@ErwinBrandstetter thank you for all your fantastic answers on this site and Stack Overflow, I've learned a ton from them. :) I have a super tricky plpgsql function that might interest you; I've written up working code into my question and just posted it.
I think I've avoided the XY problem here, as I'm laying out my solutions to the real underlying problem (summarizing multiple tables in a dynamic fashion) and I'm only asking about the one final part where I got stuck. Therefore, there is a fair bit of background first. I've provided a minimal ...
> Surprisingly, we have also seen this issue connected to gas lift office chairs. When people stand or sit on gas lift chairs, they can generate an EMI spike which is picked up on the video cables, causing a loss of sync. If you have users complaining about displays randomly flickering it could actually be connected to people sitting on gas lift chairs.
Morning (just about - UTC here) - I just noticed that a comment of mine was changed into part of an answer by this user which is, apparently, a proxy for @MaxVernon. Is this a new moderator thing?
@Vérace It's a moderator virus (mv) causing a user to create a sock-puppet account that converts comments to answers. Paul used to suffer from it too at one time.
Seriously though, the idea is simply to discourage answers in comments.
@MaxVernon saw that, happened to me too, someone was actively cleaning lurkers and passers by. Was curious why it died, it had interresting conversations.
also, I think the fragmentation that seems to be happening is quite detrimental. It's too bad Stack Overflow Inc had to annoy so many of it's users the way it has lately. Having a single good place to find answers is helpful.
@TomV-TeamMonica actually, instead of saying it was "quiet", I should have said "I don't have access to that room." It reminds me of being in a cliquey high-school where I'm excluded from what the cool kids are doing.
I think there's an increasing trend towards the fragmentation. I think Stack Overflow's success was definitely partially due to it being a stable entropy-reducing force. Not sure if the walled gardens and impermanent blog and discussion and answer sites won out. Certainly when you look at MS documentation, they are struggling to pull things back together.
I find it difficult to tell from the SQL Server documentation which parts apply to which versions of SQL Server because the structure has changed - so seeing exactly when things were added between 2012, 2014 and 2016 is not easy.
To be honest, I don't think the structural changes on the SQL Server documentation site are connected in any way with what's been happening at Stack Overflow
@Johnakahot2use And so you did! Though there wasn't much activity in/on that account
@AndriyM Not connected, but definitely part of a general trend this last 10 years or so.
I think Stack Overflow's success was because it was a stable island in the face of that fragmentation.
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It is very likely you will get an answer attempt on SO, while on other sites, you may get no answer. And Google's search is good on SO issues and this is the same problem I find in looking for products. If Amazon doesn't have it and Google doesn't surface it, it almost may as well not exist.
Fragmentation doesn't exactly end Stack Overflow, in my view. It may be the beginning of the end, but IMHO there's no telling how long till the actual end. I certainly don't expect it to be soon, it's gained too much momentum for that
@MaxVernon @mv٠〳comment٠〳answer - that'd be "You rang, milord?"! :-) Nope - I've no problem with the comment appearing in that format - my name is still underneath it so that's fine. What's the problem with comments? I think it's a great mechanism for distinguishing between answers and what are requests for clarification or other material which is relevant but not a direct answer.
@MaxVernon I do wish that New Contributors were allowed comment (with a moderated queue) - save a lot of dross in the First, Low Quality and Close vote queues!
@Vérace I tend towards converting comments to answers if there is anything of value that might help answer the question, since comments have a tendency to go away.
@MaxVernon - and what about a queue of New Contributor comments? They often have decent material to offer which doesn't reach the bar of being an actual answer!
Hmm, does everyone see what I see? System links are now underlined too, albeit not consistently.
The action links (share, edit, flag etc.), the revision link, the post author link – all those are underlined, though only under an answer, not under a question.
The "add a comment" link isn't underlined neither under a question nor under an answer.
It looks like the CSS for links in the UI has recently changed, and most of the links are now always underlined:
This is a little heavy IMHO, and is not consistent with other links on the page (e.g. user cards under questions).
It happens for me on Chromium 77.0.3865.120.
Is this a bug? Can ...
@PaulWhite - no worries if you "can't" answer due to moderation rules. But when you deleted it, did all its answers go with it? Or did they stay on the site, since it was a "high rep user"? Just curious, really.
@MaxVernon I deleted it at the same time I deleted my SO and meta.SE profiles. The answers stay around. The only time "high rep" comes into play is when a profile is deleted that cast a lot of votes. Someone has to decide whether those votes are undone or passed on to the Community user.
I do still convert good enough comments to answers but I tend to use a temporary account.
I think I've avoided the XY problem here, as I'm laying out my solutions to the real underlying problem (summarizing multiple tables in a dynamic fashion) and I'm only asking about the one final part where I got stuck. Therefore, there is a fair bit of background first. I've provided a minimal ...
It looks like the CSS for links in the UI has recently changed, and most of the links are now always underlined:
This is a little heavy IMHO, and is not consistent with other links on the page (e.g. user cards under questions).
It happens for me on Chromium 77.0.3865.120.
Is this a bug? Can ...
