I just wanted to give everyone an update on a distributed computing program that some Xterra owners are participating in.

Over at Grid.org, 22 of us from XOC are donating our spare computing cycles to the fight against cancer, as well as to combating bioterrorism by finding cures for anthrax and smallpox.

We created the Xterra Owners team two years ago and have done pretty well, donating over 16 years of processing time and returning over 13,000 results!

If you want to join the team or just come over and check us out, click the link below. No one gets paid for this work and of it is all done through donations by organizations like Accelrys, IBM, Oxford University, the National Foundation for Cancer Research, and others.

http://www.grid.org/services/teams/team.htm?id=E9AC9278-4D0B-48B5-974D-EB4DB04D38BB

Cool! Someone else joined. The statistics haven't updated yet - who was it?

Color me stupid, but I don't really understand how it works?

Simple. You download the client. Run it on your computer - it runs at low priority when your computer is idle. It downloads work units from a central server, completes them and then uploads them.

Distributed computing. 1,000's of computers make short work of complex computations.

Ah, no security issues or anything?

Nope. There was quite a fuss when SETI@Home first debuted over 8 years ago. If you are really concerned, there are proxies that will go between the client on your machine and the remote server to ensure that only work packets are being exchanged (they can also que up multiple work units).

I've run either SETI or now United Devices for years. While SETI is cool on a geek level (Search for Extra Terrestrial Inteligance) finding reactive protiens to hopefully cure cancer seems like a more worthwhile project to me.

That and I have had three friends in the last two years die from cancer

Thanks, sounds good!

Sorry to hear about your friends. I've lost a three friends from cancer too; and my Mother when I was 8. Also lost a friend to Diabetes. I try to help when I can.

I think most people have known someone who lost the battle with cancer, or at least who have had cancer and are in danger of being diagnosed with it again. That's why I donate my processing time to the cause.

My grandfather died of prostate cancer, my aunt has had breast cancer twice, and my mom is at a high risk for it due to family history. Plus, there are so many people out there who have to deal with it on a daily basis.

I volunteered in a cancer research laboratory for several years and for a plasma donation organization for a while. Those took a lot of time, but this doesn't take any!

I was just looking through the teams - there are some huge ones! The largest has accumulated 13,815 years of processing time. I think that's pretty amazing.

Here's the link:
http://www.grid.org/services/teams/team.htm?id=270E60B7-EC7B-4389-BA40-8C473D6C5A5B

The largest vehicle-related team seems to be for the Subaru Impreza owners. They have about 397 members:
http://www.grid.org/services/teams/team.htm?id=4B4667E4-95B8-4747-800F-F7E54398A3C2

Well, I joined last night, so maybe someday you'll get that many people in your group!

Errr, actually I just joined. I'm a dumbass and signed up last night but didn't actually join your group! I just assumed that it automatically did it.

I just put four systems on it.. will add another 3 or so today.

I joined... what the heck.

Thanks for joining, guys - we can at least be inside the top 1000 now.

Bump

You're up to 28.

No Mac version? Shame. I've got it on my PC (dual PIII 800), but the Mac (Dual G4 1ghz) would have been better.

We have another.

Thanks for joining, guys!

Interesting. Joined today, will add a few PCs this afternoon.

Just don't forget - there is some network traffic and drive space used by this stuff.. don't be suprised if your IT departments get PO'd if you go overboard at work doing this and forget to notify them...

-=RB

Yes, definitely get permission from supervisors before installing this on your work computer(s). I have heard stories of people getting in trouble or even fired for "stealing company processing time and bandwidth".

This team is huge - they have about 30,000 members more than the next largest team:

http://www.grid.org/services/teams/team.htm?id=270E60B7-EC7B-4389-BA40-8C473D6C5A5B

I guess if we get enough Xterra owners, we could pass them. How many Xterras has Nissan sold?

Edit: Wow - they have over 16,327 years of processing time.

Im in

Thanks for joining, Weasel!

Every time distributed computing, and specifically this cancer research project, is brought up, the Xterra Owners team grows. When I originally started this thread, we added five members and grew by about 23%. Since this thread was resurrected by Socalpunx, we've added eight members and grown by another 30%. I think it's pretty cool that people keep donating their computing time.

Let's grow another 30%!

I wanted to add this as a note:

If you have a connection that is not always on, such as dial-up rather than cable or DSL, you can cache more than one work unit at a time for the UD Agent. This way, your computer has work units to process even if your computer can't connect to the Internet at that moment.

See the thread on the Grid.org forums:
http://forum.grid.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=4849

I wanted to welcome ruger3717 to the team.

We are now 37 strong!

Welcome to ****** ****! Is that you, Ski_Patrol_Guy?

Edited out old name in case user didn't want it displayed.

Yup. That's me.

Did you change your name to Ski Patroller? Didn't realize you could change your displayed name!

Make it 38 members, and I will be installing the client on a few more machines later today.

Looks like we're up to 39.

Welcome to jerseydevi1 and dingers4him!

Im in.

Got two up n running now. Just gotta get a few more installed n running.

We just passed 20 years of CPU time and have returned about 16,275 results! Good job, team.

Welcome to MBFlyerfan and DM.PMFD!

That's me. Nice to be able to change your log in name. Here at XOC I had to pick Ski_Patrol_Guy as a handle because I couldn't remember my original XOC login name

Should be able to generate a few hits over the next couple of weeks. My first born entered the world today and I will be home for the next two weeks.

I absolutly hate the big C. It's taken some very special people from me way to early in life. Glad that the internet has something to contribute to society.

( besides porn and XOC of course )

Yeah, I knew it was you, but didn't want to bother you by having it displayed. I just starred it out because I noticed you had changed the displayed name on your account.

I wanted to give an update on this project:

We've been a team for about two and a half years, and are approaching the completion of 25 years of processing time. We've returned over 20,500 results (work units), and are ranked 834th out of 39,807 teams in terms of overall processing time.

I'd say it's a great effort by our team. If anyone would like to see the statistics, they can be viewed at Xterra Owners Grid.org Team Statistics.

If you would like to join the team, you can download the software here and create an account. Then, click on the link above to see the Xterra Owners team stats and click the JOIN THIS TEAM button.

I joined! If you want more members you could always post on NOR, TUNFS, N4W, AC Im sure that alot of nissan owners would be happy to join but havent heard about it, and Im sure non-X nissan owners would join as well. This was the first I heard about this.

Count another add

Awesome, guys - thanks for joining!

Welcome to:

-dolphinpanzer
-OhioXterra
-combatmedic1978
-pernanets
-Nochor

Thanks for joining!

I don't frequent those boards, so I'm not sure how much sway my post would have. If anyone else on the team wants to recruit on those boards, feel free - that would be great!

Just joined the team.

'Tis a pity there's no Mac client. I'd whoop some ass if I could donate my computer cycles...

Done!

Welcome, TJ!

Yeah, many people have requested both Mac and Linux clients. United Devices needs to get their act together. Maybe you could start an Xterra Owners' SETI team? They have clients for pretty much everything.

Awesome!

Welcome to lanceberens and Bioweez!

We're up to 49 members! Welcome to vladimir10.

I can't see how to add a device...any advice?

I tried the FAQ...if its there, I can't see it.

I have one 'puter pumping now, want to put more online.

Help?

Download the software and install it. When you run it for the first time, the program will ask for a name for the new device and for your username and password. Make sure you click the checkbox denoting that you are already a member of UD.

joined tonight and passed the word to others.

I am up and running w/2 now!



Over 30 results so far!

We're up to the 50-member mark. Welcome to southernx7!

I was thinking - the people who have joined might like to see our statistics. Here are the team statistics:



Additionally, you can make one of these boxes with your personal statistics. Go to this website and follow the instructions to create a link. It comes out something like this:



Anyway, have fun!

Welcome to our newest member, normanberens!

Our group is now at 51 members. Yesterday, we almost broke the 100-result mark with 99 results returned. We're also averaging between 700-750 hours of processing time per day. Good work!

I was scrolling through the member list...we have ALOT of people on the list who were kicking ass for a while...but haven't returned a recent result, like months or more w/o an update.

Is there a way to remind the dormant members that they need to re-activate the program?

I think we'd be including (Adding back in?) around 20% of the total list.

I think some people just don't want to run the program any more. Either that, or they don't leave their computers on long enough for a work unit to be completed. After a certain amount of time, if a work unit hasn't been completed, the program gets a new work unit from the server and any work done is lost.

I guess we could remind them on this thread...

[yelling]HEY, DORMANT TEAM MEMBERS - REINSTALL THE UD AGENT![/yelling]

count me in
thee 1
thee only
thee polar bear!!

Welcome to Xterraintx and THEEPOLARBEAR, our newest Members.

I just wanted to give everyone an update on the Grid.org Xterra Owners team .

We're passing 30 years of processing time this week, and that gives us a ranking of 690 among 40,545 teams.

Grid.org has also added another project - the Human Proteome Folding Project. The site has some very interesting reading.

The project is being done in conjunction with the World Community Grid and is similar to Folding@Home .

One question for the moderators - should this be moved to "Your Mom's Basement"?

I'm going to step down as the the 'Captain' of the Xterra Owners' Grid.org Team. Who on the team can to take my place?

It doesn't involve much - the only real control you have is the ability to control the team logo, the home page, and the description.

If someone wanted to, they could even reach out to the other Xterra boards out there - I don't visit them often, but I know many people do.

Also, here is an update on our work:

Strom - If it doesn't involve much actual work...I'm trying to figure out why you'd need to step down?

Job change?



Anyway...if it doesn't involve much (I am so strapped for time...), I'd be willing to do it.



My current log-in for the project is:lanceberens

Let me know.

I've vacated the position, so anyone can become the captain by going to the team page and clicking the link that says "Position Available". The link is also here .

I also wanted to welcome our newest member, NHX!

I am stepping down as captain because I will no longer own an Xterra in a month or so. I'm getting a new vehicle (Mini Cooper S) and giving the Xterra to my brother. At least it will still be in the family! I'll still come visit here, and will still participate on the Xterra Owners team at Grid.org, but just wanted the captain to be an Xterra owner.

Welp, I clicked the second link and became captain without even really trying I have no problem doing it.

Anyone else - if you haven't signed up, please do so. It's free, it's easy and it will probably make a difference in the life of someone close to you.

Strom - Thanks for bringing us into the Grid in the first place!

My wife has a Mini, and she loves it!

DocNo - Thanks for talking the helm!

Thanks for taking over, DocNo!

We're still doing pretty well, but production drops off a month or two after a big round of people join. I guess people just uninstall the program. Kinda wierd.

Does anyone who uninstalled/stopped using the program have a reason for doing it? I'm interested in the reasons.

In our office....the reasons for the various install/de-stalls are related to replacement of the computers with new ones, various people being a bit freaked by leaving the 'puters on/having some alien program communicating with an outside party, and so forth.

I have two computers actually running the program, and a total of 11 that had it installed.

Of the 11, I never had more than 4 at one time, sort of a microcosm of the team as a whole.

Is everyone on the team having problems with connecting to UD as well, beyond the past few days which have been documented on grid.org? I know they have been down for the last few days but just wanted to check in with the XOC team to insure everything has been running OK for them. I added another computing project (Human Proteome Folding Project) to test for connectivity to the grid.org & the "cancer research project (phase 2)" since it had not been getting responses on queries for a few months.

Yup, I noticed today I can't connect - just hadn't gotten around to searching the UD forums to see what was up :p

Yeah - I checked today when one of my engineers mentioned his computer wasn't connecting anymore...

Seems the site is having some hardware problems, and is essentially down for maintenence.

I just noticed it this morning for the first time. I run it as a screen saver and ususally I get the picture of the atoms type thing spinning around on both machines.

This morning I just had the United Devices logo floating around.

ok, as long as it wasn't just me...

I'll join tonight when I get home.

I don't think they'd like me doing something like this on a work computer.

I have been a member before and deleted it from my
system. I don't remember why. However, I downloaded it again but I can not connect. I joined the XOC group btw.

Wilmac - Our office has it on every computer with an internet hook-up...as long as it runs as a screensaver, they are OK with it.

I still can't get it to run on my system. Arghh!!

Try today defibvt the service is back up today & welcome back.

I am up and running. Woohoo!

I just checked my status...the site had been down for maintenance a lot lately...I think a bunch of us gave up and are no longer contributing.

If you were participating, and unplugged due to the previous site issues, it would be great if you re-activated the screen saver again.



It looks like I'm closing in on the top 5 rank for results returned among Xterra Owner's Club members.



For those of you never into this - its a way to fight cancer using group computing, analogous to th SETI project (Same site).

Sign up and help!

Good point TJ, I will start mine back up tonight.

Any one else looking to fight cancer?

Heck Yea, I'm in!

I was doing some of that before with some other groups but it was actaully using so much processor resources I was worried it would over heat the CPU. Anyone else have this problem?

This one won't do that, just set it to run in the background, so anything you are working on has priority (The default installation...)....so it only does cancer related computations when you are not asking it to do anything else.

I tried a few programs at work, and with the grid program on or off, the processor results were the same, so it doesn't affect what you are doing...and, We've never had any heat issues either...its pretty much inobtrusive, and you wouldn't even know it was there if you don't check on it to see how its doing once in a while.



It will use about 100% of the processing time left though, so the processor will do what it can while you are idle or doing work, etc.

OK, I'll set it up tonight and let you know how it goes!

I hope the Graemlins humor isn't wasted here!

OK, I'm up and running!

I'm the latest XOC team member, in memory of my father, CW4 James A. Goutierez. He was the consummate soldier, twice earning the Bronze Star for valor while fighting with the Army's 77th "Liberty" Division at Guam, Leyte, and Okinawa. He later did 2 combat tours in Korea. For all that, he could not defeat cancer, which took him on 30Apr91 at the age of 68.



I miss you, dad.

Nice post. Thank you for your Father's Service to our Country!

Thanks - I truly appreciate that.

Update for all: Info Page



BREAKING NEWS: GRID.ORG MISSION COMPLETE
On Friday, April 27, 2007, Grid.org announced it has completed its mission to demonstrate the viability and benefits of large-scale Internet-based grid computing, and will be retiring its famous efforts to support critical health research.

For those who want: Uninstall

ETA: Replacement to continue support of Cancer Research (NCR) National Cancer Institute