Thank you very much Art and TIm for voicing your support.
Also, many thanks to the individuals who have so far contributed to the HotPot fund via the moodle.org - 
I went to the JALT conference (near Fukuoka in southern Japan) last weekend and had several stimulating coversations about funding for the HotPot module. Over the coming weeks I will try out some the suggestions that were made.
In the meantime, please continue to try to think of ways to support the HotPot module. I would be glad to hear your ideas. Please feel free to contact me privately (gordon at-sign kanazawa hyphen gu dot jp) or on this forum at moodle.org
best regards
Gordon