The Pinkie one? Nah. Somepony else drew that one, but the one with the scouter and Pinkie was just a simple Photoshop. :P
Hehe, thanks. Nah, you're not a n00b. Not at all. :) The gems are a visual representation of my reputation points. If you go to anypony's profile and click on the "Reputation" tab, you'll see how many points they have. If you happen to see a post that you particularly like, the member can be given reputation by clicking on the little chest on the bottom-left of their post. Just make sure you click on the approve option (even if it appears selected, click on it anyway, otherwise you'll give neutral rep). Each purple crystal holds 5 reputation points and each green crystal holds 10 reputation points. So, for example, if someone had 4 purple crystals, that represents 16 to 20 reputation points. As each crystal holds up to 5. After six purple crystals are earned (max 30 reputation points), the next is a green one (31+ reputation points). If a member had, let's say 6 purples and 2 greens, that represents 41 to 50 reputation points. 51 will earn a third green crystal...
...A red gem, however, is something that's completely new to me. I just know that once you exceed 6 purples and 4 greens (70 points max), a red gem is earned. I have no idea how much it can hold. So, how do you earn these? Well, make some posts that you think people will like and I'm sure you'll be +repped. Just keep something important in mind, and this is something I tell others. Don't judge your usefulness as a member based on rep points. Even though I have all this rep, I'm NOT an important figure on the forum. I'm a member just like anypony else. :)
The gems are a representation of a users 'reputation'. If you feel a user has made a post that was particularly interesting, informative or entertaining, you can select that post to add to that user's reputation. How many reputation points a user has is represented by said gems. It's a way of highlighting how much a certain user has contributed to the community. It's not to say users with fewer gems are any less reputable, it's just a novelty of sorts. And as for hippitin slop choppers, it really is just a random phrase with absolutely no meaning.
