Yes, the way this forum is set up it is sometimes difficult to tell who came first the chicken or the egg. You could first search to see if the topic is there, but of course who does this and it will slow you down... to win the war if you are tenth of a second to slow on your post, the guilloutine for you my friend.
Of course we can just scan through the forums but if at the moment your topic isn't hot it dies a quick death and is folded like a thousand crepes in the sun.
Then you could always clic on new posts today but then you see a topic you like to post to and your idea dissapears into thin air like the money I made last night on the strip.
Of course you could always contact a mod, but then you risk them ripping off your idea, just like that patent submission corp...
what is a man/woman to do, just like any good businessman do what you need to do and ask forgiveness later.