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tl;dr New! See "More Athlons" below.

Screenshot

Stackathlon Screen Shot

About

It's surprising how few people are active on multiple Stack Exchange sites. Well, maybe not so surprising. But it's a big world; you'd think there'd be more. When I first created Stackathlon, there were 21 people on the list of users with 1,000 or more points on all three of the original trilogy sites (Stack Overflow, Server Fault and Super User). Now, almost four years later, there are still only 132. Other site combinations (more on this below) have even shorter lists.

In any case, Stackathlon is intended to foster a little friendly, fun competition. Perhaps while wearing a little more clothing than the ancient pentathletes did. But who cares just as long as my web cam is turned off?

The icons indicate the level of reputation points achieved in each site. A laurel wreath means at least 10,000 points. Three, two and one leaves represent the 3,000, 2,000 and 1,000 point levels. The list is sorted by the levels, nearness to moving to the next level and then by total rep points.

License

The code is closed license for the time being for the safety of the general public.

URL

You can see the most recent update of the leaders at stackathlon.com

Contact

Stackathlon is a product of Dennis Williamson. I take full responsibility for any unpleasant aftertaste. I can be reached at [my first name] [that circled a] [netstrata] [dot] [oh, what's that last part? oh, yeah, "com"].

Code

The app is written in Python using only standard libraries. The original code was very delicate and rough. Like broken porcelain, but without the pretty pattern. It caused the CPU* to emit a noise not unlike fingernails on a chalkboard. Code is Poetry. Some code is Vogon poetry. But in this version, it's well organized and maintainable Vogon poetry - which means that features are easy to add <shriek!>.

* No, really, I do mean the actual chip.

The graphics were done by me using Inkscape and Corel Paint Shop Pro. The Greek-looking font is Dalek.

Yes, I know there's a typo in the screen shot. It's part of its charm, don't you think?

More Athlons - NEW!

Stackathlon now supports other groupings in addition to the original trilogy. The first two new ones are Gaming Geeks (Arqade, Role-Playing Games, Science Fiction & Fantasy) which was suggested by Pureferret in a comment below and the first pentathlon, Super Programmers (Stack Overflow, Programmers, Computer Science, Theoretical Computer Science, Code Review).

The most likely combinations will be triathlons. Pentathlons will have only very small numbers of participants - Super Programmers has only one. I think heptathlons and decathlons will be too rare. Biathlons are possible but the combinations would need to be exceptionally compelling.

I won't be able to do arbitrary combinations chosen by site visitors because too much data needs to be retrieved and that would cause the API police to knock down my door in the wee hours.

Please suggest additional combinations in comments or "answers" below. The component sites must fit a theme and must have at least one eligible participant (I can check that).

Updates

Version 2.5

  • Code reorganization
  • Switched to API 2.2, at long last. Deprecation deadlines are great motivators!
  • Other combinations of sites
  • Other numbers of sites in combinations (triathlon, pentathlon, etc.)
  • Small changes in copy
  • Moved to its own domain - stackathlon.com

ToDo:

  • Improve appearance of More Athlons landing page

I'd like to thank Stack Exchange for their assistance.

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  • @Dannis wow i like it. Have you used Django or something else on Gae? Why not a better favicon like this one dl.dropbox.com/u/544854/favicon.ico? Jun 25, 2010 at 7:15
  • @systempuntoout: That's my default favicon. I may use yours, but I'll have to see what I come up with. The framework stuff is still being worked out. Jun 25, 2010 at 7:40
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    hmmm.... the developer of a game being the first to win... whodathunkit? ;-> joking of course. I stay away from stackathlon as I have enough other things to make me feel worthless and weak. ;-) Sep 18, 2010 at 21:49
  • 2
    How often does/should this update? I've just hit 1K on SF (and well over that threshold on SO and SU) but haven't (yet) appeared on the page.
    – ChrisF
    Jan 2, 2011 at 23:50
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    @ChrisF: It updates every two hours. There has been a bit of a disruption today, however. You should be listed now. Congratulations! Jan 3, 2011 at 0:44
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    If only it would just support rep on all SE sites, I would stand a chance with Gaming, Web Apps and Android rep...
    – Ivo Flipse
    Jan 17, 2011 at 18:06
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    Is it even concievable we could enter our own three site to compete on. I fancy a Geekathon: Gaming, RPG and Sci-fi. Sep 12, 2012 at 19:24
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    @Pureferret: It's on the Don't-Hold-Your-Breath To-Do list. ;-) I want to implement something like this, but time is tight right now. Sep 12, 2012 at 20:07
  • 1
    @DennisWilliamson Thanks, I shan't hold my breath but I will be patient! Sep 12, 2012 at 20:51
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    @Pureferret: Sorry I haven't replied before now. I'm not going to be able to do visitor-chosen combinations, but I did implement your suggestion for Gaming Geeks and I'm open to other suggestions. Feb 2, 2016 at 17:07
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    The wreath images (and others?) on stackathlon.com seem to be broken...
    – Bob
    Aug 8, 2018 at 7:40
  • @DennisWilliamson - ty for making the stackathon site(s). I still look at this periodically and find that it does motivate me, in a good way. I wear it as a badge of pride to be around so many gifted and smart people's avatars when I look at it!
    – slm
    Feb 2, 2022 at 13:07

1 Answer 1

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Great design and great idea. I don't know whether many people still look at this, but I discovered it today and if it was advertized and used more.

Some suggestions for Stackathlons:

  • Quantitive Finance and Economics. This one has suprisingly few, while the disciplines are quite closely related. I tried to add another one, but then it gives probably zero users. In fact, this query gives zero, so it's

  • Mathematics, MathOverflow, Mathematics Educators (Math Masters)

  • The Three Sciences: Physics, Chemistry, Biology (Science Masters)

  • Astronomy and Space Exploration. (Space Fanatics)

  • Ask Ubuntu, Ask Different, Unix & Linux, Super User (Computer Experts) - without Super User

  • Stack Overflow, Server Fault, Super User, Meta Stack Exchange (Original Tetralogy). Did you know that Meta SE is older than Super User? Probably the largest tetrathlon.

  • Information Security and Cryptography. Cryptography is of coure highly relevant to Information Security, since our data can be sent securily because of Cryptography.

  • Biblical Hermeneutics, Christianity.

  • Beer, Homebrewing. This one may only give one user.

  • Science Fiction & Fantasy, Movies & TV. This one will probably give a lot of users, but I don't know what to add to it. Maybe Anima & Manga, but I think it then will collapse to zero.

  • Travel, Expatriates. Living abroad short and long respectively. Both sites need experts on travel documents, so they are related. Travel.SE also advertizes Expatriates.SE.


Added May 2016:

  • Information Security, Cryptography and Stack Overflow might give a good triathlon, maybe instead of the biathlon Information Security, Cryptography.
  • Mathematics, MathOverflow, Mathematics Educators, History of Science and Mathematics gives at least one user. It might also be interesting to see how it combines with Cross Validated or Cryptography, leaving out Mathematics Educators. Also related are Computer Science and Theoretical Computer Science.
  • Some combination of Aviation, Earth Science, Expatriates, Travel and Physics. All five will almost certainly give zero, while there are a few combinations of three and four sites that give at least one.
  • Bitcoin and Ethereum. More cryptocurrency sites are coming, but how does it combine with Stack Overflow or Cryptography?
  • Music Practice & Theory and Music Fans
  • Expression Engine ® Answers and Craft CMS, maybe with Stack Overflow
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  • 2
    I have implemented Math Masters (19 users) and Science Masters (1 user). Unfortunately, Quant and Econ resulted in zero users with at least 1000 points on each. Thanks very much for the suggestions. Feb 2, 2016 at 1:59
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    @DennisWilliamson Thank you very much! I shall try to think of some others.
    – wythagoras
    Feb 2, 2016 at 10:16
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    @DennisWilliamson I added some others. I am currently out of inspiration for creative names. (Of course, we may just put masters, fanatics, experts after, but that is not creative).
    – wythagoras
    Feb 2, 2016 at 20:08
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    Also, I mentioned your site on the In Praise of Math.SE and its users chatroom.
    – wythagoras
    Feb 2, 2016 at 20:16
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    For a last note, I would personally prefer combinations that have more than one user over those that don't, if you don't want to implement all of the above. But it is of course your choice.
    – wythagoras
    Feb 2, 2016 at 20:19
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    I created the first biathlon, Biermeisters based on your suggestion. I'm not going to do the tetrology suggestion. If I do Meta sites, I would do Meta-only combinations probably. I had thought about Ubuntu, Ask Different, Unix & Linux before and I may do that (omitting Super User). I'll look at your other suggestions as I have time. I'm curious to see what can be done with the religion sites (in addition to the ones you mentioned). You may have noted that I'm not inclined to do very many biathlons. If you have additional ideas for expanding your ... Feb 2, 2016 at 20:48
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    ...suggestions, please do as you've done for Sci Fi and Movies/TV - perhaps noting the third as a weaker choice, if appropriate. Thanks for your interest and efforts. Feb 2, 2016 at 20:48
  • @DennisWilliamson I updated my answer with more suggestions, although some are a bit difficult since I cannot see how many sites a suggestion gives.
    – wythagoras
    May 22, 2016 at 16:21

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