Netflix Prize Update: New Team in First Place (deadline tomorrow)

The Ensemble is actually a meta-team of most of the teams that didn't participate in BPC, and I'm hearing that BPC had lately tried to get some other teams to join, so they were kinda expecting that (but I don't think they will be able to fire back). Bottom line, I think that the most massive open data set out there (next to a competition) has really helped the research to move on, but I don't see the point in 5 or 10 teams joining forces to improve the results for a tiny percentage and win the prize. On the other hand, maybe this is actually the right thing, for all these teams that have struggled for two years to be in the top-15 to receive the prize...

Shouldn't a new result above 10 pct reset the clock with a new one month period ?

One thing's for sure: BellKor's Pragmatic Chaos is going to get shitfaced tonight.

Anyone know why blending seems to work so well?

Wow, the second team will be gutted!

If BPC didnt expect this to happen they deserve to lose. They should have expected a last minute submission and have one for themselves also.

Is there any rolling-extension each time a new top submission arrives -- like in some auctions -- or is the deadline firm at X days after the first +10% entry?