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Server outage: How to deal with open predictions?
As most of you know we had a server slow down and outage on Monday. We do everything we can to ensure this doesn't happen but it did and it could potentially happen again (touch wood).
Some users have contacted me to say that because of the outage they were wiped out on a particular question, particularly the Dow question which is very active.
The question is what should we do in the event of an outage like this? For example, in the Dow question we could void all the losing predictions so that users get their stakes returned. This would then become the rule if we have another significant outage then we void losing predictions on questions that closed during the outage or very soon after.
On your replies could you state if you had a position on the Dow market.
(Question for Get Satisfaction: Can you make your text box bigger? This is like key hole surgery!)
Some users have contacted me to say that because of the outage they were wiped out on a particular question, particularly the Dow question which is very active.
The question is what should we do in the event of an outage like this? For example, in the Dow question we could void all the losing predictions so that users get their stakes returned. This would then become the rule if we have another significant outage then we void losing predictions on questions that closed during the outage or very soon after.
On your replies could you state if you had a position on the Dow market.
(Question for Get Satisfaction: Can you make your text box bigger? This is like key hole surgery!)
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Inappropriate?I wasn't wiped out on this question, though I've lost a lot of H$ on this type of prediction.
A colleague of mine (ltmod) was already down from his 1,000 H$ stake, but he was totally wiped out by the space shuttle launch yesterday. He wanted to bail out and salvage something, but could not get through to th HD servers. OTOH, we (my colleague and I) are web developers, and one of the things you learn is that the application can be rock-solid, but the infrastructure might not be there.
Consider all the ways you might be denied access to Hubdub. Your laptop looses it's connection to a wireless network, your cable modem either catches fire or drops the internet, your ISP is hit by lightning, etc, etc, etc.
Pure software development is deterministic, network programming is probablistic. If you are attempting to connect to a remote server, there is no guarantee that it will be on-line.
I’m hoping to connect
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Inappropriate?Somehow, I've noticed that I never run into any problems with the server(even on Monday). People keep complaining in different questions about the leaderboard not being available or questions not being accessible etc. , but I have yet to face a problem with the site(And not because I'm an irregular user...). I wonder why?
I’m lucky
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Inappropriate?I have lost money as well and even though I was quite pissed off the reality is that it is the chance you take when predicting in a volatile market.
To be frank I have seen the system credit me hundreds of dollars more in the milliseconds it took to confirm my cash out confirmation. It cuts both ways.
It will be interesting to see specific API's developed to make "trading" on the DOW question even more exciting.
I’m happy
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Inappropriate?I'm a web developer too! *waving to anaverageamerican*
I think betting for all questions, not just the Dow questions, would go a lot smoother if you merge the functionality of the "How certain are you" page with the main question page.
Place a wage predictor next to each answer that includes an open text box. Players type the desired wage into the text box. Players then click a "Price" button to view the price and possible winnings for their wagers. Then players click an "OK" type of button to confirm the wage.
Changes along these lines won't help you with your server problems (good luck with that), but it will speed up the betting process and could possible cut down on the number of hits to your servers.
I didn't bet on Monday's Dow question.
I’m a geek!
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this is one of the best points
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Inappropriate?"For example, in the Dow question we could void all the losing predictions so that users get their stakes returned. This would then become the rule if we have another significant outage then we void losing predictions on questions that closed during the outage or very soon after."
I think this is a good idea.
It likely would be rarely used ...
I was unable to cash out on the Space Shuttle question. -
Inappropriate?OK, two votes against voiding markets in the event of a server crash and one for. I'll keep this question open a bit longer.
I like the idea of streamlining the prediction process. It is something we will look at in more detail.
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