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    1. Economic crisis of Turkish football clubs

      An announcement shook Turkish football seriously. Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced spending limits for clubs. That is very low because club debts. Everybody knew it would happen one...

      An announcement shook Turkish football seriously. Turkish Football Federation (TFF) announced spending limits for clubs. That is very low because club debts. Everybody knew it would happen one day. But corona took early that crisis. All of big Turkish clubs near to bankrupt. Their total debts over 2 billion dollars. Clubs signed too heavy deals with goverment banks. Goverment and TFF try to keep up clubs alive.

      This isnt about only coronavirus or only Turkish economy. Clubs loaned more and more each year since the early 2000s. Presidents of clubs spend money badly, they transfer useless football players. And now money ran out ! And of course, turkish lira in crisis. Clubs gains with turkish lira, but spend with euro. And Lira still unstable. Euro/Lira increased from 7.7 to 8.6 in just one month. Its ~%10 lost only one month. Broadcaster company BEIN SPORTS, pay less money to federation for corona and lira crisis. Debts, income loss, lira crisis, corona. Everythings

      Yearly spending limits of some big FCs:

      • Galatasaray: 58m €
      • Besiktas: 35m €
      • Fenerbahce: 20m € (too low)
      • Basaksehir: 20m €
      • Trabzonspor: 17.5m €

      That values very low. For this budgeds, clubs cant transfers. Someones should make the team smaller like fenerbahce. Fenerbahce protest that limits but they have 600m $ unstructured debt and they can't show income ! I think if this year fenerbahce cant be champion and can't go to the Champions Leauge, their clubs will be mortgaged or to be sold in the near future. A very rich bussines man -Ali Koc- became president of this club and he transferred a significant amount of money to the club. But for two years he was not successful in terms of sports.

      There is also Başakşehir. Our champion, Basaksehir played really bad footbal againts Copenhagen FC and eliminated from Champions Leage. But Basaksehir is a brand-new club, in fact they were established in 2014. They have profesional management team and every year become better since 2014. Today, they became champions for the first time and may be the brightest club in Turkey. Some arabs from Qatar want to buy this club. Fans do not react to this. Because this 6-year-old club has almost no supporters. They became champions, but they didn't celebrate. (Ironically, I am one of the very few fans of Başakşehir.)

      Galatasaray is less worried about debts. Because they postponed their debts for 5 years (with insane interest rate) But still too many debt in 5 year. the 115 year old club has many lands. Club think they can pay off the debts by selling the land at in the good areas of İstanbul.

      Source:
      TFF Spending Limits: https://www.tff.org/default.aspx?pageID=687&ftxtID=33547 (Not in turkish)

      8 votes
    2. Do you crush bugs?

      I bought a flyswatter for my girlfriend to deal with a fly she hadn't been able to shoo out but usually we would go to great lengths to capture and release invaders outside, especially spiders...

      I bought a flyswatter for my girlfriend to deal with a fly she hadn't been able to shoo out but usually we would go to great lengths to capture and release invaders outside, especially spiders whose company we tend to romanticize. I am not feeling especially regretful about the purchase but I got to wondering what opinions people here might have.

      I have been influenced toward this concern by the essays I read on Brian Tomasik's Reducing Suffering website, here is the section on invertebrates. I'm self-conscious of stifling this survey with that slightly ponderous link. I am not sure that I always track the calculus of his moral methods, though I appreciate the thoughtful approach.

      15 votes
    3. Do something

      TW: Violence and language. Just the other night I heard a native dude got capped, white nationalist on the other end, but nobody heard much after that. No news, no cops, no justice no peace, and...

      TW: Violence and language.

      Just the other night I heard a native dude got capped, white nationalist on the other end, but nobody heard much after that. No news, no cops, no justice no peace, and people wonder why we are calling to defund the police. Come to find out that dude had drugs, it was a meth deal gone bad.

      Ain't need to worry about it son, just ignore it and move on...

      Hold the fucking phone, why does it matter? You tellin’ me that dudes life ain't worth the crime blotter, an obit or some sort of after the fact reaction?

      But he had drugs man, shit happens...

      Man I hear this shit from privileged folk all the time but to hear it come from the streets... This dude didn’t matter because he had a problem, this human deduced to drugs and addiction, no longer my problem. I would say he’s just now a statistic but I’m not even sure if he’s that. This town is god damn silent on injustices and violent crime at that. 4 stabbings and 1 shooting, stuff that stokes fear, nobody goes near. Meanwhile all the townsfolk just cry about the homeless problem and drink their bougie beer.

      Dude you need to settle down you didn’t even know him…

      Motherfucker don’t tell me to settle down, don’t tell me it don’t matter because I didn’t even know him. How many white kids get shot in schools every day to get their obit, their memorial, their presidential postmortem? How about the victims in the towers? We went to fucking war over that shit, why did they matter? How can all lives matter when this dude over here lying on a slab can’t seem to become any sort of subject matter?

      Man that’s just how it is…

      No shut the fuck up, that’s not how it is. I refuse to accept an existence in this world where a life ain't worth the bullet that ended it. Don’t hide behind your cynicism and whataboutism because you just can’t be arsed to offer up any sort of emotional reactionism. That dude...

      Dude…

      No, you listen to me while I remind you what the hell humanity and empathy are. That dude had a family and friends, just like you, he had a life and a history and so much ahead of him too. He had ninety nine point nine percent the same genes as you yet you can’t seem to empathize that that could have been you.

      Dude then go fucking do something.

      6 votes
    4. Designer to Developer Handoff Process

      I am a fullstack developer that spends a good portion of my time building out complex User Interfaces, and the rest building out back-ends for that software. In my opinion the current method that...

      I am a fullstack developer that spends a good portion of my time building out complex User Interfaces, and the rest building out back-ends for that software. In my opinion the current method that my company uses for a designer to developer hand off is a bit lacking in efficiency.

      The current method is usually a designer will provide a developer with a Photoshop (or very occasionally an Illustrator) file containing the entire applications design. It is then up to the developer to export assets (both quick exporting things as pngs, going through and separating shadows from assets, or creating assets from the layers provided) and dig through the file to determine fonts and placement of items.

      Is it a common expectation that a developer should be spending a good chunk of time in Adobe on asset manipulation?

      Additionally does anyone have any process or program suggestions that may make life easier?

      3 votes
    5. I’d like to suggest avoiding long excerpts

      I’d like to suggest the practice of posting smaller excerpts. Long excerpts are less likely to be read and resemble articles in themselves. Their comprehensiveness may render them irrelevant, and...

      I’d like to suggest the practice of posting smaller excerpts. Long excerpts are less likely to be read and resemble articles in themselves.

      Their comprehensiveness may render them irrelevant, and demotivate readers from going to the source before commenting.

      IMHO an excerpt should generally have no more than two paragraphs, with exceptions for long reads (3500 words+).

      For reference (and out of personal choice), 750 characters may be an ideal max, give or take.

      29 votes
    6. If you have pets, what is it like?

      This is a year old repost, BTW. I'll start, in a Q&A format. "What pets do you have?" I have 3 cats, almost in a large, medium small configuration. (M,F,M respectively.) I've named them Rodolfo,...

      This is a year old repost, BTW.

      I'll start, in a Q&A format.

      "What pets do you have?"

      I have 3 cats, almost in a large, medium small configuration. (M,F,M respectively.) I've named them Rodolfo, Penelope and Alfredo (PT-BR) (respectively), but rarely if ever, they're actually called by those names, usually we (me and my parents) call them bichaninho, bichanoca e bichanão. (also PT-BR, also the "bi" (pronounced like bee) can often be silent.)

      All of them are castrated.

      "For how long have you had them?"

      Around 8,7 and 2 years respectively.

      "what pets did you have?"

      I had another "small" cat, we never gave her an actual name, we called her minifufa. She died after 4/5 years of us finding her because her liver practically stopped working. We've buried her at our formerly grandparents' house (because the father went back to his home state 1700 kiliometers away and the mother also died, from cancer.)

      We also took care of a cat who accidentally fell into our house because a part of the roof is made of some less resistant stuff I can't really name. She was female and we took care of her for about 2 weeks.

      "What are they like?"

      Rodolfo is pretty calm and dependent, he often wants to be petted, sometimes late at night. Sometimes I do that, sometimes I hug/squish him.

      Penelope if like that, but more because she unfortunately has some terrible breathing. We don't know what's in her lungs and why it got there, so it's not going away. It makes her the most frail :l

      Alfredo is the most aloof and often gets into fights with the other 2 cats. He seems to be the most hungry, despite being the smallest cat.

      15 votes
    7. Reduction of screentime leading to positive changes in daily life

      Hi, I think I have mentioned it here a few times, but I (used to) spend A LOT of time on my phone. I’ve tried to reduce it in the past with more or less success, and recently without any...

      Hi,
      I think I have mentioned it here a few times, but I (used to) spend A LOT of time on my phone. I’ve tried to reduce it in the past with more or less success, and recently without any university work (I finished all exams half a year ago) and varying amounts of work as a freelancer, it crept up to 6+ hours of screen time per day. (this is excluding watching stuff to fall asleep, which I want to reduce but I am taking one step at a time) - So it’s a lot.

      I tried a lot of stuff, reducing the hours, by setting limits for apps, turning off notifications, but that just leads to me extending the time by entering the password myself, or checking my phone more often because I am curious about whether someone texted.
      So last week Wednesday some stuff changed. I took my first long bike ride in a long time, and that day I felt really good, I still had 5 h screen on time that day though. The next day I turned off notifications for Whatsapp, but I left the indicator next to the app on, so I could see that I have messages quickly, I also decided to just force myself to wait a bit until replying to people. Also my girlfriend is the only one that knows my screentime passcode now, so I can't sneakily extend my app time

      That Thursday my screentime was 3h 16 minutes. I was hooked, I wanted to keep my time as low as possible. Since that Thursday, I have not hit the 4h screen on time once. Yesterday I was at 3h 59 min... it was an exhausting day though (Spending 1.5h at the waiting room at the doc) and I wouldn’t have blamed myself, but I still didn’t want to hit the 4h mark. Last Thursday my daily rhythm has changed quite a bit. I got Ring Fit Adventure this week, and I have done sports 4 times this week, I started to pick up playing guitar (literally got one yesterday) and ukulele again, and I just try to find stuff to do that does not involve my phone. I also played Persona 5 Royal on my ps5, I know it’s screen time but I feel less bad about it because I don’t take my PS everywhere with me, and these were the first days I have taken off in a long time… Next, I am trying to maybe work through my books that are on my backlog, finally finishing some more again. (my girlfriend gave me the book "South Sea Vagabonde, and I am meaning to read it, and I am also listening to the Audiobook "The Shallows")
      One change just caused so many good changes. I am stoked and looking forward to how low I can bring my average, I know 4h per day is still a lot for most people. I am aiming at sub 3h next ( I had that once this week).

      This scene from Bojack has been my mantra since then: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2_Mn-qRKjA

      It really does get easier, too. Today I went biking and I managed to go much longer without breaks and I feel way less exhausted.

      I just wanted to share my experience somewhere, maybe someone else is on the same path and this helps.

      22 votes
    8. Which gaming account should I get/setup for my teen daughter?

      Here's the background... So, I tend not to play video games at all any more (not for at least 15 or 20 years). My teen daughter wants to get a Playstation gaming console...but it seems less about...

      Here's the background...
      So, I tend not to play video games at all any more (not for at least 15 or 20 years). My teen daughter wants to get a Playstation gaming console...but it seems less about playing and more about socializing with her friends. Her friends - while i promised my partner not to call them 'idiots' - are not really the best decision-makers and they're quite affluent (and we definitely are not affluent), so their poor choices usually never impact them. (I think it is less about being teens, and more about them being rich, entitled poor decision makers, because my daughter and a few other poorer friends are actually good kids who know that we can not get all the things.) Here's an example: all of my daughter's rich friends will ask their parents to buy them widget X, and so of course my daughter wants one so she can connect with these rich teens. For these rich kids, after they inevitably abandon widget X, there is no issue; they merely drop them off in one of the rooms in their mini-mansions. But for me, i can not always afford to buy widget X and then have my daughter abandon stuff in our little, meager but love-filled house. (Please if possible let's avoid the topic of how I'm raising my daughter, because all of the parents of us poorer kids in town have the exact same issues with our kids.) Now, we come to the part about my daughter wanting a playstation...I don't mind saving up for a PlayStation - especially if she'll use it...However, since she really only wants it to socialize with her rich friends via a couple of games, i was thinking on getting a PC/gaming rig (not as expensive as PS or some sort of AlienWare) instead of the dedicated gaming console, but still plenty usable for some games...So that, after some time if she abandons it (because for example her friends have migrated to other avenues of socializing), i can always re-purpose the machine. In my mind it seems a more worthwhile investment. (I'm a software guy mostly, but over the decades, almost every machine i have/own has been franken-built by me...so i know just enough hardware.) Now, if I go the route of a PC/gaming rig, can i just sign her up for online gaming accounts like PlayStation Network, and that will suffice for her to use her PC but still connect, say via PSNetwork, with her friends playing PS games?? (To help, i should clarify the games these teens play are fortnight, minecraft, and grand theft auto...I think GTA does not support in game chat/comms with friends, though i could be wrong.)

      So, is it possible for me to sign up my daughter on an online gaming account - like PS Network - that would allow her to communicate with hr friends? And, if so, which gaming network should I set up an account, PS Network, Steam, etc.??? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!!!

      15 votes
    9. Fuck you, COVID. I'm in love!

      My virtual relationship is slowly becoming part of Tilde's lore. We met on Tinder shortly before the pandemic and almost met, but I got a little paranoid after dropping my sister at the airport....

      My virtual relationship is slowly becoming part of Tilde's lore. We met on Tinder shortly before the pandemic and almost met, but I got a little paranoid after dropping my sister at the airport. Maybe that was a good thing, Tinder dates are fleeting and we tend to pass judgment too quickly. This way, we were forced to get to know each other. I had other WhatsApp courtships going on, but they all faded out. We had little in common and nothing to talk about. But Lucy (let's call her that) is special! Smart, funny, and extremely curious about every part of my little nerdy universe. She also has interests of her own and is a simple soul -- we don't need to talk about deep stuff all the time. Lucy is deceivingly shy and her emotional world is deep, requiring some incantation to access. From my point of view, it's like deciphering an adorable puzzle. I love her, oh oh god, I love her so much it hurts in my bones. I told her that, and the response was a bit concerning. She felt pressured to say the same (she wasn't). Days later, she reciprocated without any coercion whatsoever. What a relief! hahaha

      We are now in a relationship. We speak every day. We "fight" (or the cute version of fighting new couples have). We do sexy stuff online.

      Because I was in a trauma center last Friday (I was freaking hit by car hahaha), we cannot see each other for about a week. After that, we decided I'll spend 14 days at her house (and possibly more if everything goes okay).

      Today I was at the mall (I know I shouldn't, it was a necessity!) and sent her the message: "I was just walking at the mall and were hit with the realization of how much I love you".

      So that's where I am.

      Anyone wanna share more COVID love stories?

      28 votes
    10. Novel idea: The Apartment

      Just finished (re-)watching the Friends TV series ... End of the last episode, sitting in the empty apartment (Joey: "Has it always been purple?" Phoebe: "Do you realize that at one time or...

      Just finished (re-)watching the Friends TV series ... End of the last episode, sitting in the empty apartment (Joey: "Has it always been purple?" Phoebe: "Do you realize that at one time or another, we've all lived in this apartment?")

      Got me thinking, more as a plot contrivance than the actual plot, a story about an apartment, spanning a century or more, and the various people that lived in it, jumping back and forth across time, linking them together through history ... perhaps even, a la "Ship of Theseus", spanning multiple centuries and multiple homes/dwellings that occupied the same space.

      So specifically, I'm wondering if anyone can think of any novels that adopt this idea, or anything similar, as a primary vehicle for their storytelling?

      I have a vague recollection of a short story or novella in 2ndary school, about the life of a redwood, and the various people and animals that lived in and around it over the centuries ... and also I recall reading "A Winter Tale" by Mark Helperin -- a semi-fantastical novel about the city of New York ... oh look, apparently, they made it into a movie, too.

      But those two are the only examples I can think of that come close to this idea.

      PS: I love to write fiction, and someday I may even finish a novel ... but generally, I get about halfway through, figure out how it's going to end, and then lose interest ... so if anyone with more ambition likes the idea, you're welcome to it.


      ETA: I'm not looking for the 10,000 variations of "oooh, haunted by the ghost of a person that died here 20 years ago". Broader, covering a longer timeframe, multiple substories interwoven into the same living space, you get the idea.

      10 votes
    11. What's a free RPG platforms to play with my virtual girlfriend?

      As some of you may know, I now have a virtual girlfriend. I also suffered an automobile accident. So yeah I'm kinda fucked and my movements are restricted. That's not something I planned, but it...

      As some of you may know, I now have a virtual girlfriend. I also suffered an automobile accident. So yeah I'm kinda fucked and my movements are restricted.

      That's not something I planned, but it happened and we're getting out of things to do. There's not a lot going on our lives to talk about either. But we love each other (I think?) and wanna spend time together online.

      She's an actress and there will be another player friend, so RPGs are likely a good idea and she's very open to it. I think she wants to be some kind of cool illusion witch, so the scenario will have to be medieval. I'm also a fan of RPGs and narrated games on the Cthulhu universe. Not the kind of thing I'd use to woo a woman.

      All my games have been presential. I know of the existence of Roll20, but (1) it looks big and comprehensive and I'm super lazy (2) I think I could probably go with something way simpler. I don't care much about maps, miniatures, or anything advanced. I'd be DMing and games are abstract by nature. A super simple system like Risus (but maybe a bit complex) might be okay, or probably a very slimmed-down version of the Storytelling System. I'm open to suggestions regarding system, I'd just like to point out that I am literally ADHD so most things people consider light and easy to follow are a nightmare for me. On the other hand, I'm a very creative master a player and this helps me quite a bit when it comes to interpretation!

      I need a system that :

      • is free without caveats (or just a minimal and not at all annoying caveat)
      • store character sheets and calculate their evolution
      • performs rolls
      • is online, lightweight (our machines are quite weak) and possibly mobile friendly
      • simple and easy to use for someone with zero experience in RPGs (her)
      • has no video or audio capabilities. Seems unnecessary since we're always on WhatsApp.
      9 votes
    12. Would any Tilderino be interested in tutoring me in programming?

      I could have post this on Reddit but in my experience, nothing really happens over there since things are too impersonal. I realize that's not an enticing proposition for most people since...

      I could have post this on Reddit but in my experience, nothing really happens over there since things are too impersonal.

      I realize that's not an enticing proposition for most people since programmers are usually busy people, but I figure I'd give it a shot. I believe many people that already interacted with me have some idea about my personality. Besides being a stickler for logic, I'm very flexible and eager to learn and make it a habit to force myself to admit when I am wrong. I had to abandon software engineering college because of financial concerns and this hurt me quite a bit, not just because of the content, but because of the social stimulus from my peers.

      I already have some knowledge mostly in Python and basic C algorithms, from the basics until rudiments OOP. Math is not my strong suit, but I don't hate it either and I am very fond of logic (including philosophy). I'm also very good at Googling and reading documentation, so I wouldn't give you too much trouble.

      I'm proficient in Linux/Unix (as an advanced user, not an administrator). I'm comfortable in the command line and an enthusiastic user of Emacs (but I can use whatever you want of course).

      It doesn't even have to be Python, just anything you're comfortable teaching at a beginner level that works on a Mac (and later n a Linux Machine). And is also wouldn't have to be super intensive or frequent, being unemployed (hahaha) I can work around any schedule. I just need some human contact with a nice dude or dudette that cares about imparting knowledge.

      My English is pretty good in writing and understanding but I do have a thick accent -- I believe it's understandable though.

      I'm super shy and video is not a requirement, but it might be nice.

      I'm also a slow learner and have ADHD, so you might need a little patience.

      Anyway, here I am asking for help!

      EDIT: dear Tilderinos, you're awesome and I love you all. I'm also aware of many if not most learning resources for self-didact beginners programmers on the internet -- especially if they use Python. The reason I'm posting this is that I am failing at learning by myself. I welcome ALL suggestions with great gratitude, but this is not the purpose of this thread.

      EDIT2 VERY IMPORTANT!!! I’d be willing to teach Portuguese or anything else I happen to know in exchanging for the tutoring!!!!!!!

      EDIT3:

      Thank you very much everyone. I'm very sorry tor taking so long to answer. I had to make a decision about my study plans for 2020.

      Thing is, back in 2019 I was doing pretty well on a software engineering course at a local private university. But money got tight and I had to drop out. Since then I've been trying to make it on my own, but after more than a year I came to the conclusion that this is simply not going to work. At the university, I was at the top of the class. By myself, I'm a lazy bastard with half the IQ. Go figure.

      So I decided that instead of trying force my way into learning by myself, I'll just study for the Brazilian national exam and get into some great public educational facility that will most certainly provide me a better education for free.

      I took the exam before without studying, and my grade made the cut. So I'm confident that if apply myself this time I'll be able to enter at least one of three major public universities in my city that offer dozens of IT-related courses.

      So I'm laying off from programming until at least January 17 and devoting myself entirely to the exam.

      Cheers!

      18 votes
    13. What are your best Bandcamp buys?

      What are your favorite albums/bands available through Bandcamp? I've used the platform a bit but certainly not to its full extent, and as Google Play Music is slowly winding down, I'm thinking I'd...

      What are your favorite albums/bands available through Bandcamp?

      I've used the platform a bit but certainly not to its full extent, and as Google Play Music is slowly winding down, I'm thinking I'd like to get more into a platform that better supports artists. It also helps that I'm kind of sick of my music library, as I've been listening to the same stuff for years now.

      Give recommendations for any genre, as I don't want this thread to be useful to just me but to anyone who's interested in new music.


      EDIT: All of these recommendations are so good! Thank you everyone, and feel free to keep them coming! I've already bought a couple of these, but I'm waiting on the next Bandcamp Friday to really go on a shopping spree.

      11 votes
    14. What gets you out of bed?

      Responsibilities can be hard sometimes. Sometimes, we aren't acknowledged for our efforts. What gets you out of bed? What's the narrative you have with yourself as you stare at the ceiling as your...

      Responsibilities can be hard sometimes. Sometimes, we aren't acknowledged for our efforts.

      What gets you out of bed? What's the narrative you have with yourself as you stare at the ceiling as your alarm jingles? On a side note: What your alarm sound? Is it as brutal as a bullhorn? Or do you prefer something calm, like trickling water?

      Related: How do you prefer to be acknowledged at home or compensated at work? Do financial incentives get you going or do you prefer thoughtful gifts or do you look forward speaking with a coworker you get along with?

      I've had 3 "adult" jobs. With each job, I've been getting less and less financial compensation (yeah, I know, I'm going the wrong way!). However, with every job, I'm getting happier/more content. I'm not sure if it's related to the financial compensation or just me learning more about myself. I remember working 24/7 at my highest compensation. I had to have my work phone on me at all times, getting phone calls at any time of day (coworkers) and night (contractors). At my second "adult" job, I found that my interpersonal relationship with my coworker(s) made me happier. I'd get out of bed and say "oh, can't wait to tell 'x' about this dream I had" or a new recipe I tried. It also helped that my second job was something I found important (I was an engineer who worked on reducing energy and water consumption for apartment complexes), and the majority of my coworkers felt the same. The job I'm currently in falls right in line with what I studied in school. I work for a consultant company in the wastewater infrastructure field. I'm happy to even have gotten this opportunity. I see it as very important. However, since I work in the field of poo, many of my coworkers and contractors I work with seem very jaded and only has financial compensation in mind. It's hard to be surrounded by that type of attitude. One coworker mentioned that "it's not like people want to work in sewage" and I said "actually, I studied it in school. I just never was able to get my foot in the door until now and I feel lucky that it happened." Don't get me wrong, the work is hard and there are days one gets exhausted and it ALWAYS stinks. But it's important. It effects the health of people and the environment if it isn't done right. Yeah, I'm rambling. I'm just trying to say I thrive off the attitude of people around me. Interpersonal relationships, for me, are better than financial compensation. Don't get me wrong.. pay me fairly, but I'm not going to be bummed if I don't get a huge raise every year. The pay check doesn't get me to work, the people do.

      25 votes
    15. What are the best books you've read on the topic of racism?

      There are a ton of recommendation lists out there right now, each with a ton of titles. While it's nice to see that the topic is being addressed by so many different voices and from so many...

      There are a ton of recommendation lists out there right now, each with a ton of titles. While it's nice to see that the topic is being addressed by so many different voices and from so many different angles, it can also make it so that it's difficult to know where to start or where to go next.

      I'm curious as to which books about racism people here would recommend. Please share not only what the books you've chosen are about specifically, but why you are choosing to recommend them.

      16 votes
    16. On apathy

      Hello again! There have been quite a few posts on Tildes as of late that have rubbed my opinionated brain the wrong way. The purpose here is to have a conversation about apathy in general, less...

      Hello again!

      There have been quite a few posts on Tildes as of late that have rubbed my opinionated brain the wrong way. The purpose here is to have a conversation about apathy in general, less focused on political or social issues and more on why we've seen an increase in apathy. This isn't a public shaming or an attack on anybody in particular. Apathy is at an all time high universally, and we've had several conversations here on Tildes where it has come into play in front of important issues.

      ...Everything's fucked. We are totally and utterly done for. 2020 is the worst year ever, I want a time machine. We are all going to die. Why does any of this even matter?...

      I think we've all seen some variant of that sentiment this year, especially on the internet. It has been rough: COVID-19, the rise of fascism, climate change and ongoing political and social strife around the world. It is quite the cluster! It has been almost impossible for most of us to not look away at some point or another: turn off the news, disconnect the internet, run off into the woods (that's me!), self-isolate (thanks 'rona!) This is all entirely understandable. It's perfectly acceptable to do this for mental health reasons.

      Let's be real though, 2020 has been rough, but let's get even more cynical, shall we? In the last two decades we've seen endless war and suffering in the middle east and elsewhere, we've noticed an ongoing rise in extremism all over the world, we saw the towers fall, we've witnessed school shooting after school shooting after school shooting after school shooting, we have (Yes, we. You may have voted for someone else, but we all have a hand in this democracy.) put a fascist in office (yeah, that was going on 4 years ago), we've seen so much horrible shit happen.

      2020 isn't the outlier, I'd posit it's a combination of being the culmination of decades of growing strife and the sudden realization that total societal collapse (in a way) and the dangers that much of the 3rd and developing worlds have been facing for centuries can happen right here, right now, in our comftorable first world nations.

      So looking at these factors, it is easy to see why apathy has grown, right? I mean, in the face of all of this adversity it'd be hard to not get discouraged. We see the powers at be spins their wheels and balk at solutions; train after train screaming down the tracks, the brake lever sitting right there, we scream and scream, "PULL THE FUCKING LEVER"... they don't. For whatever reason, be it money or self interest or whatever... they don't. So yeah, fuck this system! These people are supposed to do our bidding and they don't. These leaders can't even lead, so why the fuck do we even bother? How many times does this happen? How many people do we need to elect to fix our system? How many votes, protests, rallies, legislative sessions, meetings, politician offices, social media posts? How much effort have we put in, how much does it take? I'm so fucking tired. I give up. Why the fuck do we even bother?

      We've all been in this place, and I think some of us don't want to think about it. We don't want to question why we feel this way, why political and social systems are broken, FUBAR. I'd suggest that some people feel a related guilt, they know they could be doing more but... insert excuse here. I'd venture to guess some people just honestly don't care, true apathy. Fueled by a lack of empathy that in my opinion comes from the numbness associated with witnessing atrocity after tragedy after trauma via the internet. This doesn't account for all of the apathetic populations in the world, but I think topically it covers a good portion.

      So what do we do? I could rant all day about why we need to be on the streets. I could lecture about how a functioning society is a privilege and that it takes good willed effort to maintain. I could soapbox for the rest of my life about how a functioning democracy is not just a privilege but a requirement and that, it too, takes effort. That's not what I want to do though! Me or somebody else talking to people about apathy most often turns into talking at the apathetic masses. Talking at isn't a conversation and it almost never bears fruit.

      So Tildes, I defer to you. What do you think we need to do to reform our society and political system to a functioning point? How do we stoke people to make the effort? As it is currently, that won't happen in America it seems. So what's the solution? We know why there is apathy, how do we beat it?

      10 votes
    17. Have you attended any protests lately? Why or why not?

      I live in Portland, Oregon, and have attended a few protests/rallies in the time I've been here, but admit I am not a regular attendee. The few times I have gone were to organized rallies that had...

      I live in Portland, Oregon, and have attended a few protests/rallies in the time I've been here, but admit I am not a regular attendee. The few times I have gone were to organized rallies that had a planned out route to walk, which then dispersed when they were done.

      The last one I went to had a few bad actors in the crowd; individuals who would bash the windows of buildings and actively tag everything they went past. These were mainly buildings of big institutions like Bank of America, Nike, Wells Fargo-- whenever I'd look to see where that broken glass came from, my thoughts were pretty much "Woah! Don't break window-- oh... yeah I guess fuck Bank of America." And when we were done, we'd arrived at the justice center where it felt like there was no plan left, a lot of shouting and tagging had started, along with a few fires-- my wife and I thought "we did our part, this wasn't what we signed up for, let's leave." And that was that.

      Afterwards we'd attended (virtually) the city's town hall meetings wherein the police budget was gutted a little bit (not nearly as much as we'd have liked), Jo Ann Hardesty (who's our greatest ally as far as I'm concerned) assured us it was a big step, we trusted her, and have since decided to stay home.

      But, as you've seen, the protests continue: people are getting picked up off the streets by non-identified DHS agents, local government has expressed disapproval but it's getting ignored, and fascism is essentially in full effect.

      Since then we've asked ourselves "shouldn't we go back out there?" "what if we get arrested?" "people are already getting arrested, and the majority of them are likely people of color." But we wrestle with it, "we're not rich-- we're barely scraping by-- we'd be more helpless if we were arrested and our jobs were taken than if we'd stayed where we are and just donate what we can and volunteer where we can." We attend city hall meetings and add our voice where we can, we volunteer for organizations when possible (mostly stuff through HRC), but anytime we take a break or have a free weekend, there's just this nagging thought of "shouldn't we be doing more?"

      Have you wrestled with these thoughts? Why or why don't you join protests? What do you do in place of it?

      15 votes
    18. What subjects related to humanities you would like to be discussed on Tildes?

      I love humanities and philosophy in particular. I'm also a layman in both counts. Nevertheless, sometimes I wanna post some personal/informal essays on these subjects, but I have no idea if my...

      I love humanities and philosophy in particular. I'm also a layman in both counts. Nevertheless, sometimes I wanna post some personal/informal essays on these subjects, but I have no idea if my fellow Tilderinos have any interest in those at all.

      So here are as some subjects I have in mind, please tell if you're interested in of those or anything relatead:

      The idea is not to make anything resemble a professional take of these subjects, but rather informal commentaries that might serve as starting points for interesting discussions.

      Sadly, I don' have the knowledge or disposition to comment on subjects that are typically popular on Tildes, such as those more directedly related to computer science and artificial intelligence.

      In terms of reference, I won't go much beyond the refereed links, which are reasonably exhaustive for the purposes of this project. The periodicity will be once every two months (counting starts tomorrow), with the first post that comes in next Septemper 16, 2020 (Monday). 60 days from now. Because of that, it wil be probably long form (no quarantees!).

      This would come in addition to my project of going through each informal fallacies in the Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments, but I don't have any concrete plans for that now.

      In any case, these things take time and effort, and I'll only then if and only if you guys and girls demonstrate interest. So please be vocal!

      I'll choose the next subject of discussion base on public interest.

      22 votes
    19. How can we encourage more posts with comments here?

      On this page, I see posts, but no comments. It's a see of death. The same is true of all game design subreddits. Despite this being a thing a lot of people find interesting, there doesn't seem to...

      On this page, I see posts, but no comments. It's a see of death. The same is true of all game design subreddits. Despite this being a thing a lot of people find interesting, there doesn't seem to be any really successful community oriented way to talk about this type of thing.

      What types of posts do you think we could make to bring this space to life?

      Personally, I think in-depth reviews of games you've played a lot are the way to go. Say you're a grandmaster at chess. Give it a review. Have you played Monopoly into the ground? Critique it. I'd like to start discussing here to, what other ways are there to liven this up?

      I also may start posting speculative designs. So, game rulesets I've come up with, asking for comments from others on what they think I should look out for.

      9 votes
    20. As a teacher, what can I do to protect myself and my students should schools reopen in the fall?

      I'm a teacher in the US, and the question of whether schools reopen is very much still up in the air (and location dependent). However, I heard some internal talk from my district that looks like...

      I'm a teacher in the US, and the question of whether schools reopen is very much still up in the air (and location dependent). However, I heard some internal talk from my district that looks like they are, at present, leaning towards a partial reopening that will likely have me back in the building, in-person, with a room of students in the fall.

      Assuming this is the case, I want to prepare now. I'm operating on the following assumptions:

      1. Provisions from the school and district will (allegedly) meet a certain minimum, but there is an effective maximum beyond those measures that I can independently pursue.

      2. Until the virus's spread is contained, the likelihood of someone who is infected with COVID-19 being in my room is non-negligible.

      As such, I'm looking to maximize the safety of myself and others in my room as much as possible. I'm looking for guidance in the following areas:

      1. What are the best, legitimate masks I can get for myself? N95s are out of stock everywhere, or, if they're in stock, they're from sketchy sources that are almost certainly selling fakes.

      2. What are the best masks I can get for students? They are supposed to be bringing their own, and I assume our school will have something in place for kids without them, but if for whatever reason a child makes it to my class without a mask (or breaks theirs or something like that), I'd like to have extras on hand for them.

      3. Is there any other PPE I should look into? Gloves, facemasks, robes, etc. I don't mind wearing whatever will keep me and others safe, even if it looks ridiculous. On the other hand, I don't want to go overboard either.

      4. Where can I get bulk hand sanitizer and/or cleaning wipes? These also seem to be widely out of stock. Also, are there types/brands that are more effective than one another?

      5. Is there anything else I should stock up on now? I'm worried about a run on already low supplies once schools announce reopening plans.

      6. What best practices should I employ while in the classroom setting? I want to protect myself and the kids in my room as much as possible. Anything that I can control to reduce risk (e.g. procedures, ventilation, etc.) I want to implement.

      7. What level of risk am I potentially putting myself in? I need some straight talk here. Be as transparent as possible with me about the reality of what I'm potentially facing.

      8. Is there anything else I need to know or do in advance of the school year starting? I've got time to prepare. I want to make sure I do whatever I can now. Even if it turns out in hindsight that I overprepared, I'll be happier knowing I did everything I could rather than being in a position where I wish I had done more.

      Also I should note that I am willing to pay for quality. I don't want to put my life in the hands of the cheapest options out there. As much as I resent the idea that I would have to pay for any of this myself, I'm not about to gamble on this.

      30 votes
    21. Digital Lithium

      I'd like to preface this with saying I'm not a super big fan of the internet. While it's a great tool and places like Tildes exist, I'd posit that a vast majority of the internet is less utility...

      I'd like to preface this with saying I'm not a super big fan of the internet. While it's a great tool and places like Tildes exist, I'd posit that a vast majority of the internet is less utility and more waste of mental space for most people. How much information does the typical web page for different types of content offer? How much do we intend to absorb? How much do we actually absorb? Most people say it is a decreasing trend, the web page offers (in ELI5 fashion) three informations, we try to absorb two, we generally only get one.

      I believe it's different now-a-days. The web page offers two, we intend to absorb one, but we end up with three informations. Modern internet journalism preys on our emotions, social media preys on our emotions. The authors of major internet outlets sensationalize everything. So we end up with:

      1. The information we are interested in.
      2. The superfluous information, often irrelevant, through content like advertisements, "related topics/articles/pages" and other people's comments (not always made in good faith or constructive).
      3. Our emotional reaction. This is something that while engineered by the content creators, only exists in our minds.

      Like any good book, we pick up the content and when we put it down we walk away with more to think about than what was originally written. Except, what do we do when this concept is detrimental to societal development and our own health?

      Then we think about the speed of information. What prompted this entire post for me was an article I was reading on CNN today, about the execution of Daniel Lewis Lee. This is not a man I have any sympathy for, I do not like him or any ideas he represented. A man convicted of killing three people and a self-proclaimed white supremacist was executed this morning.

      This morning.

      I got into town this morning and read the article, it had been posted 10 minutes prior.

      10 minutes.

      Mr. Lee was pronounced dead at 8:07AM ET. I read this article at about 6:30AM MT. Within 30 or so minutes of a man being killed for what the state claims is his crime, I was informed by an internet article. I am about 2000 miles away from where this man was killed.

      30 minutes.

      I have been off the internet for quite some time, so I'm getting back into the groove a little bit. This hit me like a truck, had this occurred 3 months ago I don't think I would have flinched. What kind of world do we live in, where a ubiquitous monstrosity called the internet can so easily desensitize us to the fact that a human being was just killed by the state for their crimes?

      I offer no sympathies for the man or his actions, I do not wish this to be a post about the death penalty but that is still a human being that was just killed. I argue not whether or not he should have been executed, I instead posit that our reactions as a society are a testament to how much empathy and humanity has been lost in the modern age. In the grand scheme of things, for everybody but the most intimately familiar and impacted people, this is just a headline. It will be forgotten in a few days, life will go on. I believe this is a direct consequence of the aforementioned information overload in association with emotionally driven content.

      Is this the world we created? Is this how we want to live? In this society where the loss of one is equal to the loss of none? Even the loss of a distant many is inconsequential in the modern, desensitized age. I believe we as a people are numbed by our own creations, and I honestly don't know what we can do about it.

      9 votes
    22. Have you ever been discriminated against because of a disability (specifically mental illness?)

      Hey gang! So it has been a minute! I alluded to my plan to venture off into the woods in prior posts but didn't go into too much detail. Any who, I'm back but not on my own accord. The reason I...

      Hey gang!

      So it has been a minute! I alluded to my plan to venture off into the woods in prior posts but didn't go into too much detail. Any who, I'm back but not on my own accord.

      The reason I ask this question is because it just happened to me. I've struggled with depression and anxiety for going on 15 years, I've talked to a lot of people about it, gotten help, and received a lot of support over the years. I have never had it blow back in my face like it just did. Super long story kind of short:

      • I want to offer some context here, that not more than a week prior, my organization had a "getting vulnerable" meeting whereby we were asked (but not required) to share some information about ourselves with our crews. Crews worked and lived together in remote back country settings for months at a time, to be honest it went pretty well. I did not open up too much at the time as I had just met everybody, but eventually I got more comfortable.
      • I told the wrong person at my work, my direct supervisor (I was in no danger at any point during my employment, this information was given in a contextual fashion. Because we work so closely together for weeks at a time and also live together, these types of things tend to come out.)
      • They told the wrong people (management).
      • I was talked to for 5 hours in a closed door meeting with the top brass of the organization (read: interrogated and asked to give a comprehensive psychological background, even though I had already given them a topical briefing during the hiring process.)
      • I was pulled out of the field for liability reasons (I openly objected to this, saying that said field was best for my mental health.)
      • I was placed on an "in-town" crew that I did not want to join (I openly objected to this as well.)
      • I tried to exist on the new crew, but found it immediately and chronically untenable. My new coworkers were OK people, but the stark contrast in personalities between my old and new crew was jarring. Given our line and nature of work, this is super important and there's no way top brass didn't know about this. I voiced this and once again requested to be placed back in the back country at a base camp, I was ignored.
      • My mental health began to catch up to me. I did not like my position in life or at work, having to live in the city which is something I came out here to entirely avoid was crushing any and all morale I tried to work up.
      • The writing was on the wall. I didn't like it there anymore, and my employer didn't seem to care (despite their claims) about where I was within the organization.
      • I voluntarily resigned due to mental health reasons rather than just walk out. The urge to entirely burn this bridge and emphatically explain to them why what they did was so improper was incredibly strong, but I decided not to. This organization is a big name in our field and the field isn't all that big, they stated that I'd be welcome back, I'd sooner clean a peanut butter covered shag carpet with my tongue.

      The general mood and sentiment during all of my conversations with staff members could be described as tense. The way in which I was treated during all of those meetings was as though I was a conglomeration of suicidal, homicidal and a direct threat to anybody near me. I could literally see their brains doing very careful dance numbers as they walked over what they thought were eggshells, when at no point was that the case in my view. Their actions, disguised as being motivated by empathy, came straight out of the Harvard Business School of Cover Your Ass. At one point they mentioned they had a psychologist on retainer that they were consulting. I have seen so many damn therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, shrinks and every other name in the book over 15 years. I have never met one that would ever make any absolute statements or suggest any concrete actions before even meeting a patient. Their inability to even empathize with what I had been going through was apparent. At no point did they seem to consider the human in the room, it was always "we appreciate what you bring", "you are a good resource to have", and the worst of all "we hear you, but..." Holy fuck the lingering but was bad. "I'm not racist, but...", dude sit the fuck down.

      So that happened within a week or so. There's quite a few more details but I don't want to make the entire point of this post to rant (even though that's what it has turned into.) I am now jobless, homeless as housing was through my work, in an entirely new city to me and floating on savings. It's not too bad to be honest. This is not my first homeless (hobo, vagabond, rubber tramp) experience/adventure, I'm not financially comfortable (I'm on borrowed time) but I'm not broke and honestly I'm in a good place mentally. I've been camping in the woods and I've got everything I need to survive. I'm even super involved in a local activist group, if that's any testament to how comfortable I've become in my current position.

      So, does this sound familiar to anybody here? Have you been discriminated against in this fashion? How'd you react? Cope? Where did you go from there? I'd like to hear from others to simply know I'm not alone in this bullshit. I've been in support groups for mental health, and other reasons, but I've never realized the need for this subset of people to seek support. It's been 10 days now and I'm honestly still in shock.

      Feel free to get as vulnerable as you want, I won't tell your fucking inept boss.

      20 votes
    23. What are some of the longest running gaming series that have had consistently good entries?

      This is, of course, subjective, so go with whatever your feelings are. Also, you can choose to judge quality as based on the time of the game's release, or by current standards. However you choose...

      This is, of course, subjective, so go with whatever your feelings are. Also, you can choose to judge quality as based on the time of the game's release, or by current standards. However you choose to evaluate the question, I'm interested in hearing about which series haven't faltered in releasing good titles across a large number of entries or span of time.

      I also think it would be fun to examine some that barely miss the mark: series that are almost entirely great -- if only weren't for those one or two titles that really brought them down.

      20 votes
    24. A way to click through to threads after marking notifications read

      I have a UX pain point: From the notifications / new comments (replies) page, if I mark all notifications as read, all the nice, handy links to the threads go poof on the page refresh. So now, I...

      I have a UX pain point: From the notifications / new comments (replies) page, if I mark all notifications as read, all the nice, handy links to the threads go poof on the page refresh. So now, I have to manually hunt down all/any of them to return to the OPs and revisit the broader discussions.

      Can we make the "mark all read" link do its job without clearing the page? I realize this will probably make things more complicated (a notif that is already seen/read is being displayed on the "unread notifs" page, so how will that work, UI- and UX-wise), but... this is just a pain point that I hit again and again. I thought I could tolerate it (which is why I haven't said anything till now), but it's an issue for me nearly every single time.

      10 votes
    25. I am not getting popups/notifications for some replies

      Some replies are directly going to previously read section. It happened couple of times now, I didn't get notification for these two replies, I thought may be I had my browser running in the...

      Some replies are directly going to previously read section. It happened couple of times now, I didn't get notification for these two replies, I thought may be I had my browser running in the background. But it happened again for these, replies. I did get notifications for the replies posted in between the mentioned replies.

      I browse tildes mostly on mobile using Hermit. One can get notifications on your mobile from hermit lite apps by adding a url and a css selector, I used tildes.net/notifications/unread as the url and [div.logged-in-user-info:nth-child(4)] as the css selector. I did get notification (on my mobile) for couple of times but most of the time I didn't so I deleted the web monitor. It should be noted that I didn't know what I was doing. So how do I fix this? :(

      4 votes
    26. For how long have you held your current political beliefs/positions/opinions, what opinions did you use to have before and why did you previously hold said opinions?

      Asked mainly because: I'm 14, so I've only been seriously politically engaged/active for a few months at best (for context, here I am not knowing that voter suppression is even a thing literally 6...

      Asked mainly because:

      1. I'm 14, so I've only been seriously politically engaged/active for a few months at best (for context, here I am not knowing that voter suppression is even a thing literally 6 months ago, go a few more months back and I'm not sure if I even know Biden is a candidate)

      2. In r/politicalcompass (a sub I probably frequent too much) people often posted their 'political journeys' showing how their political beliefs have changed but:

        • There's not enough context for you to know what has changed and why they have changed

        • These changes often happen in a span of 5 years, which seems pretty unlikely (the part about your political beliefs changing is mostly aimed at 40+people who have seen enough change in the world (although from what I've heard from you, barely) to change your political opinions

        • It's literally a sub trying to boil down political opinions into a square/cube, so what else could I possibly expect.

      28 votes
    27. Confessions of a Dumb Person

      Hi, I'm not being false-modest. I'm actually dumb. I can tell by the initial interactions I have with people. Within 10 minutes of meeting someone, they'll point out how something dumb...

      Hi,

      I'm not being false-modest. I'm actually dumb.

      I can tell by the initial interactions I have with people. Within 10 minutes of meeting someone, they'll point out how something dumb manifested... and I'm usually in the room when they say it and I'm usually the one who did the dumb thing and it somehow comes out that I did dumb thing... awkward silence... fumbling words/take backs to try and "save" it.

      I wish people wouldn't try to take it back. It's like I should be ashamed I'm dumb. I don't think I'm dumb, I just think that I think differently (and I also don't know a lot of things).

      I have my own narration. Instead of trying to "save" the situation, I wish people would ask me my narrative/thought process. If I bring it up without being asked, it sounds like I'm trying to make excuses for myself, or I dig a bigger hole because I expose how even more dumb I am?

      It's weird. I know I'm dumb, I just don't know when I'm doing something dumb.

      Do you know how hard it is going through life not really knowing why you're dumb or when you'll be doing something dumb?

      Anyway. What's a dumb thing you've done?

      29 votes
    28. Show Tildes: Midnight.pub, a virtual pub

      Three weeks ago I decided I should stop developing on my own and open my side project to get feedback. So here we are now. Midnight pub is a writing platform that aims to be the virtual equivalent...

      Three weeks ago I decided I should stop developing on my own and open my side project to get feedback. So here we are now.

      Midnight pub is a writing platform that aims to be the virtual equivalent of a pub: you go there to talk about your day, interact with a person or two while you unwind, and leave whenever you feel like. It's centered around the idea of entries & references (backlinks) to connect entries together.

      It's a small community of people at the moment. Anyone is welcome to drop by and say hi!

      https://midnight.pub/

      19 votes
    29. Victoria records 108 new coronavirus infections, locks down suburbs and public housing

      https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-04/coronavirus-numbers-victoria-rise-again-lockdown-suburbs/12422456 Victoria recorded its second-highest ever daily increase in coronavirus cases, with 108...

      https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-04/coronavirus-numbers-victoria-rise-again-lockdown-suburbs/12422456

      Victoria recorded its second-highest ever daily increase in coronavirus cases, with 108 people diagnosed with the virus overnight.

      Residents of nine public housing estates in inner Melbourne will be required to stay in their homes due to an outbreak of coronavirus cases.

      23 cases had been identified in more than 12 households in the Flemington and North Melbourne public housing estates

      the nine towers included 1,345 units of housing and were home to about 3,000 residents.

      "No-one will be allowed out of those public housing towers," Mr Andrews said.

      I just watched the press conference. This article misses some details.

      The residents of these public housing towers will not be allowed to leave their flats/apartments at all, for any reason. They can't even step outside their front doors into the common corridors. The common areas are potential transmission vectors, so these people have to stay inside their flats and not come out at all. And the lockdown starts immediately. Anyone currently inside can't come out. Anyone who comes home can't come back out. (I except some people will decide not to go home).

      This is an extreme lockdown, beyond anything done in Australia so far.

      Over the next few days, all residents in the towers will be tested for coronavirus. The lockdown is expected to last for at least 5 days, which is how long it's expected to take to test everyone and get the results.

      6 votes
    30. Getting my new skate boots!

      I'm so excited. I'm getting measured very soon for custom-fit Harlick figure skating boots. Takes 8-10 weeks for them to be ready, so I'll have them before my local rink reopens! I've been going...

      I'm so excited. I'm getting measured very soon for custom-fit Harlick figure skating boots.

      Takes 8-10 weeks for them to be ready, so I'll have them before my local rink reopens! I've been going to an ice rink much further so I don't get rusty in the mean time… it's fun, but exhausting (and expensive) to travel an hour and back every time for just 3.5hrs of training.

      Booking for measurements wasn't exactly simple either. I have to travel to France, take two trains and three taxis to get to some city I've never even heard of. And that's the closest shop to me.

      Seriously I'm hyped. I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas day right now, and this week I'm traveling to give my wishlist to Santa in person.

      16 votes
    31. 'See it as your civic duty': Testing blitz to target hotspots as Victoria records thirty-three new cases

      Article: 'See it as your civic duty': Testing blitz to target hotspots as Victoria records 33 new cases I found this part especially interesting: Health workers going door-to-door to test...

      Article: 'See it as your civic duty': Testing blitz to target hotspots as Victoria records 33 new cases

      I found this part especially interesting:

      Health workers going door-to-door to test residents in these hotspots will be using a new type of saliva test developed by the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity that is less invasive, and painful, than nose and throat swabs.

      There's a new form of coronavirus testing in Australia.

      4 votes
    32. Using the menstrual cup and open menstrual discussion

      I'm a female working in the construction field and was wondering how to dispose of my feminine products discreetly and hygienically in a portable potty with a crew full of males where male...

      I'm a female working in the construction field and was wondering how to dispose of my feminine products discreetly and hygienically in a portable potty with a crew full of males where male toxicity exists... 'twas weird.

      I've been meaning to make the jump to the menstrual cup (due to my sustainability inclinations), but due to laziness/squeamish reasons, I didn't make the jump until I realized how practical it was with my profession!

      I'm able to keep it in for a half day before emptying, so it's awesome for the jobsite! I can urinate with it too! which is also awesome... and! NO SMELL! I feel so much cleaner now. and the internal pressure kinda releases some cramps... not all the cramps, but some! And it's totally comfortable to work out in (for reference: I do outdoor running). Not to mention, there's way less waste and cost! (And for those who find bodily fluids cool, the thick, deep, dark red that you see when you empty makes me feel powerful, like you can conquer anything... in reality, I just sit with my Chimmy plush and wait for my significant other to plop chocolate goodies in my lap.)

      The only downside I could find is that it took some time to get used to (about 1 cycle) and I can't hold my pee (I know I'm not suppose to anyway, but it's a nice privilege... these pipes had some major damage).

      Anyway, any cycle stories/tips/tricks? embarrassing moments? origin story?
      I'll go first, my mom was in a ferocious fight with my older sister for spending the night with some guy or whatever. As my mom was ripping my sister's clothes/throwing her out the house, I got my first period. I had to interrupt the fight to ask what I should do... middle child problems! I guess I found a good way to break up a fight...

      35 votes
    33. How do you feel board games have changed in the last twenty-five years?

      Everyone always refers to the coming of Eurogames a long time back, but I'm wondering about modern games. Where have they come? Where will they go? I'd say the art has gotten better, more...

      Everyone always refers to the coming of Eurogames a long time back, but I'm wondering about modern games. Where have they come? Where will they go? I'd say the art has gotten better, more eye-catching, but I'm more ambivalent about very recent (last five years) game mechanics.

      11 votes
    34. Did Europe have more mutations through its history?

      This is something weird to me. I think skin color is pretty diverse no matter where you go, or at least, I don't know enough to say otherwise. But take hair color. Europe has more diversity in...

      This is something weird to me. I think skin color is pretty diverse no matter where you go, or at least, I don't know enough to say otherwise. But take hair color. Europe has more diversity in hair color than almost anywhere else. Same with eye color. Why is this? Is it just because I interact with more people of European heritage on day to day business, or has Europe actually had more mutations which affect hair color, eye color, etc? Or is it that Europe, being a crossroads has had more people immigrate through it.

      If this is racist, it's unintentional, this is just an observation, which I've been unable to find an answer to.

      If you have an answer, a link to a paper would be great.

      Edit: A point against what I just wrote that I thought of: Asia has both mono and double eyelids, which is something Europe doesn't have. Native americans don't count either for or against, since they immigrated fairly late in a small group, which also explains why almost all native americans are type O

      5 votes
    35. Reddit starts an Ethereum scalability competition in order to launch Community Points (monetization of karma) site-wide

      Here is the admin post in r/ethereum announcing the contest and below is the text of that post. Previous Tildes and r/TheoryOfReddit discussions on this: Tildes: Reddit is moving forward with...

      Here is the admin post in r/ethereum announcing the contest and below is the text of that post.


      Previous Tildes and r/TheoryOfReddit discussions on this:


      tl;dr: Do you believe your Ethereum scaling technology can handle Reddit's scale? It's time to let the Ethereum community hear about it. Send your demo in the comments by July 31, 2020.

      This is your chance to earn some fame but, to be clear, there is no prize if your solution is chosen or modified to meet Reddit’s needs. Our lawyer made us write this.

      https://preview.redd.it/q7hhi6lzlp551.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=cdb26cbbe59e26f4fc73da5740da1308e2a87579

      The Goal

      In conjunction with the Ethereum Foundation, Reddit is inviting Ethereum scaling projects to show the community how your scaling solution can be used to bring Community Points to mainnet. Our goal is to find a solution that will support hundreds of thousands of Community Points users on mainnet today, and can eventually scale to all of Reddit (430 million monthly users).

      We’ve evaluated some of the most promising scaling solutions, and have learned a few things:

      1. There are plenty of awesome projects that we don't know about yet. We seem to learn about a promising new scaling solution every day.
      2. Most existing scaling solutions focus on the exchange use case, which favors optimizing for transfers. Many of these designs don't take into consideration the costs of obtaining tokens or entering the scaling system, which can be significant. Community Points distributions have cost an order of magnitude more gas than all other operations combined, primarily due to on-chain storage costs associated with onboarding new users.
      3. It's unclear how to determine the best solution. There is a lot of code, a lot of documentation, and a lot of hype out there. But there are very few objective real-world reviews or comparisons of various products/implementations.
      4. We need the Ethereum community's help to figure this out.

      Do you have a scaling project that meets the criteria below? If so, share your demo in the comments of this post by July 31, 2020. Please note that all demos need to simulate Community Points usage for 100,000 users.

      We also invite all scaling experts in the Ethereum community to comment on any demos submitted to enable a better understanding of the trade-offs and compromises between different solutions.

      We will review the demos and plan to share any updates by September. While we don’t expect any novel scaling projects, we hope that you, the Ethereum scaling expert, can show us how to scale Community Points.

      Demos should include:

      1. A live proof of concept showing hundreds of thousands of transactions
      2. Source code (for on & off-chain components as well tooling used for the PoC). The source code does not have to be shared publicly, but if Reddit decides to use a particular solution it will need to be shared with Reddit at some point
      3. Documentation
        1. How it works & scales
        2. Cost estimates (on-chain and off-chain)
        3. How to run it
        4. Architecture
        5. APIs (on chain & off)
        6. Known issues or tradeoffs
      4. Summary of cost & resource information for both on-chain & off-chain components used in the PoC, as well as cost & resource estimates for further scaling. If your PoC is not on mainnet, make note of any mainnet caveats (such as congestion issues).

      Requirements

      Scaling. This PoC should scale to the numbers below with minimal costs (both on & off-chain). There should also be a clear path to supporting hundreds of millions of users.

      • Over a 5 day period, your scaling PoC should be able to handle:
        • 100,000 point claims (minting & distributing points)
        • 25,000 subscriptions
        • 75,000 one-off points burning
        • 100,000 transfers

      Decentralization. Solutions should not depend on any single third-party provider.

      • We prefer solutions that do not depend on specific entities such as Reddit or another provider, and solutions with no single point of control or failure in off-chain components, but recognize there are numerous trade-offs to consider

      Usability. Scaling solutions should have a simple end user experience.

      • Users shouldn't have to maintain any extra state/proofs, regularly monitor activity, keep track of extra keys, or sign anything other than their normal transactions
      • Transactions complete in a reasonable amount of time (seconds or minutes, not hours or days)
      • Free to use for end users (no gas fees, or fixed/minimal fees that Reddit can pay on their behalf)
      • Bonus points:
        • Users should be able to view their balances & transactions via a blockchain explorer-style interface
        • Exiting is fast & simple

      Interoperability. Compatibility with third party apps (wallets/contracts/etc) is necessary.

      • Scaling solutions should be extensible and allow third parties to build on top of it
      • APIs should be well documented and stable
      • Documentation should be clear and complete
      • Third-party permissionless integrations should be possible & straightforward
      • Simple is better. Learning an uncommon or proprietary language should not be necessary. Advanced knowledge of mathematics, cryptography, or L2 scaling should not be required. Compatibility with common utilities & toolchains is expected.
      • Bonus Points: Show us how it works. Do you have an idea for a cool new use case for Community Points? Build it!

      Security. Users have full ownership & control of their points.

      • Balances and transactions cannot be forged, manipulated, or blocked by Reddit or anyone else
      • Users should own their points and be able to get on-chain ERC20 tokens without permission from anyone else
      • Points should be recoverable to on-chain ERC20 tokens even if all third-parties involved go offline
      • A public, third-party review attesting to the soundness of the design should be available
      • Bonus points:
        • Public, third-party implementation review available or in progress
        • Compatibility with HSMs & hardware wallets

      Other Considerations

      • Minting/distributing tokens is not performed by Reddit directly [1]
      • One off point burning, as well as recurring, non-interactive point burning (for subreddit memberships [2]) should be possible and scalable
      • Fully open-source solutions are strongly preferred

      [1] In the current implementation, Reddit provides signed data for claims, but does not submit the actual claim transaction for the user (the user does that themselves). Note that smart contracts are considered independent of Reddit provided there is a path to decentralizing control over them.

      [2] Subreddit memberships are currently implemented as a contract acting as an ERC777-style operator that can burn points on a monthly basis, but we are open to changing that implementation.

      Community Points Overview

      To help you get started, this is an overview of how Community Points work today and some stats on how it's used. We are open to changing most implementation details, provided the basic requirements (above) are met.

      Usage stats over the past month

      Number of Community Points holders: ~17,500

      Number of transfers: ~20,000

      (reference: reddit.dappradar.com)

      Number of subreddit memberships: ~800

      Contracts

      Community Points is built around 3 contracts:

      1. SubredditPoints: the ERC20 token
      2. Distributions: manages token supply & token claims
      3. Subscriptions: enables membership subscriptions in the form of recurring token burn

      Deployed Contracts & Source Code

      r/FortniteBR

      SubredditPoints: https://rinkeby.etherscan.io/address/0xe0d8d7b8273de14e628d2f2a4a10f719f898450a

      Subscriptions: https://rinkeby.etherscan.io/address/0x396b89db5e9317ff25360c86bd4e2aae3bbc62ea

      Distributions: https://rinkeby.etherscan.io/address/0xc0c08af3f2a3f8d6730118e0d2de4367053ebddf

      r/CryptoCurrency

      SubredditPoints: https://rinkeby.etherscan.io/address/0xdf82c9014f127243ce1305dfe54151647d74b27a

      Subscriptions: https://rinkeby.etherscan.io/address/0x77cb2dbeadb7313242d7f3070ce8fc98e96080e4

      Distributions: https://rinkeby.etherscan.io/address/0x1c5122bfeba106eea33cf5bdf2004ab22213ca20

      Points Distribution & Claims

      Token supply is controlled by distribution rounds managed in the Distributions contract and triggered by Reddit. For each round (occurring ~monthly), Reddit submits a proposal for points distribution to a subreddit for approval. Once approved, Reddit issues signed claims for individual users according to the agreed upon points distribution. These claims can be redeemed on-chain. Claims are obtained from Reddit, and submitted to the Distributions contract, which validates the claim and calls the Subreddit Points contract to mint points.

      https://preview.redd.it/lunpaj18mp551.png?width=1120&format=png&auto=webp&s=da31db1db07cfe4f327692a7398772019b8eb7bd

      Memberships

      Subreddit memberships are obtained by burning points via the Subscriptions contract. Redditors can optionally configure their membership to be renewable on a monthly basis without additional interaction. The Subscriptions contract is granted permission to burn points by being configured as an ERC777-style default operator in the Subreddit Points contract.

      https://preview.redd.it/bqnvt50amp551.png?width=1120&format=png&auto=webp&s=812f46a0308aea370908eb73ca93abac810e58ba

      ***

      We'll be watching this thread and answering questions. Looking forward to what comes out of this!

      30 votes
    36. Food Escapades & Curry Fridays ! Classic Indian Green Curry / Chicken Handi

      Hello hello, sorry for being a bit late recently with these, been real tired hahah. Alas, I am still keeping the tradition and making these once a week, every Friday ! It's my little escape time,...

      Hello hello, sorry for being a bit late recently with these, been real tired hahah. Alas, I am still keeping the tradition and making these once a week, every Friday ! It's my little escape time, anyways :P Since I missed the writeup for last week, I'll be putting both on the same post for extra goodies for the fellow readers of this !

      June 5th:

      this week for my curry dish I have prepared a green indian curry ! Which, frankly, I didn't know existed in this form before.... If you know me, you know there are two foods that I really hate the most when raw, those being cilantro and yoghurt. So, when my dad sent me a green curry based on cilantro and yoghurt, I was a bit skeptical at first. I mean, surely combining both of my least hated ingredients together would make for a sensory disaster ! But, to my surprise, eating this was not as much of a pain as I thought it was going to be. No no, instead of being an awful pile of green mush, it ended up being quite nice chicken with a rich and tasty green sauce on top. Honestly, one of the most confusing and fun times of my life ! Cooking it was a bit of a hassle tho, since it did smell awful for me. But it was well worth it ! :P

      Picture of the dish: https://imgur.com/a/LNV3nAl
      Recipe: https://www.scrambledchefs.com/classic-indian-green-curry/

      June 12th:

      Hello hello, sorry for being a bit late recently with these, been real tired hahah. Alas, I am still keeping the tradition and making these once a week, every Friday ! It's my little escape time, anyways :P

      This week, I have prepared a dish I found on the channel Get Curried: Chicken Handi! It's a dish traditionally made in a special pan called a Handi, which I do not own! So I just used my trusty dutch oven pot. The recipe was a pretty simple curry, consisting of a mostly cream/yoghurt based sauce with a little tomato, varied spices, onion, and of course, chicken ! I think by it's own it was a pretty good recipe, but for me, what made it stand out was the fact that I used ghee for the first time in one of these. Took me 6 months to finally do it, but I bought a tub of ghee for this just to try it out. And...
      Oh My God.

      Ghee was an absolute game changer !!! The nutty, creamy flavour really propelled this dish into fantastic territories I didn't even know were possible ! I haven't been this ecstatic for a single ingredient in a while, but god damn. I truly believe ghee to be irreplaceable after this experience, I'll have to see if it impacts other dishes I've made a lot or not. But safe to say, this was such a great addition to my cooking ingredients. Will have to use again.

      On another note, here's a little anecdote about the whole cooking process from that day. Dad and I went to buy some yoghurt to make naan (which turned out quite amazing in the end), and he saw a tub of yoghurt that was on sale. Quite cheap, too. So without hesitation, he bought it. Once we got back home, he realized it was skim yoghurt, which wouldn't make for the best naan, but it's alright anyways. Once he started kneading the dough, he soon quickly realized that he had gotten... Vanilla yoghurt. So now, we had a whole batch of sugary naan dough which would definitely not work well with our curry and no yoghurt left for anything. In retrospect that was quite funny, lol.
      He did end up going for some yoghurt, though. We ended up making some pretty great naan, as I said before :P

      Anyhoo, great recipe that I'd REALLY recommend doing, especially if you're using ghee! But maybe don't use too much, we made the mistake of adding a bit much, which made a really big grease pool on top, which could be unappetising. But hey, you ain't hearing me complain about it :P

      Picture of the dish: https://imgur.com/a/uEi00Q9
      Recipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO0issT0Rmc
      Question of the day: what foods have had a "click" in your lifetime? Perhaps something you have once hated, but then suddenly just finally understood. It's happened to me a few times, curious to see if anyone else has gotten that feeling hahahah.

      Have a great day and STAY SAFE ! <3
      Tomi, your friendly neighbourhood marshmallow~

      7 votes