So I trolled the "new" queue for five minutes, found a C++ question, answered it, and POOF, I had some rep. It helps that I know C++ REALLY well.

Eventually those Android answers started getting upvotes, and now I have somewhere around 400 rep, which is enough to do what I need.

The badges bust me up. It's like a video game -- for programming questions! In any event, being able to comment and vote on answers was what I wanted.