Hi Jim,

Thanks very much, great to hear you found us! As for the user options, perhaps you only found us recently? I need to keep reminding people for those who come along and don't understand how it works, and I forget to do that (though admittedly, usually someone writes in and askjs, so thanks for keeping me on my toes). So here's the deal. As a registered user...

 

1. POP ARCADIA - A gaming arcade featuring retro 80's arcade games where users compete for highest scores. Every thinking person needs a bit of fun, after all.

 

2. CAMEO - As you said, yes, this is a section I must confess I have ben hopeless with paying attention to, and has had nothing added to it in a while! But it's where guests can write something and have it published. I had a few articles by academics lined up, but they were using their thesis' to wrote from and there were a whole heap of issues regarding copyright because it's technically publishing work that actually belongs to their respective universities. But I'm going to get back on the case with this very soon, and I do have a very wise academic I know currently writing something specifically for here, which should be very interesting. So there's stuff in there, but it hasn't been updated in a while. David Elliot's article on Idol is a great read, though (which you'll find in that section).

 

3. THE MIC - Yep, as is rather obvious, you get to post in our Mic discussions. Go on, have a ramble! And can I just say that I do understand that people feel a little intimidated when there are groups of regfulars on forum boards, but I assure you that everyone is verey friendly, and in nine months, we've only had two spats. So don't be shy!

 

4. THE CHAT LOUNGE - Ever notice that on the "who's online" list at night (usually is used by the users here from the graveyard shift!) there's a pink box next to user names that says, "CHATTING"? That means these users are... well... chatting! The Chat Lounge is an old school style chat room, where anything goes (I've discussed french philosophy in there, and I've discussed Britney Spears, so nothing is assured, except that everyone is unfathomably lovely!).

 

5. USER PROFILE - You get your own user profile (little bit like Myspace, I suppose), and can then look through the profiles to get to know your fellow users a little more. This is optional, however, if you don't want a presence in this manner, you can just leave it blank.

 

6. PRIVATE MESSAGING - This has been temporarily disabled (due to a security risk in the installed programme we had for it), but is coming back, some time next week. This is your private inbox system (like a contained PPBP email) and allows you to send private messages to other users, etc. It's also great for sending them to me if you have any support issues. So I'm looking forward to that returning.

 

And yes, as you know, you now get an easier way to navigate the posts. There will also be more coming soon for users. And, most importantly, there is absolutely no spam as a result. I know that's what I "would" say, but as you can tell, there are lots of registered users here (over 300 in total), and they wouldn't be coming back here with their smiley faces if I'd sold their emails off to spamming companies! So don't worry, your email is kept nice and safe. If you're really worried about that, though, here's the tip that I use... make a new email, and use that for registering, etc, online. It means you can sign up for things without caring even if it does result in spam. But this one, I assure you, does not!

 

So I do invite you to join up, and most importantly, speak up. But as I've said before, I do respect that different people approach the site on different levels, and foremost, it's a site for reading for most who come here. Some of us are voyeurs and some of us are participators. It's all good with me. But it certainly adds to the experience if you're registered, so there's really no harm in giving it a go.

 

Cheers, and make sure your boss doesn't catch you! And if he or she does... get them to register too! 

Aaron