Would you play golf naked?

I don't play golf but I do have a glance over the sports pages in the papers. It was the first tee Friday at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship and this guy, Henrik Stenson, apparently managed to get his clothes muddy. Instead of letting it spoil his performance, he gaily stripped to his boxers and continued to play. No one seemed to mind but I thought his exhibitionistic aspect must have been waiting for this opportunity since forever. If myLot lets me attach the photo successfully, then you will see him in his almost full glory. What do you think about him stripping? Should he have done this possibly obscene and offensive act? Should he have just stayed in his clothes? Is this his cheap ploy for quick fame (he wasn't much noticed before this)? Would you play golf naked yourself? Related myLot discussion: Would you play golf naked?

Do you update your Windows regularly?

Take the question literally this once. Do you update your Windows regularly? I don't know much about Macs (the computer not the food) but I would assume you get regular options to patch your machine like the case for Windows. Anyway, do you patch your machine regularly by installing those new patches once they are released? For Windows, one way to do it is to just run the update via your Internet Explorer (I know other browsers don't quite work). I used to do that regularly but there came a time when Microsoft started releasing rotten things and my computer went down because of their patches. Sometimes they destroyed my computer; other times my access to the Internet was wiped. I know the patches were the culprits because I did troubleshooting and rollbacks. So now, I just keep my fingers crossed and live without new patches. Better that than have my days disrupted to no end by installing patches that are supposed to heal but end up killing. FYI, I am using original Windows so it's really kinda crappy. So, do you update your Windows regularly? Related myLot discussion: Do you update your Windows regularly?

Must a man know how to dance?

Waltz, Jazz, Tango, Hip Hop, Rumba, you name it, I don't have it. I can't dance for nuts. Someone once described my attempt as one that looked like a wooden puppet being pulled by inept hands. Thanks for the compliment. The topic of dance comes up in movies and TV shows from time to time. There is an underlying assumption that dancing is a prerequisite for a successful, educated and gentleman kind of man. To me, it just possibly means you started feeling h*rny and decided you needed a new skill for wooing girls. What do guys think? What do ladies think? Must a man know how to dance? Related myLot discussion: Must a man know how to DANCE?

SpitzTunes -- Give me a break!

How do we do it ... mass migration to sun, fun, and well, other stuff ... music, music everywhere ... gyrating bods ... let off steam, go back ... have stories for a lifetime ... all good as long as our stupidity is somehow held in check ... is there such a thing as: Break responsibly?

Do you like asking why?

When I was little, I used to often ask why. Adults liked to pat my head and praise me for my inquisitiveness. But really, I just thought "why" was a simple, 3-letter word. Anyway as I grew up, those why-questions slowed to a trickle then drought times often prevailed. Why? Don't ask me. My peers told me that was called "jaded". Deep down inside, I was happy to hear that. It meant I had upgraded myself successfully from 3 to 5 letters. As I grow even older, I am sure my juniors will be able to find a 7-letter word for me. I hope they will because that will mean I have successfully upgraded again. What about you. Do you like asking why? Have you stopped asking why? Why is that? Related myLot discussion: Do you like asking why?

Will you talk before brushing in the morning?

Most people sleep at least once in a 24-h cycle. When they wake up, they either feel refreshed or as bad as before. But the point here is that they all wake up with bad breath (lol). I am not talking about those cases of persistent bad breath due to genes, dental problems or poor cleaning habits. Even if you are a goddess trapped in a mortal body, bacteria will probably congregate on your tongue anyway to lay out mats and have picnics. And after finishing all the coke and chips, all the litter will likely be left where it was. After all, bacteria are not known to be too responsible an entity. The first thing I need to do when I wake up is to rinse my mouth. I refuse to talk until I have done so. If you want to ask me questions, wait until after. It is not that I am scared of repulsing you 10 yards with my breath alone but I don't want to deal with the taste of rusty cans and soiled plastic wrappers left overnight by the bacteria. I do know people who never brush their teeth. Well they do brush but they tend to be on the thrifty side. So assuming you do brush your teeth at least once daily, will you talk before brushing in the morning? Yes? No? Who cares? Related myLot discussion: Will you talk before brushing in the morning?

Would you step forward to help a tourist?

You notice a person a few strides away from you. He is studying a map. If you take out a coin and flip it 1,000 times, it will come up Head just once, meaning he is a geography student and 999 times Tail, meaning he is a tourist. This tourist looks lost and might perhaps appreciate some help. Would you step forward to help him? Or would you look away and hope he will not come to ask you? Or will you actively walk as far away from him as you think "safe"? Me? I will probably do the last or at least the second. (And you must be thinking now: Geez, I never realize Wizzy is such a scoundrel as this! Whatever I think of him, I never expect him to be so unhelpful!) Ouch. My ears hurt. Well there is a reason for my apparent "un-helpfulness". You see, I am absolutely clueless with directions. 9 out of 10 chances that I will probably not know what that tourist is asking. I love to help but that's only valid if it is within my means. Yes, you will probably point out that I have a 1 in 10 but hey, Wizzy prefers to keep embarrassment to a minimum. So, let's hear from you now instead? How would you react when you see a tourist fumbling? Would you step forward to help a tourist? Related myLot discussion: Would you step forward to help a tourist?

Do you tend to make mountains out of molehills?

"Hey, you forgot to turn off the tap again." As if you have always remembered yourself... "The heater, dude! Off the heater after you shower!" As if you have never forgotten... "You did not do what I asked you to do again!" As if you always jumped to do my things... Let's think back. Have you ever yelled at someone or blamed him because he forgot one thing or another? Maybe you told him to wipe his shoes on the carpet before coming in. Maybe you told him to bring his dishes to the basin even if he is not going to wash them. Maybe you reminded her 10,001 times to screw the tap tight after use. Do you tend to make mountains out of molehills? The above may be relatively trivial on their own but they are often the start or trigger to a full-blown quarrel. It only takes a spark to get the fire going. Give an argument life and soon both of you will stomp off in anger. So, do you or do you not? Do you snap at others' little slips? Do you try to put aside the negative emotions instead? What say you? Related myLot discussion: Do you tend to make mountains out of molehills?

Will you get into a garbage truck for $200?

The day was bright and the birds were chirping. Next to this scene of beauty, a crowd was forming around a garbage truck. Yup, one of those vehicles carrying refuse stinky beyond words and if you are lucky, maggots and fleas as well. A lady was yelling at the truck driver, insisting that he gets in to retrieve her lottery ticket. Apparently, she had thrown away her winning ticket by mistake. The crowd got larger and the commotion got louder. After all, who isn't excited when talking about a huge sum of money? And since the lady was clearly reluctant to search the garbage truck herself, one of those there offered to help. The prize money was $10 million and he said he will offer his effort for just $100k. That lady turned around and said he was insane. She won only $200 so how can she pay him $100k to retrieve the ticket? Everyone there did a big BOO on her since given the noise she was making, everyone assumed she had won the top prize. But she retorted, "Isn't $200 MONEY?" If it were you, would you go on a garbage truck adventure and search among the rubbish for $200? Do share your thoughts. =) PS.: This might have happened in real life but my source is a scene in a show I watched. Related myLot discussion: Will you get into a garbage truck for $200?

How bright is your computer monitor?

On Monday that was the start of this new week, my table lamp went down. I felt almost as blind as a bat that had lost its ears. So I went all over the place looking for the replacement tubes but nowhere could they be found. So half-sulking, I have to make do without the extra light next to my monitor till I decide to brace myself for another session of tube-hunting. That brings to mind how reliant I am on this lamp. During the day when the light filters in through the blinds, all is fine. But when it gets into the night, the overhead lamp provides insufficient light for my computer activities. I have tried to tweak the brightness setting of my monitor. Yet, my eyes still feel uncomfortable no matter what through the entire range of brightness 0 to 100%. How bright is your monitor? I am curious what your brightness setting is (I think the default is 50% brightness). Practically everyone I know seems to find no fault with the monitor brightness and I never hear of anyone needing an extra lamp like me. So, is your monitor setting at 50% default brightness? Or have you customized it to your comfort? Or you never knew you could adjust the brightness? Or you knew but didn't know how to change it? And do you need an extra light like me? Or... ? Related myLot discussion: How bright is your computer monitor?

The A-Z of X Factor

Here's a A-Z posted by my friend, Diana at myLot under the moniker mysdianait. Though she wrote it with reference to myLot, I thought it is applicable to real life if you read between the lines. Enjoy! :D --- Active users are those who visit discussions by their friends. Be friends with everyone. Comment back to those who respond to you. The more you comment the more others will respond and become your friends. Discussions merit at least one response. If a user has taken the time to create a discussion he deserves to be rewarded, even those that are violating. A helpful user who informs why the discussion is not within the rules will win a friend. Every user is unique and a*star* in his own right on MyLot. Fun makes time pass quickly. The more fun you are having the more time passes. Give thought to those who respond when you comment back to them. Help the new users. Be friendly with them and they will be your friend. Imagine yourself in a room full of myLot users when you are here. Look for those standing alone in a corner and give then a smile by responding on their discussion - a smile wins you a friend! Join in and comment when you see fun! Keep reminding yourself that you were new once. Leave a question even when you respond or comment, That way the user will come back. Make it interesting and create curiousity. New users come to join in. Help them as soon as you notice them. Original discussions gain more attention. If the topic you are thinking of starting has already been discussed then skip it and go and respond to one by another user instead. Praising another user will boost his confidence and you gain a friend. Quickly commenting on your responses when they are posted means the user could get back to you immediately and continue responding back and forth. Respect those who respond by commenting something different each time making them feel individual. Sharing your tips with others will win you more friends every time. Talking with others as though they were sitting with you makes it more friendly. Understand the queries of others by remembering you were once new. Viewing profiles helps you realise a lot about others. Warn your friends through Private Messages when you see them making mistakes, If they lose then you will to. X factor is YOU!!! You have over 160,000 waiting to be your friend. It's up to you too. Zoos are made up of all sorts of animals but they all get on - we can too here on myLot!

Can you bear to order pizza in the rain?

The sky was dumping buckets of cats and dogs but I didn't care. I was snuggled tight beneath my blanket, enjoying the feeling of warmth in an air-conditioned room. Yes, it was raining outside but the extra chill and booming thunder only add to the coziness. While I was lying there and wondering if I should force myself to wake up to the new day, my stomach started to grumble like Grandpa Thunder. I felt like eating pizza. Let's see... shall I order one from Pizza Hut? Or Canadian Pizza? Or...? Yet it struck me then that it would be quite wrong of me to satisfy myself that way. It was raining, I wanted a pizza and somebody had to deliver it. Over here, all deliverymen for takeaways ride bikes. How safe is it to ride a bike in the rain? How comfortable is it for them to get into their cold and stinky raincoats to brave the weather to send me a piping hot pizza? I felt guilty just thinking about that and so, I got up and cooked myself a plain bowl of instant noodles instead. So here's the question I like to pose to you. Having read my rationale above, can you (still) bear to order pizza in the rain? Related myLot discussion: Can you bear to order pizza in the rain?

myLot FAQ series: How do I add an image to my friend's profile page?

This is part of the series of Frequently Asked Questions for myLot. For more information on this site, please refer to this article . So now, you have got some friends and you are all hyped up. You want to rock, you want to party, you want to scream your lungs out. This is all good! Then you browsed over to your friend's profile page and wanted to leave a nice picture for him or her. But wait, there are no options to insert an image like the case for when posting a new discussion or response (after you reach 500 posts). What do you do now? Well, it is not as difficult as you might imagine. Just 3 simple steps. ;-) Step 1: First, you need to get a picture. If it is already present on your local hard disk, then you can move on to Step 2. Otherwise, you need to first find the picture you want. You can do so via any of the search engines or by grabbing it from one of the many sites around that offer free pictures. And once you find the picture you like, download it (e.g. right-click then "Save as") and put it somewhere that you know the location for. My favorite place is the desktop. Step 2: Now you have a picture ready. The next thing you need to do is to upload it online. My current favorite is www.divshare.com but you can also use other alternatives such as http://imageshack.us or http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com .The point is just to upload the picture you have chosen, that is now on your hard disk, online. To guide you further, I will illustrate how to upload a picture using Divshare. Skip this if you can figure it out yourself (it's not that hard really :P). Type in www.divshare.com into the address bar of your browser and press "enter". You should see a page like this screen shot above. Now click "Browse" and a window like your "My Computer" will pop up. Locate the picture file you have found and double-left-click on it. Then you should see something like this. Remember to check the box indicating that you agree to the terms and conditions. I have not mentioned this but you do *not* need to sign up with Divshare to utilize this free upload service. Update: Unfortunately, this is no longer true. You need to register for a free account now. Then just go ahead and hit the "Upload" button and you should see the progress bar moving. When it reaches 100%, your upload is complete and you will see a screen like this. Now click on the "More options". A box with a few more links will appear. Zoom in on the "Full Size" row and highlight the entire link containing your file name. It is right after the "img src" tag. Once you have highlighted everything within the inverted commas, right-click to copy, or simply execute a copy command with control-c. This is the link we want. For this example, our picture location online is http://athena.divshare.com/s03/files/2007/05/18/673355/medal.jpg . Viola. Just to make sure you get the correct link, I want you to paste the link you have copied (using control-v) into the address bar of your browser. As you can see for this example, the link is working just fine and you should be able to see the picture you have uploaded (I have used my virtual medal in this example). Step 3: Alright, we are almost there. Now that we have the picture uploaded online, we need to play with some simple html code. The code I used for my own medal is: <a href="http://lordwarwizard.blogspot.com"><img src="http://apollo.divshare.com/apollo2/files/2007/04/11/374893/decree.gif" border=0></a> There are 3 portions to this code. Let's look at the center portion dealing with the "img src" tag. Basically, this notifies the browser that there is an image and supplies it too with the image source location. Earlier, we had our picture uploaded to http://athena.divshare.com/s03/files/2007/05/18/673355/medal.jpg . So replace the http://apollo.divshare.com/apollo2/files/2007/04/11/374893/decree.gif in the code with http://athena.divshare.com/s03/files/2007/05/18/673355/medal.jpg as the new image source. You can do that! ;-) The second portion is the "border=0" tag. I suggest you leave this as it is since for most cases, this provides the highest aesthetic appeal. The third and final portion is where the "a href" tag is. Notice that the current link is http://lordwarwizard.blogspot.com . This means that if someone clicks on the image I leave on the profile page, they will be directed to my blog. If you want your image to point somewhere too e.g. your own website, replace http://lordwarwizard.blogspot.com with your website address. Otherwise, remove the entire <a href="http://lordwarwizard.blogspot.com"> tag as well as the </a> tag at the end. So if you just want to leave a "plain" image, your tag should look like: <img src="http://athena.divshare.com/s03/files/2007/05/18/673355/medal.jpg" border=0> That's how simple it really is. So get cracking and find a suitable image to use. Have fun! ;-) PS.: There are of course other simpler ways you can get an image up there. Some websites such as www.mycommentcodes.com and www.bigoo.ws provide template pictures with ready html codes for you to paste immediately. You *can* do it this way but it will not convince your friends that you are too original or that you are sincere enough to cook up something yourself. So once again, the cliche stands - the choice is yours. ^^

myLot FAQ series: Why should I get an avatar?

This is part of the series of Frequently Asked Questions for myLot. For more information on this site, please refer to this. As someone new to myLot, the variety of avatars you see might be one breathtaking sight. Some users have put up their personal photos; others have uploaded snapshots of their pets. Some prefer pictures of sceneries, while others like their favorite cartoon characters. Occasionally, you will see users come decked in green - in the default myLot newbie avatars. You ask yourself, "Should I get an avatar too? Do I really need one?" Since you are asking me, my opinion is yes. If you are able to get an avatar to replace the default one, do it. I do understand that some users may be on a public computer and so cannot download one of the many free ones available. Some do not have the time to do this "extra" thing. Others just cannot decide which picture to choose. Fair enough if you feel you have a legitimate reason, otherwise, do get an avatar. I wouldn't say it is illegal or against myLot rules not to change your avatar. However, there are reasons why you want to voluntarily get a picture. For a start, this world is a harsh one. Users with the default avatars literally scream NEWBIE so if you make a friend request and get rejected, you can sort of guess why. You might argue that everyone was a newbie too so what's the discrimination about? But this is how the world works, my friend. Not everyone is as nice as me who accepts all friend requests. :P Another reason is that when people look at "you", they first see your avatar before even noticing your name. You may have lots of ideas and intelligence, but if people don't remember you, you are not going to get too popular at myLot. You want people to notice you (not for the wrong things though) and with an unique avatar, people will remember you easier. Imagine growing up in a world where people are all wearing the same mask. How are you supposed to differentiate one from the other? Avatars thus help you stand out. If you don't change your avatar, don't complain when no one bothers responding to your discussions. There is one category of people whom I call the hit-and-run terrorists. These people come to myLot with the single aim of making money. Nothing wrong with that on its own, but the modus operandi of these people is such that they spam the community with many ridiculous discussions, then hope to get paid before myLot notices it and deletes all their discussions. These people are typically in a rush. They don't care about fostering friendship with other myLotters. As such, they typically just use the default green. Also, since they are worried that their IP addresses might be banned, they like to strike from cyber cafes. If one IP address is banned, they can always change to another cafe. As I have mentioned before, most public computers do not allow downloads to the local drives. Hence, they have a problem getting avatars anyway. If you don't want to be mistaken for these spammers, try to get an avatar if possible. Once again, I do acknowledge that there are legitimate users who log in from cyber cafes. For a discussion on avatars, you can check out this discussion I have started at http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/898607.aspx . At this time of writing, 158 myLotters have already expressed their opinions on this issue. So this is more food for thought for you. ;-)

myLot FAQ series: How do I see my reputation?

This is part of the series of Frequently Asked Questions for myLot. For more information on this site, please refer to this article . What exactly is your reputation? Well, when you have clocked at least 100 posts, you will see a number in brackets next to your username. That number is your rating - my own term for it is post count since it makes the meaning clearer. Many times, when users talk about your rating (which is in fact your post count), they may actually be referring to your reputation. Officially, the myLot term for post count is rating. Your reputation will be what is referred to by the star you have. If you have more than 100 posts but no star, it means your reputation is 0. If you are reading this, then I wish you good luck. :P Otherwise, you will have a star with a number from 1 to 10 inside. That number is your reputation, rounded off. To see your exact reputation based upon 100, you need to first determine the browser you are using. If you are myLotting using Internet Explorer, it is quite straightforward. Just move your mouse cursor over the star and let it hover there. You should see something like the screen shot above. Your reputation will pop up. If you are using other browsers such as Firefox, simply right-click on the star, and left-click on "Properties". You will then see something like above. Just read off your reputation. That's how simple. Happy myLotting! ;-)

myLot FAQ series: What does the number in my star means?

This is part of the series of Frequently Asked Questions for myLot. For more information on this site, please refer to this. What does the number in my star means? So now, you have got a star and you are curious what the number inside means. You are sure you saw a 9 but there are only 7 days in a week. :P Well, there are altogether 10 stars you might get. To see how the stars look like, check out my "Why don't I have a star?" article here. The number inside is your reputation, and it might be any number from 0 to 10. For a reputation of 1 to 10, you will get one of the respective stars. There are some people who have crossed the 100 posts hurdle yet received no stars. This is not a glitch. For those in this category, it means their reputation is 0 - not worthy of even a star. There are such people around and if you happen to come across their postings, you will understand why this is fitting.

myLot FAQ series: Why don't I have a star?

This is part of the series of Frequently Asked Questions for myLot. For more information on this site, please refer here. Why don't I have a star? Alright, I don't want to be a meanie here so I will try to put it as nicely as possible... are you new to myLot? You probably are - that's why you don't have a star - yet. But fret not... Harry Potter to the rescue!!! As soon as you reach 100 posts, you will see your star. Yes, you will get any of the 10 stars you see here... or no star at all. To understand what the number in your star means (or why you don't have a star), see "What does the number in my star means?" here.

myLot FAQ series: Why did my earnings decrease?

This is part of the series of Frequently Asked Questions for myLot. For more information on this site, please refer to this. Why did my earnings decrease? From time to time, you will see a sudden drop in your earnings. There is no fixed time when this might happen, and the amount affected varies as well. Before you cry foul and insist that myLot is scamming you of your hard-earned money, take a deep breath and relax. As part of quality control, myLot will weed out low-quality or inappropriate discussions/responses periodically. If you happen to respond to a discussion or start one that is ultimately deleted, your rating a.k.a. post count will drop together with your earnings. The earnings concept of myLot is as follows. Imagine a pot of gold that is shared among all the users. Each user gets a share of the total based on e.g. the number of discussions and responses he posts. Imagine a simplistic scenario where the pot of gold is worth $100. There are 5 users. Based on the quality and quantity of discussions and responses, preliminary calculation shows the point allocation to be: User 1's share: 3 points User 2's share: 6 points User 3's share: 5 points User 4's share: 2 points User 5's share: 4 points On the earnings report before payout, User 3, having 5 points out of the total 3+6+5+2+4=20 points, will in effect receive a 5/20 share (25%) of the total pot worth $100. Ceteris paribus, he will receive 25% of $100 which is $25. However, because of the quality control mentioned earlier, several discussions/responses of User 3 were found to be inappropriate and were thus deleted. Instead of 5 points, he now has 2 points. Let's continue to keep it simple and assume that the discussions/responses of the other users were found to be okay i.e. they didn't get anything deleted. The total number of points has dropped from 20 to 17. The pot of gold remains at $100. When the adjustment is made, User 3 will find that his earnings have suddenly decreased from $25 to 2/17*$100=$11.70. Following the same logic, User 1 initially had 3 points out of 20. This converts to earnings of 3/20*$100=$15. After the adjustment, he still has 3 points, but the total number of points has dropped to 17 (because of User 3). His earnings are now 3/17*$100=$17.60. While User 3 will cry foul for having his earnings slashed from $25 to $11.70, User 1 will be ecstatic to see his earnings jump from $15 to $17.60. And that's without any extra effort on his part. On an ending note, I can't resist a moral of the story here - don't just spam the community with one-liners or plagiarized works. Instead, focus on posting quality discussions and responses. ^^

How to stop losing text you type because of a glitch or browser crash

This article is dedicated to myLotters at www.mylot.com . However, it is equally applicable to anyone who frequently deals with online forms such as those you encounter when doing postings at forums. Ever closed a tab accidentally, only to lose the long response you have typed? Ever wrote a long reply and posted it only to encounter a server error? Ever spent a good hour sharing your life story only to have your written thoughts lost due to a browser crash? Well, enters the "Textarea Backup" script. I cannot take credit for this script as it is written by Dan Brook. What this script does is that it retains text entered into text area fields. The backup is transparent. You will see the effect of the script kicking in when the page is reloaded for whatever reason - be it browser crash, unintended exit, server error, etc. When you enter text into a text area, it is saved under the following conditions: At each keystroke. Every second. When the text area loses focus. The stored text is then dropped when its form is submitted successfully. It doesn't even matter whether you have shut down your browser or switched off your computer, your last text will be retained. Of course, if you are typing something illegal into the form, you wouldn't want to install this script that may help retain evidence of your criminal activities. But hey, we are all clean here, aren't we? So if you deal with online forms frequently, I would strongly suggest this script. This is a definite must for myLotters as it will save you a lot of frustration when you encounter the ever-persistent message glitch. Oh yes, not to mention the invalid characters glitch. And the discussion posting glitch. And the.. well, you can make up your own list. :P The script is available at http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/7671 . This article assumes that you are using Firefox as your browser. If you are not, it's time to change. You can get Firefox at http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox . To use this "Textarea Backup" script, you will need to install the Greasemonkey firefox extension first. Just go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/748 and click on the "Install" link. If you think all this sounds troublesome, I assure you it is not. It's just a few mins of work at most and the benefit is tremendous. Specially for gmail users: Go to Tools >> Greasemonkey >> Manage User Scripts... Then edit your textarea backup script and add this line to it. http*://mail.google.tld/mail/* This will prevent the script from e.g. backing up your gmail address fields and all. I am using an older version of the script myself and remarks for the new version seem to suggest that this has been fixed. Whichever, I think it doesn't hurt to play it safe. :P

myLot - A place I call my home

This quiet community that is not at all quiet has been slowly spreading across the world. I would describe it as a benevolent virus that is catching people all around the globe and infusing them with hysterical ecstasy. It may not yet be as popular as e.g. myspace but at this time of writing, there are already 89,000 users. Some people might have stumbled upon the site while surfing; others might have been recommended there by friends. Whichever the case, we have many satisfied myLotters making this place their home. Many are so addicted that they cannot survive a day without myLot. They might suffer withdrawal syndromes no different from those addicted to caffeine or drugs. But, the good news is that myLot is definitely not a vice. To help you decide whether to take one more step and join this vibrant community, I have elaborated on 8 reasons below. ;-) 1. Like many other networks and communities, myLot provides a fertile ground for you to sow seeds of friendship, and reap them. If you are feeling lonely in real life or just want another person to talk to, it is hard not to make friends at myLot. Even in the first few days of posting discussions and responses, it is almost a guarantee that you would be hooked. 2. myLot is all about expressing thoughts and understanding them. It is a silver bullet for training your communication skills. You learn to read between the lines and figure what the discussion poster is trying to say. Thereafter, you try to put forward your response in a concise yet relevant manner. For "advanced" myLotters, wit and humor are often laced in their postings too. 3. You can brush up on your language skills and strengthen your grasp of the English language. Currently, there is a fair number of myLotters from countries where English is not the first language. For these people, they get to observe how the native writers write, and improve their own writing through postings. For those who can write well enough, they get to fine-tune their abilities and be even more succinct. 4. myLot trains your mind and hones your instinct. When you read a discussion topic, you can challenge yourself to come up with a response within a certain time frame. Instead of taking one day to mull over a question, you can practise being more mentally agile by starting to type a relevant response immediately after reading the question. This is very effective in preparing you to think on your feet and answer just about any question under the sun. 5. This is old, but practice indeed makes perfect. If you do many postings and/or postings of long length, you are going to hit the keyboard a lot. By typing so much, it is inevitable that your typing speed will increase. You become a more proficient typist and this will definitely help you in related tasks. 6. There are so many people at myLot and the community is only going to get bigger. There is a saying that "Two brains are better than one". Have you ever been stumped by a question that you have no answer for? That even a Google search cannot help with? With so many people here, it is quite likely that someone would have the answer to your query. 7. Ever started a blog to rant about your daily problems, and feeling even more frustrated since there is no one to listen? At myLot, there are so many pairs of ears always on the ready to support you emotionally. Think of it like many Aunties Agony cooing over you. If you have a problem, shout it out loud. The myLot community will give you a big hug and help you move on in life. 8. Would you believe if I tell you that you get paid for chatting? As ridiculous as it might sound, it is true. I can't provide you with any proof since that is against myLot regulations, but I can certainly tell you I have been paid real cash for my frivolous chatting. How's that for killing many birds with one stone? Excited? Want to get started right now? Check out http://www.mylot.com/?ref=lordwarwizard . I don't want to be sneaky about this and lie to you that this is not a referral link. It is. If you prefer to sign up without being my referral, just remove my username at the end and go to the root domain. However, let me just share why you want to consider being my referral. If you sign up as my referral, I get a cut of 25% of your earnings. In case you get all worked up wondering why you should pay me 25% just for reading my article, relax. This 25% is paid by myLot and it will not come from your earnings. So if you join without a referral, this 25% is just going to go back to the myLot coffers. But the real reason for joining as my referral is that I will then have a vested interest to see you succeed. I want to see you do well at myLot because the more you earn, the better off I am. If you are my referral, I will be your mentor for free. How's that for a deal? Cheers.