OK, one shot at this:

• Technically, they're *my* votes, I can use'm any way I damn well please. If I have to allocate a certain number of votes one way or the other, they're not my votes, and they're of little use.

• If your little Narc-o-tron system works, what will you do with the information? Post a giant +7 FONT tagged node with all their names? So what? All you're really succeeding in doing is dragging down the overall quality of the monastery. Suck it up, be a man. There are plenty of people that you've pissed off, plenty that I've pissed off, and plenty more we'll both piss off. Are you going to go through life chasing each and every little demon, and spamming their name all over the net? And to what end?

• Everyone likes the anomoninity of the voting system until they're a victim. Then it's *evil*, and must be *changed*. Explain that -- vote! Only vote the ++ vote. Blah blah blah. The system we've got, by and large, works. In *any* given voting system, you'll have faults. Any idea where the term "Yellow Dog Democrat" came from? How about "Vote early, vote often"? No system is perfect. It'll never be both attainable *and* usable. All systems that involve peoples opinions are compromises.

• Know what I really hate about this crap? Feeling compelled to respond to it. And believe me, I do. I don't have anything personal against you. Never met you, odds are I never will. I don't do Perl meetings, don't like to go out, not a real social kinda person. But I'm tired of hearing about this. Gonna go on a Jihad to find out the --'ers? It would have been a lot more subtle to keep it to yourself. Write a script, poll your nodes, couple it to the others users box. At least make it worth writing a WT column about it, if you're going to waste the time.

• As point 1 mentioned, they're my votes. I'll vote how I'll please, explain to whomever when and how I feel like it, if I do at all. I don't have these compunctions (is that even a word?) about not using them. Stupid nodes get it. It's an opinion. *MY* opinion of that node, whether you or anyone else agrees with it or not. In 99% of all cases, the nodes are self-evident that they ought to be hammered. Or, in the case of good stuff, ++'ed.

The loud public whining that goes on when people get voted down not only gets *old*, it drags the quality down. No doubt as this node here is fixing to do. And on top of it, we'll have to listen to 88 different users explain why we should change the voting system. Again.

Take it as you will, this is not intended to be a personal attack. You're a very smart person. You write good Perl code, and have a good knowledge base. Just *ignore* the personal attacks. They don't mean crap. For every one user that doesn't like you, there are a hundred you've helped, and made happy. Hell, if I retaliated against every person that pissed me off, I'd be spending my entire paycheck on ammunition. You've got enough issues to deal with already, without worry about a few -- votes, be the reason for them valid or not.

End of rant.