Unfortunately the reputation system has become a bit of a popularity contest like American Idol. I am increasingly astounded by the posts that get 'thanks'. We've got a lot of Sanjayas getting reputation based on popularity and not technical contribution.
Don't get me wrong - there are lots of technical contributors who richly deserve every single point of reputation they've received. Folks like Calk, Olipro, MightMike and Mindfrost (just to list a few at random - there are LOTS of others) have a Post:Rep ratio of about 1:10, and at the extreme Cmonex is 1:50.
Now, I have no problem with "Thanks" being essentially a "yeah, rah! funny! let's have a drink!" pat on the back; but let's not read any technical reputation where it doesn't exist.
And, I'll have you know that the above is based on years of experience and an exhaustive statistical analysis (at least 2.5 minutes!)
And that's all for today from the grumpy old fart corner!
Cheers,
Simon Cowell