# little green dots and 'rep power'



## Blade96

I've seen that on the right of my posts and under other peoples too when they post, what do they mean?.......i got one dot and others have many, green, gold, red......what do the colors mean also? Just curious.

Thanks,

~ Blade ~

Awe, shucks. Found the sticky, sorry, NM guys. you can delete this.

Im sorry about that!  so sorry


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## Xue Sheng

Well first it means if you have greater than 1 orange dot.. you.. are.. an... MT.... GOD!!!!! 

just kidding.

Click your Users CP and you will see how many people have given you a reputation for a post... it is just another kind of thank you not to be taken to seriously. Just a nice way for people telling you the appreciate your post


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## Bill Mattocks

I'm color-blind, I did not know they were different colors. I always thought that they meant how big my, er, bidness is.  I wondered how they knew.


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## Blade96

Xue Sheng said:


> Well first it means if you have greater than 1 orange dot.. you.. are.. an... MT.... GOD!!!!!


 
well you must be a god then. Cause you have 3. 




			
				xue sheng said:
			
		

> Click your Users CP and you will see how many people have given you a reputation for a post... it is just another kind of thank you not to be taken to seriously. Just a nice way for people telling you the appreciate your post


 
So thats what those are! I saw them but never knew what they were....Thanks!


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## Bob Hubbard

Long thread, mostly up to date. 
What are Reputation Points and how do you get  them?


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## Steve

Took me a lot longer than you to even see them!   I always thought that people were referring to "thanks" and rep as the same thing.  Imagine my surprise to find that they're completely different!  

So, when someone posts something that you like, you can thank them or rep them... or both.  Or neither.  Or you can rep them... then thank them.  Then shake it all about.  Then do the hokey pokey while you turn....  Wait.  Sorry.  I got mixed up.  

The other side of this is that you can negative rep someone who's making a complete *** of him or herself... in your opinion.      Ultimately, like the stock market, while bad stocks might do well in the short term and good stocks might tank briefly, the market almost always rights itself.  Thoughtful, insightful, and fair posters will slowly accrue green blips while argumentative, negative posters will gain more red.


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## Blade96

stevebjj said:


> Took me a lot longer than you to even see them!  I always thought that people were referring to "thanks" and rep as the same thing. Imagine my surprise to find that they're completely different!


 
ya, i thought the same. that you thank someone and that's how you rep them.



			
				SteveBJJ said:
			
		

> So, when someone posts something that you like, you can thank them or rep them... or both. Or neither. Or you can rep them... then thank them. Then shake it all about. Then do the hokey pokey while you turn.... Wait. Sorry. I got mixed up.


 
Heh. I laughed out loud at this =]



			
				SteveBJJ said:
			
		

> The other side of this is that you can negative rep someone who's making a complete *** of him or herself... in your opinion.  Ultimately, like the stock market, while bad stocks might do well in the short term and good stocks might tank briefly, the market almost always rights itself. Thoughtful, insightful, and fair posters will slowly accrue green blips while argumentative, negative posters will gain more red.


 
Thats a nice idea. That'll let little white belts who just join the forum know who is on the way to getting their wings and who to be careful of.


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## terryl965

Well for me it means they *LOVE Me* they really do!!!!!!!


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## Xue Sheng

terryl965 said:


> Well for me it means they *LOVE Me* they really do!!!!!!!


 
Well of course we love you terry...how can you NOT love the *Post Whore Extreme *


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## Jenny_in_Chico

It took me forever to actually discover on my user CP all the reps people had given me. It made a nice read, very heartwarming. Although apparently one person who liked one of my posts accidentally gave me a negative rep for it, which is also amusing.


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## Blade96

Jenny_in_Chico said:


> It took me forever to actually discover on my user CP all the reps people had given me. It made a nice read, very heartwarming. Although apparently one person who liked one of my posts accidentally gave me a negative rep for it, which is also amusing.


 
i read my little few. And they're very sweet.


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## Tez3

It's nice when you get pos rep, my neg reps have all been weird lol! I don't mind neg rep as long as I can understand whats being said but some of mine are just very strange!

Still if I sit down on a bus or train the loony always sits next to me, at the supermarket check out I get them talking to me, people like me because of that, it saves them having the loony next to them!!


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## Bill Mattocks

Tez3 said:


> It's nice when you get pos rep, my neg reps have all been weird lol! I don't mind neg rep as long as I can understand whats being said but some of mine are just very strange!
> 
> Still if I sit down on a bus or train the loony always sits next to me, at the supermarket check out I get them talking to me, people like me because of that, it saves them having the loony next to them!!



I guess I'm lucky - I can't tell the difference between the pos and neg reps.  Same color to my color-blind eyes.  I guess I'll never get angry at anyone, I can never figure out which they gave me.  Unless there is some other way to tell besides color.

Designers who don't take color-blindness into account when they design systems tick me off.  I have trouble getting through the security gates at work.  When the card works, it blinks a green light and you go through.  When it doesn't work, it blinks a red light and you can't.  Trouble is, I can't tell which is which, and by the time I try to go through the turnstile and find I can't, I've got two ticked-off guys behind me trying to get into the building too and now they're locked out for five minutes because they got a 'green' and did not enter the building, and it punishes them by keeping them out for five minutes.  I hate it, and they think it's my fault, but I CANNOT TELL WHAT COLOR THE LIGHT IS!

Sorry, rant over.


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## Bob Hubbard

I wasn't aware of that.  I'll see if it's something fixable on our end.


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## Bill Mattocks

Bob Hubbard said:


> I wasn't aware of that.  I'll see if it's something fixable on our end.



Hey, I didn't mean you, Bob. I meant the people who make the forum software and the flashy lights for go and no-go, etc.  Nobody ever takes color-vision into account, which is weird considering how large the percentage of (mostly men) who are color blind happens to be.


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## Bob Hubbard

I fix their screwups


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## MA-Caver

Are we going to *rep*eat ourselves here?


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## Ken Morgan

Bill Mattocks said:


> Hey, I didn't mean you, Bob. I meant the people who make the forum software and the flashy lights for go and no-go, etc. Nobody ever takes color-vision into account, which is weird considering how large the percentage of (mostly men) who are color blind happens to be.


 
How do you drive? How do you recognize the correct traffic light?


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## Blade96

Bill Mattocks said:


> Hey, I didn't mean you, Bob. I meant the people who make the forum software and the flashy lights for go and no-go, etc. Nobody ever takes color-vision into account, which is weird considering how large the percentage of (mostly men) who are color blind happens to be.


 
You've got red-green color blindness, dont ya? I heard thats like the most common one.



Ken Morgan said:


> How do you drive?


 
Hah. I get a question like that too, except people ask me, "What/how do you eat?" I feel your pain Bill, I'm wheat/gluten AND lactose intolerant. Its hard living in a world where you are a member of a minority group and the world is (mostly) made for the majority.


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## Tez3

Blade96 said:


> You've got red-green color blindness, dont ya? I heard thats like the most common one.
> 
> 
> 
> Hah. I get a question like that too, except people ask me, "What/how do you eat?" I feel your pain Bill, I'm wheat/gluten AND lactose intolerant. Its hard living in a world where you are a member of a minority group and the world is (mostly) made for the majority.


 
I eat kosher which means not mixing dairy with meat so have loads of recipes that are totally non dairy, might be worth having a look for kosher recipes for that part of your diet? 

See, it's very rare a thread on MT doesn't turn up some interesting things!


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## Blade96

Kosher food - You or your family must be jewish I take it.

So yeah - i could grab one of my Jewish friends at University - or you as a new friend and you could give me some ideas!


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## Tez3

Blade96 said:


> Kosher food - You or your family must be jewish I take it.
> 
> So yeah - i could grab one of my Jewish friends at University - or you as a new friend and you could give me some ideas!


 

Try this site, it's 'fabulous' lol! 
http://www.thejewishprincess.com/ABOUT US/about-princess-gt.html

If you have any specific likes for something I'll dig out some recipes. You could post up on the Health section too for more ideas.


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## Bob Hubbard

After I do the site upgrade next week (hopefully) I'll tackle the clarity issue here.  It's just a matter of doing some changes to the icons.


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## Bill Mattocks

Ken Morgan said:


> How do you drive? How do you recognize the correct traffic light?



Little known facts about traffic lights.

If the light is vertical, the red is on top and the green is on the bottom.  If the light is horizontal, the red is on the left and the green is on the right.

Also, the red light isn't red to me.  It's orange.  The green light isn't green, it's blue-white.  So there you go.

However, I do have trouble with four-way intersections that are controlled by one single flashing light suspended over the middle of the intersection.  Some flash red, meaning stop and then go, and some flash yellow, meaning look both ways, but don't stop.  I can't tell which it is - red or yellow.  I try to take my cue from other cars - if they stop, I stop.  If they don't, I don't.  If there are no other cars, I stop.  My wife is often my copilot and she knows to tell me when I'm approaching one I've never been to before.


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## Bill Mattocks

Blade96 said:


> You've got red-green color blindness, dont ya? I heard thats like the most common one.



Yes, but I've got it pretty bad.  I fail 13 of the 15 tests with the colored dots where you are supposed to see a number on the screen.



> Hah. I get a question like that too, except people ask me, "What/how do you eat?" I feel your pain Bill, I'm wheat/gluten AND lactose intolerant. Its hard living in a world where you are a member of a minority group and the world is (mostly) made for the majority.



Being severely color-blind has a couple advantages.  We color-blind people all see better at night than most people, and we take our cues from movement, shadow, and texture, not color - so camouflage doesn't tend to fool us.  We make good snipers - check it out, the military recruits color-blind people to train as snipers.

It sucks to be a color-blind photographer, though.  Thank goodness for digital.


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## jks9199

You shouldn't run into too many flashing 4 way red lights like that -- for just that reason.  Or at least there should also be stop signs at the intersection...

But if you're ever in doubt, or a traffic light is out (like no electricity) -- the law says treat it like a 4 way stop.  Of course... since most of the other drivers are gonna do whatever they darn well wanna anyway... good luck!


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## Ken Morgan

Bill Mattocks said:


> Little known facts about traffic lights.
> 
> If the light is vertical, the red is on top and the green is on the bottom. If the light is horizontal, the red is on the left and the green is on the right.
> 
> Also, the red light isn't red to me. It's orange. The green light isn't green, it's blue-white. So there you go.


 
 I figured something like that. 

Up here I can't recall ever seeing a vertical traffic light, so being colourblind and finding one for the first time would be fun.


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## Bill Mattocks

Ken Morgan said:


> I figured something like that.
> 
> Up here I can't recall ever seeing a vertical traffic light, so being colourblind and finding one for the first time would be fun.



Most lights in the US are vertical.  Except in Texas and a couple other states, where they might be vertical and might be horizontal.

The red light also tends to be bigger than the green one, regardless of orientation, but that's not always true.

And with the advent of LED traffic lights, it is even more confusing.  They are not the same 'shade' as traditional bulbs.  This means that they look like completely different colors to us color-blind folk.

Hey, the most fun is lining up when I'm visiting a different dojo.  The brown belts and the green belts look like the same belt to me.  How much fun is that?


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## Omar B

Green dots?  It's a measure of how well strangers think they know you.


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## Blade96

Bill Mattocks said:


> Yes, but I've got it pretty bad. I fail 13 of the 15 tests with the colored dots where you are supposed to see a number on the screen.
> 
> Being severely color-blind has a couple advantages. We color-blind people all see better at night than most people, and we take our cues from movement, shadow, and texture, not color - so camouflage doesn't tend to fool us. We make good snipers - check it out, the military recruits color-blind people to train as snipers.
> 
> .


 
thats the spirit =] My food allergies have advantages too. as wheat/gluten foods and most junk foods have wheat and stuff that can make you fat......you can finish the sentence. I'll most likely never be fat. 

The fact I have a slight balance problem is an advantage in the MA as it forces me to work more on my stances like zenkutsu dachi and kokutsu dachi. The other karateka havent got that problem. as such they are not so likely to spend much time perfecting stances and they might drop it in favor of some fun attractive Bunkai or something. In the end, it made me a better Shotokanka (and it showed in the competition as i got the highest score)

(but you didnt hear that from me a little bird told you ok if your sensei or Dai Soke or sifu is interested to know how the heck you got so good so shhhhh)


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## chaos1551

Bill Mattocks said:


> Also, the red light isn't red to me. It's orange. The green light isn't green, it's blue-white. So there you go.


 
Seriously now, if you're colorblind, how do you know to call what you see as blue-white?  Ignorant as I may be, I don't see how you'd have a reference point to achieve that shared reality.  Enlighten me?


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## Steve

chaos1551 said:


> Seriously now, if you're colorblind, how do you know to call what you see as blue-white? Ignorant as I may be, I don't see how you'd have a reference point to achieve that shared reality. Enlighten me?


 LOL.. just because he can't see green or red doesn't mean he can't see any color.  Are you seriously calling him out on being color blind?


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## Tez3

chaos1551 said:


> Seriously now, if you're colorblind, how do you know to call what you see as blue-white? Ignorant as I may be, I don't see how you'd have a reference point to achieve that shared reality. Enlighten me?


 
I don't think you have been reading the posts. 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/ask_the_doctor/colourblindness.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/mens_health/issues_colour.shtml

_"Being colour blind rarely means a person can't see the colours at all. Instead, they have trouble differentiating between red and green colours of a similar tone. They may be able to tell a bright apple green from a postbox red, while muddling more similar shades. The degree of colour blindness varies."_


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## Bill Mattocks

chaos1551 said:


> Seriously now, if you're colorblind, how do you know to call what you see as blue-white?  Ignorant as I may be, I don't see how you'd have a reference point to achieve that shared reality.  Enlighten me?



Color-blindness is not what people think it is.  I can see colors - I can sometimes identify them correctly.  But it depends very much on the shade.  Some green I see as green.  Some green I see as red or orange.  I've been shown wild red roses growing on a bush and I had no idea the flowers were even there - the flowers and the leaves were the same color to me.  Yet, I have seen red roses and they looked red.  Different shade.

I also see blue-white.  So when I say some green lights look blue-white to me, I mean that I know it looks blue-white, and I know there are no blue-white traffic lights, so that means it is green.  I can't help that it does not look green to me.

I know it doesn't make sense to a person with normal color vision.  When I tell people I'm color-blind, the first thing they say is _"Oh yeah?  What color is this?  How about this?  What color is that?"_  It's like they think I'm lying.  I'm not sure why people react this way. It's like it ticks them off, since they're not color-blind, they can't grasp how anyone could be.

I've also had people try to TEACH me colors by saying the color loud and slow as if I were mentally challenged instead of color-blind.  _"This is green.  G-R-E-E-N."_  Yeah, thanks.  That cleared it right up.


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## Bill Mattocks

stevebjj said:


> LOL.. just because he can't see green or red doesn't mean he can't see any color.  Are you seriously calling him out on being color blind?



It's cool, thanks, but I'm used to it.  You'd be surprised how many people are hostile towards color-blind people because they're sure we're lying.  It's like telling someone who has never had a migraine headache how bad one hurts.  Oh sure, they say.  Why don't you take an aspirin, you whiner?  If a person has never experienced a migraine or being color-blind, they can't quite get their mental processes around it - which means it isn't real.


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## Tez3

Bill Mattocks said:


> It's cool, thanks, but I'm used to it. You'd be surprised how many people are hostile towards color-blind people because they're sure we're lying. It's like telling someone who has never had a migraine headache how bad one hurts. Oh sure, they say. Why don't you take an aspirin, you whiner? If a person has never experienced a migraine or being color-blind, they can't quite get their mental processes around it - which means it isn't real.


 

That is really mad! What strange people!


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## Blade96

Bill Mattocks said:


> It's cool, thanks, but I'm used to it. You'd be surprised how many people are hostile towards color-blind people because they're sure we're lying. It's like telling someone who has never had a migraine headache how bad one hurts. Oh sure, they say. Why don't you take an aspirin, you whiner? If a person has never experienced a migraine or being color-blind, they can't quite get their mental processes around it - which means it isn't real.


 
Oh migraines.....they can be bad. One of my best friends at univ has them and she sometimes get them so bad she literally can pass out and hit the floor. She told me all about so that I would know what to do if it happened while we were hanging out. Thankfully it never did. Migraines I know are not like normal headaches so my friend couldnt 'take an aspirin' like i or you can. 

same thing with people in wheelchairs. they'll sometimes be talked to like they're mentally challenged.  Or deaf people who have an interpreter. people will talk to the interpreter instead of to them. I dont do that. its rude. I talk to the person themselves and look at them.

btw about my topic of little green dots, I imagine that you dont get them very often. It seems like putting a thanks on the bottom of a post u like is much more commonly done that giving out rep points. Is it because rep points are taken more seriously and its harder to get them? Like you dont have to work as hard to get thanked on the bottom of your post but you have to work harder if you want someone to give u rep point? Idk. Thats just what it seems like to me.


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## Bob Hubbard

It's easier to thank someone 1 click vs 3, and more obvious.  Reps private, thanks are public.  We use both systems for fun.  I rarely give or get rep but I do issue a lot of thanks.


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## Tez3

The best thing is not to 'work' at your posts, just say what you think (within reason lol) honestly and people will either agree or disagree. Sometimes you like the way they disagree with you, which I enjoy, a good clean intelligent argument, sometimes though they decide you are hell's spawn lol.
All you can do is be yourself, it's the internet so you could pretend you are all sorts of things but it's not worth it because in the end the only person you're really lying to is yourself. Just post what you think and feel and enjoy!


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## chaos1551

stevebjj said:


> LOL.. just because he can't see green or red doesn't mean he can't see any color. Are you seriously calling him out on being color blind?


 
Haha.. sorry if I came across assish. I'm a little colorblind (the red on green thing--never ask me to pick raspberries). The fact that Bill sees enough color to be able to "fill in the blanks" as it were is the kind of answer I was looking for. Thanks, Bill. (I am intensely curious and it often times gets me into trouble.)

Sorry for hijacking the thread a bit, anyway. I give out lots of thanks to people, but do you have to have rep to give rep? I haven't yet noticed any way to give rep to others.

Edit: Oh, curiosity got me going.  Found the little scale in the upper-right corner!


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## Bill Mattocks

chaos1551 said:


> Haha.. sorry if I came across assish. I'm a little colorblind (the red on green thing--never ask me to pick raspberries). The fact that Bill sees enough color to be able to "fill in the blanks" as it were is the kind of answer I was looking for. Thanks, Bill. (I am intensely curious and it often times gets me into trouble.)
> 
> Sorry for hijacking the thread a bit, anyway. I give out lots of thanks to people, but do you have to have rep to give rep? I haven't yet noticed any way to give rep to others.
> 
> Edit: Oh, curiosity got me going.  Found the little scale in the upper-right corner!



No problem.  Take a look at this:

http://www.toledo-bend.com/colorblind/Ishihara.asp

I can only see the number 25 in the upper left, and the number 2 in the bottom-most left.  Both of which confirm my color-vision defect is severe.

Computer monitors differ, so online tests like this are not supposedly that accurate, but they're accurate enough for me; I fail.


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## chaos1551

I see the five more clearly in the bottom-most left, but the two stands out somewhat.  I can see all the numbers in the top six, but the 45 is kinda fuzzy and almost makes me feel a touch like I'm drunk or something.  

Anyway, thanks for helping me understand.  Awareness, points of reference and mental gymnastics always prove to be the place where I can learn the most.  I get sucked into those conundrums like chocolate cake to a fat kid.


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