That is cool. As an interesting coincidence, I also participated in the Netflix Prize contest, though I was never a contender. I did learn a lot about efficient

That is cool. As an interesting coincidence, I also participated in the Netflix Prize contest, though I was never a contender. I did learn a lot about efficiently processing large datasets though. Good times. Thinking back on things, by any chance was he "The guy on a team of just him with a crappy laptop that blogged about his submissions and thought process?" If so, I must admit that I do think he started many people (me included) on the right path by introducing how to actually think about and start making progress on the contest.