose if vote count is removed?

      Edit: It is more transparent if the vote count is displayed. Either way I believe it requires some trust from the user that the site mechanics as vote count and sorting system is working as claimed.

      Edit2: Here's an argument for why we need to see the count.

      17 votes
    6. What are some TV shows you find yourself constant rewatching?

      For me it's definitely The Office and Parks and Rec. I've probably seen both of those series about a half dozen times all the way through and whenever I find myself not wanting to make a decision...

      For me it's definitely The Office and Parks and Rec. I've probably seen both of those series about a half dozen times all the way through and whenever I find myself not wanting to make a decision on a new show I just start it back up again.

      What are some infinitely rewatchable shows y'all find yourself defaulting to regularly?

      33 votes
    7. Blockchain

      Well hello, I'm still learning about the blockchain day by day and it's quit interesting to try to "predict" the future use of this technology. But i have my own doubts.(maybe I'm still lacking in...

      Well hello,
      I'm still learning about the blockchain day by day and it's quit interesting to try to "predict" the future use of this technology. But i have my own doubts.(maybe I'm still lacking in research)

      1. If everything will be decentralised, how will you make the profit out of it?(business point of view)
      2. If you have million dollar today to work on blockchain technology what business would you get into to get appropriate profit in near future?(Of course excluding those exchange of cryptos)
        P.S: You are not a tech company and just want to enter in the field.
      5 votes
    8. Suggestion: Move vote counter to a consistent location

      Hi! This is a minor suggestion, but when you're browsing Tilde, the vote button for comments is located at the bottom left, underneath posts. Makes sense right? Well unfortunately, this doesn't...

      Hi! This is a minor suggestion, but when you're browsing Tilde, the vote button for comments is located at the bottom left, underneath posts. Makes sense right? Well unfortunately, this doesn't apply to your own comments, where the vote counter appears in the top left, at the beginning of the post. For consistency's sake, I was wondering if it would be a good idea to move vote counts on individual comments down to where the vote button normally is, so vote counts are always displayed in the same location?

      4 votes
    9. It's a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake: LGBT+ discrimination

      Well, there comes a time in every community's existence where someone gets an idea for discussion from another thread he wishes were better framed. So buckle in. This discussion is intended to sit...

      Well, there comes a time in every community's existence where someone gets an idea for discussion from another thread he wishes were better framed. So buckle in. This discussion is intended to sit at an uncomfortable cultural crossroads.

      In the EU, gay spouses are now able to have the same freedom of movement rights as straight spouses. The Supreme Court in the United States ruled that a baker was treated unfairly by a Colorado regulatory commission when they tried to suss out if he discriminated against a gay couple who wanted to purchase a wedding cake.

      In Brazil (you thought I was going to let this one be), courts have explicitly allowed conversion therapy to continue.

      In Chechnya (a part of Russia that I always seem to struggle to spell), you could be hunted down and tortured or killed if you were gay, with people turning their own family members over to the local government. The local government, in absurdity, claimed after the purge that there were "no gays" in Chechnya, so there could have been no purge.

      The point I'm trying to make here is that LGBT+ discrimination is an issue that should touch just about everywhere.

      Before we get too deep, a point on terms. Discrimination, strictly speaking, is separating one thing from another. It is not necessarily a hostile act. If I say "you can drive only if your vision is good enough to read signs while you drive," that is discrimination on the basis of your ability to see, but most people aren't likely to say it's unreasonable discrimination (there is a rather obvious safety implication, for starters). Similarly, if you tell women to go to the bathroom in one space, and men to go to the bathroom in another space, that is discrimination based on gender. Is it reasonable discrimination? That might depend on if you're trans, and what state you're in.

      This topic has to be more limited than this set up implies it will be. We won't be able to narrow things well enough to have a meaningful discussion otherwise. Today, we're just going to touch on the simple (ha!) matter of whether baking a wedding cake is art, whether refusing a wedding cake to a gay couple is discrimination, and what a government should be expected to do about it. So, the questions:

      • Is making a custom wedding cake for a wedding "art"?
      • Is refusing a custom wedding cake to a couple because it would be for a cause you do not support discrimination on the basis of that couple's identity?
      • How should a just government resolve a dispute between a couple who feel unreasonably discriminated against and an artist who feels compelled to use speech for a cause they do not support?

      And a bonus question:

      • What role should a judicial branch have in advancing various groups' rights? Does relying on this less democratic method for securing rights open a movement up to counter-reaction or is the counter-reaction simply an inevitable consequence of a movement's success?
      22 votes
    10. Has anyone played any of the Legend of Zelda Randomizer games?

      I’m considering checking them out myself. The general idea is that the game (they have versions for the NES original and Link to the Past) is like normal, except the items in the treasure chests...

      I’m considering checking them out myself. The general idea is that the game (they have versions for the NES original and Link to the Past) is like normal, except the items in the treasure chests are all switched. So the Hookshot may be in some random chest in some random cave, and as a result you have to find everything.

      2 votes
    11. Tildes Extended

      I posted about it three days ago but in these last three days I really worked my ass off to include lots of functionalities and feel like the community is missing a lot of topics... So, sorry, I...

      I posted about it three days ago but in these last three days I really worked my ass off to include lots of functionalities and feel like the community is missing a lot of topics...
      So, sorry, I won't spam this for the next days every three days but I felt like it deserved to be "bumped" in the activity feed at least once now that the default is just 24h.

      As of today, the features are:

      • management to choose which links top open in a new tab
      • button to quickly jump to new comments in a topic
      • button to quickly get back to the top of the page in topics (no, there isn't one to go to the bottom)
      • live preview of the reply/topic box
      • load external CSS to customize the UI
      • add label to users

      I'll just link to the original topic so you can have some context if you want, otherwise these are just the links to download it:


      I need feedback to know what else you'd like to see implemented or what have bugs or could be done in a different/better way!

      37 votes
    12. How would you theoretically go about mitigating the potential near-complete loss of archived audio and video media from 1990 to 2020?

      This article from last year provides an alarming look into the woes that media preservation (specifically audio and video) is facing this century due to a content explosion that shows no signs of...

      This article from last year provides an alarming look into the woes that media preservation (specifically audio and video) is facing this century due to a content explosion that shows no signs of slowing down. It’s not a new problem, as journalist Bill Holland showed nearly 20 years ago (warning, it’s a long read).

      To summarize: In the past, many predecessors to existing media studios did a bad job of archiving their collections of recorded material. In some cases they actively destroyed or threw out parts of their catalogs to make way for new material. This wiped out portions of the available media to be preserved, especially the older stuff. Now that most studios have improved their archival practices though, their remaining catalogs are facing a new foe: Moore’s Law.

      The problem with LTO (tapes) is obsolescence. Since the beginning, the technology has been on a Moore’s Law–like march that has resulted in a doubling in tape storage densities every 18 to 24 months. As each new generation of LTO comes to market, an older generation of LTO becomes obsolete… Already there have been seven generations of LTO in the 18 years of the product’s existence… Given the short period of backward compatibility — just two generations — an LTO-5 cartridge, which can still be read on an LTO-7 drive, won’t be readable on an LTO-8 drive. So even if that tape is still free from defects in 30 or 50 years, all those gigabytes or terabytes of data will be worthless if you don’t also have a drive upon which to play it.

      If the worst case scenario were to happen, this is apparently what it would look like according to “a top technician at Technicolor”:

      “There’s going to be a large dead period,” he told me, “from the late ’90s through 2020, where most media will be lost.”

      But not everyone is that worried, the article also includes this counterpoint,

      “Most of the archivists I spoke with remain — officially at least — optimistic that a good, sound, post-LTO solution will eventually emerge.”

      /u/boredop and I have been discussing the implications of this in the thread they posted a few days ago about a John Coltrane release, and in the course of that discussion they provided that second link to Bill Holland’s multi-part investigation (thanks!).

      So my question is this: What direct or indirect measures would you theoretically take to prevent or mitigate the loss of the vast majority of recorded media from 1990 to 2020? Should any measures be taken to preserve these cultural artifacts?

      By direct measures I mean innovations to physical archiving or storage methods. By indirect measures I mean public awareness, strategies for choosing what to save, workarounds, etc.

      23 votes
    13. Discussion, bad faith, our goals, and Tildes

      Hey all, There's been a huge amount of response to this post about Hyponotoad's banning that I think merits a lot more consideration than as just a bunch of fractured comment threads. Some...

      Hey all,

      There's been a huge amount of response to this post about Hyponotoad's banning that I think merits a lot more consideration than as just a bunch of fractured comment threads.

      Some questions that come to mind:

      ~ What does it mean to have "quality discussion",?

      ~ How do you distinguish between quality discussion and not quality discussion?

      ~ What does it mean to act in "bad faith"?

      ~ How, as a community, do we best achieve tildes' stated goals?

      23 votes
    14. Should we, in rich countries, open our borders to migrants, refugees and other immigrants?

      Loads of people want to get to rich countries for various reasons: no war less crime better economic prospects no persecution no famine The list is almost endless. Should we, in countries not...

      Loads of people want to get to rich countries for various reasons:

      The list is almost endless.

      Should we, in countries not affected by such problems, accept these folks that want to get away for whatever reason?

      22 votes
    15. Daily Tildes discussion - should inviter/invitee info be public?

      Tsirist suggested this earlier today, and I think it's a pretty good topic, so let's just do it today. Currently, on each user's page you can see who they were invited by. However, that's the full...

      Tsirist suggested this earlier today, and I think it's a pretty good topic, so let's just do it today.

      Currently, on each user's page you can see who they were invited by. However, that's the full extent of what's shown about invites right now. The opposite relation isn't easily public (that is, there's no way to see a list of all users that were invited by someone), and you can't even currently see a list of which users you've invited yourself.

      Some people think that these invite relationships should be more public, and some people think it should be even less than it already currently is. For example, some people want to be able to invite others without those people knowing their username, which is currently impossible.

      I think that at least tracking the "invite tree" is important overall during the invite-only phase, but it doesn't necessarily need to be public information to serve this purpose. What do you think? Should we show more information about invites? Less? Leave it exactly how it is?

      46 votes
    16. Transferring main drive from C: to D: or E:

      I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, so please let me know if I should post this to a different group instead. I have 3 drives on my current PC, but the C: drive is almost full (it...

      I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, so please let me know if I should post this to a different group instead.

      I have 3 drives on my current PC, but the C: drive is almost full (it keeps bouncing around between 2-1 GB left) and it seems to be slowing some programs down. Most noticeably Audacity stores temporary files in C: while I am working on large files and it often changes wait times on an edit to upwards of 30 seconds (meaning literally nothing happens for 15-45 seconds and then the change takes place, even if it's only a simple few second deletion).

      Is there a way to set my D: or E: drive as the default drive of the computer so I can clear out some space on my C: drive and use the extra space I have on those drives? Thanks for any help or information you can give me.

      8 votes