@GeneralAbrial congratulations. You get some added privilege at 15K don't you?

Ah yes, you can protect questions. I think I used it once or twice before I became a mod, and probably two or three times since.

Personally I'd be happy if that privilege - and indeed essentially all of the rest of them - were available earlier. The risk of abuse is very low and I don't see we gain much protection from having the hurdle so much higher (it's not like someone who planned to do the wrong thing could earn 10K but not 15K...)

"it's not like someone who planned to do the wrong thing could earn 10K but not 15K." We'll see about that!

@Glen_b Can't say that this is the most coveted rep level I've attained. 10k was a big deal. Personally, I think the power-VTC option could be a bit lighter, at least on this SE.

You know -- the VTC power that says "This question is definitely a duplicate. I'm an expert."

@general Gold-tag-badge duplicate-closure? Yeah, that's a tough one to attain. 200 answers and 1000 reputation in the tag (i.e. 10 bronze tag badges worth) is a lot.

10K (moderator tools) is the main level of privilege, really. There's a few more things you pick up at higher reputation but most of them don't do much more than the 10K.

I remember the progression from 10 to 15 and 15 to 20 seemed to take a long time.

Top ten list of indicators your question should be closed immediately:

10. The title is "statistics question."

9. The only tag is [r].

8. It begins "Help me, I desperately need this answered right away!"

(I invite you to complete the list... )

7. Any variation of "My classifier is bad"

@Glen_b It's especially hard to pick up those badges because the asumption is that questions appropriately tagged, but only Scortchi and Amoeba really do any work there!

(And they are providing a much-needed service by doing so)

I have noticed that a number of questions are closed by myself and Whuber alone (I add it to the queue and whuber mod-closes it) which provides some evidence that my VTC decisions are consistent with the standards of the forum

@GeneralAbrial Or maybe it shows you have the power to control minds at a distance ... :-)

@whuber quick, someone call Bem

We can write an article called "telepathic communication exists among some Internet fora p < 0.05"

(for reference: news.cornell.edu/stories/2010/12/…)

I noticed you wrote that some mods will be selected in the near-ish future. What would you think if I were to throw my hat into the ring? Would I be a good fit?

6. YOU TYPE IN ALL CAPS

@GeneralAbrial To the extent possible, I would like to remain publicly neutral concerning the selection of moderators. One reason I mentioned our general plans was so that active people like you would start thinking about becoming moderators. IMHO, the only requirements for "fitting" are (1) good understanding of how the site operates and (2) ability to discuss issues collegially and constructively behind the scenes, to assure consistent and transparent moderation.

You look very well qualified, so I am glad of your interest.

@whuber I understand why you would want to remain publicly neutral, and I hope you didn't mind my asking. I'll give some thought to whether I'd be able to reliable contribute once the academic year starts again -- unforunately, I don't think I can get course credit for moderating. ;-)

5. I am writing my master's thesis... [this maximizes both "a very big deal at the time" and "not at all impressive 20 years later"]

@NickCox or 5

@whuber Would it be possible to show users a screen when they try to make their first question that tells them things like how the self-study tag works and to be sure to provide context?

@Kodiologist Are you suggesting that anyone writing a first question be informed of something (in which case, I'd say this is exactly what our help center is for, and if people don't read that before jumping in, I don't know whether they'd read anything else we point them to), or to inform them about its usage once they add the self-study tag?

The latter sounds like a tag warning:

@StephanKolassa "Are you suggesting that anyone writing a first question be informed of something" — Yes. The reason to have this is that it (a) it will be something in front of the user's eyes without the user deciding to visit the help center (we want to reach people who think they already know what they're doing)

and (b) it can be a short list of instructions specific to stats.SE and data analysis, with links for further information, as opposed to the help center's sprawling list of links to questions which are mostly about the Stack Exchange software.

@Silverfish That's the best laugh I have had in days! (I think it should be reserved for #1 on the Top Ten list.)

@whuber Thanks. A surfeit of "interesting times" in Blighty at the moment. Needed something to lighten the mood!

@Silverfish that's hilarious.

@GeneralAbrial If you were referring to retagging edits when you mentioned Scortchi and amoeba, you might find this search useful: data.stackexchange.com/stats/query/433535/… ... it suggests gung deserves plenty of credit on the retagging score

4. Thank you in advance [this divides the world; for some it is efficient; for others it connotes intention not to close a thread with sincere thanks once the problem is solved; either way it is often diagnostic of poor questions]