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    1. Gay man who protested against Drag Queen Story Time dies by suicide

      Wilson Gavin was the President of the University of Queensland’s Liberal National Club. He was also gay. Earlier this week, he led a protest against a Drag Queen Story Time event. The following...

      Wilson Gavin was the President of the University of Queensland’s Liberal National Club. He was also gay.

      Earlier this week, he led a protest against a Drag Queen Story Time event.

      The following day, he was found dead at a local railway station, having committed suicide.

      He has formerly campaigned against same-sex marriage.

      His family have released a statement.

      10 votes
    2. Limit the number of posts from a particular site?

      Would it be possible to limit the number of posts that are shown on the home page pointing to a given domain at one time? There have been a few times I've come to Tildes to see what's new and...

      Would it be possible to limit the number of posts that are shown on the home page pointing to a given domain at one time? There have been a few times I've come to Tildes to see what's new and there are 5 or 10 posts that all link to different pages on the same site. I think this would help increase the amount of variety in the stories that are showing and make the site more interesting to users.

      9 votes
    3. How bad is the environmental impact of shipping/delivery?

      I've recently started trying to improve my environmental impact, so I apologize for what might be a very basic question, but how bad is it to have items shipped/delivered to you, rather than...

      I've recently started trying to improve my environmental impact, so I apologize for what might be a very basic question, but how bad is it to have items shipped/delivered to you, rather than picking them up from a store near you?

      I'm specifically interested in two situations:

      1. If I'm buying a specialty, zero-waste product that's not available in stores nearby, which is worse: having it delivered directly to my house, or having to drive a good distance in my own car to get it? Are the two roughly comparable, or is one considerably worse than the other?

      2. I use a service called PaperBackSwap that is sort of like a big, distributed, online used bookstore. You give away books from your collection to people who request them, and for each book you send out you can request one to be sent to you. I like that it's putting books in the hands of people who specifically want them (as opposed to donating them or selling them to a used bookstore where they might be shelved indefinitely or pulped), but now I'm sitting here wondering how bad it is for that single hardcover of mine to travel halfway across the country. On the other hand, the book is getting reused, potentially multiple times if it then gets requested by others after that. Should I be considering this good reuse, or a waste of resources?

      Outside of those two, I'd welcome any primers on the topic at large, as well as any best practices with consumer goods that I can start putting into place. I've already done a lot to find plastic-free alternatives to a lot of what I use, but I don't know if I'm trading one ill for another by getting them from places that have to send them from hundreds of miles away.

      11 votes
    4. Are there any remakes as good as the original movie?

      I was chatting with a friend today and this question came up - I drew a complete blank. Aside from a few foreign movies retranslated into a completely different context, like Seven Samurai and The...

      I was chatting with a friend today and this question came up - I drew a complete blank.

      Aside from a few foreign movies retranslated into a completely different context, like Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven, most remakes don't even approach the quality of the original, for my tastes.

      Please enlighten me if you're aware of any superior, or even equivalent remakes that tell roughly the same story with the same characters.

      17 votes
    5. What authors do you recommend on the basis of writing style?

      I'm in the middle of writing my thesis and I've been (re)reading some excellent, unconventional style guides (The Sense of Style by Stephen Pinker and Stylish Academic Writing by Helen Sword). I'm...

      I'm in the middle of writing my thesis and I've been (re)reading some excellent, unconventional style guides (The Sense of Style by Stephen Pinker and Stylish Academic Writing by Helen Sword). I'm also rereading Thank You for Arguing by Jay Heinrichs, which is less about style but is essentially a guide for effective communication.

      In reading these books and applying their teachings to my writing, I've been reinvigorated with a passion for writing, namely for the craftsmanship of prose. All three books analyze excerpts from examples of great (and sometimes poor) writing. But, I'm now looking for a more immersive experience in good (i.e. stylish, evocative, concise etc.) writing in the hopes that, with my newly refined perspective and sensitivity, I can improve my own writing even more. Good writers read good writing.

      Now, starting new books now won't help my current cause (my thesis) but my academic career will call for much more writing in the future. And I'm hoping that maybe the suggestions I get here will help me prioritize my current queue of books and articles—I know they're all great books but I'd like to read the ones with better writing, first.

      So, I would love some recommendations on authors who you would consider as masters of writing. It can be either books or articles. Preferably non-fiction and modern (20 years?), only because fiction and older books have different standards (FWIW I love old-school sci-fi, but that's definitely not the style I'm after). My current shortcut is to read basically any "longread" on WIRED, as most of the time they are high quality and often explain complex topics.

      Any other resources are also welcome! Though maybe no more style guides...

      12 votes
    6. What are you reading these days?

      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.

      15 votes
    7. What is a good free alternative to Wordpress that requires little coding?

      I have basic notions of HTML and CSS, but nearly zero JS knowledge. I can perform simple customizations and I know how to follow instructions. It is not my intention to create anything from...

      I have basic notions of HTML and CSS, but nearly zero JS knowledge. I can perform simple customizations and I know how to follow instructions.

      It is not my intention to create anything from scratch (so the platform should have plenty of free themes), nor do I want to become a webdev or webdesigner. This is not a technical project for me, my main concern is the content.

      I currently have a blog that uses Wordpress with a purchased theme. It's good enough, but a bit slow to load. Besides, simpler platforms might be easier to understand and manipulate.

      This alternative would also need to be FOSS and easy to self-host.

      As a plus, it would be awesome if I could manage the blog/website from within Emacs/Org Mode.

      Any ideas?

      14 votes
    8. Fitness Weekly Discussion

      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