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    1. Daily Tildes discussion - let's start gathering some thoughts for commenting guidelines

      Inspired by this thread in ~talk from this morning, I think it would be good to start thinking about how to define some more formal guidelines for what sort of behavior we do (and don't) want to...

      Inspired by this thread in ~talk from this morning, I think it would be good to start thinking about how to define some more formal guidelines for what sort of behavior we do (and don't) want to see in the discussions on Tildes. I'd like to put something together that can be on the Docs site and linked to fairly prominently, and used as a reference to help people understand what's expected here.

      As an example, Hacker News has some pretty good ones (the bottom half, under "In Comments"). We should be able to do something quite similar to that, so let me know if you think any of theirs are particularly good or if there are other ones that you'd like to see covered. I know many of you are involved in other online communities too, so I'd also be curious to see links to other sites' guidelines you think are done really well.

      Please focus on comments only for now, and we can have another discussion soon about guidelines related to topics/submissions (there will be some crossover, I'm sure). Thanks, input is appreciated as always.

      34 votes
    2. Calling all people who have lived and/or worked in Yellowstone or other national parks

      Next month I’m dropping everything and moving from Kentucky to work in Yellowstone with my girlfriend. I have been to other parks but never stayed more than one night and never taken on multi-day...

      Next month I’m dropping everything and moving from Kentucky to work in Yellowstone with my girlfriend. I have been to other parks but never stayed more than one night and never taken on multi-day trails/hikes. To other users who have done something similar or stayed in national parks for extended periods of time, what advice do you have? Where are the “must see” parts of Yellowstone? What was the adjustment period like, and what are some safety precautions we should definitely take note of?

      5 votes
    3. How do we tackle this epidemic of misinformation

      I was on Facebook today and saw a video being sent around with the background and caption on the image I captured: https://i.imgur.com/uUvN7JS.png I took a look at the comments on the post, and as...

      I was on Facebook today and saw a video being sent around with the background and caption on the image I captured: https://i.imgur.com/uUvN7JS.png

      I took a look at the comments on the post, and as expected found this sort of stuff: "She must hoping trump will come and give her a pickle tickle or a medal. These are the people who should be thrown out of the country."

      So, I look it up and it turns out that this video is from 2014 (source of news report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0UUmTARaOc) which was during the Obama administration and has nothing to do with "Trump's america'". And watching a news report and the original video never shows anything about the black individual having a white mother, that's just further perpetuating race baiting to get people angry and heated over this as they're also trying to make it seem like it just happened. They even captioned the Facebook post "Think racism is dead in America? Watch this."!

      What do we do about things like this where this is so clearly being used to further an agenda, but the actual content isn't indicative of that agenda at all? This is apart of an epidemic of misinformation used to drive opinions that sickens me to see so many people falling for, it really does.

      23 votes
    4. Can we get a ~finance group?

      Please correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no good fit for topics ranging from personal finance, investing, portfolio management, budgeting, running a business, markets, etc. Seems ~finance or...

      Please correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no good fit for topics ranging from personal finance, investing, portfolio management, budgeting, running a business, markets, etc. Seems ~finance or similar could be a catch-all for a massive category of topics that don't have a place currently.

      6 votes
    5. Tumblr unfollowed me from a thousand blogs

      One of my friends said "hey why did you unfollow me" I check my following list (witch is really hidden deep into the gui) and I see I went from following 2k (from when I check a few months back)...

      One of my friends said "hey why did you unfollow me" I check my following list (witch is really hidden deep into the gui) and I see I went from following 2k (from when I check a few months back) to follow 600 people. WHAT HAPPENED, so now I'm freaking out franticly making sure I didn't lose anyone.

      5 votes
    6. We're starting to have more contributions for custom themes and extensions. I think it's about time we start to catalog these nicely.

      One of the unfortunate realities of open source efforts is that these efforts are often fragmented and scattered all over the place, making things difficult to find. With that in mind, I've...

      One of the unfortunate realities of open source efforts is that these efforts are often fragmented and scattered all over the place, making things difficult to find. With that in mind, I've started a new GitLab project here consisting of a simple README file that we can use to start tracking the client-side themes and extensions that the community here has been hard at work developing.

      The list, at the time of posting this, is empty. The README is sparse and the entire thing is subject to change by the community itself. I will only be reviewing changes to ensure that changes are acceptable before a merge is allowed through (we don't want e.g. malicious links thrown in or perfectly good projects removed by someone acting in bad faith). You can change contribution notes/guidelines, existing language, layout, categories, and whatever else you can think of. If there's something else that you think the repository could use aside from the README, then you're free to issue a merge request to have it reviewed as well.

      I'm hoping that this will help us keep track of everything and aid future users in discovering the various tools and themes provided by the community.

      Please feel free to discuss guidelines here. Is there anything that shouldn't be allowed on the list? Is there anything that should be taken care of immediately? Are there any immediate concerns? Is there anything else on your mind?

      19 votes
    7. Could there be a group for in-depth articles, like TrueReddit?

      I know there's ~news, but I'm talking a place that specifically focuses on long, insightful articles rather than recent events. Since tildes wants to emphasize depth, I think it would be a good...

      I know there's ~news, but I'm talking a place that specifically focuses on long, insightful articles rather than recent events. Since tildes wants to emphasize depth, I think it would be a good fit.

      I see there aren't a whole lot of groups at the moment, so perhaps this would be something to consider further down the line.

      20 votes
    8. What are some good young adult fiction books that are somewhat contemporary?

      I really like Young Adult fiction. I am a big fan of contemporary/realistic fiction in general. Fante is probably my favorite author. Favorite YA author is Robert Cormier. Does anyone have any...

      I really like Young Adult fiction. I am a big fan of contemporary/realistic fiction in general. Fante is probably my favorite author. Favorite YA author is Robert Cormier.

      Does anyone have any suggestions on some good YA novels?

      7 votes
    9. 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
    10. 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
    11. 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
    12. 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
    13. 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
    14. 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
    15. 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
    16. 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
    17. 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
    18. 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
    19. 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
    20. 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
    21. 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