Instead, we have opted to declare tomorrow Ron2K Appreciation Day. Or RAD.
For 24 hours tomorrow, you will notice a small army of PCF forumites bearing a RAD image in their signature. I have a list of participants, who will be receiving their customised sig image during the course of this evening.
However, we do not want to exclude anyone who might wish to celebrate this auspicious occasion with us. Should you wish to join the RAD celebrations, feel free to drop me a PM and request a customised sig image. All the sigs look virtually identical, but are customised with your forum nick and a brief byline as to why you appreciate Ron2K. Request your banner, via PM, by completing the following sentence:
"I appreciate Won-Won because . . . ." (maximum of six or seven words to complete the sentence, please).
Of course, all of this is done in the name of fun. I will ignore any requests that might prove to be malicious against Ron. If you consider this to be a pointless exercise, you need not make your feelings known in this thread. Ron2K appreciation day will last for 24 hours only.
No one who receives a sig is REQUIRED to use it, of course.
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Edit:
The History of RAD
Ron likes to go by the title "The Blue Lurker." Some weeks ago, I created a cheesy blue image with Ron's face peeking over a wall or something, as if he was lurking in the background listening to things going on. This is pretty much how he acts in the spam thread. He hangs around and pops in with a ninja comment whenever there is mention of coding, Foundry, airports or music. So we had fun posting The Blue Lurker image whenever he said something.
Anyway, someone eventually convinced KatrynKat to use the image as her sig. I think it was DJT, who also added some text to it. Now, you should understand that KK is THE biggest spammer we've had to date. She even outstrips Tribble--comfortably--in terms of posts per day. So you can imagine that with her using The Blue Lurker image in her sig, Ron's face was popping up every second post. This morning, he commented on how strange it was to see his face all over the place. This birthed the idea of RAD.
I edited the original image to a bit to spruce it up for RAD. The bylines were an attempt to personalise the sigs. For regular spam threaders, I (with Tribble and Anakha's help) added a byline of my own. These cheesy bylines (to go with the cheesy image) all reflect something of the nature of the person bearing the sig. Spam regulars will get all the inside jokes. Those who have asked to be added created their own bylines. Most of them are lighthearted, some are serious.
The Seriousness of RAD
Although this is all done in good-natured fun, and although there is some inside humour in the bylines added, the simple fact is that everyone participating in this day--and most forumites NOT participating--genuinely appreciate the effort that Ron has put into this forum. I think I speak for everyone when I say that this place is the better for Ron's effort.
He does all he does free of charge (no compensation from PCF HQ) and in his spare time. He's a busy enough guy as it is, but he has done an absolutely sterling job since he took over Cameron's position a few years back. The nuking of our beloved sidebar (you like chicken?) notwithstanding, this is a better place than it was when Cameron left.
So, Ron, in all seriousness, we all appreciate the effort that you put into PCF. We hope that seeing your face around here a little more for a full day will act as a small token of our genuine appreciation.
- Spoiler: (show)
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As I've already mentioned, I have hatched a plan.