Thanks for the positive feedback guys - much appreciated!
Codge: I don't have any journalist writing experience, but lots of technical/academic writing (which is a plus, but also a hinderance

). Tell me about time, there just isn't enough. I don't feel like I'm on top of my time schedule, but having personal goals that mean something important to me is certainly a first step in the right direction of making good use of my time...
Charl: You need to change your attitude towards spam. What I do is spending all the money I win in Dutch lotteries and earn from laundering African money on pen1s enlargements and v1agra. So, I don't have a problem with meeting those russian ladies - guess how I'm spending my weekends
On a more serious side, the emails addresses going into my database aren't going anywhere (I respect privacy). Like any other site, you'll need to sign up to join the forum or post your own blogs. Other than that, all I'm going to reveal at this stage is what's on the mockup: "customize, earn points, get newletters & get rewards". There'll be some very nice surprises and incentives for people who join
But I know what you mean. I get over 100 spams a day these days. You can say I'm numb to the whole experience - I don't let it bother me. Something you can do is create email aliases you use for signing up on different websites, so you know where the spam comes from, and you can also dump the alias when the spam gets too bad. Something I'm not doing as yet, but may investigate soon...
Christian