Posts by jeffusa

1) Message boards : Number crunching : SheevaPlug Plug Computer - Could It run BOINC? (Message 879569)
Posted 26 Mar 2009 by Profile jeffusa
Post:
It sounds cool. Makes me nostalgic for the Mac Cube. Anybody remember those? I always thought it would be cool if someone could make a PC version of the Cube.
2) Message boards : Number crunching : Your longest "uptime"? (Message 809948)
Posted 19 Sep 2008 by Profile jeffusa
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Some of the best times I can remember is about 3 months on my Windows Servers. I only reboot them when necessary and typically go 1-3 months before rebooting. I seem to reboot more for updates than for weirdness or other strange problems.
3) Message boards : Number crunching : Ideas for Seti (Message 804954)
Posted 4 Sep 2008 by Profile jeffusa
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"Pay To Crunch" is a good idea. How much will we get paid?

Anybody remember Process Tree? They tried doing something like that a long time ago...
4) Message boards : Number crunching : Saving $$ In a Tough Time (Message 802862)
Posted 28 Aug 2008 by Profile jeffusa
Post:
I know most of you already know this but make sure the AC is turned off when you leave the house. Also turn off the water heater before you leave if you are not there in the middle of the day.
5) Message boards : Number crunching : Snagged a couple of Astropulse WU's (Message 793802)
Posted 6 Aug 2008 by Profile jeffusa
Post:
I noticed one of my 3 Ghz Pentium D boxes has got one. It's about 20 hours into it with about 80 hours left to go.

With Astropulse is Seti getting on Einstein@Home's turf? Maybe some sort of partnership should be formed.
6) Message boards : Number crunching : Chess 360 (Message 787060)
Posted 25 Jul 2008 by Profile jeffusa
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What's the purpose of Chess360? I don't feel like looking for the site...
7) Message boards : Number crunching : a pile of VNC puzzlement (Message 783053)
Posted 16 Jul 2008 by Profile jeffusa
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I remember OSXvnc and CotVNC. They work great together. One as a viewer and one as a server. I remember using them on a MacMini about a year or two ago and they worked great.
8) Message boards : Number crunching : Intel Atom Z530(Atom 230 cpu) (Message 778867)
Posted 4 Jul 2008 by Profile jeffusa
Post:
A friend picked up the Intel D945GCLF board and built up a system around it.

The total draw is right at 40w. That includes a random hard disk and 3 case fans which is likely overkill.

Clearly most of the power is getting chewed up by the 945 chipset, it wouldn't surprise me if a US15W board would be half that -- or less.

Still, under $70 for a motherboard with processor -- not bad.


Just for comparison, I got out the kill-a-watt and hooked it up to my 2 Ghz Core 2 Duo Dell laptop. Running Seti with the screen off it uses between 45w - 50w.

It is a laptop but I think that's impressive. 50 watts, Dual Cores, a 2 Ghz Core 2 Duo, can that be beaten?


I shoould note the 45w - 50w measurement is with the CPU running 100% with Seti.
9) Message boards : Number crunching : Vista's UAC is really pissing me off... (Message 778768)
Posted 4 Jul 2008 by Profile jeffusa
Post:
I'm beginning to agree with the thread title!

Getting to like Vista Business & just finished installing programs I want on the machine. Done all that & wanted to tidy up the start menu.

EVERY time I select new folder, up pops a dialogue box stating you need admin rights, so click ok as I have, then up pops UAC asking me to continue.

I really understand the need for UAC, but that is taking it too far for chrisakes!!!


In my opinion UAC is worthless and actually brigns the Windows system down a level in my opinion. First off, clicking a UAC popup doesn't actually accomplish anything except number users to what they are clicking on. Eventually users will just click ok on the popups regardless of what's going on. Second with UAC on, a properly programmed virus could render a Vista system unusable with constant popups.
10) Message boards : Number crunching : a pile of VNC puzzlement (Message 778752)
Posted 4 Jul 2008 by Profile jeffusa
Post:
UltraVNC works great on windows. I have not found a viewer that works on Linux or Mac. Maybe someone else can share their experience?
11) Message boards : Number crunching : Intel Atom Z530(Atom 230 cpu) (Message 778749)
Posted 4 Jul 2008 by Profile jeffusa
Post:
A friend picked up the Intel D945GCLF board and built up a system around it.

The total draw is right at 40w. That includes a random hard disk and 3 case fans which is likely overkill.

Clearly most of the power is getting chewed up by the 945 chipset, it wouldn't surprise me if a US15W board would be half that -- or less.

Still, under $70 for a motherboard with processor -- not bad.


Just for comparison, I got out the kill-a-watt and hooked it up to my 2 Ghz Core 2 Duo Dell laptop. Running Seti with the screen off it uses between 45w - 50w.

It is a laptop but I think that's impressive. 50 watts, Dual Cores, a 2 Ghz Core 2 Duo, can that be beaten?
12) Message boards : Number crunching : V8-Xeon Server (Message 776070)
Posted 30 Jun 2008 by Profile jeffusa
Post:
Hmmm, perhaps you need to use an IDE cd/dvd rom drive temporarily to get into windows setup, and press something to install Sata drivers to access the new hardware. Once the OS is installed the Sata should be fine. I had to use an old CD drive I keep around to install XP on my new Wolfdale, because windows setup wouldn't initially recognise the Sata until supplying a floppy with drivers at setup boot. I really hope a floppy is no longer required to accomplish this.


I had this with a raid controller I recently bought to turn an old machine into a file server. Boot up required you to install raid drivers from floppy (it was an old P4 but did actually have a floppy drive, none of my other machines do). I had to run around to try and get the driver off CD onto a floppy.

Something I'm starting to do:

Virtually every BIOS supports a USB floppy natively, and they also support USB CD/DVD drives.

So, why would you put a floppy or a DVD in the machine permanently? On the rare occasions that you really need the drive, just go plug it in....

Might have to try different USB ports, though. I have found, when needing a USB connected floppy drive for SATA drivers during XP Home install that some machines will recognise the floppy drive only if it connected to a particular USB connector.

F.

... and your point is?

It's a choice between having to scavenge a 3.5" floppy out of another system because the one you're relying on has been just sitting for too many years, or figuring out which USB port the BIOS likes.

One of those generally requires a screwdriver.


I got a USB floppy in the drawer just in case I find a floppy sitting around somewhere. I can tehn plug into any system that I like. I haven't put floppy drives in any new systems the last two years. I sometimes opt for an internal memory card reader instead. Those are much more useful than a floppy these days.
13) Message boards : Number crunching : Intel Atom Z530(Atom 230 cpu) (Message 776064)
Posted 30 Jun 2008 by Profile jeffusa
Post:
I heard the Atom has a fan on it? Is that right? I may opt for the VIA C7 since their are fanless motherboards of that.
14) Message boards : Number crunching : Intel Atom Z530(Atom 230 cpu) (Message 775999)
Posted 30 Jun 2008 by Profile jeffusa
Post:
How does the Atom compare to the VIA C7? Looking to build the best low power system.
15) Message boards : Number crunching : Vista's UAC is really pissing me off... (Message 771456)
Posted 21 Jun 2008 by Profile jeffusa
Post:
Slightly off topic but isn't June 30 the last day you can buy XP or has this changed again?

Yeah it's days are limited production ends soon but I could still find it on the market for years to come.



Im not 100% sure, but I believe it's been extended to 2010/2011?


That's only on low cost machines and it's rumored that Microsoft did that since they don't expect Windows 7 to be ready until around late 2010.
16) Message boards : Number crunching : Vista's UAC is really pissing me off... (Message 770019)
Posted 18 Jun 2008 by Profile jeffusa
Post:
I'm under the impression that there are different versions of Vista. On a machine I got right when Vista came out BOINC starts up no problem at start up without any issues. On another machine I bought a year later BOINC was always blocked and I could never get it to startup on startup until I set a scheduled task to run BOINC everytime the computer starts up.
17) Message boards : Number crunching : Optimized App Links down (Message 765843)
Posted 10 Jun 2008 by Profile jeffusa
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I tried downloading the apps listed in the optimized app links thread but it appears all three sites I clicked on were down. Anybody know where to get the optimized sites?
18) Message boards : Number crunching : NEW! Certificate of Computation for team (Message 765290)
Posted 9 Jun 2008 by Profile jeffusa
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Nice feature.
19) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Something to grouse about - What's the price of road fuel where you are? (Message 762472)
Posted 3 Jun 2008 by Profile jeffusa
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Just filled up here in Vegas. $4/Gallon for Gas. Ouch!
20) Message boards : Cafe SETI : Something to grouse about - What's the price of road fuel where you are? (Message 762470)
Posted 3 Jun 2008 by Profile jeffusa
Post:
In the UK we have fuel tax and VAT (@ 17.5%) loaded on the price of fuel before we put it in our tanks. This maans our greedy Treasury take about 68% of the money we pay for our fuel, and they have done very very well from the rising price of road fuel and the Tax gives the UK the most expensive fuel in Europe.

This raises the question - how expensive is your fuel just now?

I am currently paying - £1.209 per litre for derv (that is diesel) and £1.159 per litre for petrol.

This means a UK gallon costs - £5.50 for derv and £5.27 for petrol.

Converting this to US gallons and correcting for an exchange rate of ~ $1.96 per £1.

The US gallon would cost us - $8.98 for derv and $8.61 for petrol.

The rough £1 to Euro exchange is £1.00 buys EURO1.26.

So, our derv is EURO1.52 per litre and petrol is EURO1.46 per litre.

How much are you paying?


I remember when I took a trip to the UK a few months ago that gas prices were insane. Roughly $9/gallon when I filled up. Now I know why the public transportation is better there and why so many people walk all over the place. You rarely see a fat person in the UK!!!!


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