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And I'm off to a flying start this month with 1 Bonus point for daily visit the last 2 days!!!
Chances of being in the top 3 are highly unlikely this month :(
Mellyxo
02 Feb 16 8:18 AM
@Annaar, is that because of facebook? There are so many different competitions out there and lots listed here.......often I find many just by opening my e-mail, (as painful as it is sometimes) or being a member of a blog site which have some great prizes for members. Sometimes as well as this site, Google can be your best friend. Cheer up and don't despair! Often Facebook tends to give away smallish prizes anyway...also check out local newspapers. Facebook is only one part of the picture.
@fourleaf might have to give in & let Facebook use my full name in profile ...
My online friends will UN friend me if I start tagging them lol
Haven't given up yet!! Not entering large prices, only small to medium..
Find that some places only give away to people with Angosexon names
Friend was having a baby & I entered countless baby giveaways & didn't win a thing ... Shame as those things a expensive, especially when it's not immediate family
@fourleaf Great advice. I find facebook competitions odds don't look good as well especially for larger organisations as you got there usual followers plus the comping crowd for a small prize. lol. Usually see 1000+ entries.
Thinking about FB Appliances online I think got a competition going for a washing machine for a guessing competition.
@Annaar
Finding more obscure competitions or ones that require a bit of effort your more likely to have a win.
Reminds me as a kid doing a find as many words using the letters of a given word. I went through the whole Websters Dictionary to win a massive Mothers day cake and photo with the Mayor etc. lol. Also a few hours keeping a hand on a car catching footballs etc to win Grand Final AFL tickets. Doh close got a cap. lol Was fun thou. :)
Yeh Facebook are cracking on the naming policy lately.
I wouldn't think judges for competitions would discriminate deliberately. Might be case judges are of a different age/culture/sex etc etc and have different opinion what they are looking for creative competitions.
@Mellyxo lol. Ok will put up a post what I suspect could of been occurring. Could be wrong, hard to tell after the first day apart from quiet periods. Might as put it out in the open and if correct or a flaw in the daily random points system the @admin might investigate it.
@Annaar No your score was added least by 1:00AM. I noticed it had been updated to 65 daily points. After the system was back. Which was weird as mine had as well and I hadn't specifically logged in. I knew what score I had got Something I need confirm tomorrow as the system issue last night. Definitely you had 15 points added least by 1:00 AM looked like was more towards 12:30AM I recorded it down. Did you visit the site of leave a page open on competitions.com.au. I got 25.
Your profile was the only one I could see that had changed but hadn't done the guessing game when I got back on.
I was hoping maybe the reason for the system being offline was a redo of the first day "random" points or some maintenance or new feature.
When I saw my profile had "extra points" and yours before I logged in officially, I was in hope. I soon realized when I logged in it was showing the points I got for today.
@Annaar Same. I need a win too. lol.
Only problem if I finally do win is finding the email among at least 200 emails coming in at least each day.
For the daily points I just expect at least an equal and fair chance of winning. With the improved odds of ticking off the competitions etc. :) The first day definitely defied probability. Not going to look at till next month if there's an issue. Bit hard to prove or disprove either way from my end. At least the admin might read it and look into it.
I see some sites doing things to help promote themselves and keep interest going. If not designed well or clear terms and conditions, which are followed through with, over zealous members take it to the extreme, abusing the "spirit" of the competition.
See FreeStuff.com over the last few months. They do a "random points hunt" and referral bonus points. It seemed a good idea, however some members took that to the extreme for a free for all. Lucky being in top 100 only gives you a chance only of winning their monthly draw and not being first. Least now they have got all the points required for eternity to enter all member only competitions. Pity I didn't take advantage and score enough to keep me going for a while. I just did enough to make sure in Top 100 for their monthly competition.
People are quick to sense when a system is broken or has weakness. Competitions having bonus referrals often look suspicious. We should all group together help each other with referral chains. Maybe nominate or cycle members to get the referrals. At least improve the odds for those type of competitions from about 1/3000 to under 1/500. Thought of that a few times. I was thinking for @toxicgherkin birthday get him to enter first and use their referral. Only problem I had already entered most I had found. lol.
There's an idea for birthdays to do that. A better chance of winning something :)
@Annaar Well your daily points for today were definitely showing before 1.00 AM. I knew before 1.00 AM what you had scored. The last couple of days I was observing if the 1st day issue was reoccurring. Maybe when you tried to log late its generated your daily score. Bit weird will test visiting my own profile tomorrow before login and see what happens. Thinking about it could be due to trying to log in when the system was offline at least seems the common connection offhand.
@Lemond referral is great, but I'm off facebook, refuse to put up my full name ... security for one, then there is identity theft, bullies ( i was bullied and their response was' block them' ... that aggravates bullies more) ... stalkers. One informed me that he cannot find me on google.. YUP safe to have full name published ... .then my ex might find me, each time I let my guard down he finds me. They are suppose to be protecting women from such encounters .. haven't received an auto response email from them over the last 2 days .... guessing he bot is taking a break LOL
My online friends will wonder who I am if my FULL name goes up. I either know them or know who they are....
still annoyed lol
@Annaar I agree regarding taking precautions about security theft etc. I hope they don't crack down on birthdays. lol.
Sorry to hear that you've had a rough time. :( I guess there's lot more to it with an ex involved. No wonder your cautious regarding personal identity being displayed. If your having an issue of stalking etc looking into a protection order could be worth investigating.
There were a few comments I noticed on that site I posted regarding similar issues with display full names on Facebook. Have you argued your case with Facebook to keep your existing profile name? There might be a way to hide your last name on FB. Google that.
See:
http://thetechrism.com/use-single-name-on-facebook-hide-first-name-trick/
https://www.facebook.com/iFactOfficial/posts/522075221191141 regarding how to hide your last name on Facebook. I haven't read it yet, it might help.
Facebook or even the police can't do much without a protection order in place if another incident occurs.
If you've got an issue of stalking/harassment.
*Record all incidents, date time, description and how it effected you and if police called etc etc.
*Don't respond back to the other person or do anything that might complicate the case and give them an "excuse" for their actions.
If a protection order is taken out then the police can act quickly, if it is breached. Note it works both ways you can into serious legal complications, if you breach your own protection order. They shouldn't be abused for trivial situations then make up etc.
I can understand how it may effect you. The longer it goes on the worse it can effects you and can escalate depending on the person. The easy solution is just trying to ignore the issue try and move on. Depending on the situation it may go away. Still can't hurt to record any unwarranted incidents of harassment/stalking etc.
I've had extensive experience with a harassment/stalker from a neighbor in my previous place who was ex prison, two years back. It escalated from harassment, stalking to violence over a 6 month period. It ended in VCAT hearings to get them evicted and protection orders.
I extensively recorded every incident over that period and didn't respond back in any form to their harassment etc. Like you said "ignoring bullies aggravates them more". A no win scenario, best on keep ignoring them, then stoking the fire. They had no chance when it was proceeding finally to VCAT. In the end they were there own worse enemy as they resorted to violence. This sped up the whole processes and finally brought it to a conclusion excluding hearings. It was a very frightening and traumatic experience, I wouldn't put anyone through it.
At least now all away from that. I think the property manager felt partially responsible ie. They had supplied the person with the hammer for gardening purposes, which they used to attempt hammer down my door! There was a lot more I went through that was the just the icing on the cake. so to speak.
XMas a year ago I was offered a great modern place by the property manager. My best win :) Very close to shots trams etc., quiet, great neighbors I never see, large terrace and it even came with a lot of great stuff left in storage cage, from the previous tenant. Most which I gave to a good friend that helped me move like a dishwasher, pram , child car seat etc. Kept the microwave.
A previous neighbor knew someone with a washing machine throwing out close by and was a renovation and friend had a fridge. Being like Christmas morning and moving hard to find all that at the last moment. Was a sudden offer and move.
So you when you least expect it a win may pop up. Always find the harder I try nothing happens and when I least expect it all happens at once, ike mates dropping by. I swear they have ESP. lol
@Annaar I couldn't see any evidence of scores being added to everyone. . Excluding those that had just logged when the site came back online and had done the guessing game there were a few. If anything members had missed yesterdays points/guessing game. Which what I was troubleshooting with one member at the time. Appolizes @jessiebutcher being late night confused with jessiebutcher88 who had just logged in roughly at the same time. hmmmmm maybe related. :)
@Lemond Sorry to hear about your experience... hope you are feeling better.
My ex gets verbally nasty, if he decides to go looking for me, he cannot find me.. easier then quitting, as blocking will do nothing.
When people don't see eye to eye with you and start searching for you online, it's scary... sadly fb protects them.
They are insisting I use my full name, so that people can find me... Haven't heard from them in 2days.
They are suggesting I block people, like that would help with the un know stalkers LOL
Will wait a few more days and then try searching again... they did same to a journalist in USA, she had a nice rant on a tech blog.
even though companies are using fb, it's not the end of the world if I'll not be... will miss some of my friends and the updates
@Annaar All worked out in the end. You Just struck a nerve talking about stalkers.
My infinite patience got me through it just... Explains why I "enjoy" cricket and computing/programming/problem solving.
Online stalking is just the easy way to try and harass with not much effort. You should really worry if they are going out their way to cause grief.
To let a stalker dictate what you do, means they have won in a way. Not doing what you natural enjoy etc. Other social sites like google+ I don't think have that policy. About being not honest to use your full name etc. It's not like your deceiving anyone to take advantage. Lying/omitting some details can be way of saying politely it's none of your business. I don't find that dishonest.
Maybe try get the Facebook account back and mothball it for a while. What will happen if not resolved they will close the case, and you will have no option to get it back, if you change you mind later.
Good luck for comping.
@Lemond Apologies...
We never know who lurks in Facebook ... Difference of opinion & they start looking you up, then causing trouble if they don't find you.
I was still myself, just with altered name. Some of my fb friends know me. ... Told one Chef that u had problems booking in as I wanted to see him, few days later the restaurant called. Reservations parting words were 'will tell him you are coming in'
Geniuses never consider the fact that phone numbers if listed could be in partners or flat mates names.
Not having an account is not the end of the world!
Haven't heard from then in 4 or 5 days. Account is still open.
It's their way or the highway. Their new rule is 'message pops up, you submit docs, explain' old way was account is locked & you jump through hoops. Somehow I got the old treatment ... Feel so spesh lol
Will miss updates & expending my network of online friends
Good luck compung this month
@Lemond Apparently Google had the 'real' name policy & then dropped it.
Blogs from few journalists on this issue was interesting, both didn't use 'real' names as they didn't want to be harassed
One stuck to her guns, didn't submit anything & list account
One submitted docs, changed name as per their demand & was harassed by freaks
Fb are refusing to see the whole picture, they do cave into bad publicity but just
Last year they were in trouble for blocking native Americans for having unusual names
@Mellyxo
First day there definitely was an issue of 3 clear groups. Before approx 8.30AM (1-10), 8:30AM- approx 6:00pm( 40-50) then 6:00pm onwards only a small sample with no clear pattern. The 6:00PM is rough might of been about hour earlier.
For determining the login for Monday time, I was using the assumption of the first view competition as the approximate login time. Which seems to stand fairly well looking at data. I.e. The first day the points system kicks off when after you view the first competition. After the first day it's only a rough guide but not absolute as lot do the guessing game ASAP then view competitions later in the day etc.
From memory as I didn't record your time. etc on the first day I think I saw 8:29AM when it had recorded your first viewed competition the last of the (1-10) range. The first in the (40-50) range looked to be 8:27AM of 49 when I was determining when the range seemed to clearly change. The reason I recall as it was the only member to overlap and only by a minute or two. The last score using first competition viewed before the change. Thinking about why could of been that overlap my assumption you probably logged in early viewed the competition then reviewed at 8:29. Just tested that assumption looks like what probably occurred for that discrepancy.
Sadly I didn't officially record most of the "early birds" from Monday as they quickly fell off the leader board later. I observed all the "early birds" around 7:30 AM checked their scores and fell into (1-10) thought weird, at least all in the same boat. lol Only when I came back later around 9:00AM and could see a distinct grouping. And later in the day I started doing a detailed record by then most of early ones where dropping like fly's off the leader board to record.
It would of been interesting to get a more detailed analysis for the regular early birds ie before 8:00AM to see if it is a reoccurring distinct pattern. Most of those profiles are members I rarely see on the Leaderboard. I can't make any assumptions based on a couple of samples it could just be random variability and bad luck.
If I was being superstitious around midday has being looking good. lol
If there is "something" weird going on like Monday with a specific score range for a time period it could easily move about. It doesn't have to be on a 24 hour time period and would give the impression things look "random" by moving about or changing the base value of the range of scores. So jumping ship to a different time period you can't make any assumptions.
Some questions in general over a few months about why I see the same members consistently with the higher random daily points. Also the overall distribution of the total daily points at the end of the month, seems skewed consistently above average from observation. Is it within random variability? Is/was there a reoccurring issue? Unsure without a good reliable sample of daily points and log in times. The Admin could do that easily. After Monday definitely questioning the "random" generator.
It shouldn't be an issue with a pseudo-random number generator on the server. There are pseudo-random functions that should do a good enough job in most programming languages. Some technically better then others, it depends what your using it for like medical research or complex simulations. Genuine random numbers you would need an input source such as a particle decay source etc etc. I'm not expecting that. lol
For that It would still be the same for all and be random enough. Seems absurd to question a "random" generator. Most likely using a random function, but somehow the range of values got restricted for a period of time on Monday.
The system was offline Tuesday night so maybe they addressed Mondays issue. Who knows. Who knows......
@Lemond there is another curve ball to the algorithm.... if you've won a guessing game you might not get as many points, giving others a chance to get to 2 guesses a day and win.. just a thought
I've entered 2 comps in 5 days .... lol (set myself a goal to enter 200 per months, last month I was 100 short, so now I need to catch up 100 for Jan and still enter 198 for this month)
@Annaar Sorry was missing notifications for last day or so. Issue with Chrome with not showing the post button and notifications. Think just a browser problem. Probably need to clean up the browser cache or reinstall it. Thought for a bit might of been silenced from posting lol. Switched to IE seems ok.
I wouldn't think so. Doesn't look that way as it hasn't obviously hasn't seemed to affect the Leaderboard over the last few months. Unless a vey recent change. Unlikely hasn't effect some members so not uniform that assumption. On Monday was time dependent. Ie was a distinct time periods for the (1-10) and (40-50) ranges.
I'm guessing quite a few might be avoiding the early period. lol.
Without conclusive proof of a large enough sample after Monday hard to tell. It gets lost that information just looking at the leaderboard. Members log in various times etc etc. I was keeping a rough eye on @Mellyxo score as seems they regularly login about that time. I'm not 100% sure if they had (1-10) every day or missed a daily score. Assuming as very very low total score most likely. After the 2nd day stopped checking it's too time consuming. lol. Easier to check 1st of next month early in the day before the leaderboard fills up.
Apparently a GPS satellite that was put out of commission the last few days caused all sorts of havoc around the world as it effected telcos timing, 13milliseconds out caused all sorts of issues. lol. I wouldn't think it's related to this issue.
@Annaar I got all of those installed and Opera. Nothing worse then trying to enter a competition at the last minute and can't submit the entry due to a web browser issue. Especially if it's a WOL and put some thought into it. lol
I mainly use Chrome. It's starting to play up. Problem is I keep all my competition bookmarks on it so I know what competitions I have entered. Helps if I accidently try to reenter and notice it's already bookmarked as entered. Also quick link for multiple daily entries.
I'm starting to like Facebook tagging easy way to get notified of FB competitions. I might ask for some people to tag as well.
@Annaar lol. If you the bookmarks into folders it makes it easy to remember why. EG I do a Feb 2016 Entered, Feb Gleam (for all those daily/multiple entries etc gleam run type competitions), Feb 2016 Facebook, Feb 2016 WOL (Empty as been slack) lol, Feb 2016 To Enter Later, Feb To Share (Makes it easier if I get around posting to the forum).
A Lot of times I deliberately bookmark more then once if falls in multiple categories. It's Just remembering to enter the competition before it expires or checking up on results.
@Lemond I bookmark a lot of things eg companies I apply for work, opera, restaurants, gardening, geek stuff & the list goes on.
Some help sites end up with many links as different pages are bookmarked ... Need one HUGE tidy up!!
Btw, how did you go with the coffee / Tennis pro comp?