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    1. Tildes UserScript: Comment Link Fix

      I joined Tildes a couple of days ago, and I'm absolutely loving the interface and community. In the last few days of using Tildes, I noticed a particular problem that was mildly annoying; if you...

      I joined Tildes a couple of days ago, and I'm absolutely loving the interface and community.

      In the last few days of using Tildes, I noticed a particular problem that was mildly annoying; if you have the "Collapse old comments when I return to a topic" setting on, and you click on a link that is supposed to lead to a comment in a topic you have already visited, it won't jump to that comment.

      Searching around, I found a post about it from a day ago, in which long-time users have mentioned that it's been a known problem for a while now. In those comments, someone mentioned permalinks as a solution, but it appears that's still in the works.

      For now, I've made a quick userscript that will address this issue (and adds some slight related functionality). It hasn't been thoroughly tested yet, so if any issues occur, please let me know. This userscript is designed to be used with Tampermonkey (a privacy-friendly alternate that should work is ViolentMonkey), which is available in all popular desktop browsers. Installation instructions for Tampermonkey are available on their site (it's installed like any other extension).

      To install the script, you can head to this GitHub Gist which contains the code (click "Raw" to open the TamperMonkey install prompt), or you can copy and paste the code from the following dropdown block into a "New script" on the TamperMonkey dashboard. The dropdown is not guaranteed to contain the latest version.

      Code
      // ==UserScript==
      // @name         Tildes Comment Link Fix
      // @namespace    https://gist.github.com/blankdvth/6da89fff580e8cf6e50f88847ddb5729
      // @version      1.2.0
      // @description  Fixes comment links (anchors) not working as a result of Tildes' comment collapsing feature.
      // @author       blank_dvth
      // @match        https://tildes.net/*
      // @icon         https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?sz=64&domain=tildes.net
      // @grant        none
      // ==/UserScript==
      
      /* 
          USER SETTINGS
          This script is not big enough to warrant a visual settings menu, so adjust settings here.
          true = enable, false = disable
      */
      const alwaysRun_S = false; // If enabled, will always run the script, even if the comment was not collapsed (site works fine in this case). This is useful if you want to make use of the other settings.
      const smoothScroll_S = false; // If enabled, will smoothly (animated) scroll to the comment. If disabled, will jump to the comment.
      const uncollapseIndividual_S = true; // If enabled will uncollapse parent comments into one line instead of fully uncollapsing them.
      const uncollapseChildren_S = true; // If enabled, will uncollapse all children of the comment. If disabled, will leave them collapsed.
      const collapseIrrelevant_S = true; // The script uncollapses all parents to ensure the comment is visible. This will collapse irrelevant (not direct parent) comments again.
      // END OF USER SETTINGS
      
      /**
       * Uncollapses the comment if it is collapsed.
       * @param {HTMLElement} element Article element of the actual comment
       * @param {boolean} individual If true, will "uncollapse" into one line instead of fully uncollapsing
       * @returns {boolean} True if the comment was collapsed, false if it was not
       */
      function uncollapse(element, individual = false) {
          if (element.nodeName !== "ARTICLE") return false;
          var removed = false;
          if (
              !individual &&
              element.classList.contains("is-comment-collapsed-individual")
          ) {
              element.classList.remove("is-comment-collapsed-individual");
              removed = true;
          }
          if (element.classList.contains("is-comment-collapsed")) {
              if (individual)
                  element.classList.add("is-comment-collapsed-individual");
              element.classList.remove("is-comment-collapsed");
              removed = true;
          }
          return removed;
      }
      
      /**
       * Uncollapses all direct parents of the comment.
       * @param {HTMLElement} element Article element of the actual comment
       * @param {boolean} collapseIrrelevant If true, will collapse irrelevant comments again
       * @param {boolean} individual If true, will "uncollapse" into one line instead of fully uncollapsing
       * @returns {boolean} True if any parent was collapsed, false if none were
       */
      function uncollapseParents(element, collapseIrrelevant, individual) {
          const relevant = []; // List of relevant elements (direct parents)
          var wasCollapsed = false; // Whether any parent was collapsed
          while (
              element.parentElement &&
              element.parentElement.nodeName !== "SECTION"
          ) {
              element = element.parentElement;
              relevant.push(element); // Add parent to relevant list
              if (uncollapse(element, individual)) wasCollapsed = true;
              // Collapse all irrelevant sibling comments (if feature enabled)
              if (collapseIrrelevant && element.nodeName === "ARTICLE") {
                  element
                      .querySelectorAll(
                          `article#${element.id} > ol.comment-tree > li.comment-tree-item > article:not(.is-comment-collapsed)`
                      )
                      .forEach((child) => {
                          if (!relevant.includes(child))
                              child.classList.add("is-comment-collapsed");
                      });
              }
          }
          return wasCollapsed;
      }
      
      /**
       * Uncollapses all direct children of the comment.
       * @param {HTMLElement} element Article element of the actual comment
       */
      function uncollapseChildren(element) {
          element
              .querySelectorAll("article.is-comment-collapsed article.is-comment-collapsed-individual")
              .forEach(uncollapse);
      }
      
      (function () {
          if (!location.hash.startsWith("#comment-")) return; // Not a comment hash
          const comment = document.getElementById(location.hash.substring(1)); // Get comment element
          if (!comment) return; // Comment does not exist
          // Uncollapse the comment itself, and it's parents, then perform other actions if needed/enabled
          if (
              uncollapse(comment) |
                  uncollapseParents(
                      comment,
                      collapseIrrelevant_S,
                      uncollapseIndividual_S
                  ) ||
              alwaysRun_S
          ) {
              // Uncollapse all children (if feature enabled)
              if (uncollapseChildren_S) uncollapseChildren(comment);
              // Scroll to the comment
              if (smoothScroll_S) comment.scrollIntoView({ behavior: "smooth" });
              else comment.scrollIntoView();
          }
      })();
      
      Settings Description

      There are comments that already contain short descriptions for each setting in the code, but here are more in-depth descriptions.

      • alwaysRun: By default, the script does not run if the comment and its parents are already uncollapsed (this means the in-built anchor will work as expected). However, when this setting is enabled, the script will still perform the additional options (such as uncollapsing children and collapsing irrelevant).
      • smoothScroll: When enabled, will use a smooth animated scroll. When disabled, will jump directly.
      • uncollapseIndividual: Parent comments need to be uncollapsed in some shape or form in order for the script to work. This allows you to choose what type of uncollapse is used. When enabled, it will uncollapse the parent comments into a single line (shows a short preview). When disabled, it will fully uncollapse the parent comments (everything is visible).
      • uncollapseChildren: When enabled, will automatically uncollapse all child comments (replies) to the linked comment.
      • collapseIrrelevant: When enabled, it will automatically collapse all sibling/cousin comments (comments that have a shared parent but are not directly ancestors of the linked comment)
      Changelog (Last Updated 2023-06-12 22:55 EST)
      • v1.2.0:
        • Prevent entire sibling/cousin chains from being collapsed, only collapse toplevel
        • Ensure individually collapsed children are uncollapsed properly
        • Ensure proper exiting if comment does not exist
      • v1.1.0:
        • First public release
      33 votes
    2. Do you do anything with eye-opening/thought-provoking text content?

      I found it difficult to formulate a topic for this post, but I hope that you'll all "get" what I'm talking about. You're reading something, maybe in a book, maybe an article online, maybe a...

      I found it difficult to formulate a topic for this post, but I hope that you'll all "get" what I'm talking about.

      You're reading something, maybe in a book, maybe an article online, maybe a comment on Tildes, or Reddit, or a Tweet, anything really.

      Do you do anything with it? Do you save it somehow? Do you write it out in a dedicated notebook? Do you share it? If you do, how do you share it?

      I'd love to hear about your approaches to this topic, the tools you use, what you like and don't like about your current workflows, the types of content you like to save, how you share it both with people that are close to you in real life, people who are close to you online, and maybe even strangers?

      Also, how do you use it once it all ends up wherever it ends up? Do you even use it? Or do you just like the feeling of curating your own personal archive of things you read that meant something to you at some point?

      I'll get the ball rolling:

      I've gone through a long journey with this myself, starting with bookmarking older services like Instapaper and Pinboard, trying out newer services like Readwise before eventually creating my own (totally worth all the time it took to create now that I have my own "perfect workflow" to save everything from Kindle highlights to Tildes comments!)

      I learn a lot from high quality comments online, so it's really important for me to be able to save them, however, I don't trust the built-in functions on sites like Twitter, Reddit etc. (for reasons hopefully now obvious 😅), and because I like to be able to search through them all in one place easily.

      The main reason that I refer back to them is usually because I want to share something in conversation (either in person or online), and it's nice to be able to link to the source text quickly. I also like to be able to give people a glimpse into what I'm reading on topics that are important to me, and recently I'm thinking that the best way to do this is to go back to the 90s/00s and embed RSS feeds of my saved highlights on my website, split by topic.

      I'm generally okay with the idea that I'm never going to "use" everything I save for anything particularly big or grand; it just feels nice to have a trail of text content that has been influencing my thinking over a long time period to look back on from time to time.

      17 votes
    3. Bags and backpacks! What do you look for, what do you use?

      Recently I've found myself with my previous backpack running through its life, and its not something I'm confident I could repair myself. As such, I'm on the search for a new daily bag. I'm...

      Recently I've found myself with my previous backpack running through its life, and its not something I'm confident I could repair myself. As such, I'm on the search for a new daily bag. I'm curious what others look for in a daily bag for work or school, and what options people like right now.

      58 votes
    4. Film and feelings: Stalker (1979)

      I recently acquired the criterion release of Stalker (1979), a film I have not seen since I was a teenager. I remember liking it back then, but I didn't appreciate how much it would simultaneously...

      I recently acquired the criterion release of Stalker (1979), a film I have not seen since I was a teenager. I remember liking it back then, but I didn't appreciate how much it would simultaneously wash over me as well as work it's way into the back of my mind, like an eel of a tone poem.

      For those who have not seen Stalker, it is a journey of three men into a mysterious and beautiful "Zone" in search of their deepest desires.
      I full throatedly recommend. Gorgeous film.

      While the symbolism has been thoroughly discussed elsewhere on the internet, a less talked about aspect (of this and other films) is how it makes the viewer feel.

      For me personally, the three moments that most affected me on a visceral level all involve people lying down.
      Why, I'm not sure.
      But they are: The scene where The Stalker lays in the tall grass, I felt such a calm bliss as he soaked in the lush green nature of The Zone;
      The scene where The Stalker sleeps on a tiny dry piece of ground in a large flooded canal, I felt a sense of sublime misery. The only thing I could compare it to is when you get suddenly awoken when you haven't had enough sleep, and have to go out into the cold early morning still nodding off, and nothing feels real;
      and third is the lingering shot of the dog sitting guard over the entwined bodies near The Room.
      I felt a profound longing sadness. I imagined that the entwined lovers died together in some relation to their deepest desire.

      I really love films that wash over the viewer in this way like a tide, and I hope that some of you do as well.

      Another film that has a similar aspect is Upstream Color (2013), and while the creative mind behind that film is....perhaps a mentally unwell abuser, I can't dismiss the art he has created. I guess my relationship with his work is complicated.

      How do you Feel about stalker?

      Are there any films that had a similar effect on you as this one did to me?

      Always looking for recommendations!

      19 votes
    5. With Map in hand : Finding maps for your VTT RPG

      I've been GMing games for years and over the last few transitioned to Online VTT, first Cypher System, then PF2e. My first online campaign was a little off the wall, magic versus technology,...

      I've been GMing games for years and over the last few transitioned to Online VTT, first Cypher System, then PF2e. My first online campaign was a little off the wall, magic versus technology, barbarian party learning that guns and space battles were a thing, aliens and robotic overloads.

      What's more my party tended to blow up stuff and wreck most maps in one session, so in the end I got into making maps or desperately looking for maps everywhere I could.

      So, I thought maybe people could use some of what I've found in their own searches (disclaimer, I don't sell any of my maps, free to all, and I have no connection with any of the pay-for ones, but I've subscribed to most of them at one time or another!)

      Map Tools

      The idea in VTT RPG is to make a map image and import that into your game tool (Such as Roll20 or Foundry) then overlay tiles, tokens, walls etc onto it. The single map image is most, if not all of what you need.

      This is just a short list of what I have tried, lots more than this out there.
      • Dungeondraft One of the best mapping programs and the one I use the most. Offline and stand alone, also encompasses a good default art style of the base assets
      • Inkarnate Online tool that requires a subscription, pretty good, I started out with it and sill occasionally use to make world maps rather than battle maps but can do both.
      • Wonderdraft Dungeondraft but for world maps. I do not make enough of these to have warranted buying it so never tried it
      • Dungeon Alchemist A "AI" driven map creator in Early Access. Can knock out stuff in seconds but I don't like the art style. Good if you need a dungeon in 5 minutes

      Map styles

      There are a couple of popular styles if you are picky about that sort of thing, though mostly important if you want to make your own maps and are looking for asset packs.

      The asset styles you find seem to fall in roughly two forms:

      • Dungeondraft default style. Flat. Line art, less detail
      • Forgotten Adventures (short form FA) Still hand drawn (not rendered) but more detailed computer art style

      Some people prefer the first style due to simplicity, others like the second but some may find it more gamey.

      There is also the "rendered" style that Dungeon Alchemist uses, but that's REALLY gamey to my eyes. I believe there are third party libraries for it but never really looked.

      Lastly, there is the unique art style of hard drawn art that lots of artist draw their battle maps in.

      When I chose a style I went Forgotten Adventures. You can't really mix the two main ones when making your own map, looks horrible. I also found that of the various styles, FA could be matched with many hand drawn styles.

      Maps

      Ok the meat, and what I meant to post before I got side tracked!

      Note most of the sites I am posting above can be used offline on a table top game by just printing the maps out, though I've never tried this.

      My own maps tend heavily towards space and the magic/tech mix due to the campaign. They are in the Forgotten Adventures style. Free to use, including the ones on my Patreon (DON'T SUBSCRIBE TO IT! I started working on making more maps but then got too involved in GMing the game and ran out of time)

      • My main free library ~35 maps, space, ground, some bunkers and others. All in WEBP for faster loading
      • My Patreon, no subscribe! Only take! Only a few maps and then the campaign finished, space ships mostly and then it gets weird if you go back further and find it was a MMORPG Kit tutorial Patreon :/

      Other peoples maps amazing I've found!

      Science Fiction or Modern

      These maps cover mostly futuristic themes such as cyberpunk, world war 2, space ships and so on
      • Hyperdrive Fleet An AMAZING selection of space ships, engine rooms, and space shipy related stuff.
      • Moonlight Maps Scifi A paired Patreon channel to the Moonlight below but for scifi maps. Building interiors, some assets (Vehicles for example), space forests, malls. Flatish style with few shadows?
      • de-Zigner Um, steam punk art? Really cool hand drawn art style, I guess has a mix between modern punk and undead fantasy things.
      • Cracked|Compass This is not the entire library for this mapper, but they do some AMAZING World War 2 maps and several are available on their Inkarnate page. More are available on Reddit in various posts

      Fantasy

      Basic fantasy maps, ruins, temples and the like. Useful for most games
      • Forgotten Adventures A medium size collection of Fantasy maps with some great maps, and has some integration with Foundry complete with walls and actions to switch out parts of some maps on the fly (if you are into that sort of thing)
      • Limithron Lots of pirate ships, islands, water and sea based maps, boats, whales.
      • Cze and Peku Fantasy stuff, hand drawn so may not fit with your campaign style but a LOT of art, A little closer to the Dungeondraft style than FA, LOTS of fantasy stuff, temples, ruins, some ships.
      • Moonlight Maps Again generic (good) fantasy stuff, temples, ruins, villages. Lot of art available, style is of the school of flat line art more than anything.
      • Tom Cartos Has a large asset library which pairs well with FA assets but the maps are what we are here for. Has been expanding recently into 3D scene pictures to accompany the maps recently. Lots of temples, dungeons, inns, villages etc.
      • Bearworks FA style? Lots of fantasy items, had a lot of desert maps which is what I was attracted to. Otherwise standard dungeons and ruins. They do come in very high PPI if required
      • Seafoot games Lots of maps here in a flat DD style. Got some audio mixs. I used their shipwreck maps for a while.
      • Stained Karbon Very stylistic cartoon hand drawn maps of the most bizarre stuff. I've grabbed a few of the free ones but never had the chance to use them. If you need a sword driven through 4 maps of various styles of terrain, then this is the map maker for you
      • Ataraxian Bear VERY clean lined cartoon maps, lots of water and islands. Slightly different style from most but still very nice art so unless you are fussy there are some nice maps here!
      • Borough Bound Some large scale project maps here, as in entire cities with all the moving parts, campaign information, stories, multiple parts of the city etc. You can grab a selection and have a entire city for your players to explore.

      Speciality environments

      These are specific mappers that may concentrate on one unique game theme
      • Gamers Cortex Lots of battle maps of flying wooden sailing ships, all with wings, above and below decks images. They are also beginning to include Foundry VTT files with walls and lights.

      Phased Battle Maps

      Ok this is a niche thing, most of these mappers make various map types, scifi, modern or fantasy, but what sets them aside is the maps come in variants, phases, so you can change the map over time, say every combat round, as the environment changes. Water flowing in and flooding a village, a fire burning down a town hall, bridges breaking etc.
      • Domille's Wondrous Works The main reason Phased battle maps exist! DWW has a lot of these but also has an addon for Foundry to help you use them. I've used a lot of their maps over the years and found the addon stable and works well. Drawn in their own hand drawn art style.
      • Balatro A good alternative to DWW above, lots of maps, Nice style similar to FA in the later maps, more like Dungeondraft in earlier. Boat battles, buildings struck my lightening. List goes on

      Asset Libraries

      Collections of assets to be used when MAKING maps
      • Forgotten Adventures the main alternative for most map makers to the default assets. This is an amazing selection of art,
      • White Fox Works basically just an asset library all matching the FA assets nicely. They started I believe to fill the gaps of FA assets and have done some REALLY well... ALong with FA this is the single most important asset library in my toolkit.
      • Tom Cartos Mentioned in maps but he has a asset library that pairs well with the FA style. Mostly Fantasy but a small section is scifi which I abused a lot in my maps.
      • Hellscape Assets Mostly scifi assets, does not fit the FA style all that well but has a lot of art so may be worth trying. May work with DD style? Some maps, some modern stuff
      • Captain Tom Asset Emporium Amazing Sci-Fi asset packs, many options but a little flatter than FA assets. Can be made to work with FA but more like the DD style

      Tokens

      Ok forgot about these, tokens for player and NPCS!
      • Forgotten Adventures Again FA! Lots of tokens, monsters etc. Lots are free and variants cost money
      • The League of Raconteur Explorers (LORE) A mixture of assets, scifi, maybe steampunk-ish. All really nice and varied. The assets are available FREE from their discord but the Patreon allows you to support the artist and download the assets in a better format and nicely catalogued
      • de-Zigner Some amazing tokens, very stylistic so may not match other token you are using unless you use these for the entire campaign, and honestly you could. Plague zombies, cyber warriors and cyborgs. Lots to unpack here.

      Animations

      Animated movies/gifs etc that can be overlaid on your maps to provide some bling. Fire, explosions etc
      • JB2A Animations If you want to animate spells etc in your game I've only tried JB2A. Free ones and endless updated every month! There may be others but I never needed to look!

      There is more than this of course, but I just wanted to put down what I'd found. Hope it helps someone!

      18 votes
    6. What whisky/whiskey have you been enjoying, and what's your opinion on them?

      What have you been drinking, sipping and enjoying, in the world of whisky/whiskey spirits lately? Discussion about Scotch whisky, Irish whiskey, international whiskey, bourbon, etc. are all...

      What have you been drinking, sipping and enjoying, in the world of whisky/whiskey spirits lately? Discussion about Scotch whisky, Irish whiskey, international whiskey, bourbon, etc. are all welcome. Please don't just make a list of titles, give some thoughts, reviews, and tales about the spirits if you like!

      I myself was thoroughly surprised at a whisky bar today with the Hatozaki 12. I went to the bar to try out my first Japanese whiskey's and found Hatozaki 12. It was absolutely lovely, bottled with integrity and at a fair price ($8/oz). I was not expecting such fruity and floral notes. I tried out a few from Nikka and Suntory and was not impressed. The Nikka Yoichi tasted off and a wee bit musty. The Suntory felt too light and like it belongs in a highball. I am looking forward to continuing the journey of exploration with Japanese whisky in the future. It is a stark change from the Islay Scotch whisky I drink regularly.

      • Hatozaki 12 - Small Batch - Umeshu Cask: 87/100
        Owner: Akashi Sake Brewery LTD
        Region: Kaikyo Distillery, Akashi City, Hyogo, Japan
        Nose: Vanilla, honey, floral, cream, red apple, fresh fruit
        Palate: Vanilla, toffee, cherry blossom, peaches in cream, lavender
        Finish: Vanilla, floral, lavender, cream linger for several minutes after
        Note: Non-chill filtered, Natural Color, 46% ABV, speyside feel with some added bonus

      My grading chart:

      • 98 – 100 (A+) = Booze Nirvana.
        This is the promised land where every sense is satisfied and, unless it’s a perfect 100, you have to search and nit-pick for what’s wrong instead of what’s right about this whiskey because it’s so on point.
      • 93 – 97 (A) = Exceptional – Superior in every way
        These are the best of the best and within spitting distance of Nirvana. They embody everything that category is about and then elevate it to another level. These are ones I HIGHLY recommend.
      • 90 – 92 (A-) = Excellent – want to buy a case
        Whiskeys that hit this rating are extra awesome. They’re delicious and complex Daily Drinkers and even though they are not quite best-in-class, they’re among my favorite whiskeys and I would wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone at any time.
      • 87 – 89 (B+) = Great – always want to have a bottle
        These are whiskeys that as soon as you taste them you say, “I want to own a bottle” and if you already own the bottle, you just smile because it’s yours. It’s not a record breaker by any means, just a good solid delicious whiskey.
      • 83 – 86 (B) = Good – not a “must”, but a nice-to-have
        The majority of my baselines are found here. This range is where the “daily drinker” status starts to emerge and where I find whiskies that’re good to drink but may rotate in and out of my collection. They’re not something you’d miss when it’s out, but good enough to give a moment’s consideration when at the liquor store.
      • 80 – 82 (B-) = Not-too-bad – no major flaws, worth tasting
        This is the stuff I’d recommend you try at the bar or at a friend’s house before buying a bottle. There’s nothing really wrong with it, it’s just not
 quite
 there.
      • 77 – 79 (C+) = Average – not good, not bad, just is
        There might be some minor flaws, all-in-all it’s not offensive, but it might be boring. There’s just nothing at all noteworthy about this whiskey. Would recommend to starters.
      • 73 – 76 (C) = Below average – drinkable, but better as a mixer / party booze
        It’s not like you or I actually WANT to drink this stuff, but sometimes you’re at a wedding or a shitty bar and it just happens to be there, and a beer just doesn’t sound great, so you grin and bear a glass or, when possible, ask for it in a cocktail. If the bartender sucks, you might even take a bit of solace in the knowledge that they didn’t ruin a good whiskey with their terrible cocktail.
      • 70 – 72 (C-) = Not good – nearly undrinkable, wonder why the hell they made it
        When I drink this stuff, I wonder if the Master Distiller is actually proud of what they’ve put out or if it’s something they just shove out to make a quick buck. I then wonder about the person who habitually buy it and wonder what admirable qualities they find in it that I can’t.
      • 60 – 69 (D) = The only thing this should be used for is making Jungle Juice, and even then, Seriously, I start to wonder if it’s even safe for human consumption at this point. - It’s just plain vile.
      • 59 – 0 (F) = Horrifically flawed – the worst
        This is when I call the FDA because I’m pretty damn sure it’s not safe to drink this swill.
      35 votes
    7. Suggestion: Show number of times a tag has been used

      Roughly knowing how many times each tag has been used would provide users actionable information if they would like to search or filter by tags. It might improve UX when applying tags, but might...

      Roughly knowing how many times each tag has been used would provide users actionable information if they would like to search or filter by tags.

      It might improve UX when applying tags, but might have undesirable side effects in user behavior.

      I can think of three places this might be implemented, and I don't know which, if any, we want:

      When filtering topics by tags:

      • informs users how large or small their scope is
      • this view should probably be kept somewhat up to date

      When looking at a topic's tags:

      • informs users where to start searching/filtering
      • passively builds a frame of reference for how tags are used?
      • this view could be allowed to become outdated and stale without issue

      When applying tags

      • a more common tag might be less accurate, but it might be more helpful?
      • in the auto fill issue weight by frequency was proposed, which is somewhat similar but more opaque
      • this should probably use pretty recent counts as well
      17 votes
    8. Are there any After Effects users here? Let's get a thread going for AE Q&A.

      I've been an After Effects user for 20+ years and I like to help people who are looking to learn. I would just ask that anyone asking a question has done due diligence searching for an answer...

      I've been an After Effects user for 20+ years and I like to help people who are looking to learn. I would just ask that anyone asking a question has done due diligence searching for an answer already.
      I also use 3D Studio Max and Vray.

      23 votes
    9. Any recommendations that are on audiobooks.com?

      I'm big on audiobooks and trying to move away from the Audible monopoly starting with the book "Chokepoint Capitalism" (which is about monopolies like that). Unfortunately, the smaller library is...

      I'm big on audiobooks and trying to move away from the Audible monopoly starting with the book "Chokepoint Capitalism" (which is about monopolies like that).

      Unfortunately, the smaller library is hampered even more by the dodgy search (I just finished two books in a trilogy, why are you showing me the spanish translations of the author's other books?) and I'm struggling to fill my wishlist which has never been a problem on Audible.

      So far I'm really liking Chokepoint Capitalism but looking for any suggestions once that's done. I've read a decent amount of mainstream fantasy (Stormlight archive, Wheel of Time, Robin Hobb, Tolkien), some popular scifi (Aasimov, w40k stuff, recently enjoyed "Armor" by Steakly), a lot of light nonfiction about finance, history and pop psychology ("The Big Short" or anything by Michael Lewis, "Debt: The first 5000 years", "Girt", "The man who mistook his wife for a hat") and have recently been on a big Ken Follett kick (historical fantasy?)

      Any good listens that I should give a go?

      PS. sorry for sounding like a shill post for audiobooks.com. I swear I'm not trying to drive clicks that's just the name of the company and recent Brandon Sanderson drama has made me aware of how much power Amazon has over the only way I consume literature nowadays

      13 votes
    10. New users: Ask your questions about Tildes here!

      This thread is officially retired. Please see the new version to ask any new questions. We have a lot of new users joining the site. Welcome to Tildes! This thread is for you to ask any question...

      This thread is officially retired. Please see the new version to ask any new questions.


      We have a lot of new users joining the site. Welcome to Tildes!

      This thread is for you to ask any question you have about the site, from “what is the moderation philosophy?”to “what does that blue line next to some comments mean?” to “what is the general vibe like here?” Tildes has a lot of documentation, history, and embedded social norms that can be daunting or opaque at first glance, so here’s your opportunity to get help with anything you need.

      Questions about anything and everything are fair game. Follow-up questions are encouraged! No question is too simple.

      Also, a quick note: the only person who can speak in any official capacity on Tildes is our admin @Deimos. Everyone answering who is NOT him is just a helpful community member!

      EDIT: To be clear, is perfectly okay to ask any question — even if you think it’s been asked before, or even if you didn’t search for an answer beforehand. There are an overwhelming number of comments here to sift through, so don’t worry about trying to read all of them. Just ask away, and someone will answer you!

      294 votes
    11. AlbumLove recommendations thread: June 2023

      Choose one album that you love that you think deserves more love Tell us what it is, and why. Previous posts in series Additional Details What is this? It's a new post series I'm trying out! Each...

      Choose one album
      that you love
      that you think deserves more love

      Tell us what it is, and why.


      Previous posts in series


      Additional Details

      What is this?

      It's a new post series I'm trying out! Each month people can use the AlbumLove thread to post an album they love and explore those posted by others.

      I'm planning to put up a new AlbumLove thread on the first of each month for a few months to see how these go as a trial run. If people like it we can keep it going — if they don’t it’ll fizzle out and I’ll stop.

      Why AlbumLove?

      In this day and age, algorithmic recommendations for music are easy to come by, and it's trivial to seek out new music that interests you by searching online. AlbumLove offers an opportunity to sift through music loved by others, including those who might have divergent tastes from you. Think of this as an opportunity to listen outside of your comfort zone, with music that you know someone else adores, from a small pool of thoughtful hand-selected options.

      What do I post?

      Any album that you love and that you feel deserves more appreciation. There are no restrictions on genre, year, or anything else, and nothing is “too popular” or “too niche”. If you think it needs more love — for whatever reason — then it’s welcome in AlbumLove.

      Name the artist and the album, and then, most importantly, share what you love about the album. It could be the music itself, but it could also be your associations with it -- maybe the album reminds you of someone you love, or you saw the band live and got a new appreciation for the studio songs.

      Also, commenting on others' recommendations is encouraged! If you love something that someone else shared, let them know!

      Do I have to listen to what everyone else posts?

      Nope. You don't have to listen to anything if you don't want to. This is about creating a menu of options that people can explore as they wish.

      Can I post more than one album in a month?

      Nope. Limit one! This helps us be more selective about what we choose, as well as preventing the threads from getting flooded with too many contributions to keep track of.

      Why albums and not songs/artists?

      I like albums. :)

      Seriously though, I feel like it's a very different thing to like an album as a whole versus a few songs or just an artist's general vibe. I like the idea of quantizing music for appreciation in the same way we might do with books or movies.

      What about EPs?

      Fair game!

      27 votes
    12. Who here is a homeowner?

      After my lease is up in my current apartment, I am hoping to purchase a home somewhere in the US and am just now in the beginning stages. I'm not too far into my search but am generally looking...

      After my lease is up in my current apartment, I am hoping to purchase a home somewhere in the US and am just now in the beginning stages. I'm not too far into my search but am generally looking for 2-3 bedroom with 1.5 bath, a basement, and a decent backyard. My budget is <$250k and I am looking at east Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, and maybe Michigan. Fortunately, I work from home and am not terribly dependent on being near a job, but unfortunately it seems like all houses have exploded in price the past 3 years in pretty much every area. It is crazy to look at a house that sold in 2019 for $100k being listed now at the top of my budget at $250k! It kind of makes me want to put in an offer at 65% of the listing price for some of these egregious increases. Especially as the higher interest rates making the house way more expensive than what they originally purchased at when the rates were at all time lows. It seems like the market for a $150k starter home is non-existent for most parts of the country these days.

      • Anyways, I was curious who here is a homeowner?

      • What is your experience like going from renting to buying, or if you were a homeowner and went back to renting?

      • What are some things you wish that you had known to do prior and what advice would you give yourself back then?

      • How long did you search and how long are you planning to stay in your home?

      • What do you think of the current market dynamics? Is there any hope for prices to come back down to Earth?

      • Any other thoughts you want to share?

      24 votes
    13. AlbumLove recommendations thread: May 2023

      Meta note: this series has been restarted by request. Choose one album that you love that you think deserves more love Tell us what it is, and why. Previous posts in series Additional Details What...

      Meta note: this series has been restarted by request.

      Choose one album
      that you love
      that you think deserves more love

      Tell us what it is, and why.


      Previous posts in series


      Additional Details

      What is this?

      It's a new post series I'm trying out! Each month people can use the AlbumLove thread to post an album they love and explore those posted by others.

      I'm planning to put up a new AlbumLove thread on the first of each month for a few months to see how these go as a trial run. If people like it we can keep it going — if they don’t it’ll fizzle out and I’ll stop.

      Why AlbumLove?

      In this day and age, algorithmic recommendations for music are easy to come by, and it's trivial to seek out new music that interests you by searching online. AlbumLove offers an opportunity to sift through music loved by others, including those who might have divergent tastes from you. Think of this as an opportunity to listen outside of your comfort zone, with music that you know someone else adores, from a small pool of thoughtful hand-selected options.

      What do I post?

      Any album that you love and that you feel deserves more appreciation. There are no restrictions on genre, year, or anything else, and nothing is “too popular” or “too niche”. If you think it needs more love — for whatever reason — then it’s welcome in AlbumLove.

      Name the artist and the album, and then, most importantly, share what you love about the album. It could be the music itself, but it could also be your associations with it -- maybe the album reminds you of someone you love, or you saw the band live and got a new appreciation for the studio songs.

      Also, commenting on others' recommendations is encouraged! If you love something that someone else shared, let them know!

      Do I have to listen to what everyone else posts?

      Nope. You don't have to listen to anything if you don't want to. This is about creating a menu of options that people can explore as they wish.

      Can I post more than one album in a month?

      Nope. Limit one! This helps us be more selective about what we choose, as well as preventing the threads from getting flooded with too many contributions to keep track of.

      Why albums and not songs/artists?

      I like albums. :)

      Seriously though, I feel like it's a very different thing to like an album as a whole versus a few songs or just an artist's general vibe. I like the idea of quantizing music for appreciation in the same way we might do with books or movies.

      What about EPs?

      Fair game!

      6 votes
    14. Tildes Pop-Up Game Event: Demo Disc Days

      Pop-Up Event: Demo Disc Days Today we are going to take a trip back to the 90s, when the best way to try out new games was to use a now-antiquated piece of magical circular plastic that you might...

      Pop-Up Event: Demo Disc Days

      Today we are going to take a trip back to the 90s, when the best way to try out new games was to use a now-antiquated piece of magical circular plastic that you might have gotten along with your subscription to something like PC Gamer, PlayStation Underground, or the Official Sega Dreamcast Magazine.

      The demo disc offered gamers a small taste of a variety of different games, letting you try out the beginning levels of lots of different titles in hopes that you'd find ones you like and buy the full games.

      One of the most iconic demo discs actually came with the PlayStation console itself, and featured its games laid out in a grid. This is the format we'll be exploring in this pop-up: it's our taste of the 90s, but with the games of today or yesterday or ten years ago.


      Community Task: Together, we will create our own modern demo disc by filling in cells in the grid below. To fill in a cell, you must "demo" a game, which consists of:

      • playing the beginning of a game,
      • that you have never played before,
      • for at least 30 minutes.

      Choose an unfilled category below, find a game to demo that fits it, and report back here with your thoughts once you've done so! Once you successfully demo a game, it gets put into that slot.

      At the end of the pop-up, we will have what may very well be the first demo disc of the 2020s featuring a spread of 42 games across multiple styles and genres!

      Arcade RPG Strategy Puzzle Racing Platformer Simulation
      Casual (casual arcade) (casual rpg) 112 Operator Tricky Towers Tanuki Sunset Lunistice shapez
      Colorful Chippy (colorful rpg) (colorful strategy) Can of Wormholes You Suck at Parking (colorful platformer) Stacklands
      Story Rich (story rich arcade) (story rich rpg) (story rich strategy) Strange Horticulture (story rich racing) (Reserved) Lakeburg Legacies
      Retro Gunlocked (retro rpg) (retro strategy) Zombie Night Terror Vecter (retro platformer) (retro simulation)
      Dark (dark arcade) (dark rpg) Ring of Pain The Room Three (dark racing) (dark platformer) (dark simulation)
      Great Soundtrack (great soundtrack arcade) (great soundtrack rpg) (great soundtrack strategy) (great soundtrack puzzle) (great soundtrack racing) (great soundtrack platformer) X4: Foundations

      Additional Info: The styles and genres have been taken from among the list of Steam's most popular tags (with a slight preference for things that give a more 90s feel). You can use Steam's search tool or Steam's library filtering to find games that fit two tags simultaneously.

      If you don't use Steam, that's fine too! A game doesn't have to be "officially" tagged to fit its category. If you feel the game fits, then go for it -- no matter what platform you're playing it on. PC games are fine; console games are fine; emulated games are fine; web games are fine; phone games are fine. Any and all games are welcome on our demo disc!

      Also, the game does not have to be a modern game -- just new to you. If the game is playable today and can be demoed, then it works for our demo disc!

      Finally, it is fine to demo more than one game for the event. In fact, please do! We’ve got a lot of slots to fill!


      Uh, what is this exactly?

      It's a temporary event aimed at getting members of the Tildes community to individually participate in something built around a common theme or goal.

      Check out the previous Pop-Ups for other examples:

      Ludonostalgia! for ~games
      Feelin' 22 for ~music
      Twenty-Twenty Vision for ~movies

      13 votes
    15. Flight deal services?

      Ever since I moved to a place with an airport nearby, I've been wondering about those flight deal sites -- the ones like Scott's Cheap Flights, Mighty Travels, Thrifty Traveler, Faredrop, Secret...

      Ever since I moved to a place with an airport nearby, I've been wondering about those flight deal sites -- the ones like Scott's Cheap Flights, Mighty Travels, Thrifty Traveler, Faredrop, Secret Flying, Dollar Flight Club, etc (those are just the ones I found off a Reddit thread on r/TravelHacks).
      Has anyone here had any experience with these paid services?

      Also, does anyone know of a way I can search for a start and end point, and find other airports nearby to fly out of for much cheaper? I remember having used such a site earlier but cannot for the life of me remember its name now :-(

      6 votes
    16. Where is a good place to get commissioned artwork?

      I have a gift idea for my husband that involves commissioning some specific custom artwork (Pokémon-themed, in case that matters!). I did some cursory searches and turned up results on Etsy and...

      I have a gift idea for my husband that involves commissioning some specific custom artwork (PokĂ©mon-themed, in case that matters!). I did some cursory searches and turned up results on Etsy and Fiverr, but some of these look like they’re automated and are suspiciously inexpensive. Other offers on those sites look more promising, but I’m not even sure if Etsy/Fiverr are where I should even look in the first place.

      I’m happy to pay an artist for their work and want this to be something of quality. I’m also fine with waiting on it — some of the stuff I’ve found so far looks tailored for speed.

      What’s the best place I should look with quality artists who I can pay fairly for their work?

      7 votes
    17. Help me understand how I feel about a particular style of watch

      There's a type of watch that's very popular. It has a clean, clear, design. It's definitely a classic. I have mixed feelings about it because of the origins of the design. The watch is big. I has...

      There's a type of watch that's very popular. It has a clean, clear, design. It's definitely a classic. I have mixed feelings about it because of the origins of the design.

      The watch is big. I has a black dial with white numbers and index marks. At the 12 o'clock position there's a triangle. There's plenty of lume on the dial. They usually have a leather strap, and that strap often has two rivets.

      Sometimes the dial has two index rings, the inner ring has hour markings and the outer ring has minute markings.

      IWC makes the most well known example: https://www.iwc.com/en/watch-collections/pilot-watches/iw329301-big-pilots-watch-43.html

      There are lots of homages:

      https://whamond.com/products/laco-watch-pilot-original-heidelberg-39-862094?variant=20123598716982&currency=GBP&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google+shopping&gclid=CjwKCAiAp7GcBhA0EiwA9U0mtgW5zl3U-UDVpOj2xzQugfY8gjG7C01nWLIjDNRRPNV9C5Ybim0tFRoCrtUQAvD_BwE

      https://www.jurawatches.co.uk/products/laco-watch-pilot-basic-aachen-42-861690-2?utm_medium=PPC&utm_campaign=Shopping&variant=10940401025060&sfdr_ptcid=3694_524_461850736&sfdr_hash=d57409f84f1ff15872832c2e5817a3ae&gclid=CjwKCAiAp7GcBhA0EiwA9U0mtpzVPcdQyfLtQzP4-E5jrfi5c7FKYtNrpJD8SnV0DqRqgYthNF70PBoCXgcQAvD_BwE

      https://shop.diywatch.club/products/new-arrival-diy-watchmaking-kit-f01-lite-vintage-pilot-watch-with-date?variant=42068938358997

      https://www.watchshop.com/watches/mens-sekonda-aviator-watch-3347.pdp

      https://mwcwatches.com/products/vintage-ww2-style-german-pilots-watch-1

      This style of watch is called "B Uhr", or "B Uhren"and you get many results if you use that search term. It's German, and it's an abbreviation for "Beobachtungs-uhren" which means "observation watch".

      My problem with the watch is that is that it was specifically designed for the Luftwaffe in WW2.

      https://monochrome-watches.com/the-history-of-the-pilot-watch-part-five-b-uhr/

      After the war other airforces, including the British RAF, started using very similar watches.

      Most watch sellers do not celebrate the Nazi history of the watch. But some do: https://b-uhr.com/en/collection/b-uhr-luftwaffe-flieger-chronograph.html

      So, I don't know how I feel about this watch. Can its clean design be appreciated when I know of its Nazi link? Can I separate the creator from the product?

      8 votes
    18. Looking for smallish feature suggestions for an open source project

      I'm thinking about increasing the level of my open source contributions a bit. Instead of searching blindly until I stumble upon an issue that: A) Piques my interest B) I feel somewhat qualified...

      I'm thinking about increasing the level of my open source contributions a bit. Instead of searching blindly until I stumble upon an issue that:
      A) Piques my interest
      B) I feel somewhat qualified to implement

      I figured I'd check with the tildes community. Is there any Open Source software that you use that is missing a feature/capability? Can you give a brief description of it (bonus points for links to an issue tracker with an open ticket :))?

      Can't of course promise anything will come of it, but if I do pick up your suggestion at least I'll give you a ping if I make any progress!

      7 votes
    19. Choosing a good e-reader for studying

      I started studying again this semester, and have to read a lot of stuff because of it. As we get nearly all our Books as PDF and reading on my notebook or my phone gets tiering quite fast. So I'm...

      I started studying again this semester, and have to read a lot of stuff because of it.
      As we get nearly all our Books as PDF and reading on my notebook or my phone gets tiering quite fast. So I'm thinking about getting myself an e-reader to make things go easier.

      So i tried to find some ressources to learn about e-readers, but the internet (or search engines) these days seem to suck.
      So maybe my lovely tildes can help.

      must haves:
      can read PDF
      needs to make reading this "shitty" two colums pages my PDF have good and easy

      nice to haves:
      FOSS
      Backlight

      can somebody help me out? or do you know about a resource where I can learn about the pro and cons of the different e-readers, I'm starting with close to 0 knowlege as I never thoght I will need one, I generally prefere to read proper books.

      5 votes
    20. One month with Kagi search

      Toward the end of August, I signed up for a trial of Kagi -- a privacy-focused search engine. You get 50 free searches, and then, if you want to continue, you can convert to a paid account at $10...

      Toward the end of August, I signed up for a trial of Kagi -- a privacy-focused search engine.

      You get 50 free searches, and then, if you want to continue, you can convert to a paid account at $10 a month.

      I mentioned here that I wasn't planning on converting to paid, as $10/month felt very steep and I didn't think I could make it my default search on my iOS phone, but @pallas's comment here ultimately made me want to give it a try.

      Thus, I dropped the $10 bucks to turn the free trial into a paid one-month trial.

      I'm very glad that I did.

      The free trial itself was actually not very convincing to me. Knowing that I had limited searches and not wanting to run through them more than I needed, my searches were in the single digits each day. I was very judicious about what I searched and how I typed it. Furthermore, I kicked myself if I instinctively typed something like "imdb everything everywhere all at once" into Firefox's search bar instead of going to imdb.com and then typing in the movie title, as that meant I'd wasted 2% of my allotment on what wasn't technically a search but more of an internet navigation optimization.

      On the searches I did I felt like I got good results, but I wasn't sure if that was because of the quality of the service or if it was because I'd simply thought more about what I was actually typing in. Also, the trial made me way too aware that I was searching with limited queries to really make me feel at ease about actually using the service.

      Now that I've paid for a month, however, I've just used it as a stand-in for how I used to use DuckDuckGo -- "wikipedia steam deck"-style searches and all.

      Kagi doesn't track your search contents, but they do track your number of searches. I have completed roughly 400 searches this month, which Kagi says costs roughly $5.00 out of the $10.00 that I paid them. I don't know nearly enough about any of this to know whether this is an accurate accounting of actual costs or overstating things, but I will say that the $10 price that I initially felt was steep has looked a lot more worth spending after a month on the service.

      Kagi generally finds what I'm looking for within the first link. If it's not the top link, it's in the top 3. Furthermore, it seems to dredge up less junk. With DuckDuckGo, I loved that I wasn't being tracked for the purposes of advertising, but it felt like DDG had no problem serving me pages that were built specifically for that purpose. I'd often look up product reviews and get re-routed to sites that appeared to be nothing more than machine-generated lists of recommendations with Amazon affiliate links. I've had to deal with less of these while on Kagi. Some of them still come up, but they're either further down the rankings or they're put into their own "Listicles" section.

      Where Kagi really shines though, is local searches. Pretty much the only time I would bang through to Google from DDG was for local stuff. I don't know if it's my location in particular, but DDG is not great about giving me things that are specific to my area, often preferring to give me a smattering of things that are from similarly named locales from elsewhere around the world. Kagi, on the other hand, gives me the kind of local results I get from Google.

      Most local searches of that type tend to come from my phone, and this also helped me understand that better search on a phone matters WAY more than better search on desktop. The smaller screen and limited view means that it's significantly more important for the top result to be the one I want on my phone than it is on desktop. As such, Kagi is winning me over because it's made mobile searching frictionless -- something I couldn't say for DDG. That aspect alone is probably going to be what keeps me on the service. I'm planning on paying for at least another month, though after that I might go back to DDG for a month to see how I feel in comparison.

      I mentioned earlier that I didn't think I could make it a default search on iOS. I mistakenly thought Apple had that locked down? Turns out it's actually possible through an app. Also, Kagi apparently has an entire browser for macOS/iOS. I tried it out and it works quite nicely, though AdGuard+Safari seemed to do a bit better ad-blocking than the stuff they'd built into Orion, so I've stayed on Safari.

      There's actually a whole lot of cool looking power-user stuff on offer from Kagi (you can individually prioritize and de-prioritize specific domains across your searches, for example), but I'm not the kind of user that needs significant search depth, so I can't really speak to anything other than the standard search experience.

      What I can say is that I've been very happy with that experience so far.

      Also, it should hopefully go without saying, but this post isn't sponsored in any way nor was I requested to post it by Kagi. This is me choosing to give my own experiences with the service because I thought people here might be interested.

      26 votes
    21. Good enough kitchen appliances brands recommendations

      Hello everyone, I'll be moving to a new apartment where the kitchen does not have any kitchen appliances. From my searches on /r/BuyItForLife, it seems everyone usually recommends Bosch and Miele...

      Hello everyone,

      I'll be moving to a new apartment where the kitchen does not have any kitchen appliances. From my searches on /r/BuyItForLife, it seems everyone usually recommends Bosch and Miele appliances, but they are usually a bit on the expensive side. I'm not sure about buying for life at this stage in my life because I think this is not my final home, and I think in the future I won't be bothered to take everything with me. Also, it will be always be easier to sell the apartment in the future with the equipped kitchen.

      It seems Panasonic and Mitsubishi appliances are actually quite good and cheaper than Bosch and Miele, but unfortunately, these brands are basically non-existent here in Europe (regarding kitchen appliances, I mean).

      So, basically, is there still any brand left that might be as good as Bosch and Miele but slightly cheaper? Maybe Whirlpool or Electrolux brands?

      10 votes
    22. Any Tilde Town members here?

      A few years ago when I was new to tildes a typed tildes.com directly in the URL bar. I realized I'd forgotten the correct domain extension and did a web search for "tildes community" or something...

      A few years ago when I was new to tildes a typed tildes.com directly in the URL bar. I realized I'd forgotten the correct domain extension and did a web search for "tildes community" or something similar.

      One of the results was for tilde town . At the time I glanced over it and thought about joining but I never got around to it. Last July I somehow stumbled over it again and this time I applied to join.

      It's a pretty cool place.

      The idea is that it's a Linux server that each user gets an account on. You then ssh into it - and that's where the community lives!

      They have a chat system, a forum system, microblogging that's private to that community, command line games (some of which are multi-player) and a bunch of other really neat features. Each user even gets a folder in their home directory that let's them serve up public web pages.

      Technically they have about 2,000 registered users, but the number of actual active users seems to be similar to our community here.

      The vibe reminds me a lot of what we have here except that tilde town is casual "slice of life" only and doesn't do news articals at all. Some of their forum posts are similar to our own, with posts for what people are reading and watching and what projects they are working on.

      Ive enjoyed my time there so far and I'd encourage any one who's interested to check it out. My username over there is grendel84, stop by and say hi!

      17 votes