I've seen this at least once before, but I was too distracted to question it.

The little red thingy in the oval continually phases in and out, cycling from this to this.

Edit: I think this may have come up before, but I searched and couldn't find it.

It's a flame, meant to indicate a "Hot Topic."

I raised the minimum number of views required to produce it, so it should be gone.

Thanks, cyn. (Now that you've explained it, I'm certain that the subject has come up before.)

It seems to me that what is a "Hot Topic" is a totally subjective matter, more to be decided by the Mods than by an objective view count (which is, I guess, a UBB.threads matter, not a local pref).

By way of example, I don't remember ever seeing the "flame" associated with a "New Malware!" thread.