Why does CTAN now look like I'm on LSD?

Question

It seems that the CTAN network has been updated to appear as if users are on hard drugs or in the twilight zone. The moving background is making me dizzy.

This is not the same as What is CTAN.org now? because it is (was) not April Fool's Day. There you have it. I have explained why this question is unique for that one person who wanted to know why.

LSD

Twilight Zone

also see http://meta.tex.stackexchange.com/questions/6912/has-ctan-site-changed-its-look — samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz, Oct 31 '16 at 12:30
http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/301927/what-is-this-comprehensive-latex-artifact-novelty-thing — Johannes_B, Oct 31 '16 at 12:32
If the April Fools question isn't closed an has more than 60 upvotes, why close this one as off-topic? It is the same funny stuff we appreciate once in a while. — Johannes_B, Oct 31 '16 at 12:34
@Joseph Wright I'm not the only one to have fallen into the trap! — CarLaTeX, Oct 31 '16 at 15:15
@StrongBad I am glad I asked this question. I hope it gave most people a laugh. — Jonathan Komar, Oct 31 '16 at 18:23
@DavidZ I am not aware of having taken LSD, haha. It did come into question upon seeing seeing the CTAN website. — Jonathan Komar, Nov 01 '16 at 09:31

Henri Menke · Accepted Answer · 2016-10-31T15:36:37.340

18

The 31st of October is the day of a festival called Halloween. This custom was established long time ago to scare away ghosts by dressing up as spooky creatures oneself. It is common to decorate your house with horrifying accessories and since CTAN is the home of TeX it is all Halloween-themed today.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

edited Oct 31 '16 at 15:36

answered Oct 31 '16 at 14:36

Henri Menke

109,596

1

You forgot to add that Halloween is a dialectal form of "All Hallows Eve" which is also dialectal for All Hallows Evening, the evening (and I suppose day of Nov. 1) before All Saints Day. I completely forgot about it today. I guess the ghosts will get me... – Jonathan Komar Oct 31 '16 at 14:39
@macmadness86 True, but for everyone interested in such details I put the Wikipedia link. – Henri Menke Oct 31 '16 at 14:41
You haven't seen the upgrade: https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/336768/seasonal-challenge-contributions-from-texing-dead-welcome! – CarLaTeX Oct 31 '16 at 15:23
Just in case... set a theme in Settings. – Herb Schulz Oct 31 '16 at 22:56
@JonathanKomar Actually “eve” is a word on its own, archaically “even” from ”æfen” (same origin as German “Abend”) from which “evening” developed. – egreg Nov 19 '20 at 08:56

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 31 '17 at 14:59

4

It is possible to return to the normal site skin on the site's user settings page (login not required).

I found the halloween skin (and especially the sound effects) quite tasteless.

answered Oct 31 '17 at 14:59

IgnoredAmbience

41

Why does CTAN now look like I'm on LSD?

LSD

Twilight Zone

2 Answers2