Pymmetry and Bram's "trust" code have gotten me (finally) to spending a little time with Python. It's fun and easy though I still have some of the steep part of the learning curve to go up. Emacs integration seems good, but I can't seem to find the key-binding to evaluate e.g. a test def in the file I'm working on. I'm sure there's a way...

Working with existing trust frameworks has got me thinking about how cool the OpenPrivacy reputation management framework is. It's designed so that trust metrics - such as Pymmetry or Slashdot's moderation - can be plugged in and evaluated *themselves* on their reputation. So a community that uses e.g. Pymmetry today can easily switch, if and when a better trust metric (or a newer version of Pymmetry ;-) comes along. All pre-existing identities, certification, and reputations would remain intact, perhaps translated (at owner discretion) to the new system.

Think of it like a currency exchange, but with reputations. No one can force you to start using a new currency but if all your friends move to France, you'll want to start using francs. The Reputation Management Framework provides a plug-in architecture for Reputation Calculation Engines that make this sort of "reputation-exchange" feasible. And since reputation-exchanges are not zero-sum, you actually get to keep your old reputation, too!

We're putting the finishing touches on the documentation, but the code is available now. We're also working on a example system called Reptile (Reputation-enhanced portal using Mozilla technology) - check it out!