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7 votes
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NewsGuard and Microsoft team up to make NewsGuard free for Microsoft Edge users, Bing integration
5 votes -
Why are some comments minimised?
I’ve noticed on some topics a couple of comments that are minimised you have to click the plus symbol to view why is that.
6 votes -
Would it be beneficial to ban certain topics of political discourse?
I've noticed that there are certain topics (specifically political ones) that reoccur frequently on this site, which almost never contribute anything of value. These can derail threads, incite...
I've noticed that there are certain topics (specifically political ones) that reoccur frequently on this site, which almost never contribute anything of value. These can derail threads, incite hostility between users, push away new users, etc. IMO it is rare that anything new is said, and even rarer that any opinions are changed. Examples include: socialism vs capitalism; should real leftists vote for Biden?; is Biden a rapist?; are Bernie supporters toxic?; etc. I'm not saying these aren't important things to discuss (I've done so myself), but is it really necessary for us to have the exact same arguments basically every day? I personally feel the site would be nicer to use and less toxic overall if these discussions didn't happen. Would there be any downside to simply banning them, at least temporarily? Perhaps until after the US presidential election?
22 votes -
Do antiviruses still slow your computer down?
9 votes -
The coronavirus is making us all camgirls: For millions of newly remote workers, doing your job now involves looking the part, figuring out your angles, and performing for the camera
7 votes -
Rep. Justin Amash “looking closely” at third-party run in US presidential election
14 votes -
Cicero's Finest Hour (44 to 43 B.C.E.)
8 votes -
The board game that turns feminism into a joke: I played Ms. Monopoly so that you don’t have to
12 votes -
Beaker Browser 1.0 Beta
25 votes -
The secrets behind the runaway success of Apple’s AirPods
14 votes -
Darkling Beetles: Daringly dynamic
4 votes -
Introductions | May 2020
We're overdue for another introductions thread, we've had a couple hundred new people come in since the last one and today's seeing a wave of new people interested in joining. So, tell us about...
We're overdue for another introductions thread, we've had a couple hundred new people come in since the last one and today's seeing a wave of new people interested in joining.
So, tell us about yourself, as much as you want to share. How did you find out about Tildes? Do you have any questions, hobbies, interests? The ~talk group is the most casual part of Tildes, you could think of it as a sister to /r/casualconversation, so feel free to talk about anything!
Past introduction threads for posterity: -1- . -2- . -3- . -4- . -5- . -6-
37 votes -
An entire city (Noida, India) has been told to download a controversial contact tracing app — Or face jail: "Not installing the app will be considered a violation of lockdown orders," police say
9 votes -
Hospitals turn to Alicia Keys, U2 and The Beatles to sing patients home
4 votes -
US FDA halts coronavirus testing program backed by Bill Gates
8 votes -
Bangladesh says coronavirus detected in Rohingya refugee camp
5 votes -
It’s a wonderful afterlife: Smart, funny Upload is a sheer delight
11 votes -
What are your favourite space games?
I'll start - Kerbal Space Program Orbiter ( http://orbit.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/ ) SpaceX Docking Simulator ( https://iss-sim.spacex.com/ )
24 votes -
Ameelio, a startup backed by the Mozilla's 'Fix the Internet', aims to provide free video calls and messaging to prisoners in the US where video calls can cost as much as $25 for 15min
11 votes -
US State Department Inspector General fired after investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Democrats decry ‘dangerous pattern of retaliation’
9 votes -
An ode to the unexpected whimsy (and strength) of your mail delivery
7 votes -
Algonquin Round Table: How the group of writers became a symbol of the roaring twenties
4 votes -
Ignoring Trump and right-wing think tanks, red states expand vote by mail
12 votes -
Tech companies are pretending to be on their best behavior: Big tech is watching its step and trying to appear ethical during coronavirus. Don’t be fooled
8 votes -
The workplace-surveillance technology boom
4 votes -
Algorithms associating appearance and criminality have a dark past
5 votes -
New Tesla "million mile" battery in development that relies on little to no cobalt, poised to reshape auto economics
7 votes -
The vampire problem: Illustrating the paradox of transformative experience
8 votes -
The history of Ninja Gaiden world records
8 votes -
Peter Dutton opens door to new Australian surveillance of journalists via foreign orders
6 votes -
A spectacularly bad Washington Post story on Apple and Google’s exposure notification project
3 votes -
US GDP doesn’t credit social distancing, but it should
6 votes -
A highly efficient, real-time text-to-speech system deployed on CPUs
2 votes -
Truckers see escalation, results during thirteenth day of Washington protest
9 votes -
Is there any way to filter out users?
I was reading this thread and thinking about my experience with political stuff on Tildes. It seems that issues proposed by the thread often have more to do with individuals than a topic or group....
I was reading this thread and thinking about my experience with political stuff on Tildes. It seems that issues proposed by the thread often have more to do with individuals than a topic or group.
It's a little less obvious now for two reasons 1) usernames are only visible within "link threads" 2) you can only see a limited sections of posts on other peoples profiles.
I'm not knocking those choices I just want to point out that it makes it less easy to general sense of who is posting in a way that you find to be lacking substance or inflammatory.
I would be happy if I could rely on filtering groups from the home page but unfortunately it doesn't take much guile for an individual to politicize virtually any topic that arises in a way that triggers distracting or unpleasant emotions around a discussion.
My questions are:
- Do we have that option to filter out users right now?
- Would that option make your experience on Tildes better?
- Would it be useful to filter a users posts while choosing to allow their comments on other threads?
11 votes -
Facebook to buy Giphy for $400 million
25 votes -
Nitter, JS free interface for Twitter
15 votes -
Victory! ICANN rejects .ORG sale to private equity firm Ethos Capital
22 votes -
Reddit releases "community points", tokens on the Ethereum blockchain awarded for posts - currently available in /r/cryptocurrency and /r/FortniteBR
20 votes -
Cooking food on the internet for fun and profit
7 votes -
Deep Rock Galactic updates their roadmap after the 1.0 release
6 votes -
2020 looks like the year US renewables first out-produce coal
10 votes -
What does it mean to be a ‘Karen’? Karens explain: As the meme has become more prominent online, its meaning has become confused – with real-life Karens caught in the crosshairs
13 votes -
Why did GE Moore disappear from history?
9 votes -
98% of all animal species on Earth have a PR problem
7 votes -
Crusader Kings III will release on September 1, 2020
13 votes -
Have you tried degoogling your Android?
In a pursuit of a more privacy-oriented mobile computing I've installed LineageOS ROM on my phone and decided to try living without Google Play Services, which usually provide aGPS (cell tower...
In a pursuit of a more privacy-oriented mobile computing I've installed LineageOS ROM on my phone and decided to try living without Google Play Services, which usually provide aGPS (cell tower geopositioning), push notifications and lots of other frameworks like Google Maps that apps use as libraries.
My phone has 4 primary uses:
- Communicator - mostly Telegram, WhatsApp and Slack. Email of-course.
- Navigator - GPS and Maps are an irreplaceable tool if you're living in a modern metropolis
- Internet browser - obviously
- Music Player - music on the go
So let's see how you're supposed to tackle each of the uses, while using as much FOSS as possible.
- System functionality - both push notifications and aGPS can be solved by microG - fake Google Play Services library. Not sure how it implements push, but aGPS is checked against Mozilla's geolocation database.
- Communications - Telegram is available on F-Droid (OSS app store), but everything else is not. The solution here is to use Aurora (Play Store front-end to rip APKs) and install them manually. Push notifications might be broken even with microG (WhatsApp is missing notifications for me, sometimes). AOSP email is fine, K9-mail is ugly but works somewhat better.
- Maps and navigation: OpenStreetMap is the obvious choice here and OsmAnd delivers the frontend. It has enough metadata for businesses to get you around, but compared to Google Maps it's can be sometimes lacking and/or out-of-date. Navigation itself is decent, but it's missing timetables for public transportation compared to GMaps, which can be a problem, especially if trains are cancelled or delayed. Overall it's very usable, almost feature complete, but I've found myself falling back to Google Maps in my browser when it comes to using public transport.
- Internet browser - Firefox, with uBlock Origin installed (yes, it works on Android) it's really good.
- Music Player - there are tons of music players available on F-Droid, you can pick whichever suits your needs. Here I actually stepped away from the FOSS and bought myself a PowerAMP license on developer's website. One of the rare moments where paid Android software is available outside of Play Store.
Now that the primary use cases are solved, let's try some other useful apps:
- E-banking? Broken without Google Play, app refuses to even start properly.
- Bike sharing? Taxi app? Public transport app? Broken without Google Maps libraries for the obvious reason. You might or might not be able to use the browser version, depending on the app.
- Reddit Relay/any app that requires the license? Okay you've ripped the APK with Aurora, but you can't buy the license to remove the ads.
- Ebook reader? Nothing good on F-Droid, have to rip something off Aurora.
Basically you have to be prepared to use your mobile browser a lot. And for some of the sites, do it in a "desktop mode" with tiny text, since the mobile version will just nag you to download the app, that might be broken.
The takeaway is simple - you give up A LOT of convenience just to cut off Google analytics (which you still might get with apps like Slack). It's certainly usable, don't get me wrong, but I still feel kind of stupid fumbling with OsmAnd when I'm out with my friends and trying to look something up. I'll probably end up going back to the stock ROM, or just installing the Google Apps. For me it was an experiment and I think I've got a general feel on how much information and use I'm actually getting out of GApps.
So Tildes, have you tried degoogling your phone? How did it go? Are you still using it?
28 votes -
California police used military surveillance tech at grad student strike
11 votes -
Apple Store's temperature checks may violate EU privacy rules, says German data protection office
5 votes