Hm, how about this - everyone donates in whatever way they can - be it computation time, money or just a friendly word or two.

This should be valid and applicable internationally and not only for U.S. citizens ;o)

I agree, but sadly there are instances where I've personally seen those of us without green stars looked upon in a negative light. It's great for those who can and do donate, but I'm not terribly fond of some of the browbeating I've seen in the past (not what Dena did...I'm speaking of other instances)...

I agree, every one that is using their computer to crunch is donating, no exception, no discussion.

I even went to the extent to purchase another computer since I started crunching in Feb of this year, my E6600, just to crunch for SETI, $1,200. I'm an accountant and I can assure you there isn't any accounting software I run that needs that kind of processing power and memory, not even close.

Do i get a colored star for that, lol. (Can I pick the color?)

I'd love a plaid star for the linux box i keep up for BOINC but i don't really need :-). Getting rid of it would save 'tricity, admin time, and frustration at the Fedora project (Debian next time methinks).

I'm actually trying to get some more boat anchors from some friends that might have them sitting around, waiting to throw them away so I can hook them up and crunch (more of that 'tricity, admin and frustration, lol).

---

Well, my computer only gives that message:
"Access to reference site succeeded - project servers may be temporarily down."
That´s a dual core 6400 2.13 GHz and he is waiting to work. I think you guys are doing good work to become working again...Good luck!

---

Isn't this contribution/donation issue a bit out of topic? Jeez...

is Sun not in the situation to replace the Motherboard, in time....

Greetings from Germany NRW
Ulli

Sun is akive.............. look at the News Page

Hit Me

Greetings from Germany NRW
Ulli

Isn't this contribution/donation issue a bit out of topic? Jeez...

Not when the subject is servers crashing and money lacking.

---

Isn't this contribution/donation issue a bit out of topic? Jeez...

Not when the subject is servers crashing and money lacking.

The Subject is actually "Down Time III", hence servers crashing alone. Money lacking is a different issue, having to do with the kind of contribution in general. A new thread could be opened in a second to harbour such a hard talk.

Isn't this contribution/donation issue a bit out of topic? Jeez...

Not when the subject is servers crashing and money lacking.

The Subject is actually "Down Time III", hence servers crashing alone. Money lacking is a different issue, having to do with the kind of contribution in general. A new thread could be opened in a second to harbour such a hard talk.

Sorry, didn't know you were the police for this. The conversation turned that way, as sometimes happens.

---

Agreed, I donate my CPU time, and it cost me money to buy the CPUs involved, not to mention the net connection, the electricity, the motherboards the CPUs are in, the hard drives, the cases, the power supplies, etc, etc, etc. I realize it has been a long time since the beginnings of the SETI@Home project, but lets not forget, it started to distribute processing load, so that the projects would not have to buy AS MUCH computer power. Let's stop the guilt trips please. Or if you prefer, shut off access to people who don't donate money, see how much you get done there. I'm being sarcastic here to make a point, we are ALL donating. Appreciate it. As much as I appreciate the hard work done by the admins to keep this project going.

I have to disagree on this, you VOLUNTEER your computers, you do not donate them. If it were true donating, you could write it off, but since it is not, you can not write it off.

There is a fine line between what people call donating and volunteering, but I can make it a little clearer.

If you volunteer your time to a hot lunch kitchen, you are giving of your free will time, without any compensation, etc. Even if you bring in your own pans and pots, etc. There is no way to be compensated for your time. You can not write any of it off on taxes. On the other hand if you donate food to this kitchen, then you can write that off on taxes.

So, you are a volunteer. You give of your time and processing power, electric, etc. You are unable to write any of that off on your taxes.

---

My movie https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/502242

Just understand the reason SETI will be down for a week is because they don’t have the money laying around for a backup server.

...and even some of us who have not donated money comprehend that... :)

Agreed, I donate my CPU time, and it cost me money to buy the CPUs involved, not to mention the net connection, the electricity, the motherboards the CPUs are in, the hard drives, the cases, the power supplies, etc, etc, etc. I realize it has been a long time since the beginnings of the SETI@Home project, but lets not forget, it started to distribute processing load, so that the projects would not have to buy AS MUCH computer power. Let's stop the guilt trips please. Or if you prefer, shut off access to people who don't donate money, see how much you get done there. I'm being sarcastic here to make a point, we are ALL donating. Appreciate it. As much as I appreciate the hard work done by the admins to keep this project going.

I have to disagree on this, you VOLUNTEER your computers, you do not donate them. If it were true donating, you could write it off, but since it is not, you can not write it off.

There is a fine line between what people call donating and volunteering, but I can make it a little clearer.

If you volunteer your time to a hot lunch kitchen, you are giving of your free will time, without any compensation, etc. Even if you bring in your own pans and pots, etc. There is no way to be compensated for your time. You can not write any of it off on taxes. On the other hand if you donate food to this kitchen, then you can write that off on taxes.

So, you are a volunteer. You give of your time and processing power, electric, etc. You are unable to write any of that off on your taxes.

If you consider a donation only to be what you can deduct. And I'm sure my accountant could find a way to make a deduction out of this, if I really cared, since I have one computer dedicated just to BOINC. Plus, a volunteer donates time. There's your donation. In fact, http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/donation doesn't say anything about money or deductions.

Thanks folks, helped pass a boring afternoon. I'm unsubscribing from this thread now (go ahead and cheer), have a good day/evening/night/morning whatever it is where you are. And keep up the good work oh great SETI admins :)

---

Just understand the reason SETI will be down for a week is because they don’t have the money laying around for a backup server.

...and even some of us who have not donated money comprehend that... :)

for Info

Seti is an Non Profit Service....

all buying on ....

Greetings from Germany NRW
Ulli

I have to disagree on this, you VOLUNTEER your computers, you do not donate them. If it were true donating, you could write it off, but since it is not, you can not write it off.

There is a fine line between what people call donating and volunteering, but I can make it a little clearer.

If you volunteer your time to a hot lunch kitchen, you are giving of your free will time, without any compensation, etc. Even if you bring in your own pans and pots, etc. There is no way to be compensated for your time. You can not write any of it off on taxes. On the other hand if you donate food to this kitchen, then you can write that off on taxes.

So, you are a volunteer. You give of your time and processing power, electric, etc. You are unable to write any of that off on your taxes.

Who brought up tax deductions - those who donate real money in many contries can't take it off there tax's, so, by your defination, is that really volunteering, lol.

You're trying to split such a fine line that it makes no sense.

Kinda of like Clinton with his infamous statement, "it depends on what the meaning of "is' is, lol. We know what it ment. If it looks like a fish, smells like a fish and tastes like a fish - I bet it's a fish.

---

I have to disagree on this, you VOLUNTEER your computers, you do not donate them. If it were true donating, you could write it off, but since it is not, you can not write it off.
<snip>

So, you are a volunteer. You give of your time and processing power, electric, etc. You are unable to write any of that off on your taxes.

Per Merriam-Webster, what you have defined, which I put in bold for you, is equivalent to "donate" / "donation".

Main Entry: do·nate
Pronunciation: \\ˈdō-ˌnāt, dō-ˈ\\
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): do·nat·ed; do·nat·ing
Etymology: back-formation from donation
Date: 1785
transitive verb
1: to make a gift of; especially : to contribute to a public or charitable cause
2: to transfer (as electrons) to another atom or molecule
intransitive verb
: to make a donation
synonyms see give

You can argue semantics and the ability to claim as a writeoff, but I really wish folks like yourself would give it a rest already. People that give of their time are still giving, and do not need browbeating or a "high and mighty" attitude...

Respectfully...

Ned Ludd- It was not a requirement or absolute condition. It was merely a suggestion to name it SETIUSA....

That is not my recollection -- and others have donated hardware without difficulty.

So, absent full disclosure, we in the forums can only guess.

---

In the USA we believe in freedom and other than taxes, it means you have a right to do what ever you want with your money. But consider the fact that $10.00 or about 7.37 euro will buy you a star by your name and if SETI runs out of money, you will have to crunch for another project. World Community Grid for example has IBM supporting it, but SETI is not as fortunate.

So we don't support SETI by donating our computer time? Gee, thanks. Kudos to those who donate, but you aren't the only ones supporting SETI.

This is a catch-22.

SETI doesn't have a grant or other source of funding. That's why they ask those of us who can to donate money -- so they can buy parts, pay salaries, etc.

To stretch the dollars as far as possible, they scrape and scramble to keep machines running and replace them when they can.

... and that allows them to collect donated CPU-cycles.

So, sad as it may seem, SETI can't live on CPU-cycles alone.

That said, if you can send some cash, it is needed to keep the work flowing. If you can't, that doesn't make you a second-class citizen.

On the other hand, if you've just spent $2k on a fancy new cruncher, sending in a donation to keep it fed just sounds like good insurance.

---

Then it might be cool if Eric Korpela (not Pappa) could elaborate on why the two servers offered by our team were not accepted??? This could clear up any confusion.

---

[...]
On the other hand, if you've just spent $2k on a fancy new cruncher, sending in a donation to keep it fed just sounds like good insurance.

I heartily agree, though this may be less clear-cut for others.

I really like the idea of "insurance" in this context - even though it's just a word, it has positive connotations, more so in my regard than "donation".

Obviously, it can't work exactly like real insurance does (or rather, is supposed to, until you try and claim), but any small thing helps :o)

By the way, in the past 24h people have donated almost 700 USD via the PayPal donation gateway at lunatics.at - quite a lot more than the average until now (around 20-30 USD/day).

So from what I've noticed, people are rallying to support SETI@Home, each in their own way, as much as they can.

Blurf and Kevin, do you think the hardware donation issue could be moved to the relevant thread or a new one made? It really seems out of place here in the tech news. Still, a definitive comment by project staff would be very interesting - even if just to set the facts straight.

Regards,
Simon.

---

Donate to SETI@Home via PayPal!

Optimized SETI@Home apps + Information

If it looks like a fish, smells like a fish and tastes like a fish - I bet it's a fish.

Smoked....

I have to disagree on this, you VOLUNTEER your computers, you do not donate them. If it were true donating, you could write it off, but since it is not, you can not write it off.

There is a fine line between what people call donating and volunteering, but I can make it a little clearer.

If you volunteer your time to a hot lunch kitchen, you are giving of your free will time, without any compensation, etc. Even if you bring in your own pans and pots, etc. There is no way to be compensated for your time. You can not write any of it off on taxes. On the other hand if you donate food to this kitchen, then you can write that off on taxes.

So, you are a volunteer. You give of your time and processing power, electric, etc. You are unable to write any of that off on your taxes.

I take exception to this, I personally have DELIBERATLY spent many thousands of pounds on EXTRA PC hardware for the sole purpose of running SETI, not to mention the extra cost in Electricity charges etc etc etc...I ran 54 machines at one point and that was costing me 107 pound or $180 a month alone..currently I run 10 computers and with the exception of one, they are all dedicated to the search at a cost of about 80 pound a month.

I could shut them down and make some money seeling them as parts on ebay, but what would be the point, I spent about 7K ($10K) building them and the associated hardware etc, the return would be a small fraction of that.

For you to have the sheer and arrogant ordacity to imply that those who donate their machines in this way are not donating is an insult and it smears the good name of the project. I have donated too, but I do not wave the banner with a green flag as it is for me to know, I do not need to have the go boost by flag waving or having some kind of pissing contest.

this is about helping the project in whatever way a person is able to, not everyone is in the personal or financial position to buy extra hardware or donate actual cash to the project, and for those who are in this position to belittle their efforts is actully more of a reflection on you and your ego than on their inability to donate.

Matt and the entire team at Berkeley have done a sterling job for more than 8 years now, as have all the beta testers, volunteer testers etc etc..do not shame their hard work with your myopic viewpoint of the MAJORITY of contributors..

I'd like to offer an apology to all others here for this post, but I was not about to sit by and listen to this drivel and let it go unopposed..

Jim

---

Do you fancy taking your indifferences to another thread of your own so that I do not have to scroll down so far to get the information that is of real use to people that are interested in why the project is off-line at the moment.

Graeme.
www.boincuk.com

---