I think it would be pretty cool have down votes only affect that post, not the account. Only have up votes tie to the account. If that post gets down votes, the post still gets buried, but the account wouldn't show it, just the up votes. I think that would make users that are prone to be lurkers (me included) much more comfortable in contributing.

Another thought would be, in order to down vote a post you have to reply to that post. Without a reply, the down vote wouldn't stick. I think that would go a long way in moving the conversation forward.

I'd also recommend checking out chewy.com. I get Food and Bully Sticks auto delivered every month(configurable). They were cheaper than Amazon for what I buy, and I'm close enough to their warehouse, or one of them anyway, that I end up getting Next day delivery on every order.

Anything that will save me time. As a developer, a good text editor and a good diff tool are invaluable. Also, anything that I use all day everyday, headphones, keyboard, chair.