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Possible Duplicate:
Shouldn't consecutive days measure from midnight to midnight in the user's time zone?
Is it fair that stackoverflow's days are based on UTC time?
Change the definition of a "day" to be localized for users

Many questions, like this one, have raised the issue that measurement of consecutive days visited on SE sites is confusingly based on UTC rather than on the user's local timezone. This is one of the biggest frustrations I have with SE sites as there are many sites I visit at least once a day, yet I am never going to get a badge for it since my time zone isn't UTC. Instead, it ends up a fluke whether or not all my consecutive days disappear just because I visited at one time yesterday and a couple hours later today.

As far as I can tell, all the questions on this topic have either been closed as duplicates or marked as , but I haven't been been able to find an actual answer from SE staff on why. The top voted answer in the linked question claims it is not possible to do this in a way which is both consistent and non-gameable, which is just ridiculous. Am I supposed to believe that an organisation which has created one of the largest communities of programming expertise on the web can't find a better solution than the three trivial ones I just came up with in the last 30 seconds off the top of my head? It would be really great to get an actual SE answer to this question--or is there one buried in here somewhere that I just haven't been able to find?

Edit: this is not an exact duplicate. I am not repeating the complaint--I am asking if there is an actual staff answer to the request anywhere. I couldn't find one.

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23
  • Care to comment if you're downvoting?
    – eMansipater
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 14:53
  • "an actual answer from SE staff on why" what, exactly?
    – AakashM
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 14:55
  • Generally on Meta Stack Exchange downvotes mean "I disagree" or "your argument is invalid". Don't let those downvotes weigh you down, and don't look for a reason.
    – jcolebrand
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 14:55
  • 5
    Voting is different on meta.
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 14:55
  • Disagreeing with the answer isn't the same as saying it's invalid
    – random
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 14:56
  • @AakashM on why a change to the methodology has been declined.
    – eMansipater
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 14:57
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    It is invalid, though. There is no way to do this that can't be gamed that's not super complicated. The cost of the solution would DRASTICALLY outweigh the seriousness of the issue it is resolving.
    – JNK
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 14:58
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    I will provide you an answer, however. In almost every field I have heard of where data is stored for later processing, an internal field is assigned to the data that tracks everything in UTC for later processing, such as "when did this record get added". The reason for storing it in UTC is because of DST. UTC doesn't get affected by DST, so it is the standard for time in all western cultures. So here's the thing: They care about the data integrity more than giving you a badge. The data is stored in UTC (including when you visited). So if you want the badge, you do the work. Visit by UTC.
    – jcolebrand
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 14:59
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    The staff answer is in one of the many duplicates you've not mentioned not reading: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/96098/…
    – random
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 15:00
  • Guess how easy it would be to just remote desktop to the company's office across the globe to be able to make your consecutive day count if you've missed it where you are at that moment ..
    – Wivani
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 15:01
  • @Wivani - or just spoof your IP...
    – JNK
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 15:04
  • @JNK here are at least 3 simple ways: 1) count consecutive days as the maximum consecutive days for any single possible timezone, so that skipping either 48 hours or different periods on different days that are mutually exclusive ends the consecutive count. Visiting on X consecutive days in any timezone is equally hard, so no gaming here and it would be very intuitive. 2) Allow the user to set a local timezone that can only be changed once per month. Travelers have to just pick one. 3) geoIP the user's last 5 visits and choose the mode. Only update if geoIP different for >30 days.
    – eMansipater
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 15:15
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    @eMansipater - All those are pretty complicated for the stated problem, which is extremely minor. Allowing a user-based timezone choice would just add extra noise on meta from whiners regarding how unfair it is since they have to move around etc etc.
    – JNK
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 15:18
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    That sounds like creating complication when you could just visit the site at the same time each day
    – random
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 15:18
  • 1
    My own old attempt to solve this: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/55483/…
    – Pops
    Commented Sep 30, 2011 at 14:19

1 Answer 1

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The linked question and several others have been marked as which indicates that official stance is that this will not be done.

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3
  • I want to add answers to closed questions too. Teach me your magic, please.
    – a cat
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 14:57
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    Umm....I noted this in my question. What I am asking is if any SE staff have said why it was declined.
    – eMansipater
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 14:59
  • 3
    @lunboks - start typing your answer before the question is closed and press "submit" afterwards - but not too long afterwards.
    – ChrisF Mod
    Commented Sep 27, 2011 at 14:59

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