Yes I do like the Idea Mike, but at the moment, it's just spamming the boards. Sorry, it's my money & my choice to donate it where I wish. People don't like that? Then increase their own donations.

---

Thats what i said actually.
Its everyone`s own decission.

---

With each crime and every kindness we birth our future.

Oops. sorry Mike. I really do like the idea of badges. However, why couldn't it have been implemented better?

Take asteroids at home as an example: A named badge per milestone. Even though it's based on TC, the same principle can be applied to RAC.

Where this project is unique is that we have many such as Mark Sattler. Leaving asides his personal issues, that man has done much for the project (anyone remember his Frozen Penny thread?)

The uniqueness comes into play by having named badges for set levels of either RAC or TC, for example: -

X amount the Sattler Badge
Y amount the Korpela Badge
Z amount the Anderson Badge( & to honour the creator of boinc an amazing level to obtain that badge!)

In between we can have intermediate badges for example: -

The Curmudgeon Badge
The Dogbytes Badge

As well as all those others that have made the project & these boards fun to participate in.

Just my 0.0000000000001 cents worth.

---

I dont care one bit about those badges.
Its there, fine.
I would also like the idea one can disable it but we all know DA dont we.

I donate my time and money for the project and the idea behind it.
Thats about it.
I dont need that everybody knows how good i am.
I`m volunteering.

---

With each crime and every kindness we birth our future.

I dont care one bit about those badges.
Its there, fine.
I would also like the idea one can disable it but we all know DA dont we.

I donate my time and money for the project and the idea behind it.
Thats about it.
I dont need that everybody knows how good i am.
I`m volunteering.

That is 100% true & unarguable! However, because of that time, & money, it should allow us to voice our opinion. If not then that just proves one point...

...is it worthwhile to continue when those opinions are chastised by others who continue to voice their opinions without chastisement?

---

Well as I cannot remove my "badge"...

I would also like the idea one can disable it...

The badges are easy to remove with the browser plugin AdBlock Plus (available for FireFox and Chrome... unsure of others.) I don't mind them but I'm too used to the look of the site as it was and found they cluttered it so I removed them. Did I mention AdBlock will also remove 99%+ of all web advertising everywhere as well and it's the first essential plugin I grab on a new install? But I digress...

With the plugin installed just right-click on a badge image, choose AdBlock Plus: Block image from the context menu. Do not accept the default selection of what to block on the window that appears, or all images on this site will disappear; instead choose the one just above. The three images are:

setiathome.berkeley.edu/img/pct_25.png
setiathome.berkeley.edu/img/pct_5.png
setiathome.berkeley.edu/img/pct_1.png

Once you've added them, refresh the page and they will disappear. Note that this will also remove the badge from your own profile page, but I imagine you probably know your standing there already. :^)

---

Well as I cannot remove my "badge"...

I would also like the idea one can disable it...

The badges are easy to remove with the browser plugin AdBlock Plus (available for FireFox and Chrome... unsure of others.) I don't mind them but I'm too used to the look of the site as it was and found they cluttered it so I removed them. Did I mention AdBlock will also remove 99%+ of all web advertising everywhere as well and it's the first essential plugin I grab on a new install? But I digress...

With the plugin installed just right-click on a badge image, choose AdBlock Plus: Block image from the context menu. Do not accept the default selection of what to block on the window that appears, or all images on this site will disappear; instead choose the one just above. The three images are:

setiathome.berkeley.edu/img/pct_25.png
setiathome.berkeley.edu/img/pct_5.png
setiathome.berkeley.edu/img/pct_1.png

Once you've added them, refresh the page and they will disappear. Note that this will also remove the badge from your own profile page, but I imagine you probably know your standing there already. :^)

Not really the issue, I don't want to be in any "top one percent club" The feeling here has always been that everyone is equal from the user with the huge farm down to the lowly old PC user with a small RAC .

Now that is not the case as it is easy to spot the "have nots" as they don't have a badge.

It is not the clutter I object to it is the fact that suddenly not everyone can participate, these badges cannot be earned, if your machine is slow or you cannot crunch 24/7 you can never "earn" a badge.

It probably should be based on time with project and total credit not RAC, that way everyone can achieve a badge eventually, this way they cannot.

---

+1

@ Mr Kevvy

Adblock Plus does work on IE. Unfortunately it does not show up on any context menu when clicking on an image. What it does do is show an icon on the status bar which has a menu:

Check for updates
Settings
Disable everywhere
Disable (current website)

Via settings, added image urls to manage blocks, & refreshed, does not seem to work.

Edit: However, it works a charm in Firefox. Site looks much better!

---

Maybe a better badge system would be to award badges with a number in the middle representing the number of years one has been with the project.

I don't have real strong feelings about it one way or the other.

As it stands, my badge means little to me, as it hardly represents my current position on the project in terms of RAC. It says I am in the same class as some 1,300 other crunchers....with RAC as low as 13k-14k....LOL.

It is certainly nothing to get upset over in any case, or pledge that one shall no longer contribute any money to the project over it.

Lighten up, some of you....it's just a bit of graphics.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Well as I cannot remove my "badge"...

I would also like the idea one can disable it...

... I don't want to be in any "top one percent club" The feeling here has always been that everyone is equal from the user with the huge farm down to the lowly old PC user with a small RAC .

Now that is not the case as it is easy to spot the "have nots" as they don't have a badge.

It is not the clutter I object to it is the fact that suddenly not everyone can participate, these badges cannot be earned, if your machine is slow or you cannot crunch 24/7 you can never "earn" a badge.

It probably should be based on time with project and total credit not RAC, that way everyone can achieve a badge eventually, this way they cannot.

This is starting to sound like Dr. Seuss's Sneetches. If you have a badge, are you cool for having it or uncool for bragging? If you don't have a badge, are you cool for not bragging or are you pathetic because you don't do enough work to get one?

I find it both amusing and amazing that my meager effort puts me in the top 1%. I think more than anything, it just points up how many users have disappeared, often after a single download of work. The badges would probably be more meaningful if the percentage was only calculated among users who have returned work in, say, the last 30 days. Then I doubt I'd have a gold, maybe not anything.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

We love our T-Shirts here. We don't worry
so much about the other badges......

---

I can't believe no one has said it yet:

We don' need no steenkin' badges!

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

LOL

---

This all started because some of us reported that the Badge script wasn't updating and had been static since it had been first implemented. Now we seem to have gone from one extreme to the other. The old maxim "be careful what you wish for" comes to mind.

It is peoples personal choice whether to donate to this project or not.
It is peoples personal choice whether to have any such donations recognised by a green star.
It is also peoples personal choice to crunch as much as they can, or as little as they wish, or are able to.
It is also peoples right to voice their opinion, within the rules, and their opinion should be respected, whether you agree with it or not.

I think badges and stars are all a bit of harmless fun, and is being taken far too seriously. But others clearly think and feel differently, so fair enough. Both sides can simply agree to disagree.

Yeah, Chris.
It's one of those 'damned if you do and damned if you don't' scenarios.
Some would complain that other projects award recognition badges, so why doesn't Seti? And others think it's a divisive element, much like the controversy over the donation stars.

I'd just say it's a bit of harmless fun, and if a couple of little graphic bits ruin your day.......well, please get over it.

---

"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I'd just say it's a bit of harmless fun, and if a couple of little graphic bits ruin your day.......well, please get over it.

+100 Far more important things in life to worry over...

---

rOZZ
Music
Pictures

As the OP, I think it is useful to the project to get feedback from participants on how they feel about badges and stars. I count 28 people have responded to this thread with their views out of a total of 124,512 active crunchers, so hardly a representative sample, but maybe a fair cross section of regulars around here. Most probably don't even know they have got them!

In that case, why do it?

I think it is nice to have them, is a bit of fun, and encourages participation, but if we are going to do so, then the script needs to update, which it wasn't doing, and was the original point that was made. On the other hand if they decide to remove badges and stars that is also fine with me.

Quite agree, but Bernie stated a very valid point.

But it is much like Mark comments, whatever the Admins do, someone somewhere won't like it, and as Julie says far more important things to worry or fret about. But having said that, I respect anyone that has principles and sticks to them in the face of adversity. But reactions ought to be in proportion to the perceived issue.

Nothing to do with principles, you stated it yourself "if it was implemented properly".

As the OP, I think it is useful to the project to get feedback from participants on how they feel about badges and stars. I count 28 people have responded to this thread with their views out of a total of 124,512 active crunchers, so hardly a representative sample, but maybe a fair cross section of regulars around here. Most probably don't even know they have got them!

I think it is nice to have them, is a bit of fun, and encourages participation, but if we are going to do so, then the script needs to update, which it wasn't doing, and was the original point that was made. On the other hand if they decide to remove badges and stars that is also fine with me.

But it is much like Mark comments, whatever the Admins do, someone somewhere won't like it, and as Julie says far more important things to worry or fret about. But having said that, I respect anyone that has principles and sticks to them in the face of adversity. But reactions ought to be in proportion to the perceived issue.

I'm not sure what much further use this thread is going to be, but I'll leave it open.

The badges have already broken over on beta :( As to the badges themselves only the people visiting the forums will notice them. I've not had an e-mail congratulating me on gaining my bronze... so as to the purpose of them I'm not quite sure what they are about. Other projects have badges for the computing time you have crunched and others give you badges for, erm, I'm not quite sure. There's one where I think I've managed to get a few badges and I've only crunched a single task. Personally I couldn't give a hoot, I'm crunching and that's good enough for me.

---

Member of the People Encouraging Niceness In Society club.

My thoughts on badges takes me back to the movie Treasure of the Sierra Madre when the outlaw is asked to show his badge his response "Badges...We don't need no stinking badges".

---

Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

My thoughts on badges takes me back to the movie Treasure of the Sierra Madre when the outlaw is asked to show his badge his response "Badges...We don't need no stinking badges".

LOL, I remember that one:)

---

rOZZ
Music
Pictures

In that case, a well deserved "Gold" at the Seti Olympics :-)