STOC going online today!

Thanks for checking in on what we are doing with the project.

The project is now online and in people’s hands to start getting more feedback in order to make it better, but here is a list of things that we are currently aware of and are working on:

Fix freeze up when the database has to be pinged for updates – trying to get that part of the code to run in the background.

Stop the program from trying to update while the markets are closed.

Record tutorial video, post ACM video from Siggraph once it is up.

Find dedicated server space for the database that will support closer to real time updating.

Add customization tools – this is where we need ideas from people that know more about trading on the market

Selection things – selecting multiple stocks, tagging stocks you own, only viewing stocks that are performing at certain levels, search by stock ticker option, being able to pull data out of the sun for sp averages and totals, showing only specific stocks based on ticker and tracking selected stock

Scrolling to mouse, not center.

Add historical data, expand to include all of the NYSE, break up visualization into more manageable chunks once we expand to whole market. We have some cool ideas for this.

Optimize the code and get it working as a web application.

Start converting it over as an iphone/android application.

As you can see we have a lot that we want to do, but we started this as a project to make the market more understandable for everyone, so any ideas you might to improve that principle are very welcomed.

Evaluate our data to visualization techniques to ensure they are as clear as possible, non redundant and possibly open up room to show more data. Specifically percent change and moving average in our minds.

Also if anyone knows how to change application icons in windows vista that would help, but hopefully we will be able to figure that out once we get a chance to ease off the pace we’ve been on to try and get everything online.

In case you are wondering about seeing our source code, we are currently working on ensuring all of out IP rights are as secure as we think they are, after which we will be working out some means of getting a version of the code out under creative commons. This plan may change depending on what happens, but as of right now making sure there is always a free version of the program available to everyone and giving back to the processing and open source community are very important to use.

Thanksagain, be sure you are on the mailing list for updates while the project is still only available in application form by emailing stocproject@gmail.com, which hopefully will be soon. We welcome all comments and suggestions.

James Grant