# On line indicator. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 31, 2002, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942 "2002-12-31T21:32:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/1 "2002-12-31T21:32:55Z")
That little check thingie. Is it lit when you are signed on or do you actually have to be on the message board? 'Cause I never sign out and I’m wondering if my little check thingie is always yellow. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/2 "2002-12-31T21:51:55Z")
If you wait 15 minutes after the last time you do any action on the message board (clicking on a link for example) then the indicator should change to dimmed. Try it once, using two computers, one where you are logged in and the other where you aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/3 "2002-12-31T22:05:23Z")
Soooo. . ., if I do not perform an action within 15 minutes, the indicator is no longer yellow, right? :::Biggirl goes off wondering why Noodles would think I have access two two computers at once::: ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/4 "2002-12-31T22:07:40Z")
I think that because of your habit of repeating words, and I assume that this habit carries on to other things like computers. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/5 "2002-12-31T23:03:03Z")
I’m right about the 15 minute thingie thingie? Is it New Year’s Eve where you you are? That would explain my homophone problem. 'Cause black Russians are mighty potent on an an empty stomach. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/6 "2002-12-31T23:08:08Z")
Yes, what you said about the 15 minute thingie is also what I had just said. Therefore since we both agree and no one is in here to prove us wrong let’s just assume we’re right. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/7 "2002-12-31T23:47:59Z")
:gasp: **Biggirl** calls **Arnold Winkelried** _Noodles_?? ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/8 "2003-01-01T01:16:27Z")
_Everybody_ calls him that. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/9 "2003-01-01T01:29:46Z")
Not me. I just call him “Sir”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/10 "2003-01-01T15:03:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ringo \* > \*\*_Everybody_ calls him that. \*\* I recall that. But I don’t recall why. I know people were refering to AW as ‘Noodles’ when I started. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/11 "2003-01-01T15:46:33Z")
He asked us to. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/12 "2003-01-01T18:26:55Z")
…and that’s why _I_ always call him “Arnold” ! ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/13 "2003-01-01T18:34:05Z")
**Arnold** , do you want me to call you Noodles? I’m not saying I will. I’m not saying I won’t. Do you like to be called Noodles? Does this involve colanders in any way? Do I want to know? ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/14 "2003-01-01T23:27:10Z")
I call him “Linguini”. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/15 "2003-01-02T17:49:34Z")
The background on the Noodles nickname - when I first joined the staff I told my colleagues that they could call me Noodles if they wanted to (a reference to an episode of my past where I was telling all my friends to call me Noodles, and all my friends laughed at me and said it was a stupid idea.) One of my colleagues called me Noodles publicly at the SDMB and a few posters have remembered that and used it themselves. I don’t have any special desire to be referred to as Noodles on the board, but I don’t mind when people do it. Of course it’s sometimes confusing for people not “in the know.” ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/16 "2003-01-02T18:41:12Z")
**Noodles** is much easier to type than **Arnold Winkelried** (-reid? -reed? -riede? …you get the idea) and also makes clear who’s being spoken of in a GQ thread on Swiss history. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/17 "2003-01-02T19:55:19Z")
Arnold Winkelried, the famous Swiss patriot, who had to put a noodle on his son’s head and shoot if off with a rousing chorus of the William Tell overture. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/18 "2003-01-02T21:09:58Z")
So it wasn’t because Arnold Winkelried, that famous American patriot, stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni-er, I mean noodle??? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/19 "2003-01-02T21:20:26Z")
That was his cousin, Janqui Noodles! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942/20 "2003-01-03T14:45:24Z")
**Arnold** , does that still hold if you opt to surf the board in Invisible Mode? The Invisible Mode is supposed to keep your name from showing in the active users list on the index page, but does it also keep your indicator from showing you’re online? I ask because I’ve been on the boards since 3am PST, posting here and there (just minutes ago, in fact), and my indicator in another thread is still dimmed. I never log out on this computer. The sane member of this household is asleep, so I can’t check to see if my indicator is lit up on his machine. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-line-indicator/145942.md?page=2)