OMG! What are all these flashing numbers and weird icons?

Started by shmax, May 14, 2011, 10:30:15 PM

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shmax

May 14, 2011, 10:30:15 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
A lot of people have been wondering why we don't use the member collection data we have to flesh-out the appraisal system. Well, it's a great idea, but I've been dreading the work because there was a huge flaw in our data. See, back when I was a younger and happier Shmax (re: dumber), and was first designing the collection tracking system, I was determined to make the "Add to my collection" button be strictly one-click. To that end, I tried to come up with reasonable default values for everything. I thought I was being very clever by defaulting the "Date bought" field to the date that the toy was released on. I figured that most people probably buy a toy roughly when it hits the shelves, and that there would be no problem.

The trouble, of course, is that when we're computing appraisal data, we need to be sure that the "date bought" information is at least reasonably trustworthy. See the problem, yet? Well, let's say you're an uber-collector, and you just bought a sealed g1 "Optimus Prime" for $3000. You go to add it to your collection. You click the "Add button", and the little shiny row appears. You enter the "price paid", but you don't pay any attention to the "date bought", because it's already filled-in with something, in this case "01/01/1985".

So if we were try to create a graph of data during that period, we'd see these crazy spikes of thousands of dollars mixed in with the $12-15 retail data points we would expect.

I decided to finally confront the problem, and I'm afraid a lot of you uber-collectors aren't going to like the solution I came up with  much--I wiped out all "date bought" data for all collection records where the "date bought" exactly matched the release date, and was older than 6 months. Please don't hate me. Before you go running off for torches and pitchforks, be aware that I've made it easy for you to spot the changes, and to fix them. You've probably already noticed the blinking number at the top of the page; this is showing how many items in your collection now have a blanked "date bought" value. Click on the "View Alerts" option in the Membership menu, and you'll see a list of all the items that need your attention.

There are 3 ways to make one of these alerts go away:
  • you can re-set the "date bought" to something (don't be afraid to use the "release date" shortcut, if that was indeed correct) using the calendar widget.
  • if you really don't know when you bought the toy, or you just don't care but are annoyed by the alert, you can click the alert icon, then click "Dismiss Alert".
  • You can do nothing and just wait until August 14th, 2011, when the alert will expire all by itself and fade away.


The good news is that our collection data set is now pure enough to start augmenting the appraisal system with your data. There's still some work to be done on that, but in short it means that as long you enter what you paid for each toy you buy, there will always be at least one data point for the appraisal, which means that the value should be as accurate as possible.
 
Sorry again for this, folks. If you want to blame somebody, blame Shmax of 3 years ago for not thinking ahead, and be glad that the appraisal system is about to go from interesting novelty to razor-sharp tool of inifinite awesomeness.

Wajo357

#1
May 15, 2011, 05:22:03 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Shmax of 3 years ago, I blame 455 notices to you!!!! But I understand your issue...
<a href="http://www.shmax.com/img/sigs/signature.swf?user_id=853" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.shmax.com/img/sigs/signature.swf?user_id=853</a>

HighPrime

#2
May 15, 2011, 05:55:11 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
I'm going to blame Engledogg.  He doesn't get beat up enough, and I'll bet he's mixed up in this somehow ;)

(I have 102 alerts)..not too bad.
<a href="http://www.shmax.com/img/sigs/signature.swf?user_id=1206" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.shmax.com/img/sigs/signature.swf?user_id=1206</a>

Wajo357

#3
May 15, 2011, 07:12:25 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
in opera, when I click the yellow warning symbol, the page just greys out without an actual message appearing...
<a href="http://www.shmax.com/img/sigs/signature.swf?user_id=853" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.shmax.com/img/sigs/signature.swf?user_id=853</a>

engledogg

#4
May 15, 2011, 08:51:19 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Don't blame me, HP - I've got quite a few !s to take care of, myself.  I'm not going to say how many, but it's up there.  :)

MIKE
engledogg
Dumba$$ that used to buy everything...not so much anymore.

spaceharfang

#5
May 15, 2011, 09:02:26 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
A button "I don't know" would be usefull.  I honestly don't remember when I bough all of my collection.

Right now, I can get away with it by saving a date, then saving nothing.

shmax

#6
May 15, 2011, 10:21:17 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Quote from: "spaceharfang"
A button "I don't know" would be usefull. I honestly don't remember when I bough all of my collection
Just click "Dismiss Alert". That will make it go away, and leave the date field blank.

shmax

#7
May 15, 2011, 10:21:57 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Quote from: "Wajo357"
in opera, when I click the yellow warning symbol, the page just greys out without an actual message appearing...
I'll check it out right now...

shmax

#8
May 15, 2011, 10:37:54 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Quote from: "Wajo357"
in opera, when I click the yellow warning symbol, the page just greys out without an actual message appearing..
Fixed! Thanks for the report.

Wajo357

#9
May 15, 2011, 07:08:24 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
another bug? My flashing number on top says 203, but when I go to the page it only has 201 products...
<a href="http://www.shmax.com/img/sigs/signature.swf?user_id=853" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.shmax.com/img/sigs/signature.swf?user_id=853</a>

shmax

#10
May 15, 2011, 07:39:22 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Quote from: "Wajo357"
another bug? My flashing number on top says 203, but when I go to the page it only has 201 products...
The numbers won't necessarily match if you have "multiples" of a toy.

Wajo357

#11
May 16, 2011, 02:18:17 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Quote from: "shmax"
Quote from: "Wajo357"
another bug? My flashing number on top says 203, but when I go to the page it only has 201 products...
The numbers won't necessarily match if you have "multiples" of a toy.
thanks... I figured it out as I was passing out to sleep.
<a href="http://www.shmax.com/img/sigs/signature.swf?user_id=853" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.shmax.com/img/sigs/signature.swf?user_id=853</a>

tusko

#12
May 16, 2011, 06:01:53 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
OH DEAR GOD!
So many angry messages!!

Glad you are re-jigging the pricing system.  As much as its a personal hobby, I'm glad there is commercial merit and any effort to improve the accuracy of these entries should always be the goal.

Good luck to all.
.

shmax

#13
May 16, 2011, 07:37:12 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Since the alerts first appeared, we've cleared more than 2000 flags! Yee-haw, keep 'em coming!

Tripredacus

#14
May 16, 2011, 09:53:03 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Makes me wish I kept track of when I got items now...  :|

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