I was pleased to see that I had some Moderator points, for the first time! I'm an infrequent Slashdot reader, but when I do log in, I spend quality time reading and responding in what I hope is largely a respectful fashion. I always meta-moderate, when asked, and take my responsibility seriously, so it makes me feel proud to be able to moderate for the first time. I've been so careful that I've only used 2 points in the past 2+ hours! I guess I got caught up in the fascinating reading here, of which there is plenty.

Cool! I was glad to see that, after I suggested that a certain post shouldn't be modded down to 'flamebait' but rather up to 'informative' [because it was, even if it was a bit rude about it] .... the moderator agreed and changed it up to 5, Informative. I felt like I'd made my first contribution to the /. democracy, aside from merely being a consumer, reading posts and replying to them. Now I feel a little more engaged with /. than I had before, so I went and checked the box "willing to moderate" -- til now I didn't feel comfortable enough to even volunteer for that.