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Journeyman Geek

12:38 AM

→ 3 messages moved to Chimney

Feeds

4:02 AM

I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.

Mithical

5:53 AM

→ 11 messages moved to Chimney

Mithical

7:00 AM

Ugh, Zoom on my laptop is not working. Keep getting error 104103.

It works on my phone, though.

M.A.R.

7:46 AM

41

Q: My assessor is giving me spelling advice - but he's wrong

I'm writing the thesis on which I aim to graduate with a bachelor's degree. I've got an incredibly nice assessor, whom I sent part of it, and he gave a lot of helpful feedback on structure, relevant and irrelevant details, et cetera. But he also suggested that a word is spelled wrong, when it is...

assessment

This is so cuddly and happy

Mithical

8:33 AM

1

Q: Announcing a pro-tempore election!

Literature SE is to have its first moderator election! Beginning on 13 April, users may nominate themselves to fill one of the two pro-tempore moderator slots available. The timeline is like this: The nomination stage will begin on 13 April. Candidates must nominate themselves. In the meanwhil...

discussion featured moderation election

preparing my replacement

M.A.R.

@Mithical Oh I'm sure you will be sorely missed

rene

8:48 AM

@Mithical is it part of the new process that mods can start an election?

Mithical

it was in coordination with the CMs

rene

9:05 AM

okay

JNat

9:22 AM

@rene we're just inviting the mods to post the initial communications surrounding elections, if they want to :)

like here or here too, for instance

rene

If you're fine with it, so am I ;)

Journeyman Geek

11:30 AM

@Catija ROFL. I was literally writing an answer suggesting emeritus, with the wikipedia page for emeritus page open :D

Catija

Ha ha.

rene

11:46 AM

Epic is a job title where I work. Mostly combined with Screw-Up. I wear the title proudly.

Gimby

12:01 PM

@rene Epic Screwup huh. I wonder what the Dutch version is. Epische Faalhaas?

Rob

12:24 PM

As long as they don't call you the Governor of Georgia you're OK:

'Inexcusable,' Gupta and Cooper stunned by governor's remark

►

John Dvorak

synopsis for those who don't want to poison their homepage recommendations?

PM 2Ring

12:48 PM

@JohnDvorak He claimed that we only learned in the last 24 hours that asymptomatic people may transmit coronavirus. And that's why the lockdown laws in Georgia only just got increased in severity. But people have been discussing that it seems very likely that asymptomatic people can transmit it for quite a while now.

John Dvorak

ah, thanks

PM 2Ring

Mind you, symptomatic people are certainly able to spread more virus particles because they're coughing and sneezing them around, and asymptomatic people don't tend to spray as much mucus & saliva around. But they can certainly spread viral particles around from their hands.

Rob

Science!, who'da thunk that?

Feeds

2:43 PM

Podcast 223: Embrace the Darkness

Ben Popper on April 03, 2020

Digging deep on dark mode with our design systems lead, Aaron Shekey.

rene

3:26 PM

@Gimby sounds about right.

Robert Columbia

3:41 PM

While this darkness may typify the world of today, it is better to embrace the light and send the darkness scrambling away.

user400654

🚽

Robert Columbia

Has anyone noticed an uptick in the rate of blatantly off-topic questions on MSE in the past week?

M.A.R.

Yes, anyone has

user400654

3:57 PM

who is anyone

stackexchange.com/users/888057/anyone

Robert Columbia

unicorns

PM 2Ring

It amazes me that the OPs of those "lost soul" posts on MSE generally don't immediately delete their post when they've been informed that they've posted in the wrong place. Maybe it's a Dunning-Kruger thing, and they're simply too clueless to realise how clueless they look. But I guess some of them are Q-banned on the appropriate site & are hoping that they'll get some kind of assistance in a comment, if not in an actual answer.

4

terdon

@PM2Ring I would guess many don't even know they can delete, others don't think it's necessary (I would never delete my post from a forum if told it isn't the right place for it, back in the day). Most people don't know how the SE sites work, after all.

πάντα ῥεῖ

"Most people don't know how the SE sites work, after all." That.

PM 2Ring

4:13 PM

True, it does take a while to learn even the basic stuff about how Stack Exchange sites work. And it takes a while for the idea to sink in that SE sites aren't like the various discussion forums that they are used to.

M.A.R.

@PM2Ring TBH they're probably trying to figure what this button does and what the red 1 up there leads to and stuff

Sometimes they post and they're like "You unlocked an achievement", and log off to return a few hours later, but of course not the urgant halp cases

The different theme is also probably confusing.

Journeyman Geek

@PM2Ring or migrated

PM 2Ring

A fresh example of thinking SE is a forum: physics.meta.stackexchange.com/q/12802/123208

πάντα ῥεῖ

Let's face it: Most people are just dumb and lazy. And they are encouraged being so in many ways.

3

I have seen such behavior already back in decades, when we used usenet groups.

These also weren't meant as forums, but not as strictly as SE sites do.

M.A.R.

4:54 PM

@PM2Ring I don't wanna be scientistist, but I think I remember more impudence in physicists than all the other scientists combined

Even Liverpool fans shy away from some physicists

I can even the balance: Chemists sometimes like confusing themselves in a Kafkaesque hell, and mathematicians are sometimes crazy O.o

PM 2Ring

@M.A.R. For sure! Physicists can be downright obnoxious. Especially when they're wrong and too stubborn to admit it. ;) FWIW, a Physics.SE member holds the record for the longest suspension on the network. He's a smart guy, and wrote some great answers, but he also has some crackpot ideas that he defends vigorously. He became very obnoxious on Physics.SE, and then started getting generally nasty on other sites. Eventually, SE staff stepped in to handle the situation.

His crack-pottery extends beyond pure physics. IIRC, he's banned until 2192...

John Dvorak

5:13 PM

to be fair - is it because of the suspendee, or because of the site's general trend of (in)generous suspensions?

Rubiksmoose

@JohnDvorak If SE proper did really step in and issue a site-wide suspension, I think the chances are good that the behavioral issues really were quite serious.

Sonic the Anonymous Hedgehog

7:20 PM

@PM2Ring 2292

Suspended for 99,999 days, the maximum the system will allow

Also, word has it that he'd get super angry and lash out at anyone who attempted to moderate his work (which included making grammar edits)

PM 2Ring

Thanks, @Sonic

Sonic the Anonymous Hedgehog

@PM2Ring 10% of the time, they do

PM 2Ring

His totally offensive theories about the Boston Marathon bombing didn't exactly endear him to others, either.

@SonictheAnonymousHedgehog Right, so 90% of the time they don't self-delete.

Anyway, I guess I should stop talking about a suspended user, even one who doesn't deserve respect...

user1271772

8:18 PM

Hi guys, does anyone here have experience with Area51 Stack Exchange?

rene

@user1271772 not me. All I know is that the CM that was most engaged in it no longer works for SE.

user1271772

Is that Robert Cartaino?

rene

Yes

user1271772

I see.

Was Shog engaged in it?

rene

I guess so but same story.

user1271772

8:25 PM

I saw a lot of activity from Robert Cartaino, but never from Shog.

rene

The floating head was every where ...

user1271772

@rene you never participated in one of the proposals to make a new site?

rene

nope.

user1271772

You have 244 points on Area51 !!

rene

Yes, I wonder where I got it from :/

Mad Scientist

8:27 PM

@user1271772 A51 is pretty much dead

user1271772

@MadScientist Drones reached 100% commitment today, and Materials is very close.

Mad Scientist

@user1271772 As far as I remember, they used to launch sites on tuesdays. So in case they actually still launch new sites, there would be at least a short delay before it happens. It might take considerably longer now without Robert, if it happens at all

user1271772

@MadScientist I think you're right about it taking until Tuesday to launch the site, but why do you say "in case they actually still launch sites" ?

Mad Scientist

@user1271772 If they still wanted to continue with new sites they probably wouldn't have fired Robert. And even before that the criteria for A51 were changed in a way that made it pretty much impossible to launch new sites unless you already had an audience you could bring along

user1271772

@MadScientist Yes, you raise some very good points. In fact they have made it harder and harder and harder to meet the requirements for Definition & Commitment (in fact "pretty much impossible" as you describe it, even if you bring your own people along). But if they will not accept new proposals, is it not unethical that they allow people to continue making proposals and pouring their lives into meeting the requirements?

Mad Scientist

8:35 PM

I suspect they'll still launch the few sites in the pipeline, but I strongly doubt A51 has a future beyond that

Though with so few CMs, there's hardly the resources to guide and evaluate new beta sites

user1271772

@MadScientist That is re-assuring to hear for me, since my Materials Science proposal is almost at 100% :) However they are still accepting brand new proposals, which is what makes me scratch my head!

It should be easy for them to change it so that if you make a new proposal, it says "sorry we are no longer accepting new proposals, only the ones that were proposed before April 2020"

Mad Scientist

40

A: After the recent CM departures, are there plans to shut down network sites or Area 51?

TL;DR: We're not planning to shut down any SE sites. The future of Area51 is still uncertain. Last week the CM team met with Teresa, our new CPO, and we talked about what the future of the network looks like. The conversation started off with the understanding that shutting down SE sites was off...

That is the only public statement I know of about the future of A51

user1271772

@MadScientist Yes, I commented on it a month ago and JNat says that they are still thinking about the launching of new sites. This is probably why they haven't stopped allowing new proposals. But I would feel extreme sorrow for anyone that were to make a new proposal right now, because they might not know how hard it has become to succeed! Perhaps a warning that no support will be offered, should be posted.

Hi @Mithrandir24601