@Shokhet @IsaacMoses @MonicaCellio (Just catching up here in chat.) I didn't close it because it's about a Tanach personality. If it cited B'reshis as not indicating where Adam's buried, or some such, that'd bring it squarely on-topic IMO. As it is -- eh.
... I'd probably vote to close were my vote not binding.
@MonicaCellio I think close voters get to assess the reasoning for persuasiveness. Iff it seems persuasive enough to make it seem like the question's worth asking, then leave open.
@Shokhet yeah, I was asking if such "reasoning" is enough or if we need an actual claim. I think @IsaacMoses is probably right -- individual close voters will evaluate on a case-by-case basis.
... as opposed to e.g. closure by moderator's fiat.
@MonicaCellio @YeZ @IsaacMoses "Why are eggs like this?" can be on-topic. "general knowledge (science, etc.) as it relates directly to Judaism"
@msh210 well, if there were any reason to think that Judaism had something to say on the subject. We don't want to do "boat programming" ("boat halacha"?); there needs to be something to tie it to Judaism.
@YeZ it's a pity you weren't here for last year's hats; one of them was called (something like) "Johnny Three Hats" and looked like just what you'd expect. Given your hat-on-hat approach here, it'd've been perfect for you. :-)
The one you were wearing immediately prior also looks like a hat to me, and you wore it well. But I agree that the current one is more clearly a HAT, DARN IT.
@YeZ well no, neither would I. And that's not what I'm seeing. I see one version of you (on your message to msh a few up) with the green/white/black hat, and then newer ones have your werewolf-hunter getup.
well, actually, this is funny. In my image of myself next to my chatbox I've got my whole wardrobe on, but next to my posted messages, a mere two hats.
@YeZ in the small version in chat I basically just see the black hat and the green/white/black one, and I only know that those bits of light blue are from the Spock hat 'cause I've seen it larger but I wouldn't have parsed it out otherwise. In chat I've lost sight of the helmet entirely. But the larger image in your profile is much clearer on all this. Some things just weren't meant to boil down to whatever that small size in here is. :-)
My hats aren't showing up in chat!
My self-image next to my chatbox has my full regalia, but the gravatar next to my posted messages has a measly two hats! It's not a cache delay because it already put on my current hat. It is using an outdated version of my gravatar and adding my current ...
I think the smaller version next to posted messages may be degrading gracefully in the absence of sufficient pixelage. Or something; I don't know much about SVGs and rendering and stuff.
How are users modifying their behavior because of Winterbash 2014? What have you seen, positive and negative?
I've seen some comments on various Winterbash posts about the behaviors the hats encourage, and I thought it would be useful to collect those observations in one place.
@MonicaCellio I'm am curious about whether you've seen any behavior that you think could have been motivated by a desire for "Business in the front; party in the back." That one, in particular, I could imagine spurring undesirable behavior.
@IsaacMoses I can imagine that too. I've seen one meta post on another site asking if it's kosher to ask for DVs; that got a lukewarm-negative reaction. I haven't yet seen people being blatant, or established users deliberately posting junk.
I haven't been monitoring self-deleted posts; that's another avenue of possible abuse. I'm interesting in hearing what's happening on other sites (hence asking on MSE not our meta) on all this.
@MonicaCellio Our questions-per-day, as reported on stackexchange.com/sites , usually hovers around 11-14, IIRC. It recently spiked to 18. Not sure how much this is attributable to hats, C-MY, Chanuka, or other factors
On Dec 10, Academia was showing 12K VpD and 16 QpD, and MY was showing 2.8K/13
Today, Academia has 14K/15, and MY has 3K/17
That's just one example. But, oh, academics may have other seasonal effects, e.g. finals and vacation, messing with their activity
DIY: 59K/17 -> 55K/15
Islam: 6.6K/3.3 -> 6.7K / 3.5
Christianity: 18K/8.4 -> 19K/8.2
Academia: 12K/16 -> 14K/15
** MY: 2.8K/13 -> 3K/17
So far, it looks like we're seeing a site-specific jump in QpD.
My first guess would be that the main cause is Chanuka itself. Lots of thinking about the holiday. No extra issur melacha to keep people from posting questions as they think of them
@MonicaCellio It would also be interesting to see what archive.org tells us about past Chanukas here. My hypothesis would be that there would be similar jumps.
If that hypothesis is rejected, then I'd give extra credit to C-MY
Another possible non-linear effect: Jews are just weird about hats.
@MonicaCellio We don't have a huge views jump. Views of the C-MY landing page since we published is about 600 now, but some of those didn't download or print, while some multi-printed, do we don't know how many were printed and distributed. Also, the landing page itself (and publicity directing people to it) may have generated some traffic on MY independent of C-MY getting printed and read. So, it's really confounded
@IsaacMoses yes, I'm also assuming that the promotion might have led people to check out the site without actually passing through the book. But it's all guess-work.
@IsaacMoses I got that hat on MSE, where you don't need to try to get downvotes because people are random sometimes. It's not a hat I would seek, and certainly not here. (I have gotten DVs here of course, but I try not to deserve them. :-) )
@havarka @TRiG before anyone gets too excited, I recommend that you both resolve to continue the conversation in as clear language as possible, without allusions or sarcasm. You are in danger of talking past each other
.....and I know that that one can be trusted, because it was written by my rebbi in הלכות שחיטה :) ....he has told my father to put certain other kosher bird books in shemos because of the proliferation of mistakes in them :P
see the Maharatz Chayes' Mavo Hatalmmud, where he mentions a few of the rules for drash in stories (beginning with chapter 15 or so). As for pshat, whatever fits the words, as for remez, see R. Yaakov Emden in his comments to Avos end of ch. 3, and as for sod: it's a secret and I can't tell you :-) — Matt29 secs ago
@TRiG I find it remarkable that it was founded by secularist David Ben-Gurion and has been administered all these years by the (varyingly secular-dominated) State of Israel. It's wonderful to see Jerusalem exercising due leadership in helping keep Tanach in the popular Jewish consciousness and honoring those from around the world who excel in knowing it. </soapbox>
3
Nope, Oholei Torah (in Brooklyn). There were boys there who knew their way around Tanach pretty well. — AlexApr 22 '10 at 17:52
From Rav Aviner's tshuvot (text)
Wearing Wife's Jacket in the Cold
Q: Is it permissible for a husband to wear his wife's jacket if he is
cold, or is it forbidden on account of "Lo Yilbash" (the prohibition
of cross-dressing)? And what about visa-versa?
A: It is permissible, sin...
My hats aren't showing up in chat!
My self-image next to my chatbox has my full regalia, but the gravatar next to my posted messages has a measly two hats! It's not a cache delay because it already put on my current hat. It is using an outdated version of my gravatar and adding my current ...
How are users modifying their behavior because of Winterbash 2014? What have you seen, positive and negative?
I've seen some comments on various Winterbash posts about the behaviors the hats encourage, and I thought it would be useful to collect those observations in one place.
From Rav Aviner's tshuvot (text)
Wearing Wife's Jacket in the Cold
Q: Is it permissible for a husband to wear his wife's jacket if he is
cold, or is it forbidden on account of "Lo Yilbash" (the prohibition
of cross-dressing)? And what about visa-versa?
A: It is permissible, sin...
Proposal: Kabbalah is clearly already covered on Judaism.SE:
