Abstract: An online concierge system allows customers to place orders to be fulfilled by pickers. An order includes an amount of compensation a customer provides to a picker when the order is fulfilled. A customer may modify the amount of compensation provided to a picker, so some customers may initially specify a large amount of compensation to entice a picker to fulfill an order and then reduce the amount of compensation when the order is fulfilled. To prevent penalizing pickers who fulfilled an order without a problem, the online concierge system trains a model to determine a probability that a reduction in compensation to a picker was unrelated to a problem with order fulfillment. The online concierge system may perform one or more remedial actions for a picker based on the probability determined by the model.

Abstract: An online concierge system schedules pickers (shoppers) to fulfill orders from users. During periods of peak demand, the system increases compensation to shoppers to encourage more to participate, thereby reducing missed orders. The system determines an optimal multiplier to increase compensation based on predictive models of supply and demand and then applying an optimization algorithm to search different hyperparameters that affect how the models generate the multipliers. The system selects the optimal multipliers for different time periods and locations. The system may further present the multipliers being offered during future time periods and enable users to activate reminder alerts for select periods. The offers may be presented in a ranked list using a model trained to infer likelihoods of the user accepting participation and/or setting a reminder notification.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided for facilitating the turning of a key in a keyhole of a lock. The key has a head, an insertion portion and a connecting portion between the head and the insertion portion. The apparatus has a body for gripping by an operator and applying torque to the key. The body has at least a front surface, a back surface, a peripheral edge where the front and back surfaces meet, and a slot extending through the body between the front and back surfaces. The slot is adapted to allow the insertion portion of the key to extend beyond the front surface and engage the connecting portion when the key is inserted through the slot. In this manner, when torque is applied to the peripheral edge by the operator, the torque is transmitted through the body at least to the connecting portion of the key. This facilitates the turning of the key when the insertion portion is in the keyhole of the lock.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided for facilitating the turning of a key in a keyhole of a lock. The key has a head, an insertion portion and a connecting portion between the head and the insertion portion. The apparatus has a body for gripping by an operator and applying torque to the key. The body has at least a front surface, a back surface, a peripheral edge where the front and back surfaces meet, and a slot extending through the body between the front and back surfaces. The slot is adapted to allow the insertion portion of the key to extend beyond the front surface and engage the connecting portion when the key is inserted through the slot. In this manner, when torque is applied to the peripheral edge by the operator, the torque is transmitted through the body at least to the connecting portion of the key. This facilitates the turning of the key when the insertion portion is in the keyhole of the lock.