Many of us are still running boinc/seti as a screen saver like before, despite the other options.. not just crunching numbers like some.

And we would like to see a nice and smooth screen saver on our desktops, not that quite ugly and SLOW 3D Seti.

So, if possible, use the old 2D routines for the screen saver!

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And we would like to see a nice and smooth screen saver on our desktops, not that quite ugly and SLOW 3D Seti.

So, if possible, use the old 2D routines for the screen saver!

Considering the 3D screen saver is the same exact one from classic, only in 3D, logically speaking, if you think it's "ugly", then so would the one from Classic.

Personally, I support this as an option (despite that impression some may have received). I think this should be user selectable option available for those who want it.

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And we would like to see a nice and smooth screen saver on our desktops, not that quite ugly and SLOW 3D Seti.

So, if possible, use the old 2D routines for the screen saver!

Considering the 3D screen saver is the same exact one from classic, only in 3D, logically speaking, if you think it's "ugly", then so would the one from Classic.

Personally, I support this as an option (despite that impression some may have received). I think this should be user selectable option available for those who want it.

Greetings

It's been a long while since I was last here - I used seti classic and setique for quite some time, but changed over to einstein@home once I saw the fonts used in new seti. I have quite a nice pc here with a reasonably capable vid card, so having 3d graphics is not the issue for me - but having amazingly scruffy fonts in that screen saver is! Keep the whizzbang effects, make the whole darn thing swoop around like a drunken seagull if you wish, but please at least make it look professional.

Gray

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Considering the 3D screen saver is the same exact one from classic, only in 3D, logically speaking, if you think it's "ugly", then so would the one from Classic.

But it's not the same. Classic screen-saver was in 2D, giving chance to people with older graphic cards to use it, and it had more clear GUI than current 3D screensaver. I've explained earlier how new screen saver doesn't give anything so valuable that it couldn't be achieved in plain 2D. Instead we have now "the ugly fonts" and "sea-sick", unreadable GUI with higher requirements. I've mentioned all the arguments long time ago, but I've got an reply that I'm in a minority and my voice is worth nothing. So why there are still many people who brings up that question again and again? Why we have still getting an answer to shut up and agree?

I don't expect that this time will be different, because I see the new answers to new questions here and nothing's changed. So I'm writing this only to show those people that they're not alone in their mind.

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But it's not the same. Classic screen-saver was in 2D, giving chance to people with older graphic cards to use it, and it had more clear GUI than current 3D screensaver. I've explained earlier how new screen saver doesn't give anything so valuable that it couldn't be achieved in plain 2D. Instead we have now "the ugly fonts" and "sea-sick", unreadable GUI with higher requirements.

Ah, but it is the same. The fonts may have been changed, as well as making it spin in 3D, but it's still the same exact screen saver, essentially. I don't know about the font being "ugly" or "unreadable", as I can read it just fine on any monitor I have it running on, so I guess it's still a user opinion kind of thing.

I've mentioned all the arguments long time ago, but I've got an reply that I'm in a minority and my voice is worth nothing. So why there are still many people who brings up that question again and again? Why we have still getting an answer to shut up and agree?

I don't expect that this time will be different, because I see the new answers to new questions here and nothing's changed. So I'm writing this only to show those people that they're not alone in their mind.

No one ever said anybody had to "shut up and agree". I don't believe anyone said your voice was worth nothing either (amazing what people will read into a disagreement with someone else... whatever their minds want to read into the text I suppose).

People are speaking up because they share the same opinion, but that doesn't make it majority. Until you get over half the active SETI users to actually complain about this (which, last I checked was over 190,000 accounts), this isn't a major concern. Certainly, they have more important things to worry about right now (if any of you have read about their recent server problems) than returning the screen saver back to it's "old glory".

But please, no one here is telling anyone to "shut up and agree". Far from it. This has been primarily a discussion of opinions about the screen saver - not about forcing any opinion down anyone's throat. If you feel that way, perhaps you shouldn't engage in opinionated discussions anymore.

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Another vote for better graphics here.
When I built my first fast computer a guy at work asked me what I needed such a fast pc for. He said what, are you gonna be communicating with Mars with it or something? Then I found SETI and just clicked on that little green icon and showed him that seriously geeky but cool screensaver. Yeah, buddy, an excuse for all that time and money spent.
There'd probably be a whole lot more people running it right now if it were still that easy and looked that cool.
I quit for quite a while when the "boinc" started,I just reinstalled it and the main thing that bugs me is you don't have the option to start it all up with the screensaver-you have to have boinc running already-not very user friendly. I hate software that tries to dictate to me when it's going to run.I don't have a "SETI farm", it's my personal computer. My machine is heavily tweaked for gaming and I don't want to stress it during a big download or burning something. Not handy at all. And then it looks crappy anyway. It appears that I am running 20 projects at once??? And just to edit preferences I have to go online?? sign in with complete email address and password? What's up with that?
Seems to me a distributed computing project would want to get as many people to participate as they could, not just the super geeky, and the main 2 selling points-ease of use and cool screensaver are now gone.
We prolly coulda been jammin to alien oldies by the end of the year.

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Ah, but it is the same.

Yeah... Tell me more that apples are blue ;P [and 2D == 3D].

The fonts may have been changed

Not only the fonts ;P

as well as making it spin in 3D

Why? Because of screen-burning? Prooved many times that it's one step forward plus three steps backwards and it could be done another ways [also proposed, not only by me].

but it's still the same exact screen saver, essentially.

Maybe, but now it's only an option [not for everyone, only Windows users AFAIR], while the computing isn't bonded with it any more.
Yes, it's OPTION, but not a CHOICE. Now you can't use it in "screen-saver-only mode with idle-time computing". You can only choice to compute always as low-priority process, or not compute at all [that's why I've choosen to not compute, even if I liked SETI@Home project and wanted to help].
Huh... I seem like I'm repeating now...

I don't know about the font being "ugly" or "unreadable", as I can read it just fine on any monitor I have it running on, so I guess

That's exactly the problem: too more "I". You're not the only user, and consider that there ARE users who want to have choice and who MAY choose another way than you.

it's still a user opinion kind of thing.

Exactly: "kind of"...

No one ever said anybody had to "shut up and agree".

Not literally, but try to read your previous posts again.

Until you get over half the active SETI users to actually complain about this (which, last I checked was over 190,000 accounts), this isn't a major concern.

Count of users not complaining isn't a proof [that's what I call "reverse logic"]. Why? Because there might be people not complaining, but simply abandoning S@H project without saying anything [time is money]. I've choosen to say a word when I've abandoned SETI, because feedback is always constructive.

But please, no one here is telling anyone to "shut up and agree". Far from it. This has been primarily a discussion of opinions about the screen saver - not about forcing any opinion down anyone's throat. If you feel that way, perhaps you shouldn't engage in opinionated discussions anymore.

I'm not forcing anyone! [how could it be possible at all?] I can only complain and give feedbak, hoping that some day things gone good and I'll have an oportunity to choose to come back to S@H again. But now I'm only waiting and even not saying a word [for the most of time].

Yeah... Tell me more that apples are blue ;P [and 2D == 3D].

Hmmm.. nope. Still the same screen saver, but made to spin. Just because they made it spin, doesn't mean it's a different screen saver. I guess apples are blue if you refuse to see anything but what you want to see.

Not only the fonts ;P

Other than the fonts and the fact that it spins, what else has changed?

Why? Because of screen-burning? Prooved many times that it's one step forward plus three steps backwards and it could be done another ways [also proposed, not only by me].

And perhaps those ideas proposed aren't really good ones. Yes, the spinning is better to prevent screen burns. If you ever burned a screen using the old screen saver (and I know a few people that did), the 3D is a welcome option.

Maybe, but now it's only an option [not for everyone, only Windows users AFAIR], while the computing isn't bonded with it any more.
Yes, it's OPTION, but not a CHOICE. Now you can't use it in "screen-saver-only mode with idle-time computing". You can only choice to compute always as low-priority process, or not compute at all [that's why I've choosen to not compute, even if I liked SETI@Home project and wanted to help].
Huh... I seem like I'm repeating now...

Then don't repeat yourself. Perhaps I got it the first time and I simply disagree with your viewpoint. Have you ever heard of agreeing to disagree?

And hey, I've said it before: I agree that it should be an option to run in screen saver only mode. I even think it should be an option to revert back to the 2D version as well. You seem to think I'm disagreeing with you when actually we're in agreement more than you think. Quite ironic that you haven't figured that out yet.

That's exactly the problem: too more "I". You're not the only user, and consider that there ARE users who want to have choice and who MAY choose another way than you.

Read response above. Further, yes, there are users who want more choice and may choose another way than me, or even you for that matter. The whole reason why I pointed that out to you was to tell you exactly that. Just because you feel it's ugly or unreadable, doesn't mean everyone does. Doesn't mean everyone thinks the same way I do either. Are you getting it now?

Not literally, but try to read your previous posts again.

I just did exactly that, and while I can see how you came to that conclusion, I'm telling you you misread what I've said, and misunderstood the points I've made, just like in your last response and how I have to spell it out for you again in this response to you.

Perhaps if you weren't so defensive to begin with, you'd see that there is more than one way to take my posts. Just because somebody speaks against what you suggest/say/type, doesn't mean they're attacking you or that you're opinions don't matter.

Count of users not complaining isn't a proof [that's what I call "reverse logic"]. Why? Because there might be people not complaining, but simply abandoning S@H project without saying anything [time is money]. I've choosen to say a word when I've abandoned SETI, because feedback is always constructive.

But you can't assume those that abandon did so for any reason you stated. There may have been other reasons for quiting, and we can speculate all day long as to why, but the bottom line is, we don't know and you can't speak for them any more than I can.

So, no, it's not "reverse logic" but in fact it's a lack of data or feedback given by those users. To assume they all left because they agree with you is exactly that: an assumption. And you know what they say about making assumptions...

And not all feedback is automatically "constructive". There are many ways to give negative feedback that would hardly be considered "constructive". Mind you, I'm not saying that you have left poor feedback, but there are others who have and it's worth pointing out.

I'm not forcing anyone! [how could it be possible at all?] I can only complain and give feedbak, hoping that some day things gone good and I'll have an oportunity to choose to come back to S@H again. But now I'm only waiting and even not saying a word [for the most of time].

No, see, you misunderstood again. I didn't say you were forcing anyone. What I said was no one was forcing you to accept our opinions over your own. This is one of the reasons why I gave up trying to discuss with you, because you keep misunderstanding and twisting up the points I've been trying to make. My guess is it's probably because of our language barrier, it's easy for non-native English speakers to misunderstand - I know, I have a Polish neighbor right across the street from me and I have to constantly re-explain myself otherwise he gets the wrong impression. My guess is, it's the way the English language is structured different from most other languages that causes the confusion and misunderstandings. I have to constantly repeat what my neighbor says to me just to make sure I understand him right. It works both ways.

It's great that you keep checking back in, hoping for a change, but right now, the screen saver is not high on the importance list. Right now, getting their current server problems and funding fixed is of much more importance.

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Would have to agree on the 2D creen saver being better in some respects.
1. it doesnt make tou sea sick watching it.
2. the 3D version is only a 3rd of the time clear as the angle of view is
generally naff.

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Would have to agree on the 2D creen saver being better in some respects.
1. it doesnt make tou sea sick watching it.
2. the 3D version is only a 3rd of the time clear as the angle of view is
generally naff.

The angle can be fixed. If you go to your account, S@H preferences, custom settings, there are settings for angle range. You can set these the way you want them, setting the range to 0 fixes the rotation.

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BOINC WIKI

I tried that many times, set the rotation and everything else I could find all over the shop, high(very entertaining) low, (still jumped around). just didn't float my boat. Is there no way to re-integrate the grahic interface of the old version, obviously with adjustments re stats???

I tried that many times, set the rotation and everything else I could find all over the shop, high(very entertaining) low, (still jumped around). just didn't float my boat. Is there no way to re-integrate the grahic interface of the old version, obviously with adjustments re stats???

No, there is no way of integrating the old screen saver with BOINC.

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BOINC WIKI

awwwf, what a shame, is there anyway of obtaining the coding for it so myself and my programmer buddies can develop one??
Seems the simplest way as we can have a good stab at it and then worse happens can only blame ourselves.
all on in thanks for the info

awwwf, what a shame, is there anyway of obtaining the coding for it so myself and my programmer buddies can develop one??
Seems the simplest way as we can have a good stab at it and then worse happens can only blame ourselves.
all on in thanks for the info

Yes.

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BOINC WIKI

I admire what you are doing. I would just like to see the classic seti@home graphics. They were restful and probably did not use up as much computer power and left more power for crunching numbers. I know I can stop the bar from weaving, but then the printed information weaves. Further it just does not look pretty. There are already a dozen ways to present the graphics, but I believe a substantial number of people would prefer the old classic seti@home way. The advertised "heads up" option is a step in the right direction but (1) the option does not seem to exist in either 3.2 or version 4 and (2) it is not as good as the classic SETI design anyhow.

I agree with everybody that boinc graphic is a eyesore

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I admire what you are doing. I would just like to see the classic seti@home graphics. They were restful and probably did not use up as much computer power and left more power for crunching numbers. I know I can stop the bar from weaving, but then the printed information weaves. Further it just does not look pretty. There are already a dozen ways to present the graphics, but I believe a substantial number of people would prefer the old classic seti@home way. The advertised "heads up" option is a step in the right direction but (1) the option does not seem to exist in either 3.2 or version 4 and (2) it is not as good as the classic SETI design anyhow.

I agree with everybody that boinc graphic is a eyesore

And makes the crunching go slower. If you just set you monitor to power down or go to the blank screen or even use the power button on the monitor your machine will crunch faster.

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I agree with everybody that boinc graphic is a eyesore

Careful when you say 'everybody'. 'Everybody' is all inclusive and implies that every single person out there cannot stand the new screen saver, which is hardly true.

All that you are agreeing with are those whom have voiced their discontent with the new graphic, but it certainly isn't 'everybody'.

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I agree with everybody that boinc graphic is a eyesore

Careful when you say 'everybody'. 'Everybody' is all inclusive and implies that every single person out there cannot stand the new screen saver, which is hardly true.

All that you are agreeing with are those whom have voiced their discontent with the new graphic, but it certainly isn't 'everybody'.

So WHERE are those who appreciate new BOINC client? Why I can see only a complains here and still you are trying to tell me that the complaining people are minority?

BTW your last post directed to me: Yeah, I'm from Poland, that village country where people are running with clubs after mammooths ;J

I agree with everybody that boinc graphic is a eyesore

Careful when you say 'everybody'. 'Everybody' is all inclusive and implies that every single person out there cannot stand the new screen saver, which is hardly true.

All that you are agreeing with are those whom have voiced their discontent with the new graphic, but it certainly isn't 'everybody'.

So WHERE are those who appreciate new BOINC client? Why I can see only a complains here and still you are trying to tell me that the complaining people are minority?

BTW your last post directed to me: Yeah, I'm from Poland, that village country where people are running with clubs after mammooths ;J

The Q&A forum are to help people with problems so naturally you mainly see Boinc and project problems in these forums. You rarely see people praising the software or even posting back after that a glitches have been solved. That is the human nature and the volunteer helpers have learned to accept it.

The software is not perfect but what application is. Boinc and Seti are in continual evolution and evolution occurs at a snails pace. You can't please everyone but the goal is to satisfy the needs of as many as possible.

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Boinc V7.2.42
Win7 i5 3.33G 4GB, GTX470

So WHERE are those who appreciate new BOINC client? Why I can see only a complains here and still you are trying to tell me that the complaining people are minority?

As Aurora Borealis said, this is a place where people come to complain about their problems with the software. Logically, you are not going to find people praising the software here. Likewise, asking where these people are is highly illogical.

According to BOINCStats.com, there are over 900,000 BOINC accounts. Let's say only half of them are active, leaving 450,000 BOINC accounts (and I'm being pessimistic about that number as I know there are more than 450,000 active accounts). If only half the active accounts complained about the screen saver, that would be 225,000 people would have to complain in order to be at least half the people.

How many people have complained about the screen saver here? If I'm generous, we could say three or four dozen people. That's far short of 225,000. Last time I checked, that's a minority.

[Edit] BTW, what exactly are you targeting for a complaint? The new screen saver or the BOINC Client? They are not one and the same. If you are arguing that they need to bring back the old software and ditch BOINC, that's not going to happen no matter what. Read Matt Lebofsky's post for more info. If you are complaining about the screen saver and want them to return the screen saver to the old 2D look, then you might have more of a chance to get that changed.

BTW your last post directed to me: Yeah, I'm from Poland, that village country where people are running with clubs after mammooths ;J

Greetings from a brother to Poland! My maternal grandfather was 100% Polish.

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