Slashdot Mirror
Tech Companies Draw on 'Wisdom of the Crowds'
An anonymous reader writes "News.com is carrying an article on a 'mini-conference' held at Yahoo's HQ this past Wednesday. The get-together put representatives from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, and HP together to talk about their experiments with predictive networks. The 'wisdom of the crowds' allows these companies to make use of the collective knowledge their employees hold to answer important questions for the company." From the article: "David Pennock, a principal research scientist at Yahoo Research, said the company has created a currency called a Yootle. It's described as a 'scorekeeping system for favors owed.' Pennock offered as an example a programmer offering to write a piece of code for a few Yootles. Or, when organizing a dinner outing, one employee could use an internal SMS tool to bid 2 Yootles for Italian and 4 Yootles for Mexican. 'If you don't get to go to the restaurant you want to, you get compensation' in Yootles, he said. Related to Yootles is Yahoo Research's experiment with a fantasy prediction market for technology called the Tech Buzz Game. It's a modified version of software licensed from NewsFutures in conjunction with O'Reilly Media and features topics like Atlantic hurricanes and portable media devices. Winners are those who predict how popular a topic will be on Yahoo Search. "
For an example of the wisdom of the masses, just look here. If that doesn't convince you, I do not know what will.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Who came up with that name, My Cousin Vinny? "Two yoots..."
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
I think Yootle is a stupid name for a unit of fake currency. How about... hmm... hey I know, "Flooz"! No wait, even better, "Beanz"!
"Don't belong. Never join. Think for yourself. Peace." V.Stone, Microsoft Corporation
that yahoo is going down the shitter at top speed. Get out now before you pay check comes in yootels (or whatever) rather than dollars!
I prefer the system we use at my office: We stand around coming up with suggestions for 30 minutes. Invariably, every restaurant suggested is shot down by some other member of the group ("I'm not really in the mood for Chinese today..."). Eventually, we all sort of migrate out the door, get into someone's car, and magically end up at a restaurant no one can even remember suggesting, and we eat there.
Maybe they should learn Yiddish to find more colorful words?
Obligatory demotivator reference: "None of us is as dumb as all of us" http://despair.com/meetings.html
"Or, when organizing a dinner outing, one employee could use an internal SMS tool to bid 2 Yootles for Italian and 4 Yootles for Mexican. 'If you don't get to go to the restaurant you want to, you get compensation' in Yootles"
Alex I'll take "most retarded use of the Internet for $1000".
It's amazing poeple could go out to lunch harmoniously for decades prior to this stunning reveleation.
No wonder Yahoo is not relevant these days.
Need Mercedes parts ?
Hell yeah. That's what I got going on, too. Well, if you change wife to Mom.
There are many tongues to talk, and but few heads to think. -Victor Hugo
Whenever I hear the phrase, "Wisdom of Crowds," I think of lemmings.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
"Well, if you change wife to Mom." Good thing too, because the other way around is illegal.
But Yogi was always taking pic-a-nic baskets!