We may be overlooking the most obvious reason for these failures… ET has inadvertently let a signal be received by Arecibo and is now sabotaging this project so we don’t find it. (Taking a lesson from LHC’s bird from the future.)

Why does this project go down EVERY second or third weekend? Rather flakey and very unprofessional in my opinion.

I think this post was a bit rude frankly.
This project is being run a donation basis with donated equipment and a small staff. I think they are doing a stellar job with what they have to work with. And I thank them for their devotion as well.
This is not a business, this is an academic research project.

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Ditto. I'd like to see this guy do better on a shoestring budget on a voluntary basis.

I hope evryone had a Happy Thanksgivving.

Why does this project go down EVERY second or third weekend? Rather flakey and very unprofessional in my opinion.

One of the purposes of BOINC projects in general, and SETI in particular, is to develop the concept of distributed computing. SETI leads the pack because of the large numbers of volunteers that have signed up. Every time we (the volunteers) overload SETI and break it down is another useful data point.

Anybody, even the flakey (sic), can run a reliable computer service for a gazillion users, all it takes is time and money. We see it happening every day (YouTube, on-line shopping, etc.). The REAL talent is to run a large distributed project like SETI as a small part of your main job, on a motley collection of second hand and donated equipment. The fact that do as well as they do is far from flakey, and, in my opinion, is highly professional.

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Why does this project go down EVERY second or third weekend? Rather flakey and very unprofessional in my opinion.

I think this post was a bit rude frankly.
This project is being run a donation basis with donated equipment and a small staff. I think they are doing a stellar job with what they have to work with. And I thank them for their devotion as well.
This is not a business, this is an academic research project.

Well, a sloppy (i.e., UNbusinesslike) attitude can be a problem - just ask the boys at UEA CRU.

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Why does this project go down EVERY second or third weekend? Rather flakey and very unprofessional in my opinion.

I think this post was a bit rude frankly.
This project is being run a donation basis with donated equipment and a small staff. I think they are doing a stellar job with what they have to work with. And I thank them for their devotion as well.
This is not a business, this is an academic research project.

I couldn't agree more with Roundel. While the outages may be frustrating, they are inevitable considering that SETI does not have, and can not afford, top-notch equipment. And even top-notch equipment fails from time-to-time. I wonder if Dukbil could code for or troubleshoot a massive database and all of the other incidental coding. Ehhhh?

SETI was the first worldwide distributed computing project, and I personally think they do a very admirable job considering the equipment they have to work with. And those guys are really dedicated to keeping it all running.

Good'uns to all.

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I DONATE money to SETI@home.... DO YOU?

I'm just slowly BOINC'ing along.

Hey... ET... you have a sister who likes earthlings?

You are doing a great job. Take your holiday--you deserve it.

Hey, turn on that megawatt transmitter at Arecibo and I'll cook my turkey in the main lobe. ;-)

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SETI.Florida

Hey, call the Kampus Kops, somebody seems to be messing around in the server room!! I just managed to upload all my WUs. Still can't report them or get new work but it's a start. THANKS to whoever is in there fiddling around.

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PROUD MEMBER OF Team Starfire World BOINC

I too just uploaded my WUs, still can't report.

All my WUs just uploaded as well. Very professional.

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We may be overlooking the most obvious reason for these failures… ET has inadvertently let a signal be received by Arecibo and is now sabotaging this project so we don’t find it. (Taking a lesson from LHC’s bird from the future.)

Unfortunately for all those outlets that reported it (especially The Register,
which seems to have started it) the story of the bird and the baguette doesn't
mesh with CERN's reality. See this article:

http://cdsweb.cern.ch/journal/CERNBulletin/2009/48/News%20Articles/1221806?ln=en

Unluckily, I'd finished my round of shifts before CMS saw its first collisions,
but at least I was still at CERN when it happened.

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It's also possible they piggy backed us upon the campus connection, allowing us to upload. I notice that the scheduling server and both download servers are specifically disabled.

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yep mine have uploaded and reported as well!

also just had two new wu's

Message from the front page: November 27, 2009
The connectivity problem noted yesterday turned out to be one of our switches and not the router. We swapped in a replacement switch today and connectivity was restored.

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PROUD MEMBER OF Team Starfire World BOINC

Message from the front page: November 27, 2009
The connectivity problem noted yesterday turned out to be one of our switches and not the router. We swapped in a replacement switch today and connectivity was restored.

Good job!
And: thank you...

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I've been able to upload but not download as yet. Just 12 hours left on main machine at the minute. Maybe there are so many posts to the forums it's preventing the science traffic from getting through :D!

Why does this project go down EVERY second or third weekend? Rather flakey and very unprofessional in my opinion.

I think this post was a bit rude frankly.
This project is being run a donation basis with donated equipment and a small staff. I think they are doing a stellar job with what they have to work with. And I thank them for their devotion as well.
This is not a business, this is an academic research project.

Well, a sloppy (i.e., UNbusinesslike) attitude can be a problem - just ask the boys at UEA CRU.

But it's not a business.

It's a research project.

Besides, yet again, we're measuring by the wrong criteria.

Web sites that make money have to be up, because they are there for people to view.

What BOINC does (in theory) does not involve people. It involves machines in the field getting and returning work.

I don't see the slightest reason to get upset when one machine cannot instantly communicate with another. No reason at all.

... and I think the best solution is to simply take away the BOINC client GUI entirely -- or simplify it to the point that we can't see work in progress, only completed work after it is reported.

It'd sure stop all of this immature "SETI@Home is dying" whining that seems so rampant.

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I've been able to upload but not download as yet. Just 12 hours left on main machine at the minute. Maybe there are so many posts to the forums it's preventing the science traffic from getting through :D!

Forums uses the campus connection to the net.

BOINC client to BOINC server traffic goes across a different network.

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Glad to see things are working again: now you've really got something to Give Thanks for this weekend; chill guys, and give that turkey a good roasting.