What's happening with Forum since Pozible Don??

[offshore1]

we recently did a study on the factors that affect a surfers decision to go out or not

I'll give you a million dollars geeup if you nerds can come up with an algorithm that will convince the majority of surfers not to go out . that's science.

[alakaboo]

Yeah geedot, send me the study.
I've done some work in the field of trying to predict coastal recreation and I'm yet to see a credible model come out of it, either qualitative/experience based or data driven, despite some very clever people (i.e. not me) and a lot of time and resources.

I'm strongly opposed to anything that prevents people from having to use their brain but I'm interested in the technical aspects of what you are attempting.

[steve shearer]

I'd like to believe you geeup that you don't have money in mind for this ......I really would. But still nothing rings true about what you've said. At the least you'll harvest the email Addie's and sell them on. And who are these people doing the reports for you? Trusted sources? Volunteers?
To speak bluntly the whole thing has a stink about it.

[crabmeat thompson]

I refuse to believe the worst from geedot, a fellow human with a soul shinning brighter than an emerald in the morning desert sun.

[andy2476]

I'm with Braithy 100% on this one. In every other aspect of Braithwaite's life he is a total nincompoop. On the issue of the authenticity of Geedot's sincerity however he's bang on the money. It could be a sign that he's turning the corner. More proof that the awseome geedot is the best bloody thing around these parts since the glorious Top Ten albums victory. You bastards better not wreck this.

#geeyourthebest #geedot

[Nick Carroll]

Yeah for a number of years now I've been working on some research into why people get up in the morning. But if you think I'm sharing it with you, think again. My methods are secret and I will take them to the grave.

[geedot]

@offshore - that’s not what the study was for. It was to tell us what matters when people make the decision so we can factor that into making the best recommendations. Except when it’s flat across Sydney (e.g. mid last week) we give a recommendation every day so we’re never trying to convince any surfers not to go out.

@alakaboo - have sent you an email through the site. Let me know if you don’t get it.

@steve shearer - Bro, I’ve been as open as possible about all of this. If it works we’ll do something commercial, but it will be a freemium app - i.e. free with some kind of pro upgrade or subscription. Seems to be working OK for the major surf forecasting sites ATM.

But there’s still a lot to go before we get to that including finishing the app version which will let people not have to give us their email or wait every evening for a recommendation. Who knows - maybe it’s just not possible to do what we’re trying to do, in which case we’ll move onto something else.

BTW - Nobody does the “reports” at the moment. They’re automatically generated based on the predicted conditions. That’s the whole experiment of SurfScout. We then have experienced surfers we know from each region we scout confirm they make sense then write up some brief notes which go in the email. Takes them 5-10 mins a night but they’re happy to help for free.

@Braithy @andy2476 - lol.

[crabmeat thompson]

See. Our fellow man all helping each other, pitching in here and there where they can all for a greater cause with no immediate benefit to them. This harkens back to a more purer day, a simpler time, when men treated women with the respect and dignity they deserve. And some of you mongrel, green-hearted bastards here want to take this from geedot?

Shame on all of you.

Long live the Rabbitohs and may they win the 2014 premiership 40 to nil.

[steve shearer]

So what if the conditions the next morning are different to what you have predicted based on whatever generated them?
Automatically generated. Lol. Using what data source?
And how can you accurately send someone to the "right" spot based on their self assessment.
It's customized alright. Customized bullshitt.

[crabmeat thompson]

C'mon open your heart and mind to the possibilities here, Steve. They're endless. You just gotta believe.

[steve shearer]

What? In pre-packaged kook food?

[crabmeat thompson]

Imagine being able to know the point is going to fire 24 hours before it actually does?

Imagine the possibilities of planning a trip to Bribie Island? What a useful tool this could be.

[Nick Carroll]

@geedot I reckon you should do a shopping predictor app

sign up every retailer you can, get them to drop you automatic sale price updates, then offer free texts and emails to the women of Sydney, bam 7pm each evening "you should go to Myer for their new Lisa Ho collection 20% off"

retailer gives you a tiny cut every time someone on your list matches someone who makes a recommended purchase at their store

fcuk this auto personalised surf alert malarkey, like how many surfers do you reckon there are anyway. Im a surfer, there's no way Id sign up to some robot to tell me where I should go surfing tomorrow.

no need to cut me in on it, just send shearer the cheque, he's gonna need it pretty soon when his kids hit the Wonder Years

[geedot]

Well spotted, Steve. That's actually the biggest problem with the "send an email the night before" approach. ATM, If the conditions change, we're wrong. It's that simple. Today we were a little wrong because the increase in swell came through a touch later than expected.

Hopefully that will be fixed with the app, which will allow people to ask for a recommendation much closer to the time they want to go out.

I'd go into detail on how the recommendations (not reports) are automatically generated but I fear the deeper I go into the detail of the tech side, the more I'm going to lose you (if that's even possible). Maybe one day you'll see the app in real life and get it. Maybe not.

Same goes with how we can accurately send someone to the "right" spot based on their self-assessment. Like I said, it seems to be working for a lot of people even if we're not 100% accurate all the time.

Either way, we're going to keep going for now. You're going to doubt it's technically possible and think we're just out to f*ck people over. There are probably more people on this forum that are in the same boat. That's cool. Either we'll be right or you will, only time will tell.

Can we leave it there now?

[Trev]

All very interesting.
It'll either work or it won't. The Realsurf regulars are hardly a genuine cross section of the avarage surfer market out there.
As for harvesting the e-mails, most people use a "special" address for this sort of stuff. Don't they?
And it's not like SS or NC don't make part of their living from the commercialisation of surfing.

Trev ducks for cover.

[BA]

Yeah for a number of years now I've been working on some research into why people get up in the morning. But if you think I'm sharing it with you, think again. My methods are secret and I will take them to the grave.

Is it to take a shit?

[el rancho]

glorious morning shit>pumping waves

[andy2476]

All very interesting.
It'll either work or it won't.

So speaketh the sage