a little discouraged
Mood: tentative
Posted on 2006-10-21 13:32:00
Tags: netflixprize
Words: 169

Since my last jubilant entry I've fallen off of the leaderboard, and the highest RMSE on the leaderboard is .9668 as of right now, which means getting on has become pretty difficult. My latest attempt at user correlations is still running (it's a lot slower to predict ratings because it has to load a file for every prediction) and it doesn't look like the RMSE is going to be very good (1.035 and it's a little less than halfway done).

I have a few tweaks and one more big idea to try, but they're going to take time, and more time means harder to make it on the leaderboard. Still gonna take a shot at it, but I guess I'm less optimistic than I was before. Oh well.

On a random note, I was just at the gym, and a woman two down from me had the TV on to a cooking show. Granted, it seemed like it was vaguely healthy cooking, but it still seems a little self-defeating :-)

5 comments

Comment from krikwennavd:
2006-10-21T12:49:02+00:00
Best of luck! Looks like some folks are really getting at it.

I like the idea of watching a cooking show while exercising. After all, you burn off lots of calories during a workout, right? So you need to replenish the supply so your body has something to work with tomorrow when you do your next workout! Watching a cooking show simply gets you in the mood to do it in a moderately healthy fashion, rather than hitting Taco Bell on the way home. Still, it's really tough to watch a TV show when you're out on a bike in the middle of nowhere. :)

Comment from gregstoll:
2006-10-24T07:57:29+00:00
Yeah, I'm pretty impressed that the community has gotten so much better results so quickly.

Hmm, I guess that's true. I see my days as a constant struggle against the temptation of delicious food, and I don't burn enough calories during my workouts to earn lots more of it, so that wouldn't work for me I think. :-)

Comment from krikwennavd:
2006-10-24T09:41:01+00:00
Out of curiosity, how many days a week are you doing some sort of workout? How long, and what kind of intensity?(Can you keep track of calories burned, that sort of thing?)

Comment from gregstoll:
2006-10-24T12:43:23+00:00
So I'm trying to make it down to the gym every other day. I do around 30 minutes and usually burn around 200-250 calories. It's moderately intense, and I've been stepping up the speed some. (been doing the treadmill mostly)

On the other days, I try to lift some free weights in the apartment, but it's pretty sporadic as I do it when I'm waiting for things to happen in WoW, usually.

Comment from krikwennavd:
2006-10-24T12:53:17+00:00
Ok, 30 minute workouts don't need much additional fuel, that's true. When you start looking at an hour's effort, make sure to compensate, though. Otherwise you will certainly feel the lack of muscle fuel the next day. Just make sure you continue to do it healthfully. :)

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