HSBA 2006: No Cheating Allowed (UPDATED)
IMPORTANT: Please pray for Heather, one of the homeschool moms putting on the blog awards. She has just discovered that she has a cancerous brain tumor. Visit her blog for updates and to let her know you’re praying.
It has just come to Brett’s and my attention that a few one of our readers, voted for The Rebelution multiple times in the Homeschool Blog Awards this morning and afternoon. Over 20 votes were removed for cheating.
This is painful. Cheating contradicts everything the Rebelution is about. It is a compromise of character. It is a slap in the face of competence. And it denies the truth that the other nominees are our friends, not our enemies.
The Rebelution has not been disqualified, but we will bow out if cheating continues. The blog awards are intended to be a fun and friendly thing. We’re not willing to stain the reputation of the Rebelution or its readers for a blog award.
UPDATE: This afternoon we discovered that the 22 votes were not indicative of malicious cheating, but rather the result of two enthusiastic friends voting together for themselves and their families at a get-together. It was a misunderstanding of the rules, nothing more. This is a great consolation.
In case there has been a misunderstanding of the rules, we reproduce them here:
RULES: The voting deadline is Friday, April 13th. Limit voting to one vote per eligible person in your household. No toddler votes.
If you have not voted, whether in the Best Teen Blog category or in one of the numerous others, be sure to head on over, discover some great new blogs, and vote for your favorites. Once.
~ Soli Deo Gloria ~
April 9th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
You’re totally right; I will only vote once…. and I did! Good luck! You guys are up in the top three, I think, if not second! Keep it up!
April 9th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Now wait a minute. If I vote and my sister votes from the same computer it’s gonna look like someone from our direction voted twice. When in actuality it was two separate votes by two separate people, only from the the same computer. I undertstand the eligible thing, but , we’re both eligible. So is it just one vote per household?
April 9th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
I knew you guys would handle the extra votes with class.
I’m not even a teen and I think you guys are top notch. 
Keep up the good work. I think a lot of the problems can be handled with clear explanation of the rules. I have seen some blogs saying you can vote each day. I don’t think that is the case. However, we will post updates on the HSBAwards site and keep you informed. This is the first time we have run the awards and we want to make sure that everything is fair and square.
Thanks for your support and being willing to stand for good values.
April 9th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
TO SEAN KOLLER: Here’s the scoop… you can have up to 5 votes PER IP (IPs are usually the same for each computer on a network). BUT YOU CAN ONLY HAVE ONE VOTE PER COMPUTER. We are tracking how many votes your computer has voted. So, if you have one computer in the house, you can only vote once.
TO GET AROUND THAT, if you have MORE than one PERSON in your house that is old enough to vote (without help), you can go to a library or computer store or hot spot that has computers you can access - vote from there.
Does that help?
The only reason we are allowing more than one vote per NETWORK (IP), is because people like me (who are married to computer geeks!) have more than one computer in our homes (we have 4) and have enough people (including our kids) to use all of them (without help). We all 4 will vote in my house - from the same IP, but from DIFFERENT COMPUTERS.
That doesn’t mean you can go to a library and vote from EVERY COMPUTER. All of the library computers are on ONE IP (network). So legally, you can only use up to 5 - but ethically, you should only use one PER PERSON WHO WANTS TO VOTE.
It is more important that YOU KNOW in your HEART that you have done the right thing… even if the blogs you love don’t win.
April 9th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
I’m just being hypothedical here, but can’t several computers from several different households be on one IP Network?
April 9th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Voted! (only 1 time) and Yes i’m homeschooled!
April 9th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
This whole issue tells me a lot about your integrity, and I so admire the work you’ve done on this blog that I posted about you on my own blog: Plain Book of Homeschooling: The Rebelution.
Keep up the good work, boys. You CAN make a difference.
April 9th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
I’m going into computer networking and I found all this very interesting, not the blog award thing as much as the how they are figuring out the IP address stuff. I’m hoping sprittibee will share with me what program they are using to check IP addresses.
My dad, who is also in computer networking, answered my previous question, his answer was yes, but very unlikely. However, your IP address can change when you power off and on. I gave it a try and he was right. I say this, not to give ideas on how to cheat, but just to inform.
April 10th, 2007 at 4:10 am
Hey guys I am the Chris from “The World as seen by a teen named Chris” that is running against you in the awards.
I just wanted to say I respect and admire you guys (even more so after reading this post) and I look forward to a good race. May the best blog win
rn
Chris
April 10th, 2007 at 8:06 am
I really appreciate your integrity in this issue!! My vote has been cast (once)
April 10th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
You know, it really gets annoying when cheating is involved, but I must say that you guys are handling this thing very well. Oh, I cast my ONE vote as well.:-)
April 10th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
I just went and casted my ONE vote as well!
God Bless!
April 11th, 2007 at 5:57 am
Thanks for your integrity on this issue
I have put in my ONE vote in as well!
April 12th, 2007 at 9:43 am
I voted -and I hope you guys win!
love,
MJ
April 12th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
I just voted too, once of course.
The Rebelution is winning!! I looked forward to checking out the other blogs.
April 12th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Excellent answer! Do you need the extra votes to win? You’re gonna win anyways! LOL
Best of luck…I’m trailing!
Sincerely,
Jocelyn
April 12th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
Very good way to handle that problem! Some people forget that if you win the Best Teen Blog award but do all of the voting yourself, it doesn’t mean that you have the best teen blog- it only means that you have the lowest level of integrity. The award that other people will see isn’t so important as your own feelings about it and if you cheated, you will not feel good about the award or the contest.
As Jocelyn said, you don’t need the extra votes- none of the rest of us nominees stand a chance!
With you on the Quest,
Frodo
April 13th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Hi. One question, will they know my e-mail address if I vote?
April 13th, 2007 at 7:56 pm
Mariah: No, they do not receive any information about you except your IP address. =)
April 15th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Congratulations on winning!!! Although I was running against you, I really believe you deserve to win, your survey is GREAT, although, I’ve not browsed much more of your site.
April 16th, 2007 at 4:54 am
Congratulations guys! =)