To mod or not to mod, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler to post and suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous moderators
Or to take arms against a sea of senseless comments
And by my modding end them?
(c)2004 drew hearle :)

For the past couple of months, I've only not had moderator points for a day or less before I get 5 mod points again. So should I mod or not?

To fairly mod, I have to "get into" the discussions by reading the story, the linked article, and the comment threads. By the time I'm ready to mod up some of the best comments (or mod down the worst) I am so "into" the discussion that I want to post a comment or two myself. But once you've posted in a discussion, you can't mod; and once you've modded in a discussion, your moderation is undone if you decide to post after that.

So what's to be done? What is a more noble cause: to mod or to post (see the first five lines of this post)? I think that Slashdot should have a more advanced system that would allow you to post and moderate in the same discussion, perhaps disabling mods or posting based on if you've posted or moderated in that thread, not that story.

Well, I've got moderator points again - they expire on Tuesday, June 8. What to mod, what to mod... I probably got to moderate because my karma went up to Excellent thanks to this post (with a Karma Bonus modifier) and this post. It's a good thing my journal isn't moderated; it'd be something like -1 Get A Life...

"You have 5 Moderator Points! Use 'em or lose 'em!"
Woohoo! And now, the quest to find five deserving posts to moderate up (and/or some really dumb posts to mod down).

Hooray! My story was accepted today. Here it is! Can't wait to see what Slashdot readers suggest.

Well, today marks exactly one month since I've submitted my "Inventorying Misc. Computer Junk" article to Askslashdot. It's still "Pending".

Maybe someday in the distant future, my submission will be "Accepted" and displayed on Slashdot for the world to see...