<p>From <a href="http://meta.stackexchange.com/q/7046/152101">a question on Meta StackOverflow</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>You can "bump" your thread by
  providing status and progress updates
  resulting from your own continued
  efforts to answer the question
  yourself. I usually do that unless I
  really hit a dead end with no further
  clues to follow. Some times I
  eventually bring about enough
  understanding to realise the answer,
  and thus post a resolution to my own
  problem.</p>
  
  <p>If you have at least 75 rep points,
  you can offer a bounty, promising to
  give some of your points to the person
  who correctly answers your question.</p>
</blockquote>