RE: New Bullboards search barBudgie? Never heard of them - that, my friend, is the one and only Alec Holland, also known as Swamp Thing, as illustrated by the great Steve Bissette.
The reputation score is created from a complicated algorithm, and I have no idea exactly how it works. I DO know that it takes a variety of inputs, including the performance of your stock portfolio, ratings of bullboard posts and community news articles, the number of posts you make, and other items, and factors them all together to come up with a reputation score. You'll note that most of the SH staff who are on the site (if you know who they are) have low reputation scores, because we're simply not as active on the site as the actual membership, which is as it should be.
That being said, I do write the Buzz on the Boards every day, and it's not exactly the highest rated piece of content that hits the site.
I'll leave you all to it.
Also keep in mind that you're welcome to inbox me privately if you have issues / feedback that you'd prefer not to express publicly.
Rob