FT is way too segmented already.

I think the real problem that Bibi is touching on above is that our wonderful, cluttered, messy bookstore appears at times to have been designed by an insane person (no offense, Randy, I don't mean you!). Imagine a bookstore with the following sections:

- Do-It Yourself Eye Surgery For Bassett Hounds
- Great Recipes of Monstserrat
- History of Soft Drink Manufacturers
- Dead Languages
- Woodcarving

...all placed at the back of the store, up a creaking staircase, in the dark.

Then another section:

- Any Interesting Book

...placed up front, right by the door.

Where are you going to look most of the time?

I know it isn't a very accurate example, but I think it's enough to demonstrate the, um, odd segmentation of the forums and choices for LocalTalk/Travel & Dining forums. Cuba? Antarctica? Orlando? Toronto? Nothing against those places but I think BKK might be just one example of something more useful but that gets lumped into Asia or TravelBuzz.

It would be great if there were a Google-esque way to categorize random posts based on location or other topics and display/sort them that way. But as there isn't, maybe a better solution is to right now prune about 50% of the forums that don't earn their keep and start watching TravelBuzz, etc., for signs of what does need to be created (if any). Then any forum that doesn't get x posts per week gets deleted.