If anyone has ever hesitated about posting a question to R-help that might be less about R and more about scientific computing in general (algorithms, datasets etc) then you might be interested in a proposed new site on StackExchange: http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/28815/scientific-computing-was-computational-science Its currently in the proposal stage, and needs people to register an interest before it goes into beta phase. Sign up and hit the 'commit' button. Note this is a different site to the one I talked about at UseR! this year - that's www.stackoverflow.com, which is where R programming questions are asked, much like R-help, along with programming questions of all languages and creeds. Apologies if this is a teensie bit off-topic for R-help, but I think the site could benefit lots of R-help users - including those who dont want to use the site, by keeping more off-topic questions away from R-help. Win win. Barry