tea.mathoverflow.net - Discussion Feed (MathOverflow user)

geraldedgar comments on "MathOverflow user" (19024)

2012-05-04T07:06:53-07:00

Reading the description suggests that MathOverflow bumps an unanswered question at random once an hour. So I suppose if OTHER entries to the front page have been slow recently, then there will be a lot of MathOverflow bumps on the front page.

Mariano comments on "MathOverflow user" (19023)

2012-05-02T19:19:24-07:00

Thse last two days the Mathoverflow user seems to be very active reviving oldish questions: right now there are ten of them on the main page. AI is weird... :D

WillieWong comments on "MathOverflow user" (10846)

2010-11-19T01:08:27-08:00

Another question that looks abandoned by the OP. I would've tried to do what Matt did for the other question, but in this case the question seems ill-defined (see Deane's comment and my comments on the question). If someone can write up a good CW answer, I'd be more than happy to vote it up to get it off the Monkey Bump List.

Emerton comments on "MathOverflow user" (10820)

2010-11-18T16:29:12-08:00

Dear Willie,

Thanks for pointing this out, and sorry for the blunder. The CW box is now checked.

Best wishes,

Matt

WillieWong comments on "MathOverflow user" (10817)

2010-11-18T15:16:28-08:00

@Matt, I think you forgot to make it CW! Not that I object giving you a vote, of course.

Emerton comments on "MathOverflow user" (10813)

2010-11-18T13:49:59-08:00

I added a CW answer to this question on p-adic representations of the profinite completion of Z (which was being bounced by the MO user).

Feel free to vote it up!

Will Jagy comments on "MathOverflow user" (10810)

2010-11-18T12:08:12-08:00

In "Couples Retreat," the character played by actor Peter Serafinowicz introduces himself, with no further explanation:

My name is Sctanley, spelled with a C.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1078940/

WillieWong comments on "MathOverflow user" (10809)

2010-11-18T10:46:31-08:00

Andrew said:

as for too many edits making the question CW, well, so what?

I completely agree. But I feel compelled to remind people every now and then lest we get complaints when it happens and they don't like it.

(@Andres: ah, that clears things up. I wasn't quite sure whether the s goes with your given or family name.)

Andres Caicedo comments on "MathOverflow user" (10808)

2010-11-18T08:57:04-08:00

(Andres Caicedo) :-)

Andrew Stacey comments on "MathOverflow user" (10806)

2010-11-18T08:46:29-08:00

To andrescaicedo (sorry, not sure how to parse your name!), the best thing to do is to take a look at your question, try to figure out why it didn't get any suitable answers, and then ask a new question that is better designed to get answered. There are a couple of my old questions that didn't get much in the way of answers, possibly because they were asked in the very early days when the breadth of expertise here was not so great (basically, if it wasn't either algebraic geometry or something that Greg Kuperberg could answer, then you were sunk), so I'm going to reask them, but I'm waiting until I have a few minutes to think about the questions again properly to see if I can, in hindsight, make them more focussed and so easier for the right person to answer.

(By the by, I wouldn't go down the bounty route as that has a definite time limit; as for too many edits making the question CW, well, so what? If it gets it answered, that's the main thing, isn't it?)

WillieWong comments on "MathOverflow user" (10804)

2010-11-18T08:07:11-08:00

@Harry: but I am a miser and don't want to up-vote answers that either (a) don't deserve an up-vote or (b) goes beyond my expertise to judge whether it is good or not. Also, at least one of the questions I linked to should've been closed the first time around as either too-localised or off-topic, with the only available answer being a "clarifying comment" from the OP himself.

@andrescaicedo: and there you've touched upon one of the unfortunate aspects of MO. The way the forum operates and the rapid time-frame in which the front page questions get displaced was very suitable for StackOverflow, but with math questions which sometimes need sto ferment a bit it doesn't work as well. If you really want to draw attention to it you can always put a Bounty on the question, and/or edit it a bit (the edits will bump it to top). Unfortunately too much of the latter will make your question CW.

Anton Geraschenko comments on "MathOverflow user" (10803)

2010-11-18T08:03:24-08:00

I believe one upvote is sufficient to convince the community user to not bump the question.

That's correct

Ok, this brings up a question: I asked something a while ago, that I would very much like to know how to do. There are 3 answers, none of which touch the actual problem, but people voted one of them up twice, so the question is not bumped automatically every now and then, limiting very much its chances of being seen. Anything we can do for cases like this?

Bump it manually if you really think it will help. It could simply be that nobody on MO (or maybe just nobody) knows how to do what you want to do.

Andres Caicedo comments on "MathOverflow user" (10802)

2010-11-18T07:11:28-08:00

Ok, this brings up a question: I asked something a while ago, that I would very much like to know how to do. There are 3 answers, none of which touch the actual problem, but people voted one of them up twice, so the question is not bumped automatically every now and then, limiting very much its chances of being seen. Anything we can do for cases like this?

Cam McLeman comments on "MathOverflow user" (10798)

2010-11-18T05:45:48-08:00

I believe one upvote is sufficient to convince the community user to not bump the question.

Harry Gindi comments on "MathOverflow user" (10794)

2010-11-18T04:13:46-08:00

Willie, if there is an existing answer, all you need to do is make sure the current answer has at least two votes, and it will no longer be marked as unanswered by the community user.

WillieWong comments on "MathOverflow user" (10792)

2010-11-18T03:48:20-08:00

Some of the questions are actually still un-answered, so I think they deserved to be bumped up a bit.

Some of the questions have an answer provided, but not accepted, I think in this case we can try to leave a note for the OP (if he/she is still active) to accept the answer. This way the MO Monkey won't touch that question again.

Some of the questions are just ones abandoned by their original owners. I think we should just all vote and close them as "no-longer relevant" to prevent their resurface? If you agree with that statement, help me vote to close this and this.

Andres Caicedo comments on "MathOverflow user" (10788)

2010-11-17T21:30:39-08:00

And recent active questions are disappearing from the front page too fast as a result...

Harry Gindi comments on "MathOverflow user" (10784)

2010-11-17T19:30:28-08:00

I have no idea, but it's completely useless at its job.

Mariano comments on "MathOverflow user" (10783)

2010-11-17T19:27:11-08:00

What's with the MathOverflow user these days? It seems to be pushing up the main page lots of old questions...