I believe it was a temporary measure to help with the lag at a time when the programmers are trying to work on the bigger causes - it will be back! We're all very busy behind the scenes, and also Thanksgiving for many of us is just something we have to work around as best we can.
Thank you for your patience!
Since this came up in the discussion - if you notice anything that breaks the site rules in the Shoutbox, please make sure to file a ticket so staff can deal with the situation.