Message boards :
Number crunching :
WASTING MY TIME?
Message board moderation
Author | Message |
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Bernie Vine Send message Joined: 26 May 99 Posts: 9954 Credit: 103,452,613 RAC: 328 |
I started in the pioneer year of 1999, and I am starting to question this effort. Just to correct you Matt is not on vacation, he is only a part time employee and as I understand his hours have been cut back, so he is pursuing his musical career with this band Secret Chiefs 3 As funding has been restricted there are few people in the lab able to deal with problems at the moment. Please remember work is being done an returned with almost no problems from smaller less powerful crunchers like mine. I have had no real problems at all. http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/show_host_detail.php?hostid=6795449 |
JPP Send message Joined: 31 May 99 Posts: 18 Credit: 59,436,360 RAC: 47 |
well i would agree to some extend i m old here as well perhaps it simply becomes to complex finally a pain for the administrators combined with desappointment from the participants cheers jpp |
Bernie Vine Send message Joined: 26 May 99 Posts: 9954 Credit: 103,452,613 RAC: 328 |
Just for those of you who may not have seen it Matt posted this in the staff blog on 26 July It's no real surprise given financial constraints we're operating with a minimal crew here at the lab. In fact, I'm down to working just above half time on average. Lucky for me, though, these hard times coincide with my music career exploding. I've been performing around the US, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Iceland, England, and France during the past year. And there's more to come. Maybe I should tell you about these gigs on the off chance you're interested. They involve three of my active bands, Find the whole post HERE |
James Sotherden Send message Joined: 16 May 99 Posts: 10436 Credit: 110,373,059 RAC: 54 |
I feel your frustration as Im sure many on here do also. When I heard of this project I knew this was for me. It still is even with all the crashes, klitches and mayhem. I will continue to crunch right up to the day they pull the power plug at the lab. Its not BOINC that is the problem, Its an underfunded undermanned project. That it has lasted this long is a testament to the guys in the lab who wont quit either. Im really suprised that Matt hasnt quit outright after getting his part time hours cut more. That man could get a full time job anywhere doing system magic. Only you can say when you have had enough. I wish you well and hope that someday you return to the community. After all this is where ive met some great people from all over the world. [/quote] Old James |
Mike Send message Joined: 17 Feb 01 Posts: 34258 Credit: 79,922,639 RAC: 80 |
Couldn`t agree more Bernie and Jim. Its very sad though. With each crime and every kindness we birth our future. |
Nick Send message Joined: 17 May 99 Posts: 96 Credit: 17,356,094 RAC: 0 |
CLYDE has a valid point. Out of courtesy would it kill these guys to simply post an update on a daily basis? What would it take, 30 seconds? The newest poster on this thread has been volunteering his computer time for 11 years. Everyone else, myself included, has been here over 13 years. Don't we deserve a little respect in the form of reasonable communication? |
Mike Send message Joined: 17 Feb 01 Posts: 34258 Credit: 79,922,639 RAC: 80 |
Just a reminder. We are volunteers. We are here to help the project not vice versa. Not that i wouldn`t like it would work smooth also. With lack of man power its all about priorities. We just need a millionaire donating. See my pledge drive. With each crime and every kindness we birth our future. |
Nick Send message Joined: 17 May 99 Posts: 96 Credit: 17,356,094 RAC: 0 |
Mike, if I had volunteers contributing to my efforts, I would treat them as a valuable resource and not ignore them and take them for granted. It is simply the courteous thing to do. |
Bernie Vine Send message Joined: 26 May 99 Posts: 9954 Credit: 103,452,613 RAC: 328 |
Mike, if I had volunteers contributing to my efforts, I would treat them as a valuable resource and not ignore them and take them for granted. It is simply the courteous thing to do. Whilst I have no inside knowledge, I believe that Jeff may in fact be alone in the lab and just does not have the time to read the forums and respond. I have been saying for a while that staff funding is the issue here, but as Eric posted.
It is really not possible for us to help. |
code3banker Send message Joined: 16 Apr 12 Posts: 3 Credit: 121,743 RAC: 0 |
I have been donating my computer to SETI since '99 and I feel some of the frustration felt by other participants, and I continue to think that SET is a worthwhile project. I have tried to educate myself with some of the science involving the universe to understand SETI's mission and challenges. I wish the SETI search was as simple as some of the other distributed computing projects that have a closer endgame. I wish that it wasn't so darn time and money consuming to search a bigger portion of the sky. I think the most frustrating thing is that there just so much out there, so much sky. To look at a few pieces of sky for 13 years might be a good science.. but how long should we look before moving on? I defer to those scientists who have the master plan. I understand There is a lot of competition for resources such as money and telescope time, so due to the resources, each the SETI search must be well planned and executed. In the spirit of the project, I think the SETI staff could communicate a bit more by updating the participants with signal candidates, what the next steps are, etc. We must have learned something in 13 years, I hope? I will summarize with Jill Tarter's TED speech, where she likens the SETI search as taking a glass to the ocean, filling it with ocean water, and proclaiming that we know what's out there in the vast ocean. I believe that this mission is an important one.. just not for those seeking a quick outcome--because all candidates must be submitted to a good scientific process. I will continue to support SETI, but will also give some of my computing resources that will help others here on earth in a more near-term project. |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30649 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
So, funding has been cut. It has always been apparent, dispite all the volunteers, that Berkeley has never really backed this effort. What a shame. Berkeley is the landlord! All the funding has to come from private donations, like the Planetary Society, YOU or if they get lucky NSF grants. As government funding has dried up and with the economy in the gutter so has private donations. However YOU could make a difference. Maybe turn a rig off and take the electricity money saved and send it as cash so they can keep your other rigs fed. Think about it. |
tbret Send message Joined: 28 May 99 Posts: 3380 Credit: 296,162,071 RAC: 40 |
So, funding has been cut. It has always been apparent, dispite all the volunteers, that Berkeley has never really backed this effort. What a shame. I'd be all for this, but we don't have a clue where the cash is going. We know that there's something going-on in WV and that money's coming from somewhere to make it happen. We don't really know how much money or anything else. We do know that donations to SETI@Home are now apparently donations to "SETI Efforts at Berkeley" and don't necessarily have anything to do with our project (look at how some donated hardware is being deployed if you need proof). So, if we sent $100k to SETI@Home we would never know if it went to airline tickets to send a large group to a week-long conference in Geneva concerning data at Green Bank that we'll never see, or if it would go to help fund Matt's salary. What we do know is that *this* project is starving. We don't know if the budget was set such that this project will starve no matter how much money we send. Again, it's a matter of a lack of communication. We just don't know. We know there are things we don't know, but there may be a lot of things that we don't know that we don't know. Nobody's saying. |
bill Send message Joined: 16 Jun 99 Posts: 861 Credit: 29,352,955 RAC: 0 |
I find it disheartening that people allow themselves to get so worked up over trivial things. |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30649 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
So, funding has been cut. It has always been apparent, dispite all the volunteers, that Berkeley has never really backed this effort. What a shame. http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/sah_budget.php And if that doesn't make you happy, since SETI@Home is a IRS 501(c)3 their tax return is a public document. If you can't find it online at say Guidestar, order a copy from the IRS. We know that there's something going-on in WV and that money's coming from somewhere to make it happen. We don't really know how much money or anything else. There are several SETI projects housed at UC Berkeley. Designate SETI@Home and it goes to this project only. So, if we sent $100k to SETI@Home we would never know if it went to airline tickets to send a large group to a week-long conference in Geneva concerning data at Green Bank that we'll never see, or if it would go to help fund Matt's salary. Brilliant Sherlock. We don't know if the budget was set such that this project will starve no matter how much money we send. |
tbret Send message Joined: 28 May 99 Posts: 3380 Credit: 296,162,071 RAC: 40 |
That was unnecessary. We're on the same side, here. You can trust your car to the man who wears a green star...
If you say-so. |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30649 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
There are several SETI projects housed at UC Berkeley. Designate SETI@Home and it goes to this project only. Who would you believe? The Regents of the University of California? IRS? |
JPP Send message Joined: 31 May 99 Posts: 18 Credit: 59,436,360 RAC: 47 |
well french though ; is it really only about money ? stability is probably something we can achieve and i m unsure root cause of the various incident we face;from time to time perhaps some have better visibility if indeed , those outages always have same root cause; that is something workable if not, eventually is it only matter of spending time/hours/tech on that ? jpp |
tbret Send message Joined: 28 May 99 Posts: 3380 Credit: 296,162,071 RAC: 40 |
The guys who work in the lab are professionals who are being paid to do a job. They may love their jobs, but they have to pay their bills just like anyone else. If there are competing needs for their time (programming the newest application for us and...server maintenance and network optimization, as a completely fictitious example) and there is budget for one thing and no budget for the other, it necessarily has to become about money. The guys have to be able to eat. |
HAL9000 Send message Joined: 11 Sep 99 Posts: 6534 Credit: 196,805,888 RAC: 57 |
As I recall they work on several different things in the lab. SETI@Home is only a fraction of what they do. SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours Join the [url=http://tinyurl.com/8y46zvu]BP6/VP6 User Group[ |
tbret Send message Joined: 28 May 99 Posts: 3380 Credit: 296,162,071 RAC: 40 |
There are several SETI projects housed at UC Berkeley. Designate SETI@Home and it goes to this project only. I think you have missed my point, entirely. I AM ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT EVERY DOLLAR YOU GIVE TO SETI@HOME GOES TO THE PROJECT: SETI@HOME. GARY IS RIGHT. I'M WRONG. DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. I've explained what I meant a little better in a PM to you. Not everything needs to be aired in detail in public. All that we need to agree on here, in order to agree here, is that we cannot stipulate that our $10 donation goes to pay Matt. |
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