I just don't get why people use RC5 and SETI@Home

[MGallik]

<< especially since you are not really doing anything >>



Ahhhh, I see it now Pyro.

What this really boils down to is the simple fact that this is our hobby.

We do it simply because we love it. As for &quot;not really doing anything&quot;,
well, thats just not true. As a matter of fact, we do, and spend, as much
as any &quot;hobbyist&quot; in any other area might. Most of us have multiple system
networks at home as well as assimilations at work. More of us than even
we ourselves are aware have built &quot;crack racks&quot; for the sole purpose of
increasing our standings in the stats. We tweak and prod, overclock, strip
down our operating systems and over all spend a lot of time configuring our
systems for maximum performance. And did I mention, we also spend a
tremendous amount of time here, helping our team mates do the same even
as we ask for assistance ourselves.

There is a comradery throughout all the Teams Anandtech that even spills
over to our rivals. We welcome them and there opinions here as well as
on the field of honor (our team UT servers, Hehe..)

You, by the way, are also welcome. I started out here in much the same
manor as you. I wanted to know what it was all about.

I hope this helped clear a few things up for you, and if you'd like to join
in, let me be the first to welcome you to the fold.


edit: Whoops, spelling.

 

[Slahr Dzhe]

<< I am not discussing the Distributed Computing model

The drake equation can be totally wrong

What about cryptography

Stasitical Addiction? That just might be the answer I was looking for, although I still dotn get how ppl can get a 'high' from stats

what about manners? I havent insulted or cursed/swore at anybody. Its a discussion, nothing more. If you odnt wanna talk about it...then... >>


Then why bother doing any distributed computing project? I personally love the potential for future development the distributed computing model will provide.
If the drake equation is totally wrong, then I suggest you come up with something better. Until you do...
If you understood anything about cryptography, you wouldn't make comments like:


<< &quot;Plus, anyone who is half serious about doing anything important over the web uses 128bit encryption so cracking 64 bit is pretty useless.&quot; >>


I don't quite know how people get a &quot;high&quot; from stats, but they do. Ever meet a sports fanatic? They can quote stats on players back to before they were even born. Why? Because they love the game. It serves no purpose(except maybe if they get on jeopardy) except to make them feel good.


<< Where there is a challenge, there is fun to be had! Here in this forum we share the fun. Challenge yourself to maximize your distributed potential! Become part of our Team's challenge to dominate all of the distributed projects!
Winning prize money, however unlikely, is not the carrot that keeps members in for the long haul: Stats, team rivalrys, and fun, are.
-ZapZilla, Team AnandTech member and RC5 cracking God >>


The manners portion was the fact that you basically told the entire RC5 and SETI team that they were stupid for doing the projects in which they were participating. Use some tact next time please. Recruiting for the F@H is fine, just don't put down the other projects. When you put down a project, you indirectly put down all the people doing the project.

Just how I feel.

SD

 

[Robor]

&quot;The chances of finding a alien radio signal are very insignificant and not very important.&quot; - Pyro

You're kidding, right? I agree that the chances of finding an alien radio signal are very slim but finding intelligent life somewhere other than Earth would be rather important.

Edit: I posted my original reply after reading just Pyro's original post. After reading through the entire thread I have this image in my mind... Pryo with a shovel, digging a hole, throwing dirt upon himself, only getting deeper.

Rob

 

[Engine]

I just checked out the GOLEM project. Pretty cool stuff, there! It's basically just a giant distributed Genetic Programming project. I remember doing really simple GP stuff in an AI class back in college (Solving an 8-piece puzzle), so this is pretty interesting.

GP problems can get _really_ computationally complex. I remember watching a video in class where John Koza said that he had a Beowulf cluster of 1000 p2 233's (pretty fast for the time the video was made) sitting around at MIT doing GP problems.

 

[Assimilator1]

Amok

>>>>Heck, 1000 people with good systems could check their data as fast as it comes in. 2000 can double check the data as fast as it comes in<<<<

Are you sure about that? ,I don't know what you count as a 'good system' ,but to me (ignoring non PC type computors) a computor that can do a SETI WU in an average of 6hrs is pretty good.
So if I take that as my 'good system' that means it can do 4WU's/day ,if you had 1000 of these PC's going 24/7 then that obviously gives you 4000 WU's/day crunched.

Having a look at this graph WU's generated (the lower one) shows that an average of approximatley 140,000 WU's per day are generated.Not even 2000 of my 'good systems' could deal with that amount.
So either you are talking about FAR more powerful computors or your maths are way out.

Another point of interest is this Table showing the status of the data recorded from the Arecibo Telescope ,note that some of the good data has yet to be distributed.
Whilst I am aware SETI@home does have some spare capacity I don't believe that it is to the extent that you say ,but if I'm wrong show me the figures &amp; the relevant links .

Something else worth noting is that although SETI@home now has 2.5 million people who have downloaded the clients a large portion of these users are not active or are very infrequently active.Someone estimated that approximatly 800,000 users are actaully active.(though I personally don't have a link etc to back up that claim atm)

Pyro

I agree with SD about your manners ,calling a project 'totally useless' is insulting everyone who does that project.
BTW if you so strongly believe in F@H or AIds@home then why not lead a team for 1 of those projects?I believe that their are some F@H'ers ,you could build on that &amp; go on a recruting hunt (just not from other projects OK?).
Or you could start a team for A@H