Wait... have you ever learned how to develop a model?
Of course they are spending their time retrofitting their models. It's called "validating" a model.
How do you know your model is correct if you don't calibrate it using past data? Predicting the past is the first step to predicting the future and these guys are just doing their job.
So please stop criticizing, and grab a math book!
Yes, exactly.
And if you are really worried about legal problems, why not ask the orginal developers BEFORE developing the game?
You can mail them saying you'd like to make your game as a tribute to their old game, that you can't afford to pay them any royalties. They may be ok with it. As long as you have an answer, you know what to do.
In my experience, I've been working on an open-source clone of the Magical Drop game (Krystal Drop: http://krystaldrop.sourceforge.net/ ), it was 8 years ago, and I've never had a single complaint.
Hi,
This is my first post on Slashdot but I had to answer this one.
Actually, I'm quite amazed that the guys behind TopCoder manages to run a company on the concept of a permanent competition.
I am myself in the business of "crowd-sourcing" development on the web since 3 years. I cofounded a company named The Coding Machine (http://www.thecodingmachine.com/) and when we founded it, the first model that we thought about was the model applied by TopCoder.
But we went on a different model. The rational behind it is that we wanted to build a community of developers rather than having a "crowd" of developers competing against each other.
Competition is right to a certain point, but having a relationship based on trust with a developer is much more important to me. You cannot expect people to keep competing forever. A constant competition can be fun for some time, but as a developer, I would certainly not do that for a living.
On the other hand, if as a developer, I know a project manager that trusts me because I delivered good work, and that is ready to take me in priority for other developments, I will come back.
Building trust and making a true community is certainly complex, but is in the end much more powerful than crowdsourcing.
So this is what I try to do every day at The Coding Machine. After 3 years, we have a few strong relationships with about twenty developers, but we value them much more than a crowd of a thousand developers.
But anyway, I'll be interested in following TopCoder to see if their business model keeps working after a few years.
Slashdot Mirror
Wait... have you ever learned how to develop a model? Of course they are spending their time retrofitting their models. It's called "validating" a model. How do you know your model is correct if you don't calibrate it using past data? Predicting the past is the first step to predicting the future and these guys are just doing their job. So please stop criticizing, and grab a math book!
Yes, exactly. And if you are really worried about legal problems, why not ask the orginal developers BEFORE developing the game? You can mail them saying you'd like to make your game as a tribute to their old game, that you can't afford to pay them any royalties. They may be ok with it. As long as you have an answer, you know what to do. In my experience, I've been working on an open-source clone of the Magical Drop game (Krystal Drop: http://krystaldrop.sourceforge.net/ ), it was 8 years ago, and I've never had a single complaint.
In other news... The 3-strikes law is definitely adopted in France, after the "Conseil constitutionnel" (an equivalent of the Supreme Court) validated the law:
http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/2009/10/22/01002-20091022ARTFIG00615-le-conseil-constitutionnel-valide-la-loi-hadopi-2-.php (French article)
Two very bad news in the same day. Believe me, sometimes, it sucks to be French....
On the other hand, I can't wait to see if they will ever manage to have the law just working.
I think you missed this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change#IPCC_Fourth_Assessment_Report:_Climate_Change_2007 . Yes, there seems to be a scientific consensus.
Hi,
This is my first post on Slashdot but I had to answer this one.
Actually, I'm quite amazed that the guys behind TopCoder manages to run a company on the concept of a permanent competition. I am myself in the business of "crowd-sourcing" development on the web since 3 years. I cofounded a company named The Coding Machine (http://www.thecodingmachine.com/) and when we founded it, the first model that we thought about was the model applied by TopCoder.
But we went on a different model. The rational behind it is that we wanted to build a community of developers rather than having a "crowd" of developers competing against each other. Competition is right to a certain point, but having a relationship based on trust with a developer is much more important to me. You cannot expect people to keep competing forever. A constant competition can be fun for some time, but as a developer, I would certainly not do that for a living.
On the other hand, if as a developer, I know a project manager that trusts me because I delivered good work, and that is ready to take me in priority for other developments, I will come back. Building trust and making a true community is certainly complex, but is in the end much more powerful than crowdsourcing.
So this is what I try to do every day at The Coding Machine. After 3 years, we have a few strong relationships with about twenty developers, but we value them much more than a crowd of a thousand developers.
But anyway, I'll be interested in following TopCoder to see if their business model keeps working after a few years.