| What does DialIdol do?
DialIdol uses your modem to speed dial votes for your favorite Idols - but it does so much more...
DialIdol measures the busy signal to determine which Idols are getting the most votes - based on the results it can automatically direct your votes to one of your favorite Idols - but not necessarily your favorite.
DialIdol assumes that because one Idols phone line is busier than another's that they are getting more votes. As a result we predict who will be voted off every week.
What does measuring the busy signal mean?
Every time DialIdol makes a phone call it records whether a busy signal was detected. If a busy signal was not detected it's assumed to be a vote. Your results are then submitted back to DialIdol.com's servers which total up everyone's results. The more people that use DialIdol the more data we have to determine who America is voting for and that means we can measure the busy signal and predict who is winning and who is losing.
So who should I vote for?
If you're like me you have more than one favorite - wouldn't it be nice to vote for the Idol in the most danger of getting voted off? That's exactly what DialIdol attempts to do.
In season four my favorite Idols were obviously Bo & Carrie - but I also liked Lindsey Cardinale - so who did I vote for? I didn't - I wrote DialIdol. DialIdol measures the busy signal and finds that while everyone else was busy voting for Bo & Carrie - I got to vote for Lindsey with the peace of mind that Bo & Carrie would be safe too.
Note: I did not finish DialIdol in time to save Lindsey!
What does "Make the following Idols safe/UNsafe" mean?
This dialing option measures the busy signal and based on your selections picks the Idol who needs the most votes and votes for them.
Last season I liked Bo, Carrie & Lindsey. If I selected all three of them and choose the option to make them safe it would have voted for Lindsey until enough votes were cast for her to put Bo or Carrie in third place.
If however I choose to make Bo, Carrie & Lindsey UNsafe, if would have voted for the non-selected Idol who needed the votes most.
With this mode DialIdol recalculates who to vote for after each call.
What are DialIdol's requirements?
You must run Windows ME/2000/XP/2003, have the .NET framework v1.1+ installed and be running Internet Explorer v5.5+.
You must have an Internet connection, preferably one not using the modem or phone line you are using to dial. (DSL, cable, etc. are awesome!).
You must also have a phone modem connected to an available phone line. Phone modems are NOT cable/DSL modems.
You can use the phone modem that connects you to the Internet if you are on dialup. (See how below.)
It's strongly encouraged that your modem be capable of detecting a busy signal. If it can - your data will be doubly valuable as it will help to figure out who needs the most votes. If your modem cannot detect a busy signal - it can still be used but the data you generate won't count.
Where do I enter the Idol phone numbers?
You don't - I do. We all dial the same phone numbers - why should we all have to enter that information?
What's the big deal with busy signals?
Some modems can't detect busy signals. These modems can be used to speed dial and vote for your favorite Idols but the data they generate is rubbish. Therefore DialIdol's central database on the Internet only accepts data that from modems that can prove they can detect a busy signal.
You may receive the following message in the status bar in support of this:
Busy signal NOT detected yet so scores WON'T be submitted to Internet
How accurate are the predictions?
That depends on the number of people running DialIdol. With minimal data during the last 6 votes of season 4 DialIdol was about 65% accurate including predicting who would win. With extensive data ... well we'll see!
It is worth noting that there are a lot of factors working against DialIdol being very accurate. The following circumstances exist that will result in inaccurate results.
When an operator says "all circuits are busy" - this counts as a vote.
If someone picks up the phone while you are dialing and the call does not complete - this counts as a vote.
DialIdol does not take any text message votes into account.
However with a large calling base these factors should become moot points.
Nevertheless, these predictions are not scientific. Use these predictions at your own risk. I wouldn't bet on the predictions.
DialIdol is not technically predicting the results. DialIdol measures the busy signal to see if it is a fair representation of whether an Idol will get the boot or not. Therefore DialIdol is measuring the busy signal - not the results.
How come I get an error when I run DialIdol from a network share?
.NET security doesn't allow certain functions to take part on programs launched from network shares. As a workaround should install the files on a local disk.
How come it says the Internet isn't accepting data right now?
DialIdol asks it's Internet web site what times it will accept data and what times it won't accept data. Your stats won't be entered into the central database if DialIdol tells you that data isn't being accepted right now. This is done for many reasons all of which relate to ensuring a high degree of statistical continuity.
Are there Linux or MAC ports available?
Not at this time. If you are interested in developing a port to another OS just let me know and we can get it done.
My modem doesn't properly hang up the phone resulting in mangled dialing and invalid data submission - what's up with that?
Try bumping the time to wait between calls up in the config screen - one second seems to do the trick.
Can you explain how these scores are calculated?
Please see this link.
Sometimes I get operator errors and those calls are cast as votes! That ain't right?!?!
True that! ...but there's nothing I can do about it so deal with it!
How do I use DialIdol with a high speed DSL/cable/etc. connection?
That's pretty simple, assuming your system meets the requirements just launch the DialIdol software application.
Note that DialIdol will use your high speed Internet connection to communicate your results to DialIdol. DialIdol cannot use your cable or DSL modem to dial & vote. To dial & vote you must also have a phone modem!
How do I use DialIdol with the same modem that connects me to the Internet?
Connect to the Internet
Launch the DialIdol software application (not the web site).
Leave the DialIdol application open - do not close DialIdol until the very last step!
Disconnect the modem from the Internet.
Speed dial your Idols to the next round with DialIdol.
Periodically (say every 15 minutes)
Stop dialing by clicking Cancel.
Connect to the Internet again.
In DialIdol click DialIdol on the menu bar then choose Synchoronize w/DialIdol.com.
Confirm the "Internet Contacted Successfully" message in the status bar.
Continue with step #4.
When you are done dialing please make sure you Synchronize w/DialIdol.com before quitting altogether - your data helps everyone make sure their Idols get through to the next round! (You will need to reconnect to the Internet to synch one last time.)
You may need to disable auto dialing a connection in Internet Explorer so you are not prompted to connect to the Internet while dialing your Idols in DialIdol.
Why do I got an "unhandled exception" error message when I start DialIdol on Windows 2000?
DialIdol requires Internet Explorer v6 or higher. This error is known to occur with Internet Explorer v5. Upgrading Internet Explorer should fix the issue. You may be able to use DialIdol without upgrading but this is not recommended.
When I execute the DialIdol EXE I downloaded another applications installation begins?
DialIdol used to be distributed as a self extracting EXE file. The self extractor acted funny and launched other installations. For this reason I only distribute the MSI file which never had this problem.
Why aren't scores being submitted even though it is a valid time window?
DialIdol requires the time zone on your computer to match the time zone you are in. To change your time zone double click on the clock in the taskbar, change to the time zone tab and make sure your computer is configure to match the time zone you are in.
What is a "margin of error"?
It is not reasonable to expect DialIdol to be 100% accurate when two Idols are separated by only a few percentage points. The primary reason DialIdol declares a margin of error is to "levelset" that the results are actually too close for DialIdol to have any real confidence that the "measure of the busy signal" is even right. If the measure of the busy signal isn't even right - then there is no way this measure can reflect who gets voted off.
All polls/surveys have margins of error and DialIdol is no different. A margin of error loosely reflects the confidence of the accuracy of the data. At DialIdol it means that if the percentage points separating two or more Idols is within the margin of error then the ranking order might not be accurate for the contestants in that margin.
Just because DialIdol declares a margin of error does not mean that DialIdol guarantees' the accuracy of the results. In fact DialIdol will never guarantee the accuracy of the results and if you'd like to know the results - watch the results show.
Prior to week 10 of season 5 the MOE was just decided on. Starting with week 10 of season 5 MOE follows this calculation which is the actual calculation for MOE = 2.58 * sqr(((p)*(1-p))/n) where p = each Idols DialIdol score (percent) and n = the actual score for each Idol. 2.58 is used for polls with a 99% confidence which is what DI is using.
Is DialIdol scientific?
No, no way, no how and because DialIdol is not scientific it's results are for entertainment purposes only!
DialIdol's predictions are based on measures of the busy signal, not actual votes. There are known problems with measuring the busy signal.
If you want to know who is going to get voted off the only way to know for sure is by watching the results show.
Scientific polls go so much further beyond what DialIdol is capable of it's not even funny. Scientific polls would measure text message votes. Scientific polls would consider some/all of the following different things: geography, age, sex, weight, population, race, financial position, etc. A scientific poll would only include specific results from a small pool of people that represented the larger pool of people voting - DialIdol includes everything.
Why does Norton say DialIdol is malicious?
The method that I used to delete the registry values that DialIdol creates (in HKCU\Software\DialIdol) is associated with scripting. Norton detects this as malicous.
v2.1+ fix this.
For whatever it is worth to you - DialIdol is not and never has been malicious. I swear. Please make sure you download it from http://www.dialidol.com though so no one else tampers with the code.
Why can I do about the message "modem not responding to AT commands"?
This is the most common problem experienced with DialIdol. At this time there are two primary suggestions that can fix a lot of circumstances but do not fix all instances of this problem.
Turn off all fax software, answering machine software, caller ID detection software and any other software that may use or attempt to use the modem on your computer.
Increase the "*ADVANCED* Time (in milliseconds) to wait for modem response" option from 100 to up to 1000 milliseconds (1 second). Also, make sure you save your settings.
This problem continues to be researched. | |
