teampragmatictheory

posts about #teampragmatictheory more →
Nerds Beat Netflix's Recommendation System, Qualify for $1 Million Prize

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/27/09

In reply to Nerds Beat Netflix's Recommendation System, Qualify for $1 Million Prize
IIRC, according to a Science Friday from last year, a team had come close with 9.5%, and they got $50,000. So 1%=$950,000. I wonder if the prize committee will reveal their SAT scores.
Reply

Jesus Diaz's Secret Male Lover
06/27/09

In reply to Nerds Beat Netflix's Recommendation System, Qualify for $1 Million Prize
I read about this is Wired... a long time ago. I was wondering how long it would take. That's awesome.

Is the million taxable?
Reply

OMG! Ponies!
06/27/09

@Bill Nye's Secret Male Lover: Yes the prize money is taxable. All prize money is taxable. When you win the Nobel prize, your winnings are taxed.

Rule 1 of the tax code: All income, unless otherwise excepted, is income.
Reply

OMG! Ponies! was starred OMG! Ponies! was unstarred

Crim Law Geek
06/27/09

@OMG! Ponies!:

The money is taxable, but since it is presumably being split a certain number of times (let's say there's 10 team members), the tax raping won't be all _that_ bad. Also, if I win $1 million and Uncle Sam takes $500K, I'm still up $500K, which I do believe still counts as a "win".
Reply

Crim Law Geek was starred Crim Law Geek was unstarred

OMG! Ponies!
06/27/09

@Crim Law Geek: It gets taxed at the rate for prize winnings regardless if it's a million dollar payout or a thousand dollar payout.

The government doesn't take a cut out of the prize and then let everyone divvy what remains. Rather, it's paid out the people and then paid at tax time by the individuals. Additionally, their respective States and localities may further tax it. And hopefully, they wrote down the split method or some of it will go to lawyers.

However, you are correct that it's better to be paid money even if some of it then goes to taxes.
Reply

OMG! Ponies! was starred OMG! Ponies! was unstarred

housewarmer
06/28/09

@OMG! Ponies!: There's at least one exception - some legal settlements aren't taxable. The settlement has to be due to physical injury or illness, but a little creative structuring can fit almost anything into those categories.
Reply

housewarmer was starred housewarmer was unstarred

OMG! Ponies!
06/28/09

@housewarmer: Personal injury awards aren't "prize winnings". It's not an exception because it's classified as something else. It's also why settlement is sometimes preferable to verdict. Awards for lost earnings are taxable (as income) while settlements, which typically do not break out the earnings, remain largely exempt.
Reply

OMG! Ponies! was starred OMG! Ponies! was unstarred

alikaz
06/27/09

In reply to Nerds Beat Netflix's Recommendation System, Qualify for $1 Million Prize
algorithm to do what?
Reply

alikaz was starred alikaz was unstarred

Heliophage
06/27/09

@alikaz:

"Two front runners in the contest, Team Pragmatic Theory and Team Bellkor in Chaos, joined forces and submitted an algorithm that was 10.05 percent better than the one Netflix uses to recommend movies to its subscribers."
Reply

Heliophage was starred Heliophage was unstarred

Heliophage
06/27/09

@Heliophage:

Also, it's in the title.
Reply

Heliophage was starred Heliophage was unstarred

Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion

#teampragmatictheory

Gizmodo

Gizmodo Team

Nerds Beat Netflix's Recommendation System, Qualify for $1 Million Prize

#teampragmatictheory

Gizmodo

Gizmodo Team

SUBSCRIBE TO Gizmodo

Nerds Beat Netflix's Recommendation System, Qualify for $1 Million Prize

Login

Reset Password

Register

Submit Your Comment