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    1. Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of January 28

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week! Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle...

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

      Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

      Rules:

      • No grey market sales
      • No affiliate links

      If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.


      All previous Save Point topics

      If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add save point to your personal tag filters.

      13 votes
    2. What did you do this week (and weekend)?

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do...

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!

      2 votes
    3. Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like fujitsu, transphobia and the daily show. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was...

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like fujitsu, transphobia and the daily show. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was perplexed.

      But one of my favourite tags happens to be offbeat! Taking its original inspiration from Sir Nils Olav III, this thread is looking for any far-fetched offbeat stories lurking in the newspapers. It may not deserve its own post, but it deserves a wider audience!

      9 votes
    4. Vote for "Movie of the Week" in February - Scorsese vs superheroes

      Edit: Voting closed Lets try something a bit different for February, with one of the favorite discussion topics among cinephiles - with setting up superheroes against Martin Scorsese. We will need...

      Edit: Voting closed

      Lets try something a bit different for February, with one of the favorite discussion topics among cinephiles - with setting up superheroes against Martin Scorsese. We will need 4 movies for February and we will need 2 from each category. Directed by Martin Scorsese or a superhero movie (interpret that however you seem reasonable). Based on top number of votes the schedule will be:

      • 5th: Superhero movie
      • 12th: Scorsese movie
      • 19th: Superhero movie
      • 26th: Scorsese movie

      Not a hard rule per se, but I would recommend to at least consider that especially the superhero movies should be reasonably standalone and not require having seen several other entries in a series.

      Rules

      • Must be directed by Martin Scorsese or be considered a superhero movie
      • Only one nomination per user
      • Please only nominate if you intent to participate

      In case of ties in the number of votes, random.org will decide. Voting closes Sunday.

      10 votes
    5. Weekly Israel-Hamas war megathread - week of January 22

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant Israel-Hamas war content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant Israel-Hamas war content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

      Please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

      4 votes
    6. Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of January 22

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

      This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

      11 votes
    7. Game development book about creating open worlds, geography and nature?

      Sorry if this is not the right place to post this. I'm interested in a book about game development for the creation of world's, topics I'd like to see covered are: L-System Scene generator Fractal...

      Sorry if this is not the right place to post this.

      I'm interested in a book about game development for the creation of world's, topics I'd like to see covered are:

      Is anyone aware of any material that may help me learn about the implementation of said topics. They don't need to be fully automated like a scene generator. Understanding immersion would also be important.

      And perhaps while I'm at it if you have any favourite game development books I'd love to know them.

      13 votes
    8. Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of January 21

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week! Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle...

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

      Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

      Rules:

      • No grey market sales
      • No affiliate links

      If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.


      All previous Save Point topics

      If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add save point to your personal tag filters.

      19 votes
    9. What did you do this week (and weekend)?

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do...

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!

      8 votes
    10. [SOLVED] Looking for an article that was posted on here in the past year

      I'm looking for an article that was posted on Tildes in the last year I believe, on online communities and moderation. I think it was a link to someones personal blog and the author was female. It...

      I'm looking for an article that was posted on Tildes in the last year I believe, on online communities and moderation.

      I think it was a link to someones personal blog and the author was female. It talked about the challenges of moderating communities with free speech as a core value, because all it takes is a few bad actors pushing that to it's limits and it completely derails the community and puts too much strain on moderators.

      The article itself was very good, but I also remember the discussion on tildes was a very good read as well. I have tried searching tildes, using google and chatGPT4 and while I can find a lot of good threads related to this topic, I can't seem to find this one with the article.

      Does anyone remember this article/thread?

      I realize it's maybe a long shot and it's just a vague memory, so I apologize if this is an annoying post, but it doesn't hurt to ask?

      7 votes
    11. Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like capitalism, society and company culture. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was...

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like capitalism, society and company culture. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was mystified.

      But one of my favourite tags happens to be offbeat! Taking its original inspiration from Sir Nils Olav III, this thread is looking for any far-fetched offbeat stories lurking in the newspapers. It may not deserve its own post, but it deserves a wider audience!

      15 votes
    12. What creative projects have you been working on?

      This topic is part of a series. It is meant to be a place for users to discuss creative projects they have been working on. Projects can be personal, professional, physical, digital, or even just...

      This topic is part of a series. It is meant to be a place for users to discuss creative projects they have been working on.

      Projects can be personal, professional, physical, digital, or even just ideas.

      If you have any creative projects that you have been working on or want to eventually work on, this is a place for discussing those.

      12 votes
    13. Your favourite creators who cover non-Anglo countries/cultures in English?

      (That title is kind of awkward, feel free to suggest a better one.) I came across aini's channel on Youtube a while back. She does videos on different topics focused on East Asia. Her most recent...

      (That title is kind of awkward, feel free to suggest a better one.)

      I came across aini's channel on Youtube a while back. She does videos on different topics focused on East Asia. Her most recent video being "Why Chinese People Will Choose $5 Over $10".

      I'm especially interested in native creators; those who can present a personal view from the inside. Even more so for countries that are not as well-covered for whatever reason—like places with less technological access or government limitation.

      My own preference is for a more analytical presentation. I.e. looking through an academic lens incorporating sociology, psychology, etc, rather than "footage of daily life". That style is still welcome, of course!

      22 votes
    14. Weekly Israel-Hamas war megathread - week of January 15

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant Israel-Hamas war content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant Israel-Hamas war content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

      Please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

      12 votes
    15. Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of January 15

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

      This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

      9 votes
    16. Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of January 14

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week! Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle...

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

      Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

      Rules:

      • No grey market sales
      • No affiliate links

      If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.


      All previous Save Point topics

      If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add save point to your personal tag filters.

      15 votes
    17. Why don't we help each other?

      There was a brief mention of the Amish and their self-sufficiency in the Capitalism topic that got me thinking, so I thought that I'd share my thoughts and start another discussion. My...

      There was a brief mention of the Amish and their self-sufficiency in the Capitalism topic that got me thinking, so I thought that I'd share my thoughts and start another discussion.

      My understanding of the Amish way of life - as someone who is probably thousands of miles away from them - is that they are not really self-sufficient insomuch as they are insular. They don't like to rely on the government, but they heavily rely on their community.

      A lot of us here are leftists - some might even go so far as to call themselves socialists or communists. But for the most part we are advocating for government to provide support, and often it's the federal government rather than their local governments. For those of you who do, my question for you is this: why aren't you trying to help out the locals. And I don't just mean your city, I mean your neighborhood or even just your block.

      I'm not talking about things like homeless shelters or nonprofits, I'm talking about mutual aid societies. People are complex; they don't just need things, they need people. They need assurance, motivation, and love. These are things that the government does not provide. The US Surgeon General state we are having a lonliness epidemic right now, and that it's majorly affecting people's health. We've had conversations about the lack of a third place but an even bigger problem is the death of our community hubs. It might be a good thing that people are getting less religious, but losing the church was a much bigger hit than people give credit.

      We've had many comments in the past deriding "slacktivism". When you throw your voice into the void, you have no real power. But if you put your voice into your town hall, you have tremendous power. Giving money to the government is like having one billionth of a difference to a great many people, but helping out a person in your community is a huge impact in their life which might be the one thing they need to stop them from falling off a cliff. I don't think you'll find anything more socially gratifying.

      I titled this "why don't you", but I'm also very much interested in hearing from people who do community work why they do and how they manage to fit it into their lives.

      72 votes
    18. What did you do this week (and weekend)?

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do...

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!

      6 votes
    19. Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like faa, menslib and linux. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was taking notes....

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like faa, menslib and linux. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was taking notes.

      But one of my favourite tags happens to be offbeat! Taking its original inspiration from Sir Nils Olav III, this thread is looking for any far-fetched offbeat stories lurking in the newspapers. It may not deserve its own post, but it deserves a wider audience!

      8 votes
    20. Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of January 8

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

      This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

      9 votes
    21. Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of January 7

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week! Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle...

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

      Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

      Rules:

      • No grey market sales
      • No affiliate links

      If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.


      All previous Save Point topics

      If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add save point to your personal tag filters.

      16 votes
    22. Tildes Gaming Club, January 2024: Tinkering

      Meta: This is a new post series I'm trying out. I've planned a trial run for three months to see if it catches on. If it does, I'll continue it. If not, I'll phase it out. Tildes Gaming Club is a...

      Meta: This is a new post series I'm trying out. I've planned a trial run for three months to see if it catches on. If it does, I'll continue it. If not, I'll phase it out.


      Tildes Gaming Club is a space to play and discuss games that fit a loosely defined theme. I see it like a Book Club, or similar to our current Album of the Week and Movie of the Week series. Instead of everyone focusing everyone on the same game, however, we're all focused on the same core theme, and we independently choose a game (or games) that fit the theme. I'll also be posting the topics monthly instead of weekly, especially because many games take much longer to appreciate than a movie or an album.

      To participate, play at least one game that fits the monthly theme, and talk about it here. You can make one post summarizing your game(s), or you can make multiple posts as you make your way through the game(s).

      This month's theme is: Tinkering


      In the future, I plan to simply give the theme with no additional clarification, because I like the idea of people interpreting it as they wish, but I feel like giving some examples for the first go-around might help people better understand what I'm trying to get at:

      You might choose to play:

      • a game in which one of the characters is a mechanic
      • a game that lets you build things and take them apart
      • a game in which you have to fiddle with the graphics settings to get it to run
      • a game that you've modded
      • a DOOM WAD you have to set up yourself
      • a Windows game on Linux that doesn't "just run" through Proton/Wine
      • a game that has "tinker" somewhere in the title
      • a game you pirated back on your Dreamcast that you had to burn six different times with different settings before it would actually boot
      • and so on...

      "Tinkering" is an open-ended theme, not a closed task. Anything that you can personally fit underneath it counts, even if it's an absurd interpretation! Part of the fun is figuring out how the theme can work best for you.


      My goals for this are the following:

      1. I'm hoping this can be a fun way of choosing something to play.
      2. I'm hoping this can bring a group/community aspect to people independently enjoying their hobby.
      3. I'm hoping this can yield some interesting discussions about different themes.
      35 votes
    23. Is the vote button an agree button?

      This is specifically about voting on comments, and not articles. I think voting for topics is clear and intuitive. I've noticed that, while reading users' comments on topics, I have a tendency to...

      This is specifically about voting on comments, and not articles. I think voting for topics is clear and intuitive.

      I've noticed that, while reading users' comments on topics, I have a tendency to think "This is right, so I will vote it up," or "I agree with this, so I will vote it up." I'm not sure I should be doing this, or rather, I'm not sure that's the best use of my ability to vote on comments. I always worry that sites I frequent will morph into echo chambers, and I want to avoid that for this site. I want to encourage expressing alternate viewpoints, because exposure to alternate views helps me grow a human. The vote button is a low-effort means of accomplishing that, and I intend to use it as such.

      I think the vote button should be used on comments that enhance the discussion, and help engage people, and not necessarily only on comments that make me feel happy, good or righteous. So, lately, I've been trying to explicitly vote up comments which have replies, especially ones which have several replies, but aren't voted as highly as their children or peers. If someone's comment can engage several people to reply and contribute positively to a conversation, then that comment is worthy of being seen and so I vote it up. I do this regardless of whether or not I agree with the substance of the message.

      I've noticed a trend where there will be a low-voted comment with many replies. These aren't trolling comments, because if they were, then they would be removed. These are comments which are engaging people and furthering the conversation, but it seems like the community doesn't value these comments due to their low vote count. This leads me to suspect that the number of votes on a comment might be merely a tally of the number of people who agreed with it.

      So, I'm curious. Do you vote on comments?

      How do you decide to vote on a comment?

      How should we collectively be using the vote for comments?

      (As an aside, I also wonder how the psychology of reading comments would change if vote tallies on comments were hidden.)

      47 votes
    24. What did you do this week (and weekend)?

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do...

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!

      9 votes
    25. Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like fathers, ux and tom scott. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was paying...

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like fathers, ux and tom scott. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was paying attention.

      But one of my favourite tags happens to be offbeat! Taking its original inspiration from Sir Nils Olav III, this thread is looking for any far-fetched offbeat stories lurking in the newspapers. It may not deserve its own post, but it deserves a wider audience!

      13 votes
    26. What creative projects have you been working on?

      This topic is part of a series. It is meant to be a place for users to discuss creative projects they have been working on. Projects can be personal, professional, physical, digital, or even just...

      This topic is part of a series. It is meant to be a place for users to discuss creative projects they have been working on.

      Projects can be personal, professional, physical, digital, or even just ideas.

      If you have any creative projects that you have been working on or want to eventually work on, this is a place for discussing those.

      10 votes
    27. Three Cheers for Tildes: App updates and feedback (January 2024)

      This is a recurring topic for the Three Cheers for Tildes mobile app, which is currently in alpha testing. I'll summarize the previous month's updates at the start of each topic, so people can...

      This is a recurring topic for the Three Cheers for Tildes mobile app, which is currently in alpha testing.

      I'll summarize the previous month's updates at the start of each topic, so people can read the updates and then hit Ignore if they don't care about more frequent updates and user feedback.


      Recently:

      Android v0.9.1: Fixed crash double-tapping comment in profile, and other rare crashes and minor bugs.

      iOS hotfix v0.9.1: Fixed a possible crash opening the Notifications tab.

      Android and iOS v0.9.0 (Jan 22, 2024)

      • View user profiles ("all posts" feed; more options like bios coming in the future)
      • Tweaked app theme colors
      • Fixed various layout bugs
      • (Android) Fixed crash tapping links in comment reply preview
      • (Android) Fixed missing Share button on topic OP if logged out
      • (Android) Fixed black background setting on Android 9 and earlier

       

      iOS hotfix v0.8.1: Fixed keyboard blocking the Exemplary prompt dialog.

      Android and iOS v0.8.0 (Jan 9, 2024)

      • Apply comment labels (Exemplary, Offtopic, Joke, Noise, Malice)
      • Tap an Exemplary label you've received to see messages
      • Added Reply to text selection context menu
      • Quote selected text when replying
      • Fixed app incorrectly treating user as logged in after restoring a Google Drive or iCloud backup
      • (Android) Added Share button to OP in comments section
      • (Android) Support Android 14
      • (Android) Fixed rendering non-breaking spaces
      • (iOS) Fixed logout bug if no connectivity
      • (iOS) Fixed markdown table layout and CPU idle bugs
      • (iOS) Fixed rare crash collapsing a comment

       

      iOS hotfix v0.7.2: Fixed crashes in Notifications tab, and fixed crash inserting emoji in reply

      Android and iOS v0.7.0 (Dec 27, 2023)

      • Added a markdown formatting bar when composing a comment
      • Edit comments after posting them
      • View markdown of other users' comments
      • (Android) New setting: Quit confirmation
      • Fixed comment reply preview bugs
      • Fixed bugs viewing direct linked comments
      • Fixed numbered list bug
      • Fixed rate limit error message
      • Fixed crashes and UI bugs

       

      Android and iOS v0.6.x (Nov/Dec 2023)

      • In-app notifications of comment replies
      • Highlight and jump to linked comments

       

      Last month's topic: December 2023

       


      Where to get it

      Android version on Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.talklittle.android.tildes

      iOS version on TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/mpVk1qIy

      108 votes
    28. What precautions to take when someone is out to get you?

      This is a silly sounding topic, but I'm unfortunately in such a situation and want to be a step ahead in self defense. My ex wife and her new boyfriend have been overheard by my kids saying that...

      This is a silly sounding topic, but I'm unfortunately in such a situation and want to be a step ahead in self defense. My ex wife and her new boyfriend have been overheard by my kids saying that they're going to "get me" or generally do something bad to me. They are not physically strong people so I'm not worried about a violent attack, but they are intelligent people and I'm worried about all the other options the internet leaves open to them. My ex obviously knows my social security number so I have already locked my credit with the three agencies (Experian, Transunion and Equifax). I have also changed every password I can think of and have security cameras around the entrances to my home. What else should I be doing? Are there legal consulting services or routes I should be looking into to prevent possible problems? I don't want to go overboard with this (and I promise I'm not a paranoid person) but I want to take any reasonable precautions I can to prevent bigger problems.

      47 votes
    29. Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of January 1

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

      This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

      16 votes
    30. Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of December 31

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week! Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle...

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

      Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

      Rules:

      • No grey market sales
      • No affiliate links

      If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.


      All previous Save Point topics

      If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add save point to your personal tag filters.

      9 votes
    31. What did you do this week (and weekend)?

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do...

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!

      5 votes
    32. Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like substack, amazon.prime and cannabis. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was...

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like substack, amazon.prime and cannabis. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was perplexed.

      But one of my favourite tags happens to be offbeat! Taking its original inspiration from Sir Nils Olav III, this thread is looking for any far-fetched offbeat stories lurking in the newspapers. It may not deserve its own post, but it deserves a wider audience!

      15 votes
    33. Which books did you read in 2023 and how did you like them?

      Warning: this post may contain spoilers

      I didn't have as much time for reading this year. My daughters kept me quite busy (and happy). However, I managed to squeeze in one or the other title. I don't want to discuss all of the forty-something books I read, but here's an incomplete list of what I can recommend (and what not).

      I really enjoyed the following books:

      • number9dream by David Mitchell
      • Black Swan Green by David Mitchell
      • The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
      • Red Rising (all six books) by Pierce Brown
      • The Cold War by John Lewis Gaddis
      • Dark Rome by Michael Sommer
      • A Horse Walks Into a Bar by David Grossman
      • The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
      • At Night all Blood is Black by David Diop
      • The Future of Geography: How Power and Politics in Space Will Change Our World by Tim Marshall
      • First Person Singular by by Haruki Murakami
      • Guitar Zero by Gary Marcus
      • This is your Brain on Music by Daniel J. Levitin
      • The History of Heavy Metal by Andrew O'Neill

      I think my favorites were Black Swan Green and The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. Both are very powerful stories with complex protagonists.

      I didn't really enjoy these books:

      • The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (seriously, I like Murakami, but I hated this book – the plot was annoying, stylistic choices were questionable and the protagonist bland)
      • The Vegetarian by Han Kang (the book was interesting, but also a bit "too much" for me)

      I think those books taught me something, although they weren't necessarily fun to read:

      • Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
      • The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win by Gene Kim
      • Atomic Habits by James Clear
      • The Great Mental Models Volume 3: Systems and Mathematics

      Especially Chris Voss and James Clear can't stop boasting and/or advertising. I learned something from their books, but I found them annoying to read. The mental models book and the Phoenix project were fun, though.

      I'm a software developer and read quite some books about this topic this year. I can recommend the following of them:

      • Efficient Linux at the Command Line
      • 100 Go Mistakes
      • The Staff Engineer's Path
      • TypeScript Cookbook
      • Principles of Package Design

      But I didn't really like those (although they're good from a technical perspective):

      • Cloud Native Go
      • Security and Microservice Architecture on AWS

      So, what did you guys read? What can you recommend? Which books disappointed you?

      19 votes
    34. Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of December 25

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

      This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

      6 votes
    35. Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of December 24

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week! Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle...

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

      Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

      Rules:

      • No grey market sales
      • No affiliate links

      If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.


      All previous Save Point topics

      If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add save point to your personal tag filters.

      11 votes
    36. Reflections and gratitude for Tildes

      Hello Tilderinos! As I am finally entering the holiday slowdown, I wanted to express my gratitude for the community here. I ended up migrating here from Reddit during the Apocalypse. Before that...

      Hello Tilderinos! As I am finally entering the holiday slowdown, I wanted to express my gratitude for the community here.

      I ended up migrating here from Reddit during the Apocalypse. Before that time, I would have told you that Reddit was a pretty good place, but after having time to detox and spending time here, I realize it was just better, but still pretty awful. With a few exceptions (like r/3Dprinting), the negativity I would get hit with when posting anything was pretty toxic.

      I also set up Lemmy Sync on lemmy.world, but it's pretty much only good for scrolling shitposts and memes. Which sometimes I want, but if I dig into the comments under a topic, the noise factor is so high that it's usually not worth it.

      Tildes is really different. The intentionality that people post with, the quality and positivity of the discussion is all amazing. One thing I enjoy especially is seeing reasonable people express views contrary to my own, and being to learn something from them.

      This year has been a year of big changes for me. I left a 10 year run at a startup that was starting to lose the plot, becane a stay-at-home Dad to relaunch my wife's career, and wrestled with major health issues. All of that has been pretty isolating, but Tildes has been a bright spot of connection for me.

      Sorry if this comes off as excessively cheesy, but I feel like it's a good time to take a moment and say "Thank you!" I am hoping that if something was really helpful to others, that they will take a moment to share it here.

      87 votes
    37. What did you do this week (and weekend)?

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do...

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!

      7 votes
    38. Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like ballots, policy.transport and uranus. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was...

      Tildes is a very serious site, where we discuss very serious matters like ballots, policy.transport and uranus. Tags culled from the highest voted topics from the last seven days, if anyone was hankering to know.

      But one of my favourite tags happens to be offbeat! Taking its original inspiration from Sir Nils Olav III, this thread is looking for any far-fetched offbeat stories lurking in the newspapers. It may not deserve its own post, but it deserves a wider audience!

      12 votes
    39. Steam Winter Sale 2023: Hidden gems

      Inspired by the recurring topic every Steam sale over at /r/GameDealsMeta: What are some lesser-known Steam games that you recommend? Are there any genres you’d like hidden gem recommendations...

      Inspired by the recurring topic every Steam sale over at /r/GameDealsMeta:

      • What are some lesser-known Steam games that you recommend?

      • Are there any genres you’d like hidden gem recommendations for?

      There’s no hard requirement for what counts as a “hidden gem.” Any game that you think deserves more attention counts.


      For general and popular game recommendations for the sale, please use this topic instead.

      79 votes
    40. What creative projects have you been working on?

      This topic is part of a series. It is meant to be a place for users to discuss creative projects they have been working on. Projects can be personal, professional, physical, digital, or even just...

      This topic is part of a series. It is meant to be a place for users to discuss creative projects they have been working on.

      Projects can be personal, professional, physical, digital, or even just ideas.

      If you have any creative projects that you have been working on or want to eventually work on, this is a place for discussing those.

      7 votes
    41. The morality of using AI-generated art in my web app

      Hey, good people of Tildes! I'm building a self-help web app, a small part of which I'd like to involve some pixel pets. I like pixel art and it'd be great if I could create some. Though, the...

      Hey, good people of Tildes!

      I'm building a self-help web app, a small part of which I'd like to involve some pixel pets. I like pixel art and it'd be great if I could create some. Though, the truth is, I can't draw for shit, I have little to no imagination, and I'm afraid even if I put the time and effort into it, I still may not produce something I'd call good enough to put on the website. I also lack the motivation to spend a lot of time learning how to create good pixel art, as I only need it for this project.

      I thought about paying some professional(s) to do it but that would probably break the bank for me, as I want to offer the users a lot of pixel pet options, which brings us to what I guess is the only remaining option.

      I found some services that offer AI-generated pixel art. This one in particular looks like what I'm looking for and also offers animations. While watching a demo of it on YouTube, I noticed a few comments voicing concern about the ethics of selling art that's generated using models trained off of unpaid artists' work. While this is not a new topic, I admittedly hadn't given it much thought before, as I've never used, or planned to use AI-generated art in a meaningful capacity.

      While I'm not sure whether it changes much, for what it's worth, I should note that my web app is going to be free, open-source, and ad-free forever.

      What are your thoughts? Also, I'd love to know if there are options that I missed!

      26 votes
    42. What are your favorite Christmastime movies that don't deal with Christmas as a topic?

      One of my favorite movies to watch during the holidays is The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It came out on Christmas day and helped me deal with a lot of things that were happening during the...

      One of my favorite movies to watch during the holidays is The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It came out on Christmas day and helped me deal with a lot of things that were happening during the winter of 2013. When the winter days get short, I like to revisit the movie because it makes me feel better. What movies do you like watch during the holiday season, that doesn't have Christmas as a theme?

      29 votes
    43. Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of December 18

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate...

      This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant US political content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

      This is an inherently political thread; please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

      7 votes
    44. In appreciation of well-versed replies and discussions

      So far Tildes for me has been truly refreshing. Instead of the polarizing bashing that happens on other social media platforms, the discussions over here have been more than high quality. Actual...

      So far Tildes for me has been truly refreshing. Instead of the polarizing bashing that happens on other social media platforms, the discussions over here have been more than high quality. Actual discussions on topics is the norm and people are aware that other opinions exist.

      Cheers to you all and let's keep it that way.

      58 votes
    45. Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of December 17

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week! Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle...

      Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!

      Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”

      Rules:

      • No grey market sales
      • No affiliate links

      If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.


      All previous Save Point topics

      If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add save point to your personal tag filters.

      21 votes
    46. Tildes Game Giveaway: Holiday 2023

      Important: This will be a noisy topic. If you do not wish to see it in your feed, please use the Ignore feature to hide it! Tip: If the large number of comments are cluttering up the topic and you...

      Important: This will be a noisy topic. If you do not wish to see it in your feed, please use the Ignore feature to hide it!

      Tip: If the large number of comments are cluttering up the topic and you just want to see the main giveaway posts, click Collapse Replies at the top of the comments.


      🎵 It's the most wonderful time of the year 🎵

      Holiday game sales are currently happening, and some are right around the corner!

      This is our annual holiday game giveaway topic. Spread some goodwill and holiday cheer with others!

      Before you participate, please make sure you read the rules below.


      Rules

      -Gifters

      Post your available games, the platform and method of delivery, rules for your giveaways (e.g. first-come first-serve, random draw, etc.), and any additional info or requirements. Feel free to get creative!

      -Giftees

      Request giveaways. Please make sure you follow the gifter's posted guidelines.

      -Guidelines

      Anyone can choose to be a gifter, giftee, or both! Giveaway rules are set by individual gifters, but there are handful of guidelines everyone should follow:

      1. No grey market keys! Only give away games from reputable sources. If you're not sure what this means, please ask.
      2. Requests for games should be done in this topic, but if the gift is a key, those should be delivered by PMs only. Please don't post keys publicly in this topic, even obfuscated ones.

      If you're new to these, check out previous giveaway threads to see how these usually go.

      49 votes
    47. Book recommendation request: An introduction to the Israeli-Arab conflict for non-academics

      Hello, If this topic came up and such a recommendation has been made, please just point me to that post. I would like to read an introduction to the Israeli-Arab conflict. I would like the book:...

      Hello,

      If this topic came up and such a recommendation has been made, please just point me to that post.

      I would like to read an introduction to the Israeli-Arab conflict.

      I would like the book:

      1. to be written by an author with relevant credentials
      2. to not be written for academics
      3. to not be written by an Arab, Israeli, or European author
      4. something that was published before the October 7th invasion of Israel

      Thanks much

      15 votes
    48. What did you do this week (and weekend)?

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do...

      As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!

      6 votes