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    1. Mod cultures - What do we want?

      Right now there's a lot of discussion ongoing about community culture, building Tildes' attitudes as a community into something that is solid enough to withstand waves of new users without being...

      Right now there's a lot of discussion ongoing about community culture, building Tildes' attitudes as a community into something that is solid enough to withstand waves of new users without being disrupted too heavily by newcomers that have yet to learn the culture.

      But what of mod culture?

      This topic isn't only for those that have mod experience, there are plenty of users with experience talking to mods that have their own negative stories. Over on reddit the actions of one mod team affect the brand-image of all modteams on the entirety of reddit. One bad action by a mod that occurs in a default subreddit backed up by the other mods in that subreddit becomes (in the eyes of users) the behaviour of all "reddit moderators".

      Often I see mods making things far far worse by being one of the most combative and hostile in-groups on the site. Talking to users in a manner that is best described as the way the worst teacher in school talked to teenagers as if they were 4 year olds, not listening to anything a user is actually saying and dismissing them outright because they're the user and they're the moderator. I understand some of it comes from difficult interactions with genuinely toxic individuals that waste enormous quantities of time better put towards better things. However what I see are moderators approaching every interaction with every user with criticism as if they are almost certainly the same-old toxic user. This is not the case.

      This is exceptionally important here on Tildes because it won't be a mistake to take the actions of one moderator and have it colour your image of other moderators on the site. When the site holds responsibility for moderator actions due to oversight and control then the actions of all moderators are going to be considered the actions of the site and the rest of the mods.

      So, how do we want our mods to talk to users? How do we want them to interact with users? What controls can be put in place to appreciate quality moderation? What can stop quippy mods that shut down valid discussion with 1 line reductive answers? Etc etc.

      What is good moderation and what is a good moderator?

      Personally what I try to apply to my own behaviour is to actually LISTEN to people and act as an equal, or at least present the appearance of listening. The thing that bothers people most feeling like something they care about is dismissed.

      What are the many issues that you've see in moderator behaviour (in front and behind the scenes) and in what ways can Tildes go about things differently to stop them?

      19 votes
    2. Brainstorming Trust System Ideas

      I'm sure this thread exists somewhere already but in my searching I couldn't find it. My hope is that we can brainstorm some good ideas in addition to what deimos has already proposed. The recent...

      I'm sure this thread exists somewhere already but in my searching I couldn't find it. My hope is that we can brainstorm some good ideas in addition to what deimos has already proposed.

      The recent discussion about lobste.rs reminded me of the fact that they use an invite system to limit the effectiveness of spammers and manage an invite tree to see the relationship of user accounts. A modified invite tree system would go a long way to help the trust system be more effective while not being stifling.

      While it (unmodified strict invite system) would definitely make it more difficult for people to join the site the benefits of such a system cannot be overlook. Even a naive system where we would limit new accounts to require current users to "vouch" for new ones would have noticable benefits later on down the line. The main benefit of this is that users who are a source of consistently inviting troublesome accounts could be held responsible. The added benefit is that you would be a little more conscientious of the people you invite as it would affect your reputation as well.

      The naive approach to this system would be a strict invite tree-based site. The only way you could get an new account on tildes is to get an invite from a current user of tildes. Like lobste.rs this woud be a very good deterrent but also (possibly unnecessarily) stifle growth. Such a system is a good starting point but I believe since a lot of effort will be put into making the trust system effective, we can do better if we put in some creative brainpower and work.

      Possible ideas/tweaks for an invite tree-based system :
      Parent account = person who invited user
      Child account = person who was invited

      • Users could create new accounts without an invite but would be severly limited in the rate they could post content (1 post a day), make comments (5 comments a day), etc. At any point they could be "vouched" for by a parent account with reputation (become child account) and those limitations would be lifted as though they had an invite from the beginning.
      • User reputation would be impacted by child accounts (invite more, more likely to be punished as a result of children's bad behavior) to discourage individuals from becoming invite mills without repercussions.
      • If a parent account is banned all child accounts would be demoted to "uninvited" status, child accounts would be encouraged to build up reputation to lose child status and become an independent (reputation-wise) parent account. Accounts would still be historically linked to parent accounts to pinpoint bad behavior down the line if it occurs.

      Obviously a lot of effort has already been made by people a lot smarter than me to make such systems work and I think we can draw on that for tildes as well. I tried to look for some peer-reviewed papers and graduate level work about creating such a system but didn't come up with anything useful, perhaps you'll have better luck.

      11 votes
    3. [Pilot] Condor

      The show premiered on Audience Network a couple of weeks ago. Seems to be a classical CIA show, more in line with 24 than Homeland, I think. So if you miss the CTU, you might like this. It's not...

      The show premiered on Audience Network a couple of weeks ago.

      Seems to be a classical CIA show, more in line with 24 than Homeland, I think. So if you miss the CTU, you might like this. It's not as fast-paced so far though.

      Dialogue is acceptable and acting is generally good. Nothing spectacular visually.

      There was some amount of conflict and the tension builds up during the episode, with the mandatory cliffhanger ending.

      Nothing disruptive in general, but entertaining and with maybe some potential.

      The main character is too much of a hero (too much of a good guy) to be able to achieve some depth, IMO. He's too smart, too honest, too humble, too attractive, etc. That's my biggest grip once I accepted the show doesn't seem to want to create anything new, but was certainly watchable. I'm gonna watch the second episode now and see if it gets better

      I'd say 7/10, but maybe it's just because I usually enjoy the genre. So maybe 6/10 trying to be more objective.

      3 votes
    4. Making a living through busking?

      I've been thinking a lot about busking for money recently. Here's some backstory: Currently a broke but talented musician that just moved to a city. Looking to spread my music and earn a bit for...

      I've been thinking a lot about busking for money recently.

      Here's some backstory:
      Currently a broke but talented musician that just moved to a city. Looking to spread my music and earn a bit for myself while I'm at it.

      Music is very important to me and spreading myself out and making my sound vulnerable is something I'm very hesitant about doing. I came here to check out if anyone reading this has ever busked and can point me in the right way to start doing so, or if anyone has any comments and suggestions /AGAINST/ doing so. I've never experienced it myself but some of my favorite musicians have bettered their lives and finances by playing music on the street.

      8 votes
    5. How would Tildes mitigate a DDOS attack?

      While reading up on what it takes to run this site, it just occurred to me that the site is hosted on one server with one network connection. Adding a CDN or cloud based DDOS protection would run...

      While reading up on what it takes to run this site, it just occurred to me that the site is hosted on one server with one network connection. Adding a CDN or cloud based DDOS protection would run contrary to the "no third party" thing we've got going on here, so that doesn't seem like an option.

      So I got to wondering, what would happen if a malicious actor were to sic a botnet on us? I imagine the outcome would not be good. Do we have any strategies to deal with this?

      9 votes
    6. Best albums released so far this year?

      What do you guys think are the best albums released so far this year? Obviously this is subjective, I'd just like to hear some of your opinions :-) My favourites out of the ones I can remember...

      What do you guys think are the best albums released so far this year? Obviously this is subjective, I'd just like to hear some of your opinions :-)

      My favourites out of the ones I can remember are:

      • Kids See Ghosts by Kids See Ghosts
      • Egg on face. Foot in mouth. Wriggling Wriggling Wriggling. by Crywank
      • Moe Moe by Moe Shop
      • Little Dark Age by MGMT
      • Veteran by JPEGMAFIA
      19 votes
    7. What happened to my Tildes bookmark on my Android phone?

      I'm using an Android phone with Chrome 65.0.3325.109 installed. There's an option in this browser to add a page to the home screen. This creates a shortcut on my home screen. When I tap on that...

      I'm using an Android phone with Chrome 65.0.3325.109 installed.

      There's an option in this browser to add a page to the home screen. This creates a shortcut on my home screen. When I tap on that shortcut, it opens the saved page in Chrome.

      I had done this with Tildes. However, I deleted the shortcut and made it again. The behaviour has now changed.

      Previously, this shortcut opened Tildes as a tab within Chrome. Now, it opens Tildes as its own separate "application". It's not in Chrome. That means I don't get the functionality that comes with Chrome, such as opening a link in a new Chrome tab. In this pseudo-application version, I'm stuck with only one window. I can't open other tabs. I can't simply copy links from one Chrome tab (news website) to another Chrome tab (Tildes).

      Did you change something in the past week or so? Can you please change it back? I want a shortcut to a web page to open something that behaves like a web page, not a stand-alone application.

      6 votes
    8. Why does Google have nine messaging services?

      A sentence from this article on Ars Technica about the new Android Messages web interface really jumped out at me: Android Messages started as a simple SMS app, but, with the Web client, it is...

      A sentence from this article on Ars Technica about the new Android Messages web interface really jumped out at me:

      Android Messages started as a simple SMS app, but, with the Web client, it is turning into Google's ninth messaging service after (deep breath) Google Talk, Google Voice, Buzz, Google+ Messenger, Hangouts, Spaces, Allo, and the Slack-like Hangouts Chat.

      Nine different chat services from a single company is just wild. How did Google let such an important aspect of the Android platform become such a mess, and what should Google do about it?

      22 votes
    9. Has anyone been using YouTube Music?

      I've gone through quite a few of the music streaming services now. I was on Rdio for a long time until it (sadly) shut down, switched to Spotify for a while, then to Google Play Music, and as of...

      I've gone through quite a few of the music streaming services now. I was on Rdio for a long time until it (sadly) shut down, switched to Spotify for a while, then to Google Play Music, and as of yesterday I have access to YouTube music (which it sounds like is intended to replace GPM before too long).

      From a quick glance at YouTube Music I'm a bit worried—the "library" functionality seems pretty limited, and the search isn't really working as I'd expect. It also doesn't seem to have any connection with my GPM collection or playlists.

      I think it's been out in the US for about a month now, has anyone been using it? Any thoughts on it so far or suggestions about using it?

      9 votes
    10. Components involved for flashing a custom Android ROM. Am I understanding things correctly?

      I'm going to be flashing a custom ROM on my Nexus 5X device, and I was just curious if I'm understanding all the components involved. I currently have CopperheadOS on my device, but that ROM may...

      I'm going to be flashing a custom ROM on my Nexus 5X device, and I was just curious if I'm understanding all the components involved. I currently have CopperheadOS on my device, but that ROM may be dead based on current events. I'm not switching because of this news, but mainly because I just want to try something else for the hell of it. I think I'm going to make the switch to Lineage, but there are way more options involved versus flashing CopperheadOS.

      It seems the main components to consider when flashing are the following:

      • The ROM itself (CopperheadOS, Lineage, PureNexus, etc.)
      • The custom recovery (TWRP, etc.)
      • The kernel (ElementalX, Franco, etc.)
      • root (magisk, etc.)
      • Play Services (OpenGApps, etc.)

      CopperheadOS was kind of it's own package, so I didn't have to consider all of these other options.

      My understanding is the minimum decisions I need to make if I want a custom ROM, is picking the ROM itself, and a custom recovery. In my case I'm going for LineageOS and TWRP.

      Choosing a custom kernel seems to be optional. I think I might go with Franco on this one based on the little research I've done. But to flash a custom kernel, I think I need root, right? So now I'll need to get root access which requires another tool. I was going to go with Magisk based on not much. Just seems to be common. So that's 4 main things there. The ROM (LineageOS), the recovery (TWRP), the kernel (Franco), and root (Magisk). I personally don't want any Google services on my device, so I'm fine with skipping that part. I currently don't have any installed, and I'm doing fine without them.

      So does my view on this seem correct? Are all the things I mentioned necessary for what I want to do? If I want LineageOS then I need a custom recovery right? If I want a custom kernel, then I need root which requires a separate tool, right? Just making sure I'm not doing more than I need to if I decided to go through with this. As a side convo, please recommend whatever ROMs, kernels, or root tools that you want. I have a Nexus 5X, and I'm hoping it doesn't bootloop after I'm done doing all this flashing =)

      9 votes
    11. So apparently there's an ongoing controversy about Battlefield V allowing you to play as a female character

      Any perspectives on that, fellow Tildoes? Tildarians, Tilderinos, Tildonkeys, etc.? From what I can tell, the main argument against it is that it's not historically accurate. I guess that makes...

      Any perspectives on that, fellow Tildoes? Tildarians, Tilderinos, Tildonkeys, etc.?

      From what I can tell, the main argument against it is that it's not historically accurate. I guess that makes sense, but A) that doesn't seem to warrant the utter seething rage that I see from opponents, and B) I rather doubt the Battlefield franchise has made it a habit to be 1-to-1 regarding history anyway. I've played none of them, but I saw someone mention that in-game events are definitely not historically accurate anyway. So I guess the "keep women out" side is conflating the game's setting with a declaration of dedication to historical accuracy? Seems silly to me to take umbrage at a game failing to meet an expectation that you invented.

      Then again, maybe I'm wrong. My initial gut reaction was to write it off as casual sexism and an unwillingness to break tradition, and while I'm sure that explains a minority of the outrage, I highly doubt the controversy can be explained so simply.

      Anyone here want to way in?

      31 votes
    12. There's now a "topic log" shown in the sidebar of topics when changes have been made to it

      As I mentioned in a couple recent posts (about standardizing tags as well as starting some more moderation), I'm going to start re-tagging and making some other changes to posts now. So that you...

      As I mentioned in a couple recent posts (about standardizing tags as well as starting some more moderation), I'm going to start re-tagging and making some other changes to posts now.

      So that you can see when changes are made (either by me, the post's author, or someone else), topics now have a "Topic Log" that's only shown in the sidebar when changes have been made. It's collapsed by default, and you'll see a title like "Topic Log (3)" that you can click on to see the log of changes. I've added and removed a tag in this post so you can see what it looks like.

      For now, this only shows tag changes and lock/unlock, but I'll add title changes and moving between groups shortly. Edit: This does not include edits to the post, you can already see when a post was last edited (if it was), but I don't intend to add more detail or a log for that.

      38 votes
    13. Bug: Adding homescreen shortcut links instead to duckduckgo.com

      Edit: This is on Android. Just noticed that using the option from the dropdown menu works fine, clicking the dedicated button on the toolbar is the one that doesn't. (The house icon with the + in...

      Edit: This is on Android. Just noticed that using the option from the dropdown menu works fine, clicking the dedicated button on the toolbar is the one that doesn't. (The house icon with the + in it)

      https://s22.postimg.cc/s6q0jpskv/Screenshot_20180619-141729.jpg

      https://s22.postimg.cc/y7npgths1/Screenshot_20180619-141735.jpg

      2 votes
    14. Please don't post scores in post titles discussing world cup matches.

      Not everyone lives in a time zone where they can watch the matches as they happen. I choose one match each day to watch before looking up the rest of the scores to catch up, but I can't watch them...

      Not everyone lives in a time zone where they can watch the matches as they happen. I choose one match each day to watch before looking up the rest of the scores to catch up, but I can't watch them live due to being in a less convenient time-zone, so I have to wait until the next day.

      I chose Japan - Colombia as my next match and from @Parliament 's post on the match it looks like it would have been a great match to watch.

      I understand wanting to discuss matches and the tournament - but can we have a fan's agreement not to put scores or spoilers in post titles?

      15 votes