It seems like blocking is the basic bit of functionality that is standing out the most for not existing on ~ at the moment, at least for those of us who have ran into a reason to want it. Is this something we can expect soon, if at all? I know just reporting things to @deimos works for now for things that are rule-breaking, but there are plenty of situations where you don't want to continue interacting with a person for reasons that may not even take place on this site (I'm sorry if the person this is in reference to sees this and recognizes me...I don't really have a way of avoiding that...hence this post), and there isn't really a way to take care of that.

Sorry, I know feature requests and suggestions are being piled in really fast, but at least for me and some users I know, this is pretty essential.

We already show who invited us on our profile page, so could we show who we've invited on our invite page? There is no need to hide this information.

This way we could easily get in touch with people we've invited.

I really want to learn how to draw a map (a proper one, from a real location, not a fantasy one).
Where should I look? Couldn't find a lot of proper tutorial on the internet.
The location I want to map is underground (no cellular network or GPS down there) and quite big (300km-ish).
There's already some maps of the place but they omit some of the tunnels (to protect them).

Usernames can be inflammatory or just distract from discussion in general, and especially considering that humor is not a focal point of Tildes, should they be restricted to something reasonable/appropriate?

Not because this is a problem yet, but because it will be.

We're all familiar with the flavour that some usernames have, when someone with the name I_RAPE_CATS invites people and they are entirely unaware of this being on the userpage forever and ever it's going to become something people will want.

My invitees so far have both remarked "Looks like I have you on my userpage forever" which is fine, but for some it won't be.

My focus when partaking of an accumulated work of written word has always been on the story itself. The ideas and plot and characters presented transcend the physical media within which they are presented. But I know from reading various forums, including that-site-which-shall-not-be-named, that many people steadfastly cling to their tomes of dead trees with a fervor that seems unshakable in the face of technology. The smell of mold ridden paper, the tactile sensation of flipping through the pages, the collectibility of a treasured collection of ideals... I understand the value of collecting an antiquated form of presentation, but does it truly add anything to the story telling experience? I liken it to vinyl records; the ability to touch what you are partaking of, that tactile and physical wholly personable experience with the media with which you are interacting can be a powerful motivator, but to try to convince me that Spotify is inferior because it is new and digital and convenient seems deplorable. When I read the same story on a Kindle are we not experiencing the same thing? Does the fact that I carry my entire library of 900+ books with me in my pocket dilute my experience? I can zoom, and dictionary, and Wikipedia, and translate literally at the touch of my finger. I can highlight and make notes, I can scan the book without losing my place, without ever needing a bookmark. What am I missing by not having dedicated and decidedly wasteful space in my home for storing my leaves of enlightenment?

I don't get it. I have plenty of friends, and i'm happy with my lot in life, but I wish I had romance or even just physical attraction in my life. I broke up with my ex last month and i've just felt alone after that, chasing for love.

Strings and frets here. I’ve been playing guitar for the last 23 years and will play mandolin, banjo, or uke if there are enough guitar players in the room. Just bought my first bass a few months ago and it has been lots of fun and of course an easy transition from guitar. I’ve been in a handful of bands playing rock/hard rock, bluegrass, Celtic music, and even a jam band in my younger years.

I’ve been recording myself and others since ‘99 (Cool Edit Pro v1.5) and I enjoy the creative processes of composing, recording, mixing, etc. I’ve placed music in short films and in commercial applications, and have been working on orchestration with dreams of doing larger scale film scores.

I started playing because I wanted to learn “Needle and the Damage Done,” and a number of other Neil Young songs. He’s to blame for all this.

What do you play and do with your musician’s karate chops?

Whenever I hear sci-fi being discussed it’s usually in the context of the classic titles, and there’s nothing wrong with that but I wanna read sci-fi of the now! One series I just picked up is the Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer - the first book is called Too Like The Lightning, it’s a really rich and dense text that - and it’s hard to describe without spoiling anything - manages to discuss a lot about human nature in the past, present and perhaps in the future through a really well told narrative. It’s mysterious and a thrilling read as more and more of the world is revealed to you.

Does anyone have any cool sci-fi published recently that they’re reading?

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• http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1378337-loss
• http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/loss

Since I just moved into my apartment my shelf/book collection is sparse and I hardly have space for more. What I do have though keeps me busy. If anyone wants to know I ordered - history on the left, theory and sociology in the middle, and philosophy on the right. Anyone reading the same books I am?

https://i.imgur.com/BW1BJ8z.jpg

Post yours and discuss.

We're Here, We're Queer, Ask Your Questions Without Fear

I noticed that there was a lot of QUILTBAG/LGBT related education being requested in threads where it wasn't really on topic. Clearly there's a lot of curiosity. So I thought: why not make a thread specifically for that? Whee!

Please note that it's a lot of labor to ask of someone in a minority to explain themselves, as it's often the case that they feel like they have to justify existing on a daily basis anyway. Hopefully this provides more of an opt-in experience where curious folks can learn about queer issues in a respectful manner. ** Also: No one is required to answer your questions or engage with questions they don't feel comfortable with. **

I am decidedly not an authority on the subject (I don't think anyone really is) but I do fall under the umbrella- NB (nonbinary) and bi. This means that I am attracted to either gender and I do not identify as having a binary gender myself. I actually would more precisely be described as pansexual as I would date a nonbinary person BUT for identity politic reasons I prefer the term bi. As for the acronyms above, LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans. I prefer QUILTBAG: Queer, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Transgender, Bisexual, Asexual, and Gay. It's more fun to say and it expands the acronym to include concepts that folks might not have heard of.

A brief list of definitions:

• Queer: To my understanding this is sort of a catchall term for anyone that is not straight up cisgender/heterosexual. Once considered a pejorative term, queer has been reclaimed by some QUILTBAG people to describe themselves; however, it is not a universally accepted term even within the QUILTBAG community.

• Undecided: Folks who just don't know what they identify with.

• Intersex: Folks born with anatomy that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies. This can be a wide range of natural bodily variations.

• Lesbian: A woman who is attracted to women exclusively.

• Transgender: A term to describe folks who do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.

• Bisexual: Folks who are attracted to both binary genders.

• Asexual: Also known as "ace". An adjective to describe folks who do not experience sexual attraction.

• Gay: A term to describe people who are attracted to the gender they identify as. This is often used to refer specifically to men who are attracted to men but can be used to refer to women who are attracted to women too.

This list is by no means exhaustive! Here's a (more) comprehensive list of terms and labels: http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/sexinfo/article/glossary-sexual-orientationgender-terminology

There are many terms and labels out there! I encourage you to research to your heart's content.

Also just to give some perspective, cisgender is an adjective for folks who identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.

So, what nagging questions do you have about being queer? Have you been questioning your own identity and would like to hear the thoughts of people who have been in the same situation? Post here and let's see if we can't find some answers.

Currently, I am e.g. subscribed to ~tildes.official and ~tildes. That gives me a number of questions:

• if you subscribe to a tilde, do automatically you see content from sub-tildes?
• if you subscribe to a tilde and a sub-tilde, does it have any effect? Intuitively, I'd expect the subtildes content to be shown more, even if it's not as highly voted.
• What about a reverse-subscription/blacklist?

Just some thoughts, I'm curious what the status quo is and what you people think might make sense.

1. brand new - the devil and god are raging inside me

post-hardcore, emo

2. nine inch nails - the downward spiral

industrial rock

3. ratboys - gn

indie rock, post-country

4. la dispute - somewhere at the bottom of the river between vega and altair

post-hardcore, screamo, spoken word

5. brand new - déjà entendu

emo, pop-punk

6. kraftwerk - radio-aktivität

prog-synth

7. this town needs guns - animals

midwest emo, math-rock

8. toe - for long tomorrow

post-rock, math-rock

9. brand new - science fiction

post-grunge, art rock

10. kraftwerk - trans europa express

prog-synth

11. american football - american football

midwest emo, math-rock

12. kent - isola

post-rock, shoegaze

13. godspeed you black emperor - f#a#infinity

post-rock, ambient

14. kraftwerk - autobahn

prog-synth, krautrock

15. godspeed you black emperor - lift your skinny fists like antennas to heaven

post-rock, drone, ambient

16. chvrches - the bones of what you believe

synthwave

17. camp cope - camp cope

indie folk

18. steve reich - music for 18 musicians

minimalism

19. weezer - pinkerton

indie rock, emo

20. now now - threads

indie rock, shoegaze

i have a rym page as well, but i rate albums on broader criteria there, so the list is a bit different

feel free to recommend stuff ^-^

I imagine that I'm not the only one here now that was part of the Digg exodus to Reddit many years ago and I wonder what you all think we can learn from the rise and fall of these platforms to better design our new community.

Is it inevitable that our social networks degrade with population until a new one rises from Its ashes, so to speak?

What can we do to protect ourselves from this pattern and maintain a healthy populace?

I'm in the U.S. and Summer potluck season is upon us. What are your favorite crowd-pleasers? I recently made this Mexcian Street Corn Salad for a work event and it went over really well. That was branching out for me. I feel like I always make the same two tired potluck dishes and would love to hear yours.