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Netflix Prize Competitor Already Beats Netflix

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the no-really-drop-dead-gorgeous-is-funny dept.

Baldrson writes "Within the first week of the announcement of The Netflix Prize a team has already beaten Netflix's own movie recommendation algorithm. This is pretty impressive given the previously quoted researcher who said: 'You're competing with 15 years of really smart people banging away at the problem.' The team is WXYZConsulting.com apparently registered by a data mining professor named Yi Zhang. Congratulations are in order for Netflix and Prof. Zhang's team who are demonstrating, yet again, the power of prizes to accelerate progress."

12 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Upon further consideration... by scoser · · Score: 4, Funny

    the power of prizes to accelerate progress

    Hmm...In that case, I'm offering $1000 USD to the person or group that can find me the perfect girlfriend!

    1. Re:Upon further consideration... by heinousjay · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So your advice is to be somebody else entirely in an attempt to please someone? That's the foundation of a healthy relationship if I ever saw one.

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      Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
  2. Assuming this isn't a hoax... by UbuntuDupe · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think this demonstrates how important "many eyeballs" are in problem solving. Intelligent people "who have been attacking the problem for 15 years" can still fail to see an "obvious" solution. I shudder at how many scientific fields probably have obvious solutions that aren't being found because only a small cadre of people have been exposed to the problem. I also shudder at people who artificially set up barriers to understanding their own fields, in order to protect their own egos. The attitude of "journal articles need to be cryptic or they must not be important" needs to go.

    --
    Apology to Ubuntu forum.
  3. banned in Quebec by welcher · · Score: 5, Funny

    Looking in the competition rules, I was surpised to see that:

    Residents of the province of Quebec in Canada are ineligible to participate. Residents of Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Sudan are also ineligible to participate.

    Is Quebec the next target for regime change?

    1. Re:banned in Quebec by NewbieV · · Score: 5, Informative

      From the FAQ: "Most of those countries appear are on the U.S. Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control's list of embargoed counties for which we cannot provide economic assistance. If this list changes, we'll post a change to the rules and let you know. Quebec has other reasons." Here's why Quebec is on the list.

      --


      "For every right, an equal responsibility..."
  4. Umm... Duh by Gr8Apes · · Score: 4, Informative

    Quite a few teams have beaten the Cinematch engine, but not by the required 10% for the prize. The submission is in error. They also haven't won the 1% Progress prize yet, but they're very very close.

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    The cesspool just got a check and balance.
  5. to note -- by aleksiel · · Score: 4, Informative

    although yes they have "beatten netflix", they haven't won the prize yet.
    they have about a 1% improvement on the netflix algorithm, but the prize is for 10%. they are the frontrunner for the progress prize, though, being the people who are the closest to the mark after a year (i think).

    on top of that, netflix has been doing improvements on their own code in the meantime, and its been looking like around a 1% improvement, also.

  6. IMDB by British · · Score: 5, Funny

    IMDB's recommendation system for movies is so bad it's funny in it's own right. You could look up a science fiction movie, and it would recommend a head cleaner cassette for a Betamax VCR.

  7. Congratulations by Mignon · · Score: 4, Funny
    Congratulations on your solution to the Netflix problem. You might also find the following problem(s) interesting:
  8. Just another proof that IT depts aren't that smart by haggie · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've been selling technology for almost two decades and one thing that I see over and over is that internal IT departments either a.) vastly overestimate their abilities b.) prevent introduction of outside techology providers for political reasons or c.) both. There are several companies where the CIO told me "oh, we're already building that in-house. it will be live next quarter" and years later they still have not successfully implemented that technology. Kudos to Netflix for acknowledging that somebody outside their company might be able to do it better. At most companies, the CIO would have never let this happen and/or the CEO wouldn't have the business sense to challenge internal assumptions.

  9. If you follow his advice... by itistoday · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...you might just win yourself a relationship so 'special' that 90% of all couples in America share. You'll buy her jewelry and allow her to spend your money on frivolous trifles, and she in turn will allow you to stick your penis in her vagina. When all else fails, resort to mediocrity!

    --
    Best. Webhost. Ever. Dreamhost.
  10. Re:It's not called Prizes. It's Patronage. by dangermouse · · Score: 4, Informative
    An AC already pointed this out, but I'm without mod points: This is not patronage. A patron supports the worker until the work is completed. These people are supporting themselves while they do the work, and collecting payment only if and when the work is done to the payer's satisfaction.

    It's a pretty clear distinction. This is a prize.