A relatively painless alternative that works for me is that the bookmark is set to the index page, showing the five forums. New posts show up in parenthesis. Of course it requires the extra step of entering each forum to see which topics have received replies, but it's okay for me. I'm sure you're well aware of all of this, but I thought I'd mention it. Not my intention at all if this sounds patronizing.
Frankly, I spend an inordinate amount of time here because this is easily one of the most civil, intelligent and good-natured forums out there. I usually learn something, and often get a good laugh. If the off-topic threads are relegated to the Q&C forum and are clearly marked, I don't have a problem with it. And God knows I've been guilty of hijacking a few threads.
