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TruthWrangler replied on February 21, 2008 00:21 to the question "Help: Rules and common (mis)understandings" in Hubdub:

Category Specific Rules

There is a category specific rule to Politics:

2.3.1 Politics Category
<snip>

* Questions which refer to the number of times a certain person says a certain phrase or word in a specific speech or debate are not allowed unless there is a recognised news organization that has stated it will maintain a count.

Now comes a market question posted in both the politics and entertainment categories:

"How many times will Presidential hopeful Barack Obama be mentioned at the Oscars?"

<http://www.hubdub.com/e/Market/How_ma...>

While this question ought be voided due to inclusion in the Politics category, ought the "rule" be amended to questions in all categories, to avoid the same problem of "accurate counting"?</snip>

TruthWrangler asked a question in Hubdub on February 20, 2008 19:06:

Why was the OJ Simpson Jail Case Settled?

Why was the "Will O.J. Simpson serve prison for the Las Vegas memoribilia case?" settled at all -- and/or why settled as "yes"?

<http://www.hubdub.com/e/Market/Will_O...>

The Settlement Details specify: "O.J. must be sentenced to prison time as part of a guilty verdict or plea deal in the Las Vegas memoribilia case."

Apparently, because he was in jail over a weekend while awaiting a bail-violation hearing, "jail" equals "sentenced to prison time as part of a guilty verdict or plea deal in the Las Vegas memoribilia case."

Simpson was freed and returned to Miami after his bail was doubled from $125,000 to $250,000.

Simpson and two other men are due for trial April 7 on charges including kidnapping and armed robbery stemming from a Sept. 13 confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers in a room at a Las Vegas casino hotel.

More reference info here:
<http://www.usatoday.com/life/televisi...>

TruthWrangler replied on February 20, 2008 16:11 to the problem "Settlement resolution: washington temp" in Hubdub:

Hi Lesley, (or others ;-)

In your view, is Washington, DC both "clearly defined" and listed in NOAA, given that Reagan National Airport is not in the District of Columbia?

TruthWrangler shared an idea in Hubdub on February 20, 2008 15:58:

Suggest "My Predictions" Be Listed Showing "Latest" First

On the "My Predictions" pages, "Settled", "Cashed In" and "Voided" Predictions are displayed with the last "Settled" or "Cashed In" or "Voided Predication" displayed last.

This results in a user having to always scroll to the bottom of the page to check on the latest change (which, depending upon the user's activity, can be many, many screen pages -- albeit a keyboard command can be used to get to the end of a page).

I suggest that "Settled" and "Cashed In" and "Voided Predictions" be displayed with the latest prediction first (at the top of the page).

Ideally, "Open Predictions" would be displayed by "Suspend Date" -- with the prediction closing soonest to be displayed first.

With respect to "My Created Questions", I also suggest that "Open Questions" be listed by "Suspend Date" and "Settled Questions" be listed by "Settled Date" (last Settled question displayed first).

TruthWrangler replied on February 20, 2008 06:45 to the idea "Display Category on Question Page" in Hubdub:

Excellent!

Thanks -- I missed it!

TruthWrangler replied on February 20, 2008 01:38 to the problem "Settlement resolution: washington temp" in Hubdub:

I made up a different question to see how results of 50oF might be answered:

"Will the temperature in Washington, DC on February 19, 2008, break the record high of 50oF set for that date in 1939?"

For this question, a result of 50oF would not break the record (it would tie the record), so the answer would be "no".

If the question asked in the market was "Will the temperature in Washington, DC, REACH 50 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday, 2/19/08?", the result would be "Yes".

(A variant such as "Will the temperature "break into the '50s?", would result in a YES result.)

I also tried using the word "break" in different contexts, such as sports, and others,

In the end, it seems that "50" establishes a "limit" and the metaphorical meaning of the word "break" implies that the limit is crossed and therefore BROKEN.

In my view, the (hair-splitting) correct settlement to the question, as asked, is "No" -- and the settlement was correctly made. (I have no H dollars on this question.)

Of more concern to me is that the Hubdub manager answered the last "Washington, DC, temperature question", <http://www.hubdub.com/e/Market/Will_i...> , yesterday, using "wunderground.com" as the source, when the "Official Rules" state that NOAA (noaa.gov also found at weather.gov) is the definitive source to use in the US.

For the rules to have any value, they need to be used. To be used, they need to be valued.

TruthWrangler replied on February 19, 2008 23:36 to the problem "I am receiving duplicate follow-up emails from the Get Satisfaction forum." in Get Satisfaction:

Thanks, Scott, Cameron and Eric and Eric.

Hmmm ... by one measure, my report is then "user error".

TruthWrangler shared an idea in Hubdub on February 19, 2008 22:25:

Display Category on Question Page

This is a suggestion to display the Category (categories) that a question is in ON the "Question Page" -- to further enhance the information available to the viewer.

Sometimes I stumble upon a question ... and when I want to find others like it, I might look in the "obvious" category ... but don't find even the "original question" :-|

This would, of course, also allow users to see if (especially new) questions are in the category (categories) they ought to be in.

[Having the displayed category linked would be an added plus ;-) ]

TruthWrangler replied on February 19, 2008 22:11 to the problem "Seeking repeal for the 50% penalty." in Hubdub:

Gee ... the question, referenced above, was voided ... with H$70,000 on it.
This was voided after predictions were closed.
No surprise there.

TruthWrangler replied on February 19, 2008 21:37 to the problem "I am receiving duplicate follow-up emails from the Get Satisfaction forum." in Hubdub:

I posted the issue to their board. - Thanks.

TruthWrangler replied on February 19, 2008 21:19 to the problem "Seeking repeal for the 50% penalty." in Hubdub:

Hmmm ... is that why you created a question:
<http://www.hubdub.com/e/Market/Will_H...>

If everyone with a question/dispute created a market question, the board would rapidly go down hill.

@ Nigel Eccles -- I think you (Hubdub) have been wayyyy more than fair on this situation.

TruthWrangler reported a problem in Get Satisfaction on February 19, 2008 21:06:

I am receiving duplicate follow-up emails from the Get Satisfaction forum.

Specifically, the Hubdub forum.

I can forward them to you if you wish (please provide address).

TruthWrangler asked a question in Hubdub on February 19, 2008 20:37:

What address shall I use for bug reports?

They have (necessary) attachments, so posting in this forum won't work (as far as I can see).

TruthWrangler reported a problem in Hubdub on February 19, 2008 20:35:

I am receiving duplicate follow-up emails from the Get Satisfaction forum.

I can forward them to you if you want ... just advise where you want them sent.

TruthWrangler shared an idea in Hubdub on February 19, 2008 19:40:

Display Original "Likelihood Percentages" on Question Page

A suggestion to add to your recent product enhancements on question pages: add a box that displays the beginning likelihood percentages (when the question was created).

The "history" information is usually helpful for the latest changes, but it would be interesting to be able to see where the question "started out".

For new questions, this would provide clear information on potential gaming questions. As it is, one significant bet on a new question can significantly change the displayed percentages, and it's not always clear where the question "began".

TruthWrangler replied on February 19, 2008 19:24 to the discussion "Love the new look" in Hubdub:

I want to add to the accolades on the new features!

Nicely done.

TruthWrangler replied on February 19, 2008 19:18 to the problem "Seeking repeal for the 50% penalty." in Hubdub:

"... if someone else fails to bet on it or if it isn't voided in 12 hours it is a lapse on your side and it isnt my fault ... "

I think that may be an assumption. I know of nothing that states a question that is in existence for more than 12 hours can't be voided for any reason.

For example, here is a question that is more than a day old, with HD 30,000 on it, and less than an hour to suspension, that has NOT yet been voided.

<http://www.hubdub.com/e/Market/Will_L...>

I predict it will be voided.

TruthWrangler started following the idea "Comments Feature" in Hubdub.

TruthWrangler shared an idea in Hubdub on February 18, 2008 21:29:

When questions are suspended (for other than obvious reasons) can a comment be left explaining why?

Obvious reasons for suspension are "suspension time has been reached", etc., however when questions are suspended for other (unknown) reasons, can some form of comment be left as to the nature of the suspension?

This would, I think, improve the user friendliness, and eliminate (perhaps) needless flagging.

[See: <http://www.hubdub.com/e/Market/Will_a...>]

TruthWrangler replied on February 10, 2008 21:25 to the idea "Server outage: How to deal with open predictions?" in Hubdub:

"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.