There’s a site I’ve been trying to recall for a while now: a design-specific discussion forum I was using maybe ten or so years ago. One of its distinguishing characteristics was that users could draw their own avatars using an icon editor—16x16, I think. New users were limited to black and white pixels only, but the more you used the site, the more colors you had access to. (They offered additional colors as rewards for other things as well.)
@vga256@csilverman That's what I was thinking - what a novel way to encourage participation! If that kind of thing appeals to you, then you'll participate more, thereby (theoretically) creating a community of like-minded people :o)
Not sure if anybody's already coined the term "OStalgia"—the feeling you get when you see a screenshot of the OS you used growing up—but I've been having a fair amount of that lately.
Lot of good memories associated with System 7 and Mac OS 8–9.
@shqm2 And fear serves different roles, too. Here in the US, we have a couple of would-be dictators who want it both ways: feared by their enemies, loved by people who fear everyone else and see them as protectors.
I read Machiavelli a while ago, and I remember that in its day, it was considered an evil book; this deeply cynical handbook on humanity. Honestly, I wish more people read it. It's harder for stage magicians to claim they're gods when everyone knows how the tricks work.