This is the bi-weekly visible open thread (there are also hidden open threads twice a week you can reach through the Open Thread tab on the top of the page). Post about anything you want, but please try to avoid hot-button political and social topics. You can also talk at the SSC subreddit or the SSC Discord server – and also check out the SSC Podcast. Also:

1. Comment of the week is by Liskantope, who is not buying the story (the conspiracy theory?) that supercentenarian Jeanne Calment was a fraud.

2. Did you go to a secular Solstice celebration this year? Did you like the music? Raymond Arnold, the composer of most of the Solstice songs, has a crowdfunding campaign to get an album out. It’s finishing tomorrow, so if you’re interested make sure to take a look ASAP (sorry!) Campaign is over, you can still support/purchase at this link.

3. Somebody determined that the Report Comment button works on https but not http. If you have trouble using the button, try using it on https. And if you understand these things and have a good idea how to make it work on http, let me know.

4. If you’re hosting an SSC meetup and want it to show up in the Upcoming Meetups section of the sidebar here, remember to fill in this form (it’s linked on the sidebar) and to tag the meetup with “SSC”.

5. Some new ads up. One is for GiveDirectly, a charity which directly transfers money to needy people in Africa. The other is for Charity Entrepreneurship, a Y-combinator-esque incubator for people who want to start non-profits. Remember, I do give free advertising to EA charities and organizations – though you might want to wait a little while, right now I’ve got a higher free-to-paid ad ratio than I’m used to.

6. The survey is still open, so if you haven’t done it yet and you’re reading this post, please take the 2019 Slate Star Codex survey. If you’ve already taken it and you want more surveys, user RavenclawPrefect has put together a supplemental survey of all the questions that didn’t make it in to the main one.

7. Happy New Year, everyone!