I heard a rumor that if the deal goes through we’re all getting stock options based on our post counts.
Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet. 
That’s
Awesome
For you, not so much.
- You’re a guest-you don’t have a post count.
- It doesn’t matter anyway. You got traded away to the ancestry.com message board for two genealogists and a spammer to be named later.
Guests have post counts - they just keep them off the main display for tax reasons.
But I did hear that mods and former mods are exempt due to the generous compensation packages they already receive.
One word: Shit!
A few other words: Yes, let’s PLEASE go independent. This is ridiculous and reminds me of the short time I worked at Lockheed in support of the C5B. We were constantly being fed layoff rumors, and worried every day if it would be our last.
Sorry, y’all. I know that’s not a good (what?) simile (is that right?), but I hate that this keeps hanging over our heads.
This place is my lifeline. Please let’s save it if we can.
Bill
This was funny.
I think you could have even taken it further:
“You got traded away to ancestry.com for two keyboards and a spammer to be named later.”
I know I’m totally biased and have been corrected when I called the SDMB “the number one” discussion board in the world, but why couldn’t it be? Why not spend a few bucks and advertise ourselves? I know we show ads to non-members in the form of banners, but hell, let’s buy some “air time” and work toward becoming independent?
That said, I know y’all must be getting tired of reading my drivel about how important this place (and you) are to me, and please overlook it if you want to. I’m just trying to make suggestions and being proactive. Just as I’m being proactive about the “other” thing. 
Quasi
No Quasi, we’re Not Getting tired of you. I feel the same about the boards as you and I’m sure many others. Keep on keepin’ on!
Be careful of what you wish for. The feel of the board would change a lot if the membership doubled.
That said, I’ve wondered why a clever entrepreneur hasn’t pushed the PSA model for internet advertising. Enthusiast A could donate to nonprofit B, to run ads on the SDMB on behalf of nonprofit C. Or more aggressively, A could pay for SDMB ads at Huffpo, TPM or other favored for-profit.
At any rate, I trust that the board will have some sort of home given the number of satellite boards. And I still opine that this asset presents an opportunity for somebody creative to make money hand over fist, though admittedly I have only vague ideas about how to go about doing that.
A more realistic fear is not selling so much, but that afterwards the new owners will jump the shark. Have you seen that abomination of a Web site lately? It used to be awesome, but now look at it: jumptheshark.com
Uh, that’s stupid. The Sun-Times group has a whole hell of a lot more websites than Suntimes.com. Dozens of others, at least. And assuredly at least some of the are more valuable that the Straight Dope. (If not, this place is on life support and those few folks who are actual employees here ought to update their résumés.)
And even pretending your math weren’t just idiotically desperate, let me point out that CBS.com is where they are making people watch their online content. The idea that this place plus the Chicago Sun-Times equals The Big Bang Theory is just freaking ludicrous. I’m about to cry after reading something that desperate.
Suntimes.com is the umbrella for all the company’s websites, including its regional daily papers and suburban weeklies. No claim was made regarding the relative value of these sites. One would certainly hope Suntimes.com is making more money than Straightdope.com.
Calm yourself. I merely point out that, if and when Straightdope.com is brought under the Suntimes.com umbrella, the latter will rise considerably higher in the Quantcast ranking, which is based primarily on unique visitors. One might devise a different ranking using other metrics. I notice, for example, that the Sun-Times operates something called the Chicago Region-Wide Network (CRWN), which claims 37 million page views per month. Straightdope.com gets only 11 million PVs per month.
At any rate, there is reason to think that ST.com + SD.com will rank somewhere around cbs.com in the Quantcast ranking, should consolidation occur. This is not to say the stars of the two companies will shine equally brightly in the media firmament. I note, for example, that snopes.com ranks #217 on the Quantcast list. I love snopes, but no one would claim it overshadows CBS.
Once again, this is no cause for panic.
Things will go on as usual unless/until they don’t. (This is true of many situations in life, not just here.) Until that time comes (if indeed it does come), we’ll deal with it then, so in the meantime don’t fret yourself.
Rumor, with it’s idle tongue.
Holy cow, less than three million for the whole kit and caboodle? I wish I knew that beforehand; could have made good on a lot of the promise of the board.
I know there are a lot of splinter boards. Would it be kosher to start a ‘where to go in case of emergency’ thread?
Cool.
This is how Jim Kirk makes his money, moves to Iowa, has an annoying great-grandson named after him, who is later encouraged to get off the planet!
It’s so clear to me now.
Only if you don’t serve it with cheese.