BBOFlash Comments Thread - Rlse 5

[Bridgebum_]

I've tried opening the stock convention cards. First, i get a message that it

cannot be displayed, then its downloaded in a format I can't read. If

I make one up, I can open it and read it.

[uday]

from partners point of view, you are not registered and tourneys starts without them.

 

Tony Stack: Do you remember who partner was, when this happened, and who the tourney host was ?

[fred]

I've tried opening the stock convention cards. First, i get a message that it

cannot be displayed, then its downloaded in a format I can't read. If

I make one up, I can open it and read it.

There are 2 types of convention cards available in BBOWin.

 

BBOFlash introduces a 3rd type of convention card.

 

One of the types of BBOWin convention cards can only be displayed using a Windows program (named bidedit) that is part of the BBOWin installation. If you try to look at one of these convention cards using BBOFlash, the software tries to invoke bidedit in order to display the card in question.

 

At this particular point in time most (all?) of the stock convention cards that you can access in BBOFlash are in this format. The time will come in which we create some stock convention cards in the new format that BBOFlash supports.

 

Sorry we have not done this yet and that the whole area of convention cards is so confusing on BBO. The only reason we keep introducing new types of convention cards is because the old types contained serious flaws (my fault). Hopefully we finally got things right (or at least right enough) in our 3rd attempt...

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Base Inc.

www.bridgebase.com

[paulg]

Couple of minor observations:

1. Watching a jec match yesterday, a number of kibitzer messages were marked as '-> table' rather than '-> kibitzers'. According to a BBOwin user all these messages were to the kibitzers so they are being marked incorrectly.
   
2. I tried to create an invisible table in the main club. I presume this failed as people tried to join the table - when looking at the table options invisible was unchecked and I was unable to check it and hold the value.
   

Paul

[tony stack]

from partners point of view, you are not registered and tourneys starts without them.

 

Tony Stack: Do you remember who partner was, when this happened, and who the tourney host was ?

Tourney was Lion and Lamb, Partner was catalin1, Tourney host was Annc8, and when logged out of tony stack via network problem (in bbo flash) and logged back in, it still said I was registered to play in tourney with catalin1, but had "register to play" button displaying, and couldnt do anything with it. When tourney started, our partnership didn't enter tourney and no message like , player busy in tourney, or registration withdrawn came to my account.

[heyrocky]

Fred,

 

I encountered an odd little bug this morning.

 

I'm running BBO FLASH on a Mac running OS X 10.4.11 through Firefox 2.0.0.13, using Flash 9,0,115,0 (forgot to install the new version of Flash yesterday on the Mac). I logged in about 1000 GMT and signed up for an individual tourney (BBO LAND #1643) that started a few minutes hence. The tourney started, and I was brought to a table (the brown window), but my hand was not there. Other BBO FLASH buttons were still working, but my tourney was not visible. So I logged off, logged back on, was brought to my tourney, and could see my hand.

 

Having said that, I've been a BBO WIN user since the beginning, and find there's a lot to like about this new version. The amount of information available through BBO FLASH regarding one's prior play is staggering, and being able to play without invoking virtual windows on the Mac (or other non-Windows operating systems) is much more convenient. The one feature in BBO WIN that I miss is being able to see the players at other tables of a tournament or team match when I am at a specific table, but I'll happily trade that for the other information enabled by BBO FLASH. Thanks!

 

- Rich

[fred]

Thanks Rich. I am glad you like BBOFlash.

 

Sorry about the bug. I have fixed this, but the fix won't go into effect until I release a new beta. Most likely this will happen within the next few days.

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Base Inc.

www.bridgebase.com

[uqx]

I'm afraid that the BBO Flash window seems to be pretty much unusable now from Ubuntu 7.10 in Firefox. It used to work perfectly but not any more.

Maybe I've missed a bug comment somewhere but I get logged out on average every 20 seconds or so with error #2031

:-(

[uday]

re: ubuntu

try to get the latest version of flash. that rates to fix it.

 

that was too hasty

 

http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/about/

 

will tell you what version you are running. I did see that back leveled versions of flash tended to drop conns with similar regularity on my ubuntu and when i managed to upgrade the flash engine, the probs went away.

[onoway]

I don't understand why the version I see when I try to log into it is entirely different from the one that has the introductory video'. The video one looked infinitely better than the one I get...I wanted to go back and see if it was possible to see who is kibbing at various tables, as I often use that as a guideline. For example I generally check out who is doing the commentating on vugraph and choose which table I want to watch on that basis.Will it still be possible to do this?

And why doesn't the same format come up when I try to go there?

 

At first glance, the new one seems MUCH nicer than the interim one was, I might even give it a try for fun, although I am very happy with the classic view and find it very user friendly. One thing I liked about the interim version was the ability to see profiles of people not online. It was most helpful to have some sort of guideline when trying to set up teams for matches out of a bunch of single players I don't know. Is that a feature of the new version as well?

[mink]

After having tried some main bridgeclub games and some tourneys using the latest version of BBOFLASH (under Ubuntu 7.10 using Firefox 2.0.0.13 and Flash plugin 9.0.124.0), here are my observations in order of importance for me:

 

1) Sounds: I can hear the sound of a card played, the sound of a new round in a tourney starting, and the sound of an incoming private message. But I cannot hear the sound that reminds me that it is my turn to bid or play.

 

2) Fonts and resolutions: My monitor is 17". Ubuntu by default suggests a 1280 x 1024 resolution, but I prefer 1024 x 768. As a result, standard fonts in many websites appear bigger than they normally do, which I appreciate. This forum site is an exception as here the fonts look normal. On sites where the bigger fonts are a problem, I can easily shrink them by the Ctrl-"-" key. However, this does not work in the BBOFLASH. There, at several places on the screen, some contents do not fit into the space assigned for them because the font is too big. Examples are the pass button where only "p..." is displayed, the contracts of finished hands where the number of tricks is often only partly visible or the cards of finished hands when I replay them. Maybe BBOFLASH should force the fonts to a suitable size like the forum software obviously does.

 

3) When browsing the partnership desk of a tourney, in the windows client I can use the vertical arrow keys and get the profile of the player immediately, while in BBOFLASH I have to click on each name in order to see the profile. When the profile appears, it overlaps with the list of potential players making it difficult to click on another one.

 

4) If I start typing while the chat line does not have the focus, nothing happens. I would rather prefer that the first keystroke moves the focus to the chat line and sets the destination to "Table" or "Kibs" depending on if I play or kib. Of course nothing special should happen if the chat line already has the focus, or some other place where I can type has the focus.

 

5) The table list of the main bridge club was very hard to use in order to find a table to play in the Windows client, and it is even harder to use in BBOFLASH because you constantly get the message that the seat is already occupied if you click on a free seat. I do not think that it does any good to invest into this feature as I cannot think of a way to really improve it. Rather, I think that Richard's idea of a permanent floating indy would be 67% of the solution, and 33% would be a function that somehow automatically matches players to partnerships, partnerships to tables or teams, and teams to team games, like Richard also suggested.

 

6) Sometimes I need to lookup what happened in my chat log, which is no more possible with BBOFLASH. Saving the chat with copy/paste is not always a solution, because maybe I am not aware that there was something in the chat that I want to look up later. I can understand that BBO has no desire to log individual chat on their servers. However, maybe it is a solution to store it for only 8 days or so for those users who check this option in their settings and allow users to download their chat once a week.

 

Karl

[mink]

7) I have just watched the 24-board-tourney #1972, rounds 5 and 6. The boards I saw had the numbers 1 - 8,

 

Karl

[paulg]

I played a hand earlier where I saw that partner asked for an undo, but did not see an updated bid until after I'd bid myself.

 

Paul

[uday]

Sounds:

I cannot hear the sound that reminds me that it is my turn to bid or play.

 

I believe this has not yet been implemented.

 

 

7) I have just watched the 24-board-tourney #1972, rounds 5 and 6. The boards I saw had the numbers 1 - 8,

 

Karl, are you sure 1972 was 24 bds long?

 

#1972 Pairs Bridging Emotions Goulash around the time of your post.

 

http://online.bridgebase.com/myhands/hands...972-1208467222-

 

It seems to have been 6 boards long. Logs show you received 5 bds , 1-5 , maybe at tables 4,27 and 9.

 

The rest, I'll leave for FG :)

[uday]

I played a hand earlier where I saw that partner asked for an undo, but did not see an updated bid until after I'd bid myself.

 

Paul - were you using 'cardsharp' ? if not, what id were you using?

[paulg]

I played a hand earlier where I saw that partner asked for an undo, but did not see an updated bid until after I'd bid myself.

 

Paul - were you using 'cardsharp' ? if not, what id were you using?

I am paulg on BBO.

 

The hand was

 

http://online.bridgebase.com/myhands/fetch...ayed=1202960442

 

played at 20:40 GMT on 17-Apr-2008.

 

The 1NT bid was originally a 1♠ bid.

 

Paul

[mink]

7) I have just watched the 24-board-tourney #1972, rounds 5 and 6. The boards I saw had the numbers 1 - 8,

 

Karl, are you sure 1972 was 24 bds long?

 

#1972 Pairs Bridging Emotions Goulash around the time of your post.

 

http://online.bridgebase.com/myhands/hands...972-1208467222-

 

It seems to have been 6 boards long. Logs show you received 5 bds , 1-5 , maybe at tables 4,27 and 9.

Well, so it looks like it was only 8 boards, but I thought it was 24 boards because it displayed I was watching round 5 and 6, and I saw that they played 4 boards per round.

 

Karl

[mink]

It was in fact this tourney, and all looks like I got it wrong. Records say that there were 6 boards with 1 board per round, so this is consistent with the board numbers I saw. What is irritating me was that I was able to watch the same pair for boards 1 to 4 without having to switch to another table. When board 5 appeared, the pair that I was watching was not at the table anymore, and I had to go to another table in order to continue kibitzing. From the fact that I was able to watch them 4 boards in a row I concluded that they play 4 boards per round - looks like I just did not recognize that they had different opps in each board - it was quite late in the evening for me ....

 

Sorry for causing trouble.

 

Karl

[croydonman]

Just tried out BBOFlash. It's a shame because I was thinking, "It's not broke, don't fix it" but then I read your messages on how it is in danger of breaking if the load on the servers is not reduced. Anyway, feedback from my first venture into BBOFlash:

 

- When I typed my login name and pressed <tab> the cursor did not move to the password field - I have to actually click on the field to enter my password.

 

- It wasn't initially clear to me what 'Interesting Tables' meant but I think that I now see that it means 'most kibitzed tables'

- When I selected a table to 'join', it left the tables dialog box open. I had to close it before I could watch the game behind it.

 

- I know that you are doing a mega-review of the layout so this might get picked up but I prefer the 'function' buttons (eg 'join') to be on the left of a list rather than on the right. In BBOWin, clicking on the host on the left gets you to the table and that's where my cursor is more naturally drawn to. Also then it doesn't matter if / when you lose details to the right because of small screen, wide columns etc

 

- Not having the lin files automatically on my PC is a bit of a setback. I like browsing through them and using GIB to do double dummy analysis. A facility in "My hands" (BBOFlash version or Web version) to download a session of hands (rather than having to download them one at a time) would soften the blow.

 

- Like many others, I think that the powerful 'casual browser' functionality of BBOWin (eg just going to the Main Bridge Club and seeing what's going on) must be somehow maintained. I love the way all the profiles come up as you hover around - no clicking required - and yes, I do sometimes use this method to choose my game; it's nice to read the descriptions and see who's playing before deciding what to do. So I'll answer your Qs on this subject now:

 

1) What is your attitude toward tables with "permission required to play"? Do you prefer these tables? Prefer to stay away from these tables? Don't care? Does it matter if you "know" the host or not?

A) Prefer to stay away. Maybe not if I knew the host.

 

2) Do you tend to look at some or all of the profiles of the players at a table before deciding whether or not to sit?

A) Yes

 

3) Do you sometimes join the table as a kibitzer and then try to sit or do you always just click on an empty seat in the table list?

A) Sometimes.

 

4) Suppose you click on a seat in the Main Bridge Club list. About what % of the time do you see the message "Seat taken"?

A) Say 40%

 

5) What is your best guess as to the average time between the list appearing and you ending up in a seat? I am not wondering how long it would take if you were trying to find *any* seat as quickly as possible. Instead I am wondering how much time you typically spend on this.

A) Well, it might take me more than 5 minutes but that's through my own choice of being discerning and looking around first. If I put my mind to it, I think I could average less than a minute.

 

6) Do you filter the list so that "full tables" are hidden?

A) Yes

 

7) Do you frequently experience seeing a seat you want "fill up" before you have a chance to click on it?

A) Yes but I don't mind. It's usually my own fault for taking so long to think about it.

 

I hope my post does not sound overly critical; I've tried to keep it constructive.

 

I must close by saying a massive 'thank you' to the BBO team for such a wonderful site and application. I know a number of commercial business applications that are nowhere near as robust as your program. You have performed a major service to the whole bridge communiity. Thanks again.

[rona_]

It isn't possible to log in invisible. Yes, I checked the right box.

 

Rona

[heyrocky]

I've been playing consistently with BBOFLASH for the last three weeks. Some random thoughts from someone that just plays tourneys:

 

1. BBOFLASH would benefit from the BBOWin ability to display the player/partnership limits for tourneys. I haven't found that information anywhere on BBOFLASH.

 

2. In ACBL tourneys specifically, the Director button has been unavailable, in my experiences. The Director button has been available in other tourneys.

 

3. An amusing "feature" when playing Money Bridge tourneys occurs when your computer partner is declarer. Six tricks into the hand, the net result is posted in the My Results window, even though the hand has not yet been completed. I find it entertaining, even if it might be a tiny bug.

 

4. The timing from the end of a tournament to the posting of results in a separate window is sometimes slightly off ("tournament not available" error), requiring a reload. Since, conveniently, such a button is made available in the window, maybe this is a workaround.

 

These are minor quibbles, which, under normal circumstances, I wouldn't even mention, but I like the interface so much that it deserves to be as good as possible. Again, thanks, Fred, Uday, and everyone else involved with the details of this interface!

 

- Rich

[helene_t]

After playing one card of trick 8, declarer claimed his grand slam. I got the message: Declarer claims 7 more tricks, 14 total tricks for declarer. I was worried about the score being 7♥+1 but it was recorded as 7♥=.

[suokko]

BBO flash works fine with ubuntu gutsy and nonfree-flash (ie adobe flash player 9,0,124,0).

 

Features from bbowin to bboflash:

- Mouse over players name to show profile.

- Mouse over board number in top left corner showing the list of kibitzer names.

 

Movie browser could be improved also:

- Add a button to frame that hides and shows movie areal. This would help people with low resolutions to fast open movie with same size as previus time.

- Double clicking a result in browser should show other tables results

- When new result is added and movie viewer is at bottom it should scroll to new entry.

- Special background color for own entry when watching results from others tables.

 

Bug:

- When claiming while the last card to the trick is played claim view doesn't update remaining number of tricks.

[1eyedjack]

Please forgive me if this has been mentioned already in this or earlier threads. But does/will the flash version save lin files to your local hard disk of hands played and/or kibbed? In the Windows version there are some formats of competition that you cannot review afterward via MyHands. Perhaps it is already somewhere on my disk and I just don't know where. Also I look forward to the GIB D/D analyser when in Kib mode, but I expect that will be in a future release.

[fred]

Please forgive me if this has been mentioned already in this or earlier threads. But does/will the flash version save lin files to your local hard disk of hands played and/or kibbed? In the Windows version there are some formats of competition that you cannot review afterward via MyHands. Perhaps it is already somewhere on my disk and I just don't know where. Also I look forward to the GIB D/D analyser when in Kib mode, but I expect that will be in a future release.

Sorry - Flash does not allow access to your local hard disk. Probably for now your best option is to use www.bridgebase.com/myhands if you need your own local copies of hands you played.

 

My main regret about how our first official release is shaping up is that the kind of GIB-integration available in BBOWin will likely not be included. This is also due to technical complications that result from using the Flash platform.

 

I have no doubt that we will continue to seek methods of overcoming these limitations. I expect we will eventually be successful, but it is hard for me to guess when that might happen.

 

We are testing a new (and much prettier!) beta now and hope to be able to release it within the next couple of days. Sorry this has taken longer than expected.

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Base Inc.

www.bridgebase.com