OMNI is a merry-go-round. I guess ORP is a merry-go-round too. At least we are all having fun.

Agree. And more to the point the coward involved in faking my comments has set up a vBulletin board himself on travel VERY recently. Looked VERY like this one actually. And he knows the features and intricacies of vBulletin better than almost anyone on FT. And has given detailed advice to others in fact on detailed workings of the vBulletin software.

This lowlife knew EXACTLY what he was doing. He just thought he was smarter than Randy and the innocent members he was embroiling in his malicious trouble-making- but Randy called his bluff, and turned on the past 100 ding histories.

Actually, while that is how it came to be used on Flyer Talk, the point of the software indeed was to rate a particular post -- addressed to the poster. An individual's reputation was to be the sum of his posts. As currently set up, rating a thread says nothing about any individual post on the thread.

As proof, click on the scales on one of your posts in this thread. You will get a response, "Your reputation on this post is Positive," or "Your reputation on this post is Even," etc. If any comments have been made on your particular post by anyone, they are listed for you.

In retrospect, of course, the "reputation" feature has come to signify much more than reaction to a particular post. What professional does not care heavily about his reputation? To those with little inventory, it is literally money in the bank.

So certainly, once people became aware of the significance of reputation points, disapproval became a formidable sanction which, happily, is less casually bandied about now that it is no longer anonymous.

It bears repeating (sorry for those who have read this several times), but one can express disagreement in the comments while "approving" of the poster. Happily, this seems to be happening more and more.

The problem with that analysis is that you (the poster) are the only one who can see that information; it is wholly worthless as guidance to others. They do not know whether your peers have judged that post to be pearls of wisdom or mere arrant nonsense.

No, if the intent is to create a system that rates posts, then that can be done with existing software (similar to that used for rating a thread). No need to castigate the individual for the content of his post (or his belief).

Actually, if I recall Randy�s explanation, it was not intended to reflect judgments of individuals� use of grammar or their political astuteness or their general bonhomie or even the adequacy of their toilet training, but rather was (solely?) intended to be used in relation to Coupon Connection, to allow others to have additional information in deciding whether to enter into a trade with (or gift to) a particular individual.

In that respect I guess it was to be similar to the system used on e-Bay, which shows who issued each individual rating, what the rating was, and any explanation the rater felt should be provided. This is useful both as feedback to the person rated and as specific information to the reader who might be interested in the reputation of the person being rated.

And we can implement such a system � at least, the software exists. In that way �reputation� might have some value rather than, as now, being a simple grade-school-clique type of popularity contest.


If indeed the purpose of the �reputation� system was to �rate� individual posts, what you�re suggesting totally perverts that purpose. This seems to be nothing more than an attempt to beg for �plus points� to enhance reputation (as though they were baseball cards, or the like -- I think on another thread you rightly referred to those who continue such shameless solicitations as "Bling Whore").

Seems to me the solution is simple: Fix the system or turn it off.

You CAN turn it off.

Simply click OPTIONS in your MY FlyerTalk page and de-select reputation.

SIMPLE!

Since it can be turned off, are you suggesting that (gasp!) all this ranting and raving is nothing but self-congratulatory (or self-marytrdom) that adds nothing of value to the original topic of this thread, ORP, or the persuit of miles and points to begin with?

Or am I reading too much into your post ?

Are you referring to http://www.flyertalk.net ?

That's what I say.

Reputation is not quite trading baseball cards, IMO - I would liken it more to a credit rating. And given that some people on the boards are 1. representing travel companies; 2. running businesses of their own; and 3. are known personally to the community - for all these reasons (and more), reputation is powerful.

In a community as rife with bad blood as this one (and how did it ever get to be so), as someone else said, "Is anyone really surprised?" I'm not, wasn't, and that's how things will always be.

No. But seeing you so kindly added to this thread with the WRONG suggestion I'll take this opportunity to respond by speculating it is more likely the CORRECT answer may be found here:

http://www.tarom.net/vb/showthread.php?t=9

Do you agree? (That is a rhetorical question by the way.)

Today, I had a dream where I decided to jump up and down and stick my tounge out at my colleague across the cube. He may have stuck his tounge back out at me. Instead of going to my colleague or my boss in private to try to resolve the issue, I instead decided to PLASTER A HUGE POSTER WITH A VAGUE DESCRIPTION OF THE INDIVIDUAL WHO I THINK STUCK HIS TOUNGE OUT AT ME ALL OVER THE OFFICE WALLS! My goal, in all of this, was not really to resolve the problem, but to try to make the individual (and for that matter, all of the fellows in his working group) look bad, thru innuendo and lumping them together as a class. And hey, I dreamed, I can even subtly insult the individual in question, and perhaps make it appear to be out of anger for being "tounged," and say things that the office HR manager has already said are a no-no in the office TOP (terms of postering).

When I woke up, I decided to log onto FT and read this thread. I'm wondering why it does not have anything to do with "Closing Threads" at this point, and then the stunning parallels with my dream finally dawned on me.

It also dawned on me that my behavior this morning makes myself and the office community as a whole in my dream look rather foolish and petty.

The gentle reader, of course, can take this to it's clear conclusion.

For the record, I think that this thread should be shuttered in the continuing spirit of "closing threads."

Disagree with you there.

As you've done, you can elect to turn off rep, which quite a few have chosen to do. Not the same with anything in the real word (like a credit report).

Well very interesting the outcome of my post above mentioning www.tireflock.com

The coward that signed my name to another member's "reputation" I understand initiated that board - or at least promoted it the most here on Randy's bulletin board.

I posted a link to a thread where many of the playmates were gambolling with gay abandon and guess what - in a day they have removed the content and link completely from the thread I linked. Something to hide boys? :

http://www.tarom.net/vb/showthread.php?t=9

For anyone who DOES care to read the interesting "Welcome One and All thread" they frantically removed - please email me - I have a screen capture of it still.

The thread starter and first poster within 7 minutes of that are rather interesting.

So, now ORP is for discussing other IBBs?

Well, I'd be interested in seeing it. Should I send an e-mail to your Hotmail account (I'm looking at a past e-mail you sent me). Thanks.

You have an awful lot of free time, don't you?