Field surprises

Now and then, after you log an observation, COM may show you a small card: a fact, a rare-species call-out, or how many other observers were active today in your region. This page explains exactly how that is decided — and how to turn it off.

Why this exists

B.J. Fogg describes in Persuasive Technology (ch. 9) that hidden variable rewards — slot-machine style — are a dark pattern. But transparent variable rewards, where you know the rules, are not manipulation: they are surprise-and-delight. This page exists so COM stays on the right side of that line.

The catalog is FIXED in the code. The daily cap is FIXED. The toggle is OFF by default.

The catalog (3 kinds)

dato_curioso — did you know?

• When it fires: random, ~10 % of synced observations that have an identified species with a curated fact available in your locale.
• Randomness: the dice roll is made with a PRNG seeded by the observation ID, so re-opening the app does not change the outcome.

rarito — rare find

• When it fires: deterministic. If the identified species lands in the "rare" bucket of the nightly rarity recompute (top ~5 %), this card shows. No randomness.

comunidad_activa_hoy — community active today

• When it fires: deterministic, max once per day. Only when there are 2 or more active observers in your country today.

Daily cap

At most ONE surprise per day, no matter how many observations you log.

How to turn it off

Go to Profile → Settings → Preferences → "Field surprises" and uncheck the box. The change takes effect immediately.