Hmm, I guess that's where I got it wrong. My first few months of lurking on HN, I saw a lot of positive, encouraging posts & comments. Only when I started comm

Hmm, I guess that's where I got it wrong. My first few months of lurking on HN, I saw a lot of positive, encouraging posts & comments. Only when I started commenting did I begin to notice a few acerbic ones popping up here and there. I suspect I was looking at things with rose-tinted glasses and never quite readied myself for the 'darker' moments. Ah well, I learn something new everyday. As an aside, I have been working on something on the 'create a spot' bit you mentioned - as part of my self-learning process - but it is still along way from being an HN or anything like it. :)