« first day (9 days earlier)      last day (36 days later) » 

12:52 AM
oh and I'm back to top of leaderboard
somehow I didn't get Vote Early today, so it might be a few days
and I'll be getting El Dorado in 2~3 days
 
The hints are all me, not automated, so... whenever I get around to/feel like it.
 
@Pops ok, sounds good. Just dont post any when I'm not here. :)
 
does anyone know how long Vote Early hat takes to arrive
 
Hmm. Maybe I'll set a separate trigger for when I post the hints.
 
I was just going over my votes, and I've got like 270 since WB started
 
1:04 AM
Then you could win a bonus gift for guessing that trigger.
 
Maybe has to do with spam flaggings that ends up with spam users being deleted — CRABOLO 2 mins ago
@Pops do you want to take that one ^
 
@Quill-HATMANIAC about the same as most other hats, pretty quick
@Pops that is easy, when you are feed up with so many emails and ping of wrong guesses.
 
I don't know how frequently the tasks run.
 
 
7 hours later…
8:33 AM
@Pops Tomato timer maybe - so something related to time like the Speedy Delivery one
 
 
2 hours later…
10:25 AM
New Secret Hat(s) - Flip Flop - it comes in two colors :)
@pops I call it - You get FlipFlop for voting (or performing any action) in the WinterSolstice
@Pops You get it for voting (and possibly for other actions too) within a minute or two of the end of the shortest day (December 21st) at any timezone. I got the blue one for upvoting. Perhaps you get the white-gold one for downvoting.
@Pops Correction - it doesn't have to be on the hour, or on the half hour. You get it when it's 22/12 (i.e. after the shortest day is over) in any timezone for any action. Not sure about the blue / white-gold versions.
 
10:58 AM
@Pops I just got the Flip Flop hat. I upvoted - downvoted - upvoted three different questions in rapid sequence. May be enough to do it with two. I also selected two positive score questions for the upvote and one negative for the downvote. May be enough to use two. If this is the solution, I bet the colors come from up-down-up or down-up-down, whatever the user did
 
@Derpy It must be date related, or we would have seen it earlier
 
@pops another opposing theory, if the above isn't it... I played a little with the up and down votes buttons on a community answer in the sandbox question on meta. Constantly flipping it up and down, for about 10-15 times.
I will try to have someone test this too.
@Eran you know, this is strange... You know why? I have been having the impression that they are "enabling" the secret hats on a schedule for a while now. It would also make sense... making them available one at time so that they aren't discovered too soon
Probably, I am just seeing things.
 
@Derpy The date fits the name - Flip-Flop - since when 12/21 ends, the change in day length flips - days start to get longer in the northern hemisphere and shorter in the southern hemisphere. It would have been nice if the color was determined by whether you are in the north or south hemisphere, but I'm assuming most of the SE users are in the north hemisphere.
 
well, ShadowWizard got the hat of the opposite color than I did, and he may be in the opposite hemisphere. That said.... if they did that, I foresee flaming.
The hat is revealing users private details.
Rage insures, and while I don't really care.... I think I would still support it.
 
11:20 AM
@Derpy The location is displayed in the user profile (I'm assuming it would be based on the location you put in your profile, not on your IP address, but that would be complicated to implement, so it probably has nothing to do with location).
 
i just got the grey/gold one... I was just killing really old comments
 
@Martin-マーチン no vote at all?
 
i am really hard trying what i did... O.o
 
@Martin-マーチン You can see all your votes in your profile.
 
working on it now...
 
11:29 AM
It's crazy. There are 12 new answers in the Secret hats question, all about the Flip-Flop hat.
 
There are theories about just having to vote once today.
 
yeah, i did down-vote and then up-vote within three minutes
 
@Martin-マーチン down up or up down?
 
different question thnough
 
I got it in several sites by voting. I tried to get it in one site by commenting and it didn't work.
 
11:30 AM
down then up
 
one vote is enough. Doesn't matter if up or down.
 
@Eran wouldn't a lot more user have it by now in that case?
 
@Eran you mean just vote on the 22nd?
 
@Martin-マーチン 21 - still the 21 for SE
 
@Martin-マーチン Yes.
 
11:32 AM
12/21 Flipped date, as @Eran pointed out
 
@Derpy 22. If it was 21, we would have seen it 24 hours ago.
 
@Eran yeah, that's what i thought
 
Yep, you are probably right - I forgot the UTC time they use.
Still, I don't understand how they decide what hat to award.
 
I am starting to believe the archimedes thing is a bad idea... so many flip flop hat posts
 
@Derpy Some people suggested it's random. Others suggested it's alternating. The first user gets blue, the next user white and so on. Once you got a color, you are stuck with this color in all sites.
@Martin-マーチン At least it brings be closer to the 9000 hat :)
 
11:41 AM
@Eran ohhh so selfless...
 
@Martin-マーチン I'm getting a notification for each of those answers, so I deserve some compensation :)
 
hahaha.... you wanted the fame... now live with it :P
2
 
@pops - since it seem you only need to vote on the 22 to get the Flip Flop hat (21 where I live, but it is the usual utc problem), I am switching to determine the color rule: for now, my research shows that users that voted Questions got white, and users who voted on Answers got blue.
 
I voted on asnwers and didn't get the blue one
 
@Heslacher second that
 
11:52 AM
what is flip flop
 
how long does it take that hats get awarded?
 
I also got flip flop
 
what colour? what did you do?
 
white
are there multiple colours?
 
White and blue
 
11:54 AM
@Quill-HATMANIAC if you get asked which color, then that question is ....
;-)
 
pretty much
I got it on Anime & Manga
The only thing I did was post this question:
2
Q: What order do I watch the Minami-ke series?

Quill - HAT MANIACIn the Minami-ke franchise, there's: Minami-ke Minami-ke Betsubara Minami-ke Natsuyasumi Minami-ke Okaeri Minami-ke Okawari Minami-ke Omatase; and Minami-ke Tadaima In what order do I watch these series and OVAs?

and then I upvoted the answer, but I already had a vote by then
theories so far?
 
4 mins ago, by Martin - マーチン
how long does it take that hats get awarded?
is it instantaneously? or is there lag?
 
@Pops although I have said I won't go for secret hats anymore... You get the Flip Flop hat if you vote today (12/21) within the default utc range. It doesn't matter if it is a question or an answer on which you vote. The color you are getting is just at the first time applied and the next user which gets the hat gets the other color.
 
@Heslacher I doubt that very much
 
if it helps, I only voted one thing up and no downvotes
 
11:58 AM
what about this ? @Martin-マーチン
 
i voted on german and no hat
 
@Martin-マーチン there's a bit of wait
I have another theory: vote on questions you asked during today
up for white, down for blue
 
No @Quill-HATMANIAC I tried this and only got grey/gold
 
hi
 
@Martin-マーチン I see a hat for you on german
 
12:00 PM
I just got the Flip Flop hat^^
 
what did you do
 
I just flaged something as spam and downvoted it on meta
 
@Heslacher I do now, too
 
hmm
maybe it affects posts you've posted on
 
nope
 
12:01 PM
Nope
 
so just upvoting and downvoting?
 
or in a flip flop way epon
 
properbly
 
:26336448
yes
 
okay... I guess it takes about 15 minutes to apply the hat
so that's why i did not see it at before
 
12:02 PM
hm this is strange I was not active on MSE 15 minutes ago
 
how long ago @rekire
 
I guess you get it after the grace period in which you can retract your vote
 
But on A&M I just upvoted the question
I didn't get rid of the vote
 
@Quill-HATMANIAC nope, I voted on an old post. Vote type or item time doesn't seem to matter.
 
alright I just got it on Code Review
so how does one get the blue one?
just downvoting a post?
 
12:06 PM
well you're stuck with one colour
 
My theory:
9 mins ago, by Heslacher
@Pops although I have said I won't go for secret hats anymore... You get the Flip Flop hat if you vote today (12/21) within the default utc range. It doesn't matter if it is a question or an answer on which you vote. The color you are getting is just at the first time applied and the next user which gets the hat gets the other color.
 
like the dress thing...
 
Additionally, this is what that is
The bowler hat, also known as a bob hat, derby (US), billycock or bombín, is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown originally created in 1849 for the British soldier and politician Edward Coke, the younger brother of the 2nd Earl of Leicester. The bowler hat was popular with the working class during the Victorian era, and later on with the middle and upper classes in the United Kingdom and the eastern United States. Later in the United Kingdom, it would come to be worn as civilian work dress by former officers of the Queen's Guard. In Bolivia, women of Quechua people have worn bowler hats since...
 
@Quill-HATMANIAC It is just a standard hat with the colors of the infamous dress that was posted around the net time ago.
 
I don't even know what you're talking about
I think you're locked to one
I just downvoted on SO and got white
 
12:12 PM
Where are the grapes?
 
I got the hat (blue) on Stack Overflow shortly after upvoting an old answer, and right after replying to someone in a comment
 
It's linked to upvoting and downvoting during the current period
some people are getting white and some blue
we haven't determined whether it's random or not yet
 
Can you help me get the Living in the Future hat? I'm missing 2 upvotes (and it's a meta site, so I get no rep for it). Thanks
3
A: Sponsored Tags and Tag Synonyms

EranNobody answered this question, so I might as well do it myself. If the sponsor (which I assume is Google) prefers to sponsor google-cloud-messaging, should this become the "main" GCM tag, and the other two become synonyms of it? Aparantly, the answer to that is yes. google-cloud-messaging b...

 
additionally, there's a million Flip Flop answers on that meta Q of yours @Eran
we need to get that cleaned up
Can we protect that question please?
 
12:15 PM
@Quill-HATMANIAC Only a mod can do that, I'm afraid.
 
@Quill-HATMANIAC You need 15k rep to protect it
 
wow, okay
who here has 15k on meta?
 
protection won't help any way
 
One more vote ...
 
12:17 PM
13 answers! 13 flip flop answers
jesus christ
 
who comes on meta.se who has not 10 rep?
 
not even he has the required rep on meta to help
 
I hope they don't lock that question before Winterbash ends.
 
@Quill-HATMANIAC sorry I had to check a bug. maximal 5 minutes before I got the hat. properbly the first action on the site for today
 
12:19 PM
@rekire nope, I already DVLR on CR and got the hat there
 
@Martin-マーチン Well, there may be more new secret hats that deserve their answers
 
@Eran yeah, ... and there is that community answer...
(that you might want to accept)
 
Is it possible to lock the questions partially? (prevent new answers but still allow to edit existing ones)
 
I got it on stackoverflow
 
@Martin-マーチン I'll accept it when it's all done. Right now it's incomplete :)
 
12:21 PM
@Eran yep
 
I guess I know now what is triggering it
 
@rekire shooot!
 
I want to confirm it first
Confirmed: Visit a question and vote within 5 seconds.
I want that tube now!
 
in Tavern on the Meta on Meta Stack Exchange Chat, 9 mins ago, by Eumel
@Pops Is the blue FlipFlop Hat awarded for editing an answer that already has an upvote on 21.12?
 
I didn't edit today
 
12:30 PM
if any javascript devs want weed eater: here
 
@rekire the 5 seconds is bs
 
@Quill-HATMANIAC That won't work. That question has a deleted answer.
 
I waited more than 5 secs
 
@Heslacher bs?
 
oh? it does
 
12:32 PM
bull...
 
it got tumbleweed nonetheless
 
@rekire you got it
 
@Heslacher ah^^
@Eran thx
 
@rekire Can you upvote this please? meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/255806/…
 
yeah, I did the 5 second thing and still got white
I think you're locked in
does anyone have both
 
12:33 PM
@Eran done
 
@rekire thanks :)
 
@Quill-HATMANIAC I think so too
 
@Quill-HATMANIAC they have different id, but probably you can't get both. Unless....
 
I only see white hats on chemistry.se. I would not be surprised, that the colour of the hat is determined by the first action of the first user who earned it per site, when the time switched. After that it is locked for that user and for the site.
 
I did't get my Living in the Future Hat. I wonder if Meta sites don't count for this hat.
 
12:45 PM
Lol I was scrolling the winterbash pages too fast and it error messaged me with "too many requests"
 
Maybe it's more simple than we think?
@MsYvette nah, I think it's a time based hat just like sufganiyot, that is awarded to anyone who vote on December 22. I just entered a site, upvoted a random new question, and got the hat after few minutes. — Shadow Wizard 2 mins ago
 
It's basically
Upvote get white, downvote get blue
any actions on any site after that you'll get the same colour
 
nope. Upvoted, got blue.
 
hmmm
maybe it's luck
 
hmm... wait, got my first on MSE so you might be correct.
Let me check my votes tab...
 
12:52 PM
my first vote today was a downvote -> blue hat the other two votes where upvotes and I still got a blue one
 
@Quill-HATMANIAC Except I got my first blue from upvoting an answer.
 
I don't know, I'm only making educated guesses
 
Huh! My first vote after 10 AM UTC was a downvote
(on MSE)
 
@Quill-HATMANIAC But the OP of that question has no tumbleweed badge.
 
12:54 PM
yes he does
 
@Pops - Can I call upon your pity? Before we continue for days, can you confirm if there is a rule for the Flip Flop hat color or if it is just random?
 
@Quill-HATMANIAC Somehow I missed that. Good luck
 
no worries
 
I think the first hat that is awarded on a site determines the colour of the hat for the whole site, if its awarded through upvote it's white, else blue. The first hat that you get determines the colour for you
 
It's 7am in NY now btw, so he might still be snoozing
 
12:58 PM
@Martin-マーチン the hat is most likely locked in after the first one, users on Sci-Fi got multiple hats on different sites, all same color. If there is a rule, it must be for the first one.
It may as well be just an alternating thing, each new user getting the opposite of the last awarded.
 
Isn't that what i just said?
 
that's what I said
 
@Derpy no, then we would have different coloured hats on chem.se
 
8 mins ago, by Quill - HAT MANIAC
any actions on any site after that you'll get the same colour
 
said it earlier
18 mins ago, by Martin - マーチン
I only see white hats on chemistry.se. I would not be surprised, that the colour of the hat is determined by the first action of the first user who earned it per site, when the time switched. After that it is locked for that user and for the site.
 
1:01 PM
50 mins ago, by Quill - HAT MANIAC
I think you're locked to one
:-P
wanna play this game?
 
@Martin-マーチン wrong. We on Code review have users having white or blue hats
 
well, that fact was said long before you entered the room
@Heslacher are you 100% certain they earned it all on codereview first?
 
Yes, I have earned mine on CR first and the other user I found only earned it on CR
 
(nvm that)
 
@Heslacher Are these the beanies showing the number, or a new secret hat?
 
1:04 PM
I earned mine on A&M first, but I have CR
 
@HATMAN ???
 
@Heslacher is it the only site s/he earned it on?
 
yes
 
@Quill-HATMANIAC sure ;)
 
that was pretty funny though
 
1:05 PM
@Heslacher oh wait, you've written that... sorry
 
np
 
well, that crushed my theory to shreds lol
 
Ah, I see what you guys are talking about. Odd.
One for upvoting, one for downvoting?
Or are the certainly linked?
The name makes me think of the waffle hat from last year some reason
 
Quoting my answer from earlier: "The color you are getting is just at the first time applied and the next user which gets the hat gets the other color. "
 
Ah, so it alternates?
 
1:10 PM
Thats my guess
 
That makes sense given the name
 
that ^^
 
Any non-broken theories yet?
 
Wow, you guys ask for votes on MSO here?
 
What breaks my theories? Open a question and vote on it within 5 seconds
 
1:12 PM
Thought that was illegal
 
@rekire I have waited longer than 5 seconds
 
@Heslacher 15 seconds?
 
Open a closed question and vote?
hmm
 
@BhargavRao It turns out that doesn't help to get hats.
 
I NEED TO PING POPS
 
1:14 PM
@Eran I did not get you.
 
@HATMAN @pops
 
ok
I got it just now on MSE and BSE
 
@Eran If you get votes on MSO wont you get the Grace and the Wukong hats?
 
The MSE one that just came in is a little tough on my theory
It would appear that just upvoting works
 
@rekire I just counted to 10
 
1:15 PM
but then again . . .
 
downvotes count as well
 
ok
 
@BhargavRao Well, some hats are meta specific, but I was aiming for Living in the future, which can't be obtained by a meta answer.
 
So just voting period?
 
@Heslacher yes I can confirm that
maybe also when the question is new
 
1:16 PM
@Eran Yep, you don't get that. But asking for votes is allowed here .... I did not know that :/
 
Yes, both questions I voted on were relatively new
 
vote on a question in the first 5 minutes might be the point
 
Also have a question here - What is the highest no of hats won on a single site?
 
I don't know those stats
 
1:20 PM
well yeah
@BhargavRao downvote hat
 
Rephrased it - What is the highest no of hats won on a single site by a person?
Is it 27 on SO?
 
@BhargavRao Ah
 
@HATMAN I wanted to ask "what is the highest no of hats a person has won on a single site?". :)
 
@Pops Flip-flop I think is awarded for voting on a users first post post within one hour of it being posted, with some relation to the date. Close enough for hot-cold?
 
maybe also come in flip off the hat, vote greet on it and go out
 
1:27 PM
hmm, that could be
 
1:49 PM
so how many secret hats is that now?
 
2:05 PM
@Quill-HATMANIAC 13
 
My chances of getting It's over 9000 are improving. I'm already at 5128 views
 
which site?
 
@Eran I have 7700 views on one of mine. :)
 
@Quill-HATMANIAC MSE of course
 
2:12 PM
that's pretty much the only hat I've said 'nope' to getting
 
I need 3 more hats to get to 30.
Trying hard for Wukong, but getting only upvotes.
 
I pretty much gave up Archi
 
@Eran Any hopes of finishing on top of SO leaderboard for hats?
 
@BhargavRao Not much chance of that happening.
 
I have a +4 lead. Have answered 4 tumbleweeds, waiting for OP's replies.
 
2:16 PM
I've answered 2 tumbleweeds and 1 bounty
 
Almost everyone's got the Wukong. It has been tough for me to get.
 
2:29 PM
I guess there are still more hats to come.
And did Pops reveal any "hat hints"?
 
Monday, he said
nothing so far
 
 
1 hour later…
3:56 PM
@pops I want a hint: for the "it's always 5 O'clock somewhere" hat, can it only be earned on Fridays, or could it only be earned on the 18th?
 
Hey, has anyone checked for Flying Tigers if it's maybe any three of the same badge on the same day?
 
no idea....
 
And also if the Flip Flop hat color is determined by the hour in which is was earned, e.g. odd hours get white and even blue? (I can't remember when I got mine.)
 
Did anyone ever figure out Onion Knight?
 
Still not, as far as I know.
I think my most recent theory was that it had something to do with conferring favor, but I don't remember why I thought that.
 
4:03 PM
It seems Flip Flop is the Waffle of last year...
 
Is it? I thought that was for reversing your vote.
 
I got it just for voting
 
I just got a third Nice badge, and no Flying Tiger.
I also got an Enlightened, so I should try for another.
 
Perhaps all of last year's secret hats should be tested?
 
They will have variations, if they are still around.
 
4:05 PM
yeah
 
@Hosch250 Third for today?
 
No, first for today.
Third in WB.
 
I am speculating that it is three in the same day.
For any badge.
 
Hmm.
That is very rare on any day for me.
 
same here
 
4:11 PM
I usually space my questions/answers out so I don't lose too much rep by capping.
Huh? I just got Flip Flop on CR.
Let's see, I just skipped an item in the review queue, and that is it.
Skip N items in the review queues?
 
Any activity.
 
Two upvotes in the last 7 minutes.
One Skip in the review queue two minutes ago.
I paused over it for a long time before skipping too.
 
@KitZ.Fox It must be
 
Well, you get it for voting or posting.
 
But I didn't post, and my votes were several minutes before the hat.
It came in within seconds after pausing over a close vote queue item, then skipping it.
 
4:17 PM
Any votes count
It takes time to come in
If it came in right away, that is suspicious
 
Yes, the hats are on a delay.
 
They've never delayed this long for me before.
And what would two upvotes on a Q/A mean?
I do that all the time.
 
I think it is only for one day, and the colors alternate hourly
 
Colors?
 
white/blue
 
4:18 PM
Oh. It is blue right now.
 
It depends when you get it what the color is according to current theories
It seems to stay the same once you get it
 
How do you know it isn't the close vote thing?
 
Because I only voted on MSE, I can't review
 
Oh.
 
I literally voted once, and got the hat
 
4:22 PM
Oooh, I found a bug.
 
Yay!
What is it?
 
Hey, is it OK to post in here asking for help getting hats? Like if I needed views? Or is that kind of thing discouraged? I'm not trying to gain rep from it.
 
0
Q: Capitalization Bug in Title Prompt

Hosch250The title prompt has a capitalization bug: That should be "State the ...", with a capital "S".

I won't gain rep on meta.CR, so vote away.
 
4:39 PM
@Derpy The downside of me staying up so late is that I get up late, too. And then it takes a while after I get up before I get around to checking this room. To answer your question, technically, yes, there is a rule for Flip Flop color, but it's not based on anything you can see. So you might as well stop guessing, or if you insist on continuing, you should at least stop looking for data, in that particular instance.
 
So, the trigger is a vote.
Between a certain time?
That wouldn't make sense.
It isn't reversing the vote, because I didn't do that.
 
@Hosch250 just a vote or a post
@Pops omg. It's four, isn't it?
(totally random = 4)
 
Don't be ridiculous.
Everybody knows the random number is nine:
 
Mmm. Dilbert over XKCD. I am beginning to understand.
 
4:52 PM
@Pops I like Dilbert better too.
 
Do you know 24 is the highest number?
 
Hmm. I wonder if I can make balpha retcon the Flip Flop hats into one color for xkcd people and one color for Dilbert people.
 
They are going to make some new Mr. Show stuff.
Netflix is.
 
OK, after 200 posts an answer here, we need lots of votes: meta.codereview.stackexchange.com/questions/6364/…
I'm not sure why it isn't an option, but whoever made it not an option needs to get their code reviewed and chewed out.
 

« first day (9 days earlier)      last day (36 days later) »