Oh, and a store would be cool. I mean, I already have some stuff (from the beta) but I’d definitely buy more. Like patches, hoody, socks, lemonade, (mt) Red Bull, anything

It really depends on the computer you’re running it on. Any server or big brand name desktop/laptop should be fine if you run it 24/7 at 100%. I’ve been running Boinc on my Macbook Pro and my home Dell server since the early February 24/7 and it’s great so far. If you have a computer you’ve build yourself, check your cooling/arctic silver, before doing it 24/7. I would also recommend installing temperature monitoring software on your desktop/laptop just in case

Once thing i’ve noticed is that if i set my Boinc to “use no more than 80% of the processor” my fan on Macbook Pro kicks in a lot less often, try experimenting with that as well

First: Is it bad for my CPU to run at 100% continuous 24/7 ?

Second: Media Temple you really should have a forum setup for customers. I would love to get advice once in a while from other MT customers and get questions like the one above answered.

Thanks MT

World Community Grid then multiplies the “granted credit” by 7 to give you points. This formula appears to work out because my first project submitted was granted 8.7 credits and 8.7 * 7 = 60.9 and I was given 61 points. A second project waiting to be validated is rated at 69.3 credits and if correct would equal out to 69.3*7 = 485.1 points. This took approximately 6.2 hours for the last project and the first one about .79 hours.

Media Temple should have a store with their gear with their logo…I would love a cool coffee mug and a sweatshirt with your logo! I’m always open to free stuff although I’m willing to pay as a last resort.

The point calculation is not really very cut and dry from what I could tell. I’ve found that points on WCG can take up to 3-4 days to show up as “credited” on their website. Here is what WCG has to say about points:
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/help/viewTopic.do?shortName=points

As far as CPU vs The environment is concerned, I haven’t found a conflict with donating a few spare CPU cycles with my personal efforts to be a better steward. I personally find scientific endeavors to be very important and some simple changes to my personal habits allows me, in good conscience, to be friendly to the environment and donate time to the scientific research community — both of which I feel are noble goals.

I happen to live in Los Angeles which is a desert so here is what I personally do (oh and it helps keep bills low too!):
- keep air conditioning and heating to an absolute minimum (huge power savings):
- sealed up windows and cracks around doors
- during hot months - open windows at night and close the shades during the day
- during the “cold” months - use more blankets and use warm PJs around the house (not quite an option for those snow dwellers)
- make the fridge/freezer slightly less frigid
- switch to fluorescent light bulbs and keep lights turned off if not in use
- Didn’t plant trees. Instead, planted native desert plants which don’t need water
- do dishes by hand with cold water
- walk to the store

Here is a chart that will may help people find the “minimal effort - maximum benefit” lifestyle changes if one is so inclined:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/recs/recs2001/enduse2001/enduse2001.html

I’m definitely not perfect but “baby steps” seems to be working out for me.

We can all start with small changes to make a big difference!

Thanks for the comments!

@Andrei: I want the tshirt so I can tell people I got it for donating CPU power to a good cause B) just like I show off my (mt) iPod to people and tell them I got it for helping the best web hosting company get even better. Perhaps I’m a showoff. But hey

I’m thinking about digging up an old PC to dedicate to this… of all the parts in my computers, the CPU seems to be the least used and I’m only using it for 3-4 hours a day. The big deicision is this: save power and be green or use lots of power and be a data donor.

Zach, I’m still waiting for my first batch of results to kick in. I have a Mac Mini with Intel Core Duo at 1.66 running the BOINC client and a NEC Versa M350 notebook with a 1.7 GHz processor running at maximum capacity. Both computers started running about 6 hours ago.

The BOINC client does a really cool job as far as I can see. It uses 40%-80% of both my cores on my Mini and I can’t feel any performance drops. It’s also an UB so things are running even smoother. On my Windows laptop I have the UD client and so far, after 3h 15 min it says I have done 110 points so far. My math says I’ll have 250.000 points in 290 days if I have this laptop working 24/7. I’m waiting for a MacBook to arrive soon and that might boost my points per day ratio, but I wouldn’t hold my breath

And, dude, you’re doing it to fight AIDS, not get a lousy T-Shirt

Based on my personal setup on WCG (one active computer crunching away for only 6 hours a day) I think I would be eligible in about 3 months. I’ve been a member for about 3 months so it would take about 6 months for me.

If you have a more powerful computer (or more than one computer) and have the crunch time a little more aggressive, it would not be unreasonable to have a shirt in 3 months!

Thanks for the question.