# Clearly, I've been gone too long... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 10, 2019, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511 "2019-01-10T06:13:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/21 "2019-01-10T21:19:10Z")
Actually, it’s all the same folks from before you left, we just each changed our screen name as a practical joke on you! HA! Ain’t we funny? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/22 "2019-01-10T22:35:43Z")
Welcome back, **MrKnowItAll**! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/23 "2019-01-10T22:42:52Z")
Sir, I exist! ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/24 "2019-01-11T00:24:12Z")
Welcome back. As you can see, we’ve added avatars. I understand the smilies now suck. Ed is gone. Use the old Board format, not the new one. Anyone else got any details to fill in? ---
**Author:** ![RadioWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RadioWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioWave)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/25 "2019-01-11T00:28:37Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Welcome back. As you can see, we’ve added avatars. I understand the smilies now suck. Ed is gone. Use the old Board format, not the new one. Anyone else got any details to fill in? Did he leave before or after naked Tuesdays became mandatory? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/26 "2019-01-11T03:04:33Z")
Does he have to go through the goat ceremony again? Seriously, welcome back. You were on here even before I was! ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/27 "2019-01-11T03:16:07Z")
It’s great to see some familiar names again. And I look forward to getting to know the rest of you guys. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/28 "2019-01-11T03:41:41Z")
Welcome back, welcome back, Mr [del]Kotter[/del] **KnowItAll**! ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/29 "2019-01-11T03:43:44Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Welcome back, welcome back, Mr [del]Kotter[/del] **KnowItAll**! Well, the names _have_ all changed since I been around… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/30 "2019-01-11T04:34:13Z")
> [@RadioWave](#): > > Did he leave before or after naked Tuesdays became mandatory? Naked Tuesdays are strictly optional, in Canada in winter. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/31 "2019-01-11T04:40:11Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Welcome back. As you can see, we’ve added avatars. I understand the smilies now suck. Ed is gone. Use the old Board format, not the new one. Anyone else got any details to fill in? Well we had our first black president. And then Donald Trump, yes \*that \*Donald Trump, became president after that. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/32 "2019-01-11T05:03:57Z")
crap ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/33 "2019-01-13T03:12:43Z")
I think I remember your handle. Welcome (back) to the Dope. We need all the help we can get to fight the ignorance. It is taking LOTS longer than anyone imagined! ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/34 "2019-01-13T03:43:07Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Welcome back. As you can see, we’ve added avatars. I understand the smilies now suck. Ed is gone. Use the old Board format, not the new one. Anyone else got any details to fill in? Waitaminute. I missed that before. Ed is gone?!?!? Clearly, I now need to do some archive diving… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/35 "2019-01-13T15:51:50Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Well we had our first black president. And then Donald Trump, yes \*that \*Donald Trump, became president after that. But then things changed again. US currency no longer has fine print in Chinese; our former overlords the Drones have receded in favour of robot dogs, regular cats, and self-driving cars; Canada has formed a free-trade alliance with 13 other Pacific Rim nations, the Moon, Vesta, and Asgard; and the War still hasn’t started. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/36 "2019-01-13T16:19:01Z")
It’s all the same, difference.😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/37 "2019-01-14T00:12:31Z")
> [@MrKnowItAll](#): > > Waitaminute. I missed that before. Ed is gone?!?!? > > Clearly, I now need to do some archive diving… Yes, and there is a bit of a story there. As you may recall, the board, and Cecil himself, were originally owned by an alternative newspaper, _Chicago Reader_. The Reader (including the board) was sold several times (2007, 2009, 2012) and went through a few changes. One of them was a very, very bad idea called “pay to post,” which some oldtimers say it never recovered from. Another was to try localized forums. The only one that got off the ground was a Chicago-specific forum, which putted along for awhile, but never really drew a crowd. Meanwhile, the Reader was bought by the _Chicago Sun-Times_. “Huzzah!” we exclaimed. At last a stable, established ownership. Maybe they will capitalize on the Straight Dope brand, market the board more aggressively, synergize with the newspaper, etc. It didn’t really work out that way. Finally, last year, the Reader was [sold to the publishing group that owns the Chicago Crusader.](https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-chicago-reader-sold-20180615-story.html) But for some reason that was never explained to us, the sale didn’t include The Straight Dope brand, including the column and message board. This led to some immediate changes. [Cecil Adams, who no longer had a home for his column, retired.](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=857634) This is why the Straight Dope home page features old columns, but no longer has new material. At the same time, Ed chose to “pursue other opportunities.” This led to an agonizing several days when no one seemed to know what the future would bring. Fortunately, The Powers That Be appointed long-time member and behind-the-scenes-master **TubaDiva** as the new administrator. So, to sum up, Cecil’s gone, Ed is gone, the Chicago Reader is gone, TubaDiva is the new sheriff and the Board abides. Oh, and if you use a phone, there’s a mobile-friendly version of the Board. But since I don’t, I can’t tell you much about it. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/38 "2019-01-14T10:33:44Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > But then things changed again. US currency no longer has fine print in Chinese; our former overlords the Drones have receded in favour of robot dogs, regular cats, and self-driving cars; Canada has formed a free-trade alliance with 13 other Pacific Rim nations, the Moon, Vesta, and Asgard; and the War still hasn’t started. …and then the dinosaurs came, but they got too big and fat, so they all died and they turned into oil. And then the Arabs came and they bought Mercedes Benzes. And Prince Charles started wearing all of Lady Di’s clothes. I couldn’t believe it - he took her best summer dress and he put it on and went to town… ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/39 "2019-01-14T10:45:56Z")
Welcome back! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clearly-ive-been-gone-too-long/827511/40 "2019-01-14T14:26:56Z")
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