Thanks. The people in my avatar are chibi-fied versions of Demyx and Zexion from KH.
No, I have never changed my name. I don't plan on it, either. I like my name.
We don't rep people often because we're trying to balance out the repping. Before, we had rep whores (ones who had more rep than anyone else, but they deserved it) and then we had the people complaining because they never got rep. So, we had a set back. I don't get repped very often anymore. Umm... yesterday was the first time I was repped in... twelve days. So, I don't have a whole lot. But I'm not posting very often anymore, either, which is part of the reason for that. Plus, we're only allowed to rep 2 people within a twenty-four hour period, so people are being more selective about who they rep and why they rep. It's not about the post count, but how well you do in a thread. The people who have more posts are more known. They say things that are worth something, and are generally well respected, which is why they get more rep.
Rep isn't the most important thing. It's just a nice bonus. Don't freak out if you don't get any.
Also, I'm not too sure why the friend's thing switches around. It just might be the system's way of showing all of your friends on your box at any given time. It might also be a way of showing who's on at that given time when you're looking. Or it might be who posted last. I'm not too sure. You might want to ask a mod about that.