• Activity
  • Votes
  • Comments
  • New
  • All activity

    2. How's VR gaming these days?

      ~games Ask (survey)
      For those of you that have setups, how's it going? What have been your favorite games/experiences so far? What are those of us without VR missing out on? In what was does VR still need to grow? Do...

      For those of you that have setups, how's it going?

      • What have been your favorite games/experiences so far?
      • What are those of us without VR missing out on?
      • In what was does VR still need to grow?
      • Do you think it will eventually catch on more than it has?
      22 votes

    14. Added a page showing details of Tildes's financials, as well as a monthly donation goal

      ~tildes.official Text 500 words
      On the home page of Tildes, there's now a monthly donation goal meter shown at the top of the sidebar. The "(more details)" link in the box goes to a new Financials page, which shows the current...

      On the home page of Tildes, there's now a monthly donation goal meter shown at the top of the sidebar. The "(more details)" link in the box goes to a new Financials page, which shows the current expenses and income for Tildes for this month.

      This is information that I've always been meaning to make public, and the original announcement blog post even mentioned it as an intention. So far it only includes the current month, but I'm intending to add information about past income and expenses eventually as well.

      The Financials page should mostly explain itself, but I want to talk a little more about the goal specifically and why it seems to be set unrealistically high. To be clear, it probably is unrealistically high at this point, but I think it's important to be honest about where the next "stage" in Tildes's sustainability is, and how far away from it we currently are. I could have set the goal to a lower number to make it more achievable, but that would really just be arbitrary and wouldn't represent any meaningful threshold.

      The first important milestone was making sure that all the actual expenses were paid every month, so that keeping the site up wasn't actively costing me money. We're long past that point and almost always have been, which is great on its own—so many businesses and sites never reach that "break even" point and are forced to shut down, but there's absolutely no danger of that happening with Tildes. For how small and young the site is, it's amazing that we've already reached that goal.

      The next milestone, which the current goal represents, is making it so that I'm not effectively donating my time to continue maintaining and developing the site, which means being able to pay myself enough that I can think of Tildes as a "real job". As you can see, we're still pretty far from that point right now, but I think it's a good reminder (especially to myself) to have the meter showing it. As I said in another comment recently, there are other things I should probably focus my efforts on more that would help, and this will be a prominent reminder of that.

      I also want to mention that the overall situation isn't quite as bleak as the goal makes it look. There have been multiple incredibly generous one-time donations made over the last year and a half that you won't see in the current month's numbers, and that's absolutely made a huge difference. I'll try to get the historical information added before too long so that the picture is more complete.

      Let me know if you have any thoughts or questions, and thanks again for all of your contributions, whether they're actual donations or just being active and contributing to the site in that way. It's all important, and I greatly appreciate all of it.

      And as usual, I've given everyone 10 invites, accessible on the invite page.

      95 votes

    16. "Children and Politics" - a 3 minute interview with British children before the 1964 general election

      ~society Text 163 words
      This is short, but it demonstrates something that's been missing from tv for a while, which is the simple interview with children that recognises they are children but still takes them seriously...

      This is short, but it demonstrates something that's been missing from tv for a while, which is the simple interview with children that recognises they are children but still takes them seriously as humans.

      EDIT: Somehow I missed the main link, which goes to a BFI page here: https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-children-and-politics-1964-online

      There are some amazing old (1960s, 1970s) British tv interviews with children carried out by Harold Williamson. He asks children a question and then just lets them answer. There's no attempt to laugh at the children, and there's no attempt to say "zomg look at what this cute kid is saying".

      A few clips here, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06tq93b and there are probably more on Youtube: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06tq93b

      It's showing its age - "what would you do if your husbands went on strike? How would you run a household?" (asked of two girls) isn't acceptable.

      7 votes

    19. What are you reading these days?

      ~books Ask (survey)

      What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit. Previous topics Previous topics are listed in the wiki.

      14 votes

    22. Fitness Weekly Discussion

      ~health Ask (survey)
      What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started...

      What have you been doing lately for your own fitness? Try out any new programs or exercises? Have any questions for others about your training? Want to vent about poor behavior in the gym? Started a new diet or have a new recipe you want to share? Anything else health and wellness related?

      6 votes

    25. Watch enthusiasts

      ~hobbies Ask (survey)
      Hi, I wonder if there are people here likes to collect watches. If so, please share about the watch that you're wearing right now, or maybe your watch collection. As for me, I own a few of Seiko...

      Hi, I wonder if there are people here likes to collect watches. If so, please share about the watch that you're wearing right now, or maybe your watch collection.

      As for me, I own a few of Seiko mechanical watches (SNK809, SKX013, and the SARB017), and a couple of Casio digital watches (Casio Royale and W217H)

      Lately I'm starting to appreciate quartz watches even more and I'm starting to look at vintage Seiko and Citizen quartz watches.

      13 votes

    34. the city

      ~creative Text 273 words
      Something I wrote after watching a scene in the Apple TV+ "The Morning Show" showing an NYC skyline. I've always had a love for NYC, even though I don't live there, and a love for cities more...

      Something I wrote after watching a scene in the Apple TV+ "The Morning Show" showing an NYC skyline. I've always had a love for NYC, even though I don't live there, and a love for cities more generally. I've never not lived in a city after moving out of my parents' place, and can't imagine going back to the suburbs. Cities are my home, cities are where I belong. I don't think this one is finished, yet; there are a few rough spots, and I'm not sure about the ending. But, like people have said in a few of the timasomo threads, the important thing is to get the words out, to make the work exist outside of one's head.

      the city is awake, alive
lights dance in the dark of night
little lifesigns, each a past and present
each a history and a story not yet told
subways and busses and ubers
the occasional oblivious cabbie
(cancer on the streets)
each moving people to their goals
their dreams
veins and arteries in the city's body
lights for seeing
superstructure in steel and glass
inspiration
aspiration and ambition
passion and drive
these power the pulse and the breath
each person, each cell
shapes and grows the city, the body
each experience shapes epigenetics
no place the same after
the city takes us all in
gives us homes
maybe not shelter, but homes
we are alive and so is our home
an energy ineffable yet indelible

      edit: A friend has said that this reminds her of the opening of Murakami's After Dark, and I can absolutely see it. Perhaps a bit of subconscious inspiration?

      6 votes

    36. If Universal Basic Income would be introduced, how would you stop prices from rising uncontrollably?

      ~finance Ask
      This question has been going through my head for quite some time. UBI has been talked about quite a bit now, and usually the question is if it should be introduced and if yes, how much should...

      This question has been going through my head for quite some time. UBI has been talked about quite a bit now, and usually the question is if it should be introduced and if yes, how much should everyone get?

      But how would you stop UBI from inflating the economy? If everyone suddenly gets 1000€/month purely because they exist, how do you stop rent from suddenly going up 1000€/month? How do you stop it from going up gradually?

      28 votes

    44. What do you gift a couch host?

      ~life Ask (recommendations)
      In a few days, I’ll be crashing on my friend’s couch for a week. If it matters, I can only buy from retail stores within Hong Kong and hand carry on the subway. Every time I see them, they’re too...

      In a few days, I’ll be crashing on my friend’s couch for a week.

      If it matters, I can only buy from retail stores within Hong Kong and hand carry on the subway. Every time I see them, they’re too quick on the bill, so taking them to eat is out of the question.

      Obvious choices are alcohol or fruit basket. I’m terrible at picking gifts for people, as I’m always worried they’ll be as picky as I am on my purchases.

      What are your go-tos for gifts in this situation?

      11 votes

    49. What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga)

      ~anime Ask (survey)
      What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was...

      What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was cool, something that was bad, ask for recommendations, or anything else you can think of.

      If you want to, feel free to find the thing you're talking about and link to its pages on Anilist, MAL, or any other database you use!

      6 votes