<s>
Popular	B-Application
Science	I-Application
Predictions	I-Application
Exchange	I-Application
(	O
PPX	O
)	O
was	O
an	O
online	O
virtual	O
prediction	O
market	O
run	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Popular	O
Science	O
website	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
application	O
was	O
designed	O
by	O
the	O
same	O
group	O
behind	O
the	O
Hollywood	B-Application
Stock	I-Application
Exchange	I-Application
using	O
their	O
virtual	O
specialist	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
traded	O
virtual	O
currency	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
POP$	B-Application
,	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
likelihood	O
of	O
a	O
certain	O
event	O
being	O
realized	O
by	O
a	O
given	O
date	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
you	O
owned	O
shares	O
of	O
that	O
IPO	O
when	O
the	O
predicted	O
event	O
occurs	O
,	O
you	O
were	O
awarded	O
100	O
POP$	B-Application
per	O
share	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
you	O
sold	O
owned	O
shares	O
of	O
an	O
IPO	O
,	O
you	O
were	O
given	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
POP$	B-Application
that	O
the	O
IPO	O
you	O
sold	O
was	O
worth	O
for	O
each	O
share	O
you	O
owned	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Prizes	O
were	O
typically	O
consumer	O
electronics	O
such	O
as	O
an	O
80	O
GB	O
iPod	B-Device
or	O
an	O
LG	O
Prada	O
Phone	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
winner	O
of	O
July	O
's	O
prize	O
(	O
80GB	O
iPod	B-Device
)	O
was	O
ScarletPimple	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
stocks	O
dealt	O
with	O
subjects	O
featured	O
in	O
the	O
Popular	O
Science	O
Magazine	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
SPOREQ2	O
,	O
a	O
stock	O
on	O
whether	O
the	O
upcoming	O
video	O
game	O
Spore	B-Application
would	O
be	O
released	O
by	O
the	O
2nd	O
quarter	O
of	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
flaws	O
of	O
the	O
PopSci	B-Application
PPX	I-Application
became	O
evident	O
to	O
players	O
the	O
PPX	O
administrators	O
became	O
increasingly	O
defensive	O
about	O
the	O
failure	O
of	O
the	O
PPX	O
as	O
a	O
predictions	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Four	O
of	O
the	O
top	O
players	O
in	O
the	O
game	O
admitted	O
to	O
using	O
scripts	O
to	O
scrape	B-Application
the	O
PPX	O
site	O
to	O
provide	O
them	O
with	O
up-to-the-minute	O
changes	O
in	O
stock	O
prices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
there	O
were	O
no	O
rules	O
in	O
place	O
to	O
outlaw	O
such	O
actions	O
so	O
the	O
PPX	O
Admins	O
instead	O
ruled	O
that	O
collusion	B-Operating_System
occurred	O
based	O
purely	O
on	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
three	O
accounts	O
all	O
had	O
a	O
large	O
number	O
of	O
logins	O
.	O
</s>
