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Some Of You Wanted To Be Kept Informed

5/7/2007 10:49:22 PM

TransitMan

29 posts

Some Of You Wanted To Be Kept Informed
(N/A)

There are a lot of folks here from the "other place" that wanted to be kept informed on The Project near and dear to those who know it.
Below is my posting in "the other place".
As in the post below, I will not entertain nor want any comments regarding the events of split.
This post is for informational purposes only, nothing more.

I want to say Thank You to those who made The Project a success in its' day. I will try to keep you informed as this process goes forward.
Again, Thank You.
TransitMan aka Admiral Dan

****************************************************************************************************
[Crunchenstein News] This Is A Sad Announcement - Please Read

It is with a heavy heart and a lot of thought and IM work between several of the hosts for THE CRUNCHENSTEIN that I must announce that THE CRUNCHENSTEIN, the pride of Team Starfire is now on terminal life support.

Due to events that are above and beyond the control of the hosts and the current sitting (and probably final) BoD, it has been decided that as a motherboard/blade dies, and efforts at getting going again have failed, then said blade will *NOT* be replaced.

The current standing membership for the Association is at 44, down from 100+ at its' inception several years ago.
The BoD at different times over the last several months/years have made postings asking for new hosts, or donations to the project. While a few have trickled in, it is not enough to sustain the project.

As of this post, we have lost 2 blades on Crunchy 3, 2 blades on Crunchy 2 and have 2 blades from Crunchy 2 sitting idle.

The equipment we are currently using was once new and state-of-the-art socket A motherboards with XP 1700+ - 2100+ processors, 128 mb of RAM with onboard video. Most of the boards were upgraded to 256 mb after a test detected increased production times. But as the years have worn on, so has the toll on the equipment. Power supplies have failed, memory chips have failed, processors have failed and motherboards have failed, all due to age.
While a donation of an Intel system was made about a year ago, we have not had the funds or equipment donations to upgrade Crunchy to today's standards.

The current funding situation has the Association to the point that web-hosting fees for http://www.crunchenstein.net/ should sustain the web-site for approximately 7 years provided the costs do not rise. After that time, the site will go dark.
There are also costs involved in the DNS names, as they may be coming due soon as well. This may also affect the time-line.

I, as the current (and probably final) Director for the Association, do not blame or am attempting to induce guilt in anyone here, present or past members. The usefulness of THE CRUNCHENSTEIN has come and gone.
In CLASSIC it was fun to watch the blades rip through WU's, eating up the opposition as it grew and climbed in the stats. But with the advent of BOINC, the fun has gone. Yes, watching the stats climb is interesting, and yes, the science of it may be useful. But with the advent of BOINC, more diverse DC projects sprung up and took valuable people away from SETI.
And not to bring back bad memories, but the split last year has also hurt Crunchy as well. (No more on this issue will be discussed in this thread - NO EXCEPTIONS)

The current hosts have kept Crunchy alive and living, and in most cases have repaired him to see that he continues to live. But again, the time is coming that one day soon, THE CRUNCHENSTEIN will be no more.
The current hosts are being contacted via IM to see what their wishes are in regards to continuing their respective hosting duties. Any changes will be made between the hosts and under the direction of parkut and myself. We will no longer be posting for or accepting new hosts. The BoD understands it takes time and money to feed THE CRUNCHENSTEIN, and concessions were made to slim down the requirements of hosting a certain number of blades in order to increase interest in THE CRUNCHENSTEIN. But the interest has waned, and so to has the time for Crunchy to continue.

THE CRUNCHENSTEIN will remain online and crunching for SETI as well as Einstein@home for as long as the blades hold hold out. After that, THE CRUNCHENSTEIN will become a memory to be savored by those who loved it and cared for it.

As the Director, I wish to thank those who have made THE CRUNCHENSTEIN a very valuable member of BBR-Team Starfire, and I wish nothing but success to everyone in the future in whatever DC project you end up supporting.
********************************************************************************************************

5/8/2007 1:29:22 AM

Kinguni

2157 posts

Re: Some Of You Wanted To Be Kept Informed
(Canada)

I saw the post on the Crunchenstein message board Dan. You and Bill are to be commended for sticking it out so long past it's prime. Afraid it would be hard, even here, to keep enough interest to keep a project like that going.

Don't be a stranger,

Ron

5/8/2007 3:28:55 AM

ScottMo

88 posts

Re: Some Of You Wanted To Be Kept Informed
(United States)

As the first host of Crunchie, I must say it was a priviledge to be part of it. It was a great idea who's time has passed. C'est la vie.

5/8/2007 8:39:38 AM

Fuzzy Duck

36 posts

Re: Some Of You Wanted To Be Kept Informed
(France)

Although I was never involved with crunchenstein directly (primarily due to geography), I remember when the first seed of the idea was germinated. I also remember wishing my rigs were as fast!

I must be getting old, since I see those times as the halcyon days of DC (IMHO), when a lot a things were done "by the seat of your pants".

5/8/2007 9:03:31 AM

uniquecp

267 posts

Re: Some Of You Wanted To Be Kept Informed
(N/A)

As the original builder of the boards and one of the founders I will say I regret the loss of any processing that supports the science.

Things in your rearview mirror may be larger than they appear

5/8/2007 10:46:56 AM

Kinguni

2157 posts

Re: Some Of You Wanted To Be Kept Informed
(Canada)

Fuzzy Duck wrote

I must be getting old, since I see those times as the halcyon days of DC (IMHO), when a lot a things were done "by the seat of your pants".

Those were good times for sure! Much simpler times for DC.

5/8/2007 12:06:24 PM

Sparky Jim

164 posts

Re: Some Of You Wanted To Be Kept Informed
(N/A)

Kinguni wrote

Fuzzy Duck wrote

I must be getting old, since I see those times as the halcyon days of DC (IMHO), when a lot a things were done "by the seat of your pants".

Those were good times for sure! Much simpler times for DC.

Arh but Ron they are only as complicated as we choose to make them. Such a project could be run now, it is not impossible. Perhaps the scale would be different but how many in the team run multiple machines? Lets be honest i could easily give over a large portion of my capability to such an endeavour, it would only be a case of redirecting the account that BOINC credits in those machines. Yes I personally would not get the credit, but the project still does, and at the end of the day that is actually what this is all about. It is not imnpossible, and theorfer it is possible, it is simply a matter of willingness..

Blooming Sig broke..will repair when able!!

5/8/2007 7:20:15 PM

Xaak

1056 posts

Re: Some Of You Wanted To Be Kept Informed
(United States)

Sorry to hear that, but after the vote you had, the writing was on the wall. Sad when people who voted to keep it going wouldn't even step up to back the project in some way.

You and Bill have done an amazing job of keeping crunchy going and I admire both of you for that. It's really sad that you guys have to preside over it's demise.

Stop by once in a while, not just to deliver bad news. We want to hear the good stuff too .

Gary
You can't fix dead.

5/9/2007 8:01:21 PM

Slider

178 posts

Re: Some Of You Wanted To Be Kept Informed
(N/A)

I had donated a few spare parts to keep Crunchie going over the years and was sad to see the post on the other forum.

In the end, Crunchie road a big wave and it's just about died out. It's sad that no one will step up and take the reigns of 2 blades.

You've done a great service keeping him alive as long as he has been. You and Bill are definitely top notch guys and are to be commended for keeping it going.

Again, as everyone else has said, no need to be a stranger. You know where we are and that we're more than happy when old friends stop by to shoot the breeze.

If you can't beat'em, join'em. Then beat'em.

5/10/2007 8:17:52 AM

Sat_Man

1369 posts

Re: Some Of You Wanted To Be Kept Informed
(United States)

We all knew that it was just a matter of time. It was a great concept in it's time. Thanks TransitMan and others that kept it going as long as they could!

It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues

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