I'd have to agree with starbucks. No need to allow <>. Why add something that does exactly the same thing as something we already have and doesn't even save any space (i.e. same number of characters to do it)?
As far as allowing "advanced" if statements... I see that as a way to run into confusing scripts. Yes, you'd know what you meant, but someone who isn't a good scripter or isn't very good at logic would find it confusing. Right now, you can easily see what is being compared. With that, it isn't so clear to see for someone without the scripting/logic background. And I really don't see any improvement by having that as an option. It just saves you a little typing.
