Ah, it's one of those I-remember-when-it-was-all-green-fields-around-here threads!

Personally speaking, I cam here looking for answers to specific technical issues. I found them but, in the process, read most of the forums/ topics and liked what I saw.

I plan on hanging around and contributing where I can. Prolly not on the technical forums for a while however.

The whole business of messageboard membership is fraught. Make it totally open and free and there is always the risk that total anarchy will prevail. Make membership dependant on a hoop that people have to jump through and you run the risk of creating a community of navel-gazers with an inbreed mentality. No easy answer. But I am pleased to see that the "local village for local people" brigade is restricted to relatively small numbers.

Oh, and thanks for all the excellent information/ dialogue that is made available here.