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Reddit

  • Reddit is sunsetting coins and community awards

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    2 min read

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    From the u/venkman01 on Reddit’s Product Team:

    TL;DR: We are reworking how great content and contributions are rewarded on Reddit. As part of this, we made a decision to sunset coins (including Community coins for moderators) and awards (including Medals, Premium Awards, and Community Awards), which also impacts some existing Reddit Premium perks. Starting today, you will no longer be able to purchase new coins, but all awards and existing coins will continue to be available until September 12, 2023.

    Many eons ago, Reddit introduced something called Reddit Gold. Gold then evolved, and we introduced new awards including Reddit Silver, Platinum, Ternium, and Argentium. And the evolution continued from there. While we saw many of the awards used as a fun way to recognize contributions from your fellow redditors, looking back at those eons, we also saw consistent feedback on awards as a whole. First, many don’t appreciate the clutter from awards (50+ awards right now, but who’s counting?) and all the steps that go into actually awarding content. Second, redditors want awarded content to be more valuable to the recipient.

    While I never fully understood Reddit Gold as a product (and neither did Reddit it seems), it was much beloved by the community. Gilding fellow redditors comments felt good and was honestly pretty novel at the time. It was also an awesome indicator of high-quality content. Seems like Reddit is likely killing off this feature because gilded content would otherwise identify high-quality content to would-be web crawlers, and Reddit wants a piece of the pie.

    I think coins and micro-transcations certainly can be a successful model for creators (see Twitch). But Reddit, has historically never understood their general userbase and has historically never leaned into empowering creators/powerusers. Each year, they shed more and more classic nostalgic features while product inherits tech debt. Coins and Rewards were certainly more useful than RPAN (yikes). Honestly, some of the best features are user-generated, maybe Reddit is making a grave mistake here.

  • Why do chef’s run water on a wok range?

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    1 min read

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    I came across this excellent post on how to season a wok on Reddit. A classic Reddit post (that appears to have been cross-posted from TikTok). As is internet tradition, one of the top commenters was confused by the wok range and let us all know. A threaded conversation ensued. The last comment from a Redditor in particular shared a delightful video from Chef Wang that explains a bit about how ranges operate. Obviously, it get’s blazingly hot. So, it’s absolutely essential there’s running water on (or nearby) wok ranges:

    > i don’t understand both the seasoning process and the setup of this kitchen

    >> The wok burners produce a tremendous amount of heat required for proper wok cooking, the water cools the cooktop top, but the cooktop also contains a drain so the wok can be cleaned quickly (water is used only to maintain the wok seasoning), as well quick as access to water to use in cooking.

    >>> As explained and demonstrated by chef Wang here on what happens if you don’t have the flowing water: https://youtu.be/uTSsXQ-9bnQ

  • Rockstar Games hacked, leaked footage of upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6 game

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    3 min read

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    It was a big weekend with this game leak. GTA 6 peaks and leaks are hyped up so much, they’re about on par with the level of hype Half-Life 3 confirmed memes. It just isn’t going to happen and everyone doubts the claims when users post them on Reddit.

    Until it does. The leaks over the weekend were genuine and bold. High-quality footage of the in-development game were stolen from Rockstar. According to The Verge, over 3GBs of videos were obtained by a hacker.

    On Sunday morning, the hacker posted a 3GB file containing 90 videos of early GTA VI gameplay footage, which aligns with previous reports that indicate the game could feature a female protagonist for the first time.

    Which of course elicited a response from Rockstar:

    You know you have the Real McCoy when two things happen:

    1. There’s an official Twitter response
    2. Reddit posts start disappearing

    For example, this megathread on r/GTA6 was taken offline sometime last night. But, not before the page was archived.

    Wayback Machine screenshot of the fabled megathread on r/GTA6

    While the gameplay is still in early development, the footage and content looks absolutely fantastic. Game leaks can be a kiss of death from the public. However, support for GTA 6 has been overwhelmingly positive following the leaks. Probably due to the size and variety of what was shared. In previous leaks, such as the Nvidia PC Leak of 2021, not much qualitative data was obtained. This was a gargantuan leak, and according to the hacker, more is yet to come.

    The videos (which have been taken down in most of the links on Twitter and Reddit) were very convincing and very Rockstar-esque. But, I found these two still photos from the deleted megathread to be the most convincing evidence:

    Redwood Cigarettes are a GTA Staple. This is either the most elaborate fake of all time or the real deal
    MAYBE main character with a different hairstyle

    It’s bittersweet that these details were leaked. But, not much can be gleaned from the story from these videos and photos. There’s evidence of a male and female lead (which was previously leaked but these photos suggest a confirmation on the Bonnie and Clyde story mode) — but apart from that, not much else is known.

    What is known, is the hacker that stole the footage and data from Rockstar (which included source code mind you), is in some very hot water.

  • Westcave Preserve, Austin Following Snow Storms

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    1 min read

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    If you have been living under a rock, Texas recently had a historic snowstorm system decimate its poorly regulated infrastructure. It’s estimated that millions of Texans had pipes bursts, flooding, and countless more experienced blackouts for more than 48 hours. Some regions experienced below 0º conditions.

    Devastating as it was, I was entranced to see this photo of this particular cave (and there are a lot of them out in the Hill Country) thawing out with a magical display of icicles:

    Source: Reddit, /u/BusyRunninErins

  • Close-up photos of Jupiter’s polar vortexes and dancing storms

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    1 min read

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    I came across these via the r/space subreddit. In the comments, a Redditor revealed that these images were processed by Seán Doran and Gerald Eichstädt and after looking through the photostream, I was completely blown away.

    It’s nuts that we have a spacecraft out there in void. All alone. Snapping and transmitting these beautiful images of the Jovian giant to us. We are not worthy.

    Swirling violent masses of gases rage and dance on the surface of Jupiter

    Where do these photos come from? The Juno spacecraft of course! This spacecraft and mission has planned to orbit the gas giant Jupiter more than 35 times (these have been organized into perjoves), and has a planned termination date for 2021. A remarkable achievement.

    Here’s a clearer shot of one of Jupiter’s polar vortexes

  • “Raspbaby Yoda” Raspberry Pie

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    1 min read

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    I hope you’ve been following The Mandalorian on Disney+. Wether you have (or have not) seen the show yet, matters not. All you need to know is, Baby Yoda, (or as he is officially known, The Child) is pretty much the cutest thing ever to grace the Star Wars universe.

    What happens when you combine stellar baking artistry and a love for the cutest alien sidekick ever? You get a Raspbaby Yoda. Get it?

    You can follow this incredible pie artist here on Instagram (via u/ThePieous on Reddit).

  • The Palm Leaf Grasshopper

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    1 min read

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    Posted by: u/rolandroflz

    I thought this was pretty cool!

    This is a palm leaf grasshopper! There’s much discussion in the Reddit thread about the material, origin, and proper Japanese nomenclature. Typical and to be expected of any high-quality Reddit post honestly — however, one user in particular commented a web archive link to something extraordinary.

    An old, MS-painted tutorial on how to make such a grasshopper out of palm leaves:

    A real treasure.

  • Be On Fire

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    1 min read

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    I’ve been listening to Chrome Sparks for years now. Pretty much ever since his Bandcamp hit, Marijuana was featured on a viral video of a cat that swept Reddit like a wildfire in 2014.

    Those were good times.

    His newest EP, is pretty fantastic. It’s not a wild departure or anything, but I can tell that his taste and composition is certainly maturing. His tracks have had (for some time now), great rhythm exploration, thrilling bips, kits and sequence layers that are really just simply delicious to listen to. But this EP in particular has a heavy synthesizer, simple samples and overall has a decent homogeny that I just dig.

    His previous releases are also worth a listen, click here to visit his Bandcamp. Otherwise, checkout Be On Fire below via Apple Music.

  • A Generation’s Purpose

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    2 min read

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    This has been a trying week.

    Hell, it's been a trying year. There's a seemingly growing divide across the country that feels unending. The festering mass of populist cynicism and the slew of horrible foreign (and domestic) policy decisions feel forever damaging and there is rarely a sign of hope that things will change for the better. If you're like me, you probably feel a little down — all the time.

    It's easy to feel defeated. It really doesn't take much.

    As a result, I regularly visit /r/eyebleach a subreddit dedicated to "no sad content." The purpose of the subreddit is for cleansing your eyes after seeing something horrible. But, my political anxieties require a regular eye-bleaching if you will. The comments on the posts are generally benign. If you've never visited /r/eyebleach, you should.

    I came across a comment in particular (thanks /u/stayalivechi) that really made me ponder, gave me a new perspective, and ultimately gave me a little bit of hope back. The context of this user's comment isn't important, but if you're feeling hopeless about the future, consider this:

    The point of each generation is to be better than the last; there is a great life waiting for you.

    If there is any hope in the future, it's you. ✊

  • Reddit Surpasses Facebook in Popularity

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    2 min read

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    An interesting development on the web happened today. Reddit just passed Facebook as #3 most popular website in the US. This was no small feat for the Reddit engineering team who have also juggled a site re-design. As the Facebook deals with an Exodus, I suspect that new user sign-ups have slowed for the Silicon Valley giant as well. 

    As TNW reported:

    On average, Reddit users spend 15 minutes and 10 seconds on it every day, a figure substantially higher than its competitors. Google users spend 7 minutes 16 seconds, You’veTube 8 minutes 31 seconds, Facebook 10 minutes 50 seconds and Amazon 7 minutes 37 seconds on the sites each day.

    This isn’t great news for Facebook on the face of things. The social media company’s audience is aging and shifting to other platforms and, with the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the company’s lost a lot of sheen.

    It really just comes down to two factors: time and traffic.

    Facebook has millions of backlinks over their rival Reddit, but people enjoy the fresh and open content. Snoo’s tribes will continue to grow as Facebook’s users age, linger and mob.

    I have long been a fan and user of Reddit. I may not enjoy everything I come across on Reddit, but alas is the beauty of their unique paradigms that help keep my feed fresh:

    • Useful Bots (most of the time, clearly labeled as such)
    • Subreddit Flairs (great for improving comment threads and context)
    • Up-voting and down-voting 
    • Karma (helps identify trolls and patron saints of Reddit easily)
    • A never-ending battle to squash bullshit on Reddit

    I love Reddit. It’s been through some tough times, and still is wrangling with problematic subreddits, but that’s the cost of a great product and an even better community. It takes real work to cultivate and grow a healthy internet community. I really think Facebook held that title up until 2011 with their first set of re-design efforts. But somewhere along the way Facebook lost their soul and lost their focus.

    Here’s to Snoo. You earned it. 🏆 Now get out there and upvote!