Category Archives: Information Technology

WordPress is a bit like WikiMedia (the software powering Wikipedia), now.

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Two weeks ago, I was seeking a WordPress way to have multiple authors for a post or a page. I found 2 interesting plugins.

  1. The CO-AUTHORS plugin, which does what it says. One specific post or page can be assigned two or more co-author(s) by the blog editor. Very interesting. (I don&#8217-t get why the plugin developer forbids the co-authors to &#8220-edit&#8221- the post/page, though. Mystery, which I will try to clear up with the software architect of this plugin.)
  2. The ROLE MANAGER plugin (not listed in the official WordPress plugin directory), which changes the standard WordPress matrix of roles and capabilities. It can redefine the capabilities of one category of users (i.e., one &#8220-role&#8221-), and can change the capabilities of one individual, but won&#8217-t assign common capabilities on a post/page-by-post/page basis (unlike the CO-AUTHORS plugin). To put it in another way, the ROLE MANAGER plugin can be used to extend (or restrict) the capabilities of the blog authors. Right now, they can only publish a post, not a page. In this instance, they would be allowed to write and edit pages &#8212-without the need for the blog administrator to promote these authors as full editors (which would be tricky since those multiple editors could then edit their peers&#8217- posts &#8211-not acceptable in a big group blog with 71 blog posters).

Very interesting.

On Midas Oracle, one could have:

  • Authors Mike Giberson and Adam Siegel writing together a post on &#8220-How Great An Exchange Inkling Markets Is&#8220-.
  • Authors Chris Masse, Mike Giberson, David Pennock and Jason Ruspini writing together a page on &#8220-The Ultimate Prediction Market Definition&#8220-.
  • Etc., etc., etc.
  • If plenty of co-authors collaborate on a post/page, then my hope is that Midas Oracle could become more than just a &#8220-blog&#8221-, and be also a vertical encyclopedia on prediction markets. (Of course, participation inequality remains an issue.)

[External Reading: For the life of you, don’t miss this blog post by Tim O’Reilly on Wikipedia.]

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UPDATE: The creator of the CO-AUTHORS plugin writes back to me:

Not allowing all of the co-authors the ability to edit a page is not by design- I just have to do more research on WordPress permissions to find out how to do so, if even it is possible.

I wonder whether using the two plugins together is the solution&#8230-

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UPDATE: My current thought is to give each Midas Oracle author the capability to create, write up and edit his/her own page(s). And then to assign co-authors to some post(s) and page(s), on a case-by-case basis.

Testing the Yahoo! Shortcuts plugin… and thinking aloud about a prediction market plugin.

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UPDATE: I have completely re-written this blog post. I have just found out (at the bottom of a FAQ, which was itself linked from the bottom of a page!) that the Yahoo! Shortcuts only works when the WordPress rich, visual editor is disabled. That explains all. So I am now typing this with the raw editor, and will now make another test of the plugin for WordPress.

Let&#8217-s try it in avant-premiere&#8230- well, that is, before David Pennock installs it on his own blog. Let&#8217-s type some pointless sentences with plenty of keywords in them, to see how the plugin reacts:

  • Google&#8217-s Bo Cowgill&#8217-s one is longer than Yahoo!&#8217-s David Pennock&#8217-s one &#8212-I&#8217-m talking about their experience as administrator of enterprise prediction markets (what were you thinking of, this is a serious blog).
  • One Google stock can buy ten Yahoo! stocks.
  • Google&#8217-s street address in Mountain View, California, Vs. Yahoo!&#8217-s street address.

So as I typed the sentences above, the Yahoo! Shortcuts plugin has found 2 shortcuts. OK. I click on &#8220-Review this post&#8221-. It takes me painfully to another page, where I can accept or refuse the implements. The plugin did embed things under &#8220-Google&#8221- and &#8220-Yahoo! Shortcuts&#8221-. Problem: I have no idea what the hell they have embedded in my text. Let&#8217-s hit the &#8220-Publish&#8221- button to see what it looks like.

UPDATE: Does not work. Nothing appears on the published blog post. :(

APPENDIX: Screen shot #1. – Screen shot #2.

ABOUT A PREDICTION MARKET PLUGIN: It should be simpler than that. I vote against the automatic detection. And I vote against the machine dictating you what should be inserted. What about freedom of choice???? I will go for a manual selection of prediction market charts in a list, and the blogger would select the one(s) he/she wants to insert &#8212-and he/she would mark exactly where to insert it.

Do use Google Reader.

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About feeds:

  • I recommend reading any blog within a Web-based feed reader and I recommend Google Reader.
  • You should be able to scan-read quickly the items within your feed reader &#8212-classify them, tag them, share them, and search them.
  • Read your feed items starting with the oldest items. Google Reader: Click on &#8220-View settings&#8221- and select &#8220-Sort by oldest&#8221-.
  • Create a main folder for your most important items, and set it as your &#8220-start page&#8221-. Put your less important feeds in other folders.
  • Tag the important items that you want to star and share.
  • Share items with people who have good taste.
  • Perform searches in your archived items &#8212-in all of them, by category, by tag, or by feed.
  • Advanced tips on how to use Google Reader.
  • Advanced tips on how to share items with friends within Google Reader.

Please, make WordPress a bit like Wikipedia.

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Folks, here is my proposal to the WordPress developers:

Assign a great number of editors to some specific pages

Right now, if you are an editor in WordPress, you can edit any posts and pages. Hence, the administrator of a big group blog would not have many editors &#8212-because the blog posters would not like the idea that their colleagues can edit their posts.

But it would be great to be able to have a great number of editors for some specific pages. That way, any group blog powered by WordPress would be able to tap in the &#8220-wisdom of crowds&#8221- (see James Surowiecki book by the same name) &#8212-the same way Wikipedia does. For more on Wikipedia, see these two posts.

Collective intelligence (a.k.a. wisdom of crowds) is a mechanism at the heart of Google PageRank, Wikipedia, open-source software, prediction markets, etc. It is very powerful. WordPress could tap into that very easily, by allowing a page-by-page editing role.

The WP admin would set who are the editor(s) of a particular page &#8212-one registered person, two, a bunch of blog authors&#8230- or any internet citizens like in Wikipedia.

Thanks a lot for your attention. Contact me for more info, or leave a comment below.

NEXT: WordPress is a bit like WikiMedia (the software powering Wikipedia), now.

Previous blog posts by Chris F. Masse:

  • The definitive proof that FOR-PROFIT prediction exchanges (like BetFair and InTrade) are the best organizers of socially valuable prediction markets (like those on global warming and climate change).
  • Fairness Doctrine prediction markets
  • 2 MILLION TRADES LATER: Inkling’s play-money prediction markets are accurate —too.
  • Web Forums on Prediction Markets
  • Jason Ruspini will answer SOME of these CFTC questions. — 12 days left, Jason.
  • QUIZZ OF THE DAY: Which blog is the most open minded?
  • Prediction Markets TV — Will the controversial but indispensable Max Keiser (ex-HSX) stay true to his purpose, or will he f*** it up?

Rod, how do you manage to publish math on your blog?

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Rod to me:

The math plug-in is more of a built-in feature:
http://wordpress.com/blog/2007/02/17/math-for-the-masses
http://faq.wordpress.com/2007/02/18/can-i-put-math-or-equations-in-my-posts

I did not install any plug-in. Since last February [2007], WordPress.com allows math typing in Latex. Midas Oracle should allow Latex typesetting without any plug-in. Just try to write $latex LaTeX$ in a post, and see if it works :-)

Midas Oracle runs WordPress.org (as opposed to being web-hosted by WordPress.com). I will have to search for a plugin.

External Link: Using Latex in WordPress – Sounds more complex than just installing a plugin&#8230- I&#8217-m investigating&#8230- Don&#8217-t hold your breath&#8230-

When your annual growth is +444%, youre not a Red Herring anymore.

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YOU&#8217-RE A BLUE WHALE, RATHER.

Blue Whale Comparison

Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) with the vulcano Pico Island, Azores, in the background

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This is from Silicon Alley Insider.

Top 10 Blogs for October 2007 (U.S., Home and Work)

Please view in a fixed-width font such as Courier.+-------------------+----------+----------+-----------------+| Site              |   Oct-06 |   Oct-07 |  Percent Change ||                   | UA (000) | UA (000) |                 |+-------------------+----------+----------+-----------------+| Blogger           |   21,572 |   34,104 |             58% || WordPress.com     |    2,104 |   11,440 |            444% || Six Apart TypePad |    8,813 |   10,601 |             20% || tmz.com           |    7,107 |    7,805 |             10% || LiveJournal       |    3,366 |    4,260 |             27% || Xanga.com         |    4,760 |    2,741 |            -42% || Thatsfit          |     534* |    2,613 |            389% || Gizmodo           |     941* |    2,135 |            127% || Autoblog          |      920 |    1,949 |            112% || StyleDash         |    1,319 |    1,947 |             48% |+—-—-—-—-—-—--+—-—-—--+—-—-—--+—-—-—-—-—-–-+Source: Nielsen Online

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I made the right choice, last year. Midas Oracle is proudly powered by WordPress.org (which is the portable version of this open-source blogging software).

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Previous blog posts by Chris F. Masse:

  • The best research papers on prediction markets
  • 2008 Electoral Map
  • American Enterprise Institute’s Center For Regulatory And Market Studies (Policy Markets)
  • IIF’s SIG on Prediction Markets
  • Science
  • Why did prediction markets do well in the pre-polling era, professor Strumpf?
  • Mozilla FireFox users, do you have trouble downloading academic papers (as PDF files) from SSRN?

Google downgrades the PageRanks of almost all the prediction market websites.

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We have seen two PageRank updates this month (October 2007), and the effect of the second wave is just taking effect this morning.

  • BetFair from 7 to 6
  • InTrade from 6 to 5
  • TradeSports from 6 to 5
  • IEM from 7 to 6
  • SpreadFair from 5 to 4
  • Betdaq is 5
  • MatchBook is 3
  • HSX from 7 to 6
  • NewsFutures from 7 to 6
  • Inkling is 6
  • HedgeStreet is 6
  • PopSci PPX is 7 – [!!???]
  • The Sim Exchange is 5
  • CFM and MO from 6 to 5 – :( – [*]
  • Marginal Revolution from 7 to 6
  • WashPost and Forbes from 7 to 5

PageRank scale: 0&#8211-10

[*] As plenty of SEO experts have commented this week on web forums, this decrease in PageRank has been accompanied by an increase in traffic from Google Search visitors. Go figure. :-D

See in this list if you need some PageRank checkers.

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APPENDIX: The Sentence Of The Day&#8230- :-D

Ironically, in the ultimate democracy that is the Internet, Google reigns as virtual dictator.

UPDATE: An explanation that makes sense to me&#8230-

Also another really interesting and also expected outcome was that due to the progressive expanding of the web, all page rank values require more and more links to be achieved. Now for pr 3 you need more than 2.5k link popularity, pr 4 more than 5 to 20k links and pr 6 &gt- 150k. Note that this is LINK POPULARITY not links only which is relatively the number of actual links since most search engines don’t show the real value.

UPDATE: A third update?

More.

Author Profile&nbsp-Editor and Publisher of Midas Oracle .ORG .NET .COM &#8212- Chris Masse&#8217-s mugshot &#8212- Contact Chris Masse &#8212- Chris Masse&#8217-s LinkedIn profile &#8212- Chris Masse&#8217-s FaceBook profile &#8212- Chris Masse&#8217-s Google profile &#8212- Sophia-Antipolis, France, E.U. Read more from this author&#8230-

Read the previous blog posts by Chris. F. Masse:

  • Comments are now completely open on Midas Oracle.
  • Albert Einstein, Chairman of the Midas Oracle Advisory Board
  • Erratic –but not Stochastic– Charts
  • Barack Obama is the 44th US president.
  • We already have prediction markets in future tax rates. It’s called the municipal bond yield curve.
  • DELEGATES AND SUPERDELEGATES ACCOUNTANCY
  • O’Reilly – Money-Tech Conference