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?
Welcome back, MrKnowItAll!
Sir, I exist!
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?
Does he have to go through the goat ceremony again?
Seriously, welcome back. You were on here even before I was!
It’s great to see some familiar names again. And I look forward to getting to know the rest of you guys.
Welcome back, welcome back, Mr [del]Kotter[/del] KnowItAll!
Well, the names have all changed since I been around…
Naked Tuesdays are strictly optional, in Canada in winter.
Well we had our first black president. And then Donald Trump, yes *that *Donald Trump, became president after that.
crap
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!
Waitaminute. I missed that before. Ed is gone?!?!?
Clearly, I now need to do some archive diving…
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.
It’s all the same, difference.
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. 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. 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.
…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…
Welcome back! 
Welcome back!