so it's been a while since this has been discussed and i've been told that looking through all the categories was tedious.
So for the new members, here's a good tip in order to easily see what's new:
Just click the "View active topics" link at the top of the page(left under the date). And the "View your posts" link at the top right is a quick way to check for replies to your posts.
Also, for those who does not know, a blue arrow is moving at the left of these threads when there are unread posts. Just click the blue arrow instead of the topic title and you will be sent to your first unread post. Very useful for long threads... or to know that nothing new has been posted to your favourite topic

(Of course you have to be registered and logged for this to work)