A new BOINC project -- Eternity II

[Rudy Toody]

Posted without comment.

eternity2.net

 

[Assimilator1]

Wierd ,it's solving a puzzle if I understand their scant explanation:-

Unlike most puzzles, which only have one correct way of completing the final solution, there are thousands of ways that Eternity II can be solved to win the $2 million prize. The puzzle consists of 256 square pieces that are bordered by coloured patterns which must be aligned across the whole puzzle.

I don't see how they generate the prize money in the 1st place (I don't mean eternity2.net btw).

Sounds too good to be true??

 

[BlackMountainCow]

The company that makes the puzzle had a 1,000,000 $ prize money for the eternity 1 puzzle. So that seems to be a valid thing.

 

[Smoke]

Originally posted by: Rudy Toody
Posted without comment.

eternity2.net

I'll make a comment!

You have to purchase the program at Toys "R" Us for $49.99 + Taxes? + Shipping?

I'm very surprised that BOINC would allow a strictly "For Profit" project. Someone please read a little deeper and tell me where I'm wrong! :|

Others express their concern!

 

[Assimilator1]

Oh that's how they make their money!.

Well as long as their upfront about it I don't see the problem ,if people want to waste their time & money on a slim chance of winning then so be it ,no worse than gambling ,or playing the lottery.
None of which I waste my money on incidentally

Or am I missing something?

 

[Rudy Toody]

This site awards one million, but the prize is two million. Pretty clever!

However, this is like the syndicates that form to go after large pick-six pools at the thoroughbred tracks. They sometimes split with somebody who uses their favorite numbers.

In this instance, they may not be the first to solve it, if some mathematician comes up with a better and more timely algorithm. (The first puzzle was solved by a mathematician.)

 

[Assimilator1]

I've changed my mind ,encouraging gambling is a bad idea ,so I'm not so keen on it

Btw I see the advantage to the guy who made BOINC eternity ,he stands a better & quicker chance of getting 1mill ,but what do users gain? is it that they don;t have to buy the puzzle?

 

[Alyx]

Its not really gambling, the game itself is not really completely random like gambling is, more intended as something to make your head hurt while you play with it. If I had the spare cash I'd probably buy it just to play with and run the project in my spare time. I wonder if there is a way to freeze the project from submitting a positive result so I could get the full 2mil :-D *insert malicious laugh*

In other news, anyone want to find out how many possible combinations there are? You have 256 pieces, each can be rotated 4 different ways. So a possible 1024 pieces (256*4). Now to find the number of combinations you find the factorial of 1024, which is 1024*1023*1022*1021*1020*1019.....*2*1

Take that and divide it by how many computations per day your computer can run and you have a decent idea of the maximum amount of time it'll take you to find the solution. Granted with a great deal of luck you could find it in a few hours if you happen upon the solution really fast.

 

[Alyx]

Oh, and here's the factorial of 999 (999!)

402,387,260,077,093,773,543,702,433,923,003,985,719,374,864,210,
714,632,543,799,910,429,938,512,398,629,020,592,044,208,486,
969,404,800,479,988,610,197,196,058,631,666,872,994,808,558,
901,323,829,669,944,590,997,424,504,087,073,759,918,823,627,
727,188,732,519,779,505,950,995,276,120,874,975,462,497,043,
601,418,278,094,646,496,291,056,393,887,437,886,487,337,119,
181,045,825,783,647,849,977,012,476,632,889,835,955,735,432,
513,185,323,958,463,075,557,409,114,262,417,474,349,347,553,
428,646,576,611,667,797,396,668,820,291,207,379,143,853,719,
588,249,808,126,867,838,374,559,731,746,136,085,379,534,524,
221,586,593,201,928,090,878,297,308,431,392,844,403,281,231,
558,611,036,976,801,357,304,216,168,747,609,675,871,348,312,
025,478,589,320,767,169,132,448,426,236,131,412,508,780,208,
000,261,683,151,027,341,827,977,704,784,635,868,170,164,365,
024,153,691,398,281,264,810,213,092,761,244,896,359,928,705,
114,964,975,419,909,342,221,566,832,572,080,821,333,186,116,
811,553,615,836,546,984,046,708,975,602,900,950,537,616,475,
847,728,421,889,679,646,244,945,160,765,353,408,198,901,385,
442,487,984,959,953,319,101,723,355,556,602,139,450,399,736,
280,750,137,837,615,307,127,761,926,849,034,352,625,200,015,
888,535,147,331,611,702,103,968,175,921,510,907,788,019,393,
178,114,194,545,257,223,865,541,461,062,892,187,960,223,838,
971,476,088,506,276,862,967,146,674,697,562,911,234,082,439,
208,160,153,780,889,893,964,518,263,243,671,616,762,179,168,
909,779,911,903,754,031,274,622,289,988,005,195,444,414,282,
012,187,361,745,992,642,956,581,746,628,302,955,570,299,024,
324,153,181,617,210,465,832,036,786,906,117,260,158,783,520,
751,516,284,225,540,265,170,483,304,226,143,974,286,933,061,
690,897,968,482,590,125,458,327,168,226,458,066,526,769,958,
652,682,272,807,075,781,391,858,178,889,652,208,164,348,344,
825,993,266,043,367,660,176,999,612,831,860,788,386,150,279,
465,955,131,156,552,036,093,988,180,612,138,558,600,301,435,
694,527,224,206,344,631,797,460,594,682,573,103,790,084,024,
432,438,465,657,245,014,402,821,885,252,470,935,190,620,929,
023,136,493,273,497,565,513,958,720,559,654,228,749,774,011,
413,346,962,715,422,845,862,377,387,538,230,483,865,688,976,
461,927,383,814,900,140,767,310,446,640,259,899,490,222,221,
765,904,339,901,886,018,566,526,485,061,799,702,356,193,897,
017,860,040,811,889,729,918,311,021,171,229,845,901,641,921,
068,884,387,121,855,646,124,960,798,722,908,519,296,819,372,
388,642,614,839,657,382,291,123,125,024,186,649,353,143,970,
137,428,531,926,649,875,337,218,940,694,281,434,118,520,158,
014,123,344,828,015,051,399,694,290,153,483,077,644,569,099,
073,152,433,278,288,269,864,602,789,864,321,139,083,506,217,
095,002,597,389,863,554,277,196,742,822,248,757,586,765,752,
344,220,207,573,630,569,498,825,087,968,928,162,753,848,863,
396,909,959,826,280,956,121,450,994,871,701,244,516,461,260,
379,029,309,120,889,086,942,028,510,640,182,154,399,457,156,
805,941,872,748,998,094,254,742,173,582,401,063,677,404,595,
741,785,160,829,230,135,358,081,840,096,996,372,524,230,560,
855,903,700,624,271,243,416,909,004,153,690,105,933,983,835,
777,939,410,970,027,753,472,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

 

[Assimilator1]

My head hurts!