Luckily, here, while admins can see how many up- and downvotes you have, it doesn’t influence anything, and that’s by design; besides, it’s unlikely that any proper implementation of karma system is possible in a federated network for individual users.

We often talk about toxic newbies, but sometimes we don’t pay enough attention to how we ourselves changed as a result. Make them feel welcome, and see how much Lemmy changes back.

If you (yes, you, reader) are new to Lemmy, have my wholehearted “Welcome”! Hugs on demand, cookies right there, make yourself comfy :)

Avoid politics-oriented communities unless toxicity is your thing. Start with any instance (most likely you chose lemmy.world as your starting point?), but explore others and what they have to offer. You can even be on several of them if that’s your thing! Enjoy!

It’s kind of a game of balance to me

We should make sure toxicity remains unwelcome, but new users should be welcomed without negative expectations. Otherwise, we either make all newbies feel like they don’t belong, or turn Lemmy into another Reddit, which would also alienate users since this is what they fled from.

Apex was one of the titles that just worked, flawlessly. And I never faced anything that I could attribute to cheats over high skill.

Yes, there was some ALGS drama, but as a regular player, I never faced it.

Modding a niche Lemmy community is a breeze, honestly

Not much is happening, but not many troublemakers, either. Modding is pretty much zero effort.

In case you’re wondering, yes.

There is an entire Linux server segment - exploiting Linux can be insanely profitable

Oral is above everything

But anal play is really good too for those into it.

Second that.

It feels very good, both physically and emotionally (after you get used to the idea you can be on the “receiving” end). And many, many girls love it! They love to experience sex in a very new way, love to feel what you normally get to feel, and you’ll likely love it too!

UV sterilization has been used in medicine, industry and science since forever, and will be used long after nobody knows what COVID is.

As a microbiologist, I would greatly appreciate the affordable lamp that wouldn’t require me to leave the room when it’s sterilizing, and would also safely sterilize my skin before I conduct my work.

No, I just highlight that the research you provided doesn’t say what you want it to say. And I can’t really find many articles that confirm your notion.

You can call the country your home if you constantly live and/or were born there. Quite straightforward to me. Now, it would certainly be handy to learn the language and familiarize with the culture - which many Latvian Russians do - and it’s a correct turn to make Latvian courses mandatory - but suppressing Russian culture is a step too far, and something that should never be applied to anyone. Luckily, I’m not the only one thinking this way.

I do speak Ukrainian (мова, anyone?), although I must admit that since I’ve spent more time living here in Russia and not everyone even in Ukraine spoke Ukrainian, I do speak Russian better. But same is true for most Eastern Ukrainians anyway.

I don’t white-wash anything, I’m only saying hostility is not a viable option. You, along many others, try to push all blame on everyday Russians - and there could be a grain of truth to that, more could be done a decade ago to make sure this never happens - but what do you want now? What is the proposed course of action, exactly?

When those questions come up, I don’t know the answers. And I desperately wish to have one. One thing I do know is that getting hostile to Russians makes them hostile to you, which gradually shifts the idea of hostile Russians into a self-fulfilling prophecy, boosting Putin’s support. If you didn’t see it, one of the main patriotic tropes of Russia is that the world is full of enemies that hate Russians. Don’t make this true; people do not reason when they are despised, and they will not come to the conclusion that this is meant to stimulate them to do something. By trying to make Russians feel “consequences of their actions”, you really just feed directly into Putin’s propaganda machine and make Russians actually hate you.

No, that wasn’t me, and media can be accessed - at least via VPNs. Not gonna argue on that - and I still insist the support is not as broad as you imagine it to be, although sometimes it looks like some folks do everything in their power to make it true. Also, collective punishment over those in particular who support the war is never a good option at any ratio. This, by the way, has further alienated some of the opposition.

As I said, I do not have strong opinions on Russo-Ukrainian border. If Ukraine retakes Crimea and Donbass, then be it. If Russia captures them, okay. You think the reason I’m talking this is because I take the side of Russia, but I don’t take either side. If Ukraine ends up including Kursk (which was Russian pre-war), and Russia ends up including Luhansk (which was Ukrainian pre-war), and the peace is then brokered, whatever! I have zero loyalty to either country, and see the concept of a country to be imposed and alien, introducing conflicts over nothing that actually matters. I am, however, loyal to people, all people, and naturally sensitive to the struggles of those living on both sides of this very border. And on one side there are people not only suffering from rocket strikes, but also chased and beaten and pushed to go to their death (aka бусифікація), and on the other the country is turning into a war machine, feeding its young men into the grinder as well (aka могилизация). Stop that first, it’s an obvious priority task, isn’t it?

Now, does this approach of hostility make it any closer? If anything, it makes peace further away, it drives people further away. And it’s a big deal.

Maybe being nice to Russians didn’t help them stop Putin. But being hostile to Russians plays straight into Putin’s deck. It looks, however, like retribution for you is the goal in itself, not a measure to actually help anyone, on any side of the frontline.

With that said, I don’t think this is the kind of conversation worth having.

Russia, or Putin?

People in relationships also take a shit etc. Doesn’t mean we have to demonstrate it for further engagement.

But I guess that’s a matter of preference anyway. Let’s just agree that there is no single best option.

Fair on your part, I might’ve gone too far with my argument.

I was talking more about collaborative nature and what happens to it when the major open-surce project decides to gatekeep based on something highly arbitrary.

Linux is long past a simple hobby project, and it should be managed responsibly and with respect to the people that make this all happen.

Disagree, in the world full of all sorts of sexual depictions this just feels like you’ve accidentally switched to porn - something you’re currently not intended to do and if you would, you’d look for it directly.

It’s awkward, unnecessary and usually excessively artsy to be taken seriously, and actors might not be the kind of people you’d love to see sex scenes with.

While I appreciate and share your look at sex as a continuation and natural part of romance, I think it is necessary to show the main part - love, devotion, trust, butterflies in the stomach - and the rest can be figured out.

Something like “they lived happily ever after”

Germany’s like: “uh-oh”

Even if that were true (which is not, read the damn conclusions section), this doesn’t support your emotional notion. And as much as I’d like to share such a simple outrage, it’s not helpful.

It would be weird to see all Russians born in Latvia only support Latvian side of things, just as it would be weird to see each and every Latvian born in Russia supporting Russia.

I never said I see war as necessary, I say many of the people that can be defined as pro-war are not for it because they want to see Ukrainians gone. I personally am anti-war and I call for peace through whatever means necessary, because - surprise surprise - I care about people’s lives and you seemingly don’t. It is curently you who calls for brute force solutions.

And you trying to say my ethnicity is not valid is laughable. Oh yeah, gonna be unborn to my Ukrainian father and forget my entire Ukrainian bloodline. Maybe your cultural shock at facing a Ukrainian who doesn’t immediately call to destroy all Russians is your problem? Then go around and maybe talk to some outside political circlejerks.

Russian culture is independent and beautiful, not defined by anything in particular - just as Ukrainian. You trying to minimize it to “victimhood” or even politics more broadly is an insult to everything good the country has produced - and there is plenty.

The perfect scenario I see is peace talks, and then Ukraine joining NATO. There are talks on the NATO side, but they require Ukraine to leave the current war first. I do think this is the best way forward, as Russian security guarantees are proven not to be trusted.

Seeing any national or ethnic group as “inherently dangerous” is nothing but a way to more abuse, and a common justification for imperialist wars, too. There is no such society in Russia, and seeing it this way is an issue of your perception. But regardless, make peace talks and then invite Ukraine to NATO. Problem solved.

The advice would be relevant a bit ealier, around the Bolotnaya protests.

But now protesting in Russia is nothing short of suicidal. You won’t make yourself heard - much quicker, you’ll be jailed. Police is constantly on duty near main protest venues, and they act brutal. And this fear mentality permeates many even as they leave, afraid they’ll have to return some day.

Right now, it seems like the only thing that would help is a full-scale revolution, but people are passivized enough through decades of oppression that organizing them is near impossible. Everyone is scared as hell to be the one who comes on the street, finds out they are alone and next moment they are taken to police and jailed for years.

Even under those conditions, people did come out to anti-war protests, especially in 2022. Result? Brutal suppression and mass incarceration. So, I hope you can see where this comes from.

Authors clearly stated that the result can be inaccurate and some percentage of Russians may not answer honestly even under such conditions, and in conclusions, they only ended up confirming some people do seemingly hide their true opinions (although the extent of it may vary as the studied group was not representative of entire Russian population and was taken from Toloka, a place attracting specific demographic not fully representative of general Russian population).

It sure is important to know Latvian language, but for that they already have Latvian language tests for those coming into Latvian citizenship. They can, however, hold any culture they want, while respecting Latvian law and basic customs. Same applies to anyone anywhere, including any minorities of Russia or Ukraine. In any case, trying to erase Russian identity is not the answer, which is obvious to legislators outside the country.

Did I say anything about borders? You literally made this up. When I say I want peace, honestly, I don’t give a single damn where the border will be - where it is now, or where it has originally been, or anything in between. I want for two countries, both of which are my homes, mind you, to stop putting their men in the meat grinder. And I know plenty of people on both sides of the Russo-Ukrainian frontline share my sentiment.

But attacking Russians on the Internet and excluding them from everywhere further radicalizes them, leaves them bitter to the outside world, which can lead them to believe y’all really are the enemies to fight against. By alienating Russians, such people just feed into Putin’s narrative that the world is full of hostiles. This has nothing to do with victimhood or imperialism - this is basic human psychology, and it would work exactly the same anywhere else.

I strongly wish Russian aggression would stop, I care for it with all my heart. Again, my close ones are in fear of an attack as we speak. But I also happen to see the perspective of everyday Russians - something that most of those judging never get to see or even consider, naively thinking that they are the “punishers” for incorrect behavior, and that more of that will lead to a “child” getting to learn good behavior. No - slowly, but surely you simply raise bitterness and become an enemy. And they won’t get themselves to blame, and they will march with their wraith. Not on you. On my people. My grandmother. My uncle. My brother. His wife. I could just never talk about those things, present myself as a Ukrainian (after all, I am one) and go about my life, but too much is at stake for me to stay silent when y’all are doing the stupidest shit you can.

“Protective restrictions” is a code for discrimination. Or would you argue that not allowing, idk, women to vote is a good measure for protecting them against being violently coerced to vote one way or another?

(this is a random example, just a small mark so I wouldn’t be eaten alive)