(Vanity) FreeRepublic Folding@Home Project Update (We're in the Top 1,200!)

Free Republic Folders Stats Page ^ | 12/25/2005 | me

[texas booster]

OK, new thread for the next week.

First, a big shout out to the SETI members who have added CPUs to the effort. Remember, its Team 36120, NOT Team 0.

Next, congrats to all for bumping our team up to 104 processors and 76 users. We have a number of new users in the team, with Clara Lou, fzx12345, SamfromLivingston, brityank, manwiththehands and Tami all popping onto the hit list this week.

Malsua, uriah and Ken in Texas are solidly in the top 10. Malsua is continuing to add systems and now accounts for 10% of the FR total. Great job!

Free Republic Folding@Home Stats Page

On the global front, Free Republic Folders is now listed at # 1196. We are poised to overtake (today):

carletonu (maybe in MN?)
Helms-Deep
2*ian
Dynadues
Soluchis
Greece and soon the
University of Pennsylvania!

We were passed by one team, SISD. My guess is that this team really is the computers of an Independent School District that were all "volunteered" to fold over the holidays. They are producing points at a rate of 37,000 points per day. As we gain members from the 100,000 FReepers that visit JimRob's place I expect that we will have a much greater long term growth than them.

[papasmurf]

Thanks for the kind words. I've now got one of my Brother's and his wife online with 3 maybe 4 pc's, too.

I have some wireless now. This lappy that's doing so well for me is on a wireless connection, and, another lappy is also wireless, as well as my KJAM.

I have an access point and a wireless/ethernet router, next I'm looking for a wireless print server or wireless printer with a bunch of features, then I'll get some wireless cards for the desktops.

You're right, the focus is on the medical and human benefits, the points are just for fun and additional motivation.

Why do truckers contract anything? Our lifestyle sucks. LOL We are constantly and consistantly subjected to toxic fumes, we live in an enclosed atmosphere with poor ventilation systems, we eat fried crap 3, 4 or even 5 times a day (some of us), we're in a seated position being thrown about and slammed up and down for hours and hours on end, and we're so beat when we finally do come home-we don't even feel like working out, going to the doctors' office, or planning for a healthier future. And to top it all off, most of us get treated like dogs, cheated out of our earnings, and cussed at so much, we get depressed and lose our self esteem. Other than that, no reason in particular. LOL

I've been blessed. I've been able to cope and overcome and succeed, and not let most of it get to me, but many, many, aren't so lucky.

Anyway, I see that we've moved up, gained on several other teams, increased our cpu's and team members, and we are on a roll! WooHoo!!!

I'm working on using two consoles on my mp boxes. That could help up my job counts a lot. I better get back to it.

Thanks again,

:O)

P

[Klutz Dohanger]

Latest from the DU

148. #7,855 (with 27 team computers) - FREEPERS here we come

oh goody... the race is on... I give these yoyo's about 2 weeks, and if they haven't caught up to us by then, they'll lose interest, and/or claim that we're cheating or something.

[systematic]

FreeRepublic.com Folders

Date of last work unit	2005-12-29 19:13:41
Active CPUs within 50 days	205
Team Id	36120
Grand Score	213525 (certificate)
Work Unit Count	1807 (certificate)
Team Ranking (incl. aggregate)	1041 of 41929
Home Page	http://www.freerepublic.com/
Fast Teampage URL	http://fah-web.stanford.edu/teamstats/team36120.html

[hiredhand]

Well...I'll say this. There is a pretty high powered pool of technical people here at FR. I really was surprised to see as few from the DU as there were.

Computer programming and science skills?! Sheesh...didn't they read the FAQ? I suppose not. :-) LOL! Ah well... I used to lurk the DU once in awhile, but they aggravated me so badly that I couldn't even stand to read their tripe. I just stay away now.

I'd run a client up on my son's computer, but he has to boot into Windows once a day for schoolwork. It's a Debian Linux box "most" of the time. :-) Maybe I'll put VM-Ware on his PC and see if his Windows app is happy with that.

Oh my brain is frazzled. I set up a Cacti server today on a RedHat ES-4 server. My head is full of SNMP OIDs, MIB structures, and community strings... UG.

JUST in case you ever try to run up Cacti on RH4-ES, I wouldn't recommend it! Even if you can round up all the RPMs (some of which RedHat don't provide!), it's a regular pain in the neck! I had it working on Debian in about 15 minutes. It was a SNAP! But, RedHat is what we "pay for", so it's what I use. Kickstart ROCKS!....I DO like that! But if you ever want to install something they don't provide RPMs for, you can get "stuck".

Ah well...I got it working...the bosses will be happy. :-)

[Malsua]

I give these yoyo's about 2 weeks, and if they haven't caught up to us by then

Well, considering YOU alone have more cpus than they do, plus the awesome force of the rest of the freepers, I suspect they're going to be the crying baby perpetually. Warms my heart :).

[Seamoth]

Oops you're a wireless guru TOO. LOL If you don't mind my asking, how does a truck driver like you get so involved with computer?

Might've thought the trucking thing through... no surprise at all. You pretty much have to spend whole days in the car... and I'm guessing that with the recent regulations that truck drivers be given at least 8 hours of off time between shifts (or along these lines), you spend even more time away from home.

Trucks are annoying on the road (though they can't really help it, I'd rather anger a few random drivers than my boss)... but I see regular car drivers treating them much worse. If a truck tries to merge into the highway... *everyone* speeds up along the lane so they don't get stuck behind a truck. Or, alternatively, people will speed and pass a truck, then as soon as they've passed a truck, they go back to the right lane or slow down, without any respect for the laws of physics that it takes truck drivers much longer to slow down. That's just plain mean.

[Klutz Dohanger]

hehe... Just a couple...

But even yours are still kicking out more ppd than their team combined. I don't think they realize, that this is a 24/7 evolution.

[papasmurf]

"Well, considering YOU alone have more cpus than they do"

HaHa, you took the words right outta' my mouth.

His, alone, could smoke 'em like a cheap cigar!

And you ain't nutin' to mess with, either! I see your stats. LOL

:O)

P

[Klutz Dohanger]

Trucks are annoying on the road

Not always. When I was still driving cross country in my Chevy sprint.. which by itself got 62mpg... I would draft trucks, and boost that up to about 80+... Long flat stretches, like west texas, I could cruise at 70mph, and the sucker wouldn't be more than 800rpms, a tad over a high idle.. Yeah... I know it was dangerous and all, but driving from San Diego to Jacksonville on less than $25 worth of gas, gave me much more per diem money to spend on more pleasureable items than gasoline...

[systematic]

DISCUSSION CONTINUED ON THIS THREAD:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549077/posts

[RebelTex]

Well, I joined and in 3.5 days I have 3 WU and 178 points. Is that poor, avg, or good? What should we be able to do or avg per CPU?

I have a couple of slower systems (P-II & P-III) that I could reconfigure and add to the mix in a week or two (work gets in the way, LOL). But would they really do very much for the team? I can use Win98 (or Linux Red Hat, but that would take longer as I'm just learning about it and would have to find the right drivers, etc).

On my current system, I have the Windows folding program, but I could use the console for the other systems.

What say ye?

RT

[Seamoth]

Hey, that's smart. How closely did you follow the truck?

[Klutz Dohanger]

That's a pretty good average.

Follow the link above, to continue on to the new thread, this one is getting bloated.

Re: Older systems, even PII, and PIII machines make a significant contribution. Using some sort of matrix, the Sanford team assigns work based on benchmarks, so those computers would get work appropriate to their speed. A PIII, 500mhz computer should average around 200 points per week, which while isn't great, contributes to the totals, and it all adds up, as well as contributing to science.

[systematic]

DISCUSSION CONTINUED ON THE FOLLOWING THREAD:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1549077/posts

[RebelTex]

Thanks for the info - found the new thread and am posting there. I appreciate the explanation on how the work is assigned according to CPU power. That reassures me that it's worthwhile to go ahead and get the older systems up and running. Thanks again.

RT

[papasmurf]

Well, I haven't always been a trucker. Actually, I got into it by accident. I used to loan money to my Brother's friends to get trucks and, sometimes, I'd buy one or two for them. At the time, my wife and I had 4 little pizza restaurants and a partnership in a M/C dealership, which is/was my lifelong passion. Well, we got fed up with the politics and gestapo like local govt's and decided to sell everything and move from Cali. About the same time, a guy I had financed on 3 trucks came a knockin' at the door one Sat. morn, and handed me some keys and said he was sorry, but he couldn't do it anymore. Well, I grew up with truckers in the family and I could drive, heck I'd done it for so long to help out, that it just seemed like fate. Sell everything and go truckin'!It took a few years to sell and get situated, but that's what we did. I've always had a passion for tech and gadgets, had some of the first "computers" and had always been the "tech" guy wherever I worked, so, in '98 I turned my trucks over to my manager and I went back to school. Got an MCSE, A+, Net+, CNE, and a few other letters of the alphabet. Then I was working for a local PC and network company by day and teaching at the local college by night when the bubble went boom, the company I was working for went under, and the college went to a bid system for classes...so I took back back control of the trucking and gave up tech. It's really hard to get a decent job when your hair is short and grey and your resume isn't long on tech experience. LOL That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it! :)

Let me be clear about one thing, though, about 10-15% of truckers on the road, belong in jail. Or, at the very least...off of the road. I prefer jail. I understand why the public disdains us and our presence. It's not like your grand daddy is on the road anymore, you know? Some of these kids are just dangerous and don't care, either.

Klutz, you have it right, and you have a good perception of the truckers' life.
Seamoth, you said the ONE thing that I loathe and fear the most...a car cuts in front of me and hits the binders. They do it 10 times a day. Or more. When I see kids in the car, it really scares me and angers me, at the same time. I get a mental picture of a child all cut up and torn apart, it's terrifying sometimes. Enough of that.

Did you click on the link and see my newest toy? It sure is nice and allows me to be very productive away from my pc...which is hardly ever. HaHa

I just got another team member for us...GL_Terri, and her first wu is a big-biggie...5000! YeeHaa!!! She's a real sweetie, and her husband is a great guy, too. Both conservatives from Fl., and in the trucking biz, also. Way to hang, gear grinders!!!

Can you tell, I'm pumped?


Hey, PAULAT, you said "(Hope you don't get tired of the "newbie folder" gush!)"...NO WAY!


:O)

P

[Andrewksu]

changing the IE setting to no proxy did the trick, everything looks good now and have been credited for the WU. Thanks

[Katya]

Let's help spread the thread....post info to your state boards and ping your list mates.