Harv,

I think the real problem with counterbalance is that they buried the link to the forum, so it's really hard for new people to find it. Without new people these forums die as the regulars tend to bore each other to death.

And you're right, it's really hard to find a place for intelligent chatter on the internet. I'm always impressed by how quickly people turn some of the most impressive technological achievements into channels for banality. Sure we don't need to be serious and profound most of the time, but there's got to be something wrong when a medium as revolutionary as the internet offers very little beyond pornography and commerce.

Well, I guess that's just the way it is...