[PLUG-TALK] Looking for beta testers for a community-driven predictive modeling site

[Rogan Creswick]

We just released a limited beta of a community-driven predictive
modeling tool (built with GWT on Tomcat/Apache).  If any of you are
interested in helping us test, we welcome the feedback -- the official
invitation is below.  (Disclaimer: Building this has been my day job
for a while, and the source isn't open, at least not yet.  I'm
announcing it here because the technologies in use, and the goal of
the project seem of interest to the plug community.)

Thanks,
Rogan


The official invitation:


Dear Friends and Colleagues,

My company is releasing its first "beta" of our new web-based
application called FutureFusion. It is a tool that builds "predictive
information models" by combining input from groups of contributors.
(Think wikipedia or Yahoo! Answers with a predictive twist).  I would
like to invite you to contribute to our application, which is still in
development so your feedback is very much appreciated.

The basic idea of FutureFusion is that users submit "predictions" as
well as the "influences" on these predictions. For example, a prediction
could be "Clinton wins the 2008 presidential election" and an influence
on that prediction could be "Clinton raises most money of any candidate
in US history" (which is also a prediction). Users also provide feedback
on the likelihood of these predictions, as well as the strength of the
influences. For example, raising lots of money probably increases the
likelihood that Clinton will win. A prediction can also be a current or
past event or simply a fact. Over time, these predictions and their
influences combine to build larger models that represent possible futures.

FutureFusion is located at:
http://www.future-fusion.com/

Some additional comments before you begin:
*  We have three different "domains" that you can choose from, all based
on current topics. These domains are designed to encourage interaction
and "discussion" and most importantly, to have fun with.
*  A dialog box will come up asking you to accept a security certificate
to continue. This is because we have made the tool secure. You can
either select the option to accept the certificate permanently or
temporarily.
*  You can browse the system and existing models without logging,
however all the knowledge comes from user contribution so if you don't
contribute, there will be nothing to browse!
*  If you would like to contribute (please do!) you currently must
create a separate login account for each domain you contribute to.
*  Since this is a beta, we are encouraging you to use the Firefox
browser. You can try Internet Explorer or other browsers but
FutureFusion does not run as well on them.
*  If you get stuck try the 'Help' link at the top or feel free to email
me.
*  If you have time to provide feedback, I have included a few questions
below. Please send your responses back to me at
kgreene at stottlerhenke.com. There is also a feedback link in the
application if you'd like to be more anonymous.

Questions:

1. Did you have any issues or problems that prevented you from using
FutureFusion? If so, please describe the problem and browser that you
were using.

2. Did you find FutureFusion to be responsive?

3. Rate FutureFusion's intuitiveness (i.e. how easy it was to use the
interface) on a scale of 1..10:

4. In a few words, please describe what you think FutureFusion is trying
to accomplish?

5.  Did you find Future-fusion.com entertaining and/or informative?

6. Are there any features you particularly liked about FutureFusion?

7. Are there any features you think are missing from FutureFusion?