what is the star over the avatar for?

That is MyLot's rating system. If you look off to the side of each discussion or response there is a + - !. You can rate each discussion or response by hitting the plus or minus sign or if the discussion is offensive you can use the exclamation to report that discussion to MyLot staff. They take the average number of responses and you get the number in the star. You get a star after you hit 100 posts. Most people don't care about their rating all that much because it fluctuates so much and there are always people who think it's funny to give everyone a negative. If you have a controvercial discussion and someone disagrees with your views they can go through all your discussions and rate them all negative and your number will drop drastically overnight. I've had that happen a few times. It's really not a fair system because it's so open to abuse. I could care less about my rating number. It means nothing to me. Some members with the lowest ratings have the best discussions! Hope that helps :D

The star is determined by your rating. People can either rate you + or - for a response or discussion, and this determines your star. You don't get a star until you reach 100 posts though, so don't feel bad that you don't have one yet. To customize your profile, go to 'customize your profile' right under where you start a discussion. Money, let's see. First off, you will not get rich from this site. Menial work = menial pay. In order to earn more though, make sure you are as descriptive as possible. The more in debth (and lengthy) your discussions and replies, the more you get. Also, you get money for tagging your discussion, replies, or comments. Or by referrals, or even uploading pictures. I hope all this has helped. Good luck at mylot, and have a great day.