Netflix Prize: Forum

Eeck.... "They're back...."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8TrCJQAid0#t=0m30s

I don't think the zombie JoMos are aware that they've been killed.  They're respawning.  Get out, get out while you still can!  Run for the hills...steepest ascent! 

CS1

Today they are back AGAIN, and now they have a new level of sophistication: they use real different person names as prefixes, in the following format: <name><number>k.
Examples:
Charlize38k
Claudia1k
Alicia35k
Carrie46k
All these have posted at about the same time. I have counted 12 such entries in the top 270 places in the leaderboard alone.

They are obviously defying the PrizeMaster and the rules.

Last edited by DB (2009-07-09 07:24:06)

Update for today:
The team that brought you the jo#mo's and the girl#k's, has now, after their previous fake sub-teams were deleted by PrizeMaster, started a new method, maybe manual or driven from prepared lists, that does the same multiple submissions in the same day for them.
Here is a list of their new "teams" in the top 300 places in the leaderboard:
impossiblemission
Forwinner
killmethistest
pupubaby
sunnylike
Richardwin
nevergiveup
teufelisme
yeman
Windman
pplive
xiisbadguy
readytogo
newteamforprize

Obviously - they don't give up easily, and they think they are outsmarting everybody by using pattern-less names.
Well they are not.
Further - having followed this for a few days - I have now a strong suspicion which is the "real" team that is behind all this.
I am just waiting for some additional evidence, and then I will publish their name.

Last edited by DB (2009-07-10 09:00:28)

Yeah! It's really amazing to be so daft, hoping that "no one would notice" and especially the Prizemaster.
To quote Einstein :
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."

... although it would also elimnate the chance of us getting to see "Belkor's Chaotic and Pragmatic Grand Prize Team ride the XLVector to the Vandelay Opera"

Lazy Monkey wrote:

It is at least possible that we are seeing associated but permitted teams working on a project in a co-ordinated way (say all of the students in a third year computer science course somewhere in the world.)

True, this could be keeping them off the streets.  If they didn't have this to do, they'd probably be spending time sending us spam.

Oh look! I just got a nice email from the dethroned princess of Nigeria.  Hmm...let me see.  Oh wow, fortune can be mine if I just give them my bank account to put their family funds into.

Why have I been working so hard on this competition, when riches await through easier means?  See ya suckers!

CS1

edr2 wrote:

... although it would also elimnate the chance of us getting to see "Belkor's Chaotic and Pragmatic Grand Prize Team ride the XLVector to the Vandelay Opera"

now *that* was funny

DB wrote:

xlvector is gone from the leaderboard...

xlvector is a member of WeAretheBorg and the Opera Solutions and Vandelay United teams so, technically, he is still on the leader board.

While spam submissions (if they were indeed non-compliant) may be a nuisance, they are not going to give anyone much of an advantage in the contest.

Interesting to note that the number of submissions seems to have fallen in the last day or two from 200+ per day to 50.

Last edited by Lazy Monkey (2009-07-11 21:05:05)

I want to add to xlvector's explanation.
"xlvector" was not removed from the leaderboard by Netflix.

Several teams that were formed by members of Vandelay Industries ! were voluntarily taken down from the leaderboard.  The teams were not breaking any rules.

We were responding to comments from other teams that:  1) Vandelay Industries ! teams were taking up too much space on the leaderboard, blocking the way for other deserving teams  and 2) it gave the appearance that Vandelay Industries ! was trying to bend the rules to make more than one submission each day.

xlvector started as a single person, but later "xlvector" became a team of people.  (I am a member of the xlvector team).  Looking back, I wish that we had chosen a different name for the team so that there would be no confusion between "xlvector" the person and "xlvector" the team.

xlvector's was taken off of the leaderboard with good motives.  It is unfortunate that anyone mistakenly believed that xlvector was removed by Netflix.

We're working very hard to play by the rules and to be cooperative with the rest of the Netflix Prize community.  There are still two teams ahead of Vandelay Industries ! and we've got a long way to go to catch up.

Just a suggestion:  I think that we ought to wait for Netflix to "out" whoever is making the mass submissions.  Everybody should send any evidence or suspicions to the prize master.

Good luck everybody!

Greg

P.S.  Lazy Monkey is correct that xlvector (the individual) is a member of "We are the borg", "Vandelay Industries !", and "Opera Solutions and Vandelay United".  We are working to remove "We are the borg" from the leaderboard to free up another spot in the top 20.

Last edited by ADifferentName (2009-07-12 11:06:59)

So, after a few days in the underground, they feel safe and they start emerging again.

All the following teams did not exist yesterday, but today they suddenly are here, with submissions all in the top 275.
The highest is in place 24 in the leaderboard, which narrows the list of "real" teams that are able to do this to the top 23.
Some of them use names from previous rounds, and were already eliminated once.

Here are some of the names:
Forwinner
xiisbadguy
you_sb
killmethistest
olympic champion
newteamforprize
readytogo                                 
impossiblemission
Richardwin
youneverknow
hellocat
winnetflix
yuanyuanpp
bigbangfan
teufelisme (place 24)

dale5351 wrote:

IMO that does not really matter

Well, it does matter to the rest of us, who will not have the $1M but will have a place on the leaderboard when the contest finishes. If I am pushed down 50-100 (or even 15) places on the leaderboard by a single team - this upsets me...

What matters is that netflix find some way to prevent such gaming of the system in these final days when the real money is on the line.

They should just clean the table once and then prevent creation of any new teams in the last few days. Nothing in the rules prevents them from doing this.

Well, I don't recall this specific team, but it was not me. Unfortunately I never was at the top of the table, although I am now placed in the top 270 (on days that the zombies don't drive me down to > 300...)