[neilmarr]

Karma, Paul? If you like someone's post or something s/he's done, you just look down in the left side of the post from the avatar. At the bottom, you'll find a little button that simply says 'karma'. Click on that to award a pat on the back.

The amount you can grant depends of the number of posts you've made yourself and steadily builds up (though you can downwardly adjust the karma points as you like from your maximum if you only like something a bit). You'll also see a small exclamation mark next to the karma button. If you think a post is spam or otherwise inappropriate, click on that. It alerts the moderators here and they'll take a close look and take action accordingly.

Even editors concentrate, you know, and I do quite a lot of 'creative' writing that demands complete lack of distraction. I work from a home base -- sometimes in my 'office' (which is what used to be our living room' and often, about nine months of the year, mostly on a laptop or netbook on a table on my wee terrace for a few hours' breath of fresh air. Constant interruptions from my wife, Skovia, visiting family, friends neighbours and local kids, because we keep an ever-open door.

I hit on the perfect solution two or three years ago when my next-door neighbours' two teenage girls got together and bought me a beautiful, snow-white Panama. I immediately dubbed it my 'F*ck Off Hat*. Everyone's still always welcome here, of course. But when I wear my FOH, they know not to speak to me or to expect me to join in any conversation.

Works like a bloody charm. Because everyone now understands that the hat is a gentle *Danger -- Man at Work* sign, they accept it and life's fine. No one feels in the slightest bit insulted or ignored for any personal reason.

Skovia doesn't like it too much, though, when I close down systems after a long day, load my arms with hard copy or ARCs, tuck a pen behind my ear ... and wear my FOH in bed.

Hoots. Neil