David's Dubious Distinctions Awards

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haysdb
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David's Dubious Distinctions Awards

Post by haysdb » Sat Dec 06, 2003 1:55 pm

In honor of EOC Stats and it's helpful color-coding system being back online ("...and please, God, may it never fail again."), and the fact that I am feeling a bit ornery...
  • The highest ranked "gray producer" on the team: dago. He Folded 23K points for Team SPCR, but where is dago now? :cry: rhuebner is another past-producer-gone-AWOL. 13K point, but none in the last 30 days.
  • The highest ranked "white producer" is Wrah. 26K points for The Team, but only 343 in the last week. :( (Dis)Honorable mention goes to powergyoza in 23rd with a whopping 124 points last week, good for 77th best on the team. What up dog?
I don't wish to be "disrespectful", since I too will eventually get bored with Folding, and move on to other things. None of us are getting paid to do this, so when it stops being fun, we can't afford to do it any more, we change jobs, or whatever changes in our personal circumstance, no one can be critical. What's more, it's maybe a necessary thing for some of the "old" to make way for the "new". It's much harder to get promoted when there is no attrition.

So, not forgetting the contribution these folks and others have made to the team, who else merits a Dubious Distinctions award?

David

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Post by Zyzzyx » Sat Dec 06, 2003 3:23 pm

I do, in a way.

For quietly installing F@H on some systems at work when I didn't have complete, 100% clear authorization. Even though I'm one of only two IT guys there.

Curiously, it wasn't the F@H that caught notice. I had installed with FireDaemon to run it as a service. My fellow IT guy (and boss, basically) was working on a new Dell system I had just put a fresh install on (including FireDaemon and F@H). He came back and asked what the heck was FireDaemon? (not being too pleased about new/different software installed) He didn't say a thing about Folding. I slyly explained it away, then went through the next morning and uninstalled FireDaemon and Folding from the 7 machines I had going. (was about 13ghz worth too, durnit)

Someday here I'll bring up Folding to my buddy, probably with addition of one of those slick promotional Flash movies. Would be very cool to install on all the systems at work. Well, probably not the two in accounting. Really can't afford to have their computers act up at all, even though F@H is damn stable.

(a quick estimated count and I'm guessing I've got about 50-60ghz worth of systems at work)

So that's why I'm rather adamant about seeing people get 100% full authorization before installing Folding on a system that is not their own private computer. ;)

haysdb
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Post by haysdb » Sat Dec 06, 2003 4:17 pm

I have FAH installed as a service, but using SRVANY.EXE. That might slip notice, and the service name is FAH, but could be something inocuous, but it'd be hard to explain FahCore_78.exe and why it's using 99% cpu. :D

I hear you though. Getting cought installing "unauthorized software" on work PC's could be serious, depending on their policies and the sense of humor of the Keepers of the PC's.

Having said that, I'm trying to figure out how to change the name of Fahcore_78.exe to "System Idle Process" :lol:

David

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Post by DryFire » Sat Dec 06, 2003 5:38 pm

hays if you figure that out, pm me! i would love to be able to do that at school. PLus our sys admin is pretty stupid so i could get around him. I have a "priviledged" account at school i could do it anonmously. but the ports might be blocked :( I'll have to check the proxies with my buddy who is the junior lan tech.

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Post by Zyzzyx » Sat Dec 06, 2003 6:23 pm

Zyzzyx repeats himself:
Zyzzyx wrote:So that's why I'm rather adamant about seeing people get 100% full authorization before installing Folding on a system that is not their own private computer.
Let me comment that a few years ago I heard of students getting suspended, expelled, or otherwise reprimanded in some form by their school for installing SETI@Home without permission. This varied from junior high through college level. Now, SETI@Home is really no different than Folding@Home in this regard. And technically, is no different than any un-authorized install of a program, be it something friendly like F@H, or a hidden FTP pr0n service.

I'm not sure where you're at in your schooling, Dryfire. But I really doubt the punishment if/when caught is worth it.

Even if you were 'let go' easily when caught, unauthorized installs also (IMO) tarnish the general reputation of Folding@Home, and other DC programs. Think of this scenario: F@H gets installed without the Sysadmin knowing. He eventually finds it and removes it. A bit later someone else (not the original installer) approaches the sysadmin about the idea of installing Folding@Home, or SETI@Home, or whatever. I kinda doubt they'd look too friendly at it after the install that got snuck past them.


Simply put, ask first. You might be pleasantly surprised. But if turned down, just walk away and realize its their loss.

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Post by ColdFlame » Sun Dec 07, 2003 1:46 am

One thing to remember about F@H is that basically it is software that downloads executables from "some" server into the corporate network and executes it. This is a huge security threat. I mean just one mention of this makes sysadmins cry.

Imagine this situation, someone in NSA runs F@H (okay, just imagine this :) ), spies hack F@H server, plant their trojan there, it gets to the NSA network and think what happens next.

Bottom line: I can't imagine a single decent sysadmin that would allow any project like this (F@H, SETI@Home, etc.) to run on a corporate network. Even at home you are at risk with your financial files on your hard disks, etc. I'm seriously thinking that I want to have dedicated users that can run F@H and set up FireDaemon to run F@H as those users, which only would have privileges to read/write into C:\F@H and that's it. I'm actually not even sure that this will work but hey!

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Post by DryFire » Sun Dec 07, 2003 7:10 am

well zyzzyx no worries about that, the ports are blocked by 3 seperate proxies (the shcool's, the counties' and teh state's)

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Post by DonP » Sun Dec 07, 2003 7:38 am

DryFire wrote:well zyzzyx no worries about that, the ports are blocked by 3 seperate proxies (the shcool's, the counties' and teh state's)
But a proxy won't stop attacks on servers within the school.. nor will they stop denial-of-service attacks on web services outside the school (since they'll pass through the proxy). And there are a few other fiddles you could do to be malicous.

EDIT: not forgetting installing keyloggers (grab credit card numbers from people ordering online etc..)

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Post by Wrah » Mon Dec 08, 2003 4:04 am

Well, you gotta do something to distinguish yourself between all that yellow and orange. There actually was a time when you were noticed if you were not white. Being yellow is no fun anymore now.
:mrgreen:

Seriously, I'm glad with my 343 points, I was stuck to 0 for weeks. I've been moving house the past few months and I am doing some construction in my new house. I won't be finished till like summer, but at least I finally got one of my PC's back up and running (and folding) since a week or so. I'm still on a dodgy dailup but adsl is in the pipeline. And I can't let my pc running at nights cause it's too loud (shudder). My previous house was in the middle of the city near a busy motorway. But now I live in a small village away from the city and the silence here is breathtaking. It's so silent I still have difficulty sleeping at nights (honestly). :) And now my PC ain't that silent anymore. I did put it in the other room but that wasn't really helpfull either. Might have something to with the fact that there are no walls yet between the bedrooms. No doors either. (I do have electricity and running water)
Plus I had a bunch of computers folding at work but recently we migrated from standalone pc's to nc's with citrix & windows terminal services. Meaning I can't let anything fold here anymore at work (they wouldn't appreciate it if I borged the servers. :roll:).
Hopefully I'll get my production up again the next few weeks before I get overtaken even more. :? Depending on my financial state hopefully with some extra hardware to replace the pc's I lost at work.

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Post by haysdb » Mon Dec 08, 2003 8:28 am

Wrah, it's nice to get a bit o' news from one of the "ol' timers". ;)

David

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Post by aristide1 » Thu Dec 18, 2003 7:47 am

I slip once in a while, because pc #2 is not nearby and if something prevents it from sending complete WU's or recieving them, like a busy phone line, then it just stops. And there's power outages.

I could get an UPS, but I am essentially unemployed now and have been for 16 months. $8 an hour is not what I call employment, it's just going broke more slowly. To cut costs I've:

1. Cancelled an umbrella policy. $12/month
2. Cancelled a term life policy. $13/month
3. Raised the deductables on my home insurance. $8/month.
3. Cancelled my sponsorship to save the children. I've done that for years, he's pretty grown up, and the village looks pretty good. $24/month

This is what I've cut this year, I cut a lot more last year. It's almost a $60/month savings. So I decided to keep both pc's running, as I don't want to cut out everything.

I'd love to buy a 2.8 MHz P4, add it to my mini farm and burn up the ranks somewhat. But lately when I spend money it's either a neccessity or something that's going to be extremely satisfying. Owning a DVD of "Once Upon a Time In the West" is extremely satisfying, and it's $12. Spending $$$$ for a folding P4, it's just not satisfying. Even if I made it my primary machine it's not that satisfying. And I'm still connected with a standard phone line, no digital line or cable modem for me. Too damn expensive for what i would get out of it.

:?

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Post by FJC » Thu Dec 18, 2003 8:03 am

The whole idea here is that spare CPU cycles don't go to waste, when they can be put to use to potentially help solve cancer and other diseases.

If a PC is going to be on anyway, we should run F@H on it.

If a person *chooses* to run a PC more than they normally would, or buy systems specifically for folding, then that's great. However, no one should feel guilty or be guilt-tripped into doing so if they do not want to.

Aristide1, I feel your pain, and you have no need to apologize or explain. We do what we can in our individual circumstances, and that's all that can be asked of us.

While a little friendly competition is fine, I personally find specifically pointing out people whose scores have slipped to be distasteful.

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Post by dago » Thu Dec 18, 2003 8:15 am

shhh ... some people actually prepare their comeback ... ;)

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Post by aristide1 » Thu Dec 18, 2003 8:22 am

I personally find specifically pointing out people whose scores have slipped to be distasteful
Not to worry, I didn't feel like I was being pointed out or picked on. And yes I leave both pc's on 24/7 just for folding.

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Post by aristide1 » Thu Dec 18, 2003 11:09 am

Speaking of dubious awards, I sent this pic to pro-H1B Hillary Clinton

Image

I hope she chokes on it.

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Post by Trip » Thu Dec 18, 2003 11:46 am

lol, that's pretty good

send a copy to Bush as well, I don't think he fully understand free-trade either...

did you find that picture for sale somewhere? ha, i may buy that!

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Post by mas92264 » Thu Dec 18, 2003 12:04 pm

I personally find specifically pointing out people whose scores have slipped to be distasteful.
I'm sure that the individual(s) pointing out others' slipping scores meant no malice whatsoever. :) My perception was that it was all done in the spirit of competition and to urge everyone to contribute.

If you can't, then you can't. That's it. No apology necessary.

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Post by aristide1 » Thu Dec 18, 2003 12:05 pm

There's a whole mess of these things on http://www.despair.com

:shock:

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Post by CoolGav » Thu Dec 18, 2003 3:06 pm

Trip wrote:send a copy to Bush as well, I don't think he fully understand free-trade either...
:lol: LOL! Does Dubya understand anything?

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Post by haysdb » Thu Dec 18, 2003 6:53 pm

I definitely meant no disrespect. It was just a bit of "friendly bullshitting", to maybe challenge some people to get back in the "fold" so to speak.

David

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Post by FJC » Fri Dec 19, 2003 4:38 am

LOL those anti-motivational pictures are hilarious.

My apologies if I came down a bit too hard there, I certainly don't think anyone was intentionally being disrespectful.

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Post by aristide1 » Mon Dec 22, 2003 1:48 pm

I want to make sure Hillary get's it, so I'm going to print it on really nice paper and mail it to her at the address listed on moveon.org.

In addition to the title of this thread, how about a loud raspberry for TheMuffinMan, who hasn't folded in months. :oops: :oops: :oops:

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Post by Cosine » Mon Dec 22, 2003 2:41 pm

Well... do you know the muffin man?

Cosine

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Post by Trip » Mon Dec 22, 2003 3:32 pm

the muffin man?

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Post by TRC-13 » Mon Dec 22, 2003 3:46 pm

the muffin-fan man?

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Post by aristide1 » Mon Dec 22, 2003 4:42 pm

Well he used to post a lot, had a bunny for an icon symbol, and somehow could sniff out muffins even though they had been internalized. :shock:

I sent him an Email to do more folding, but I didn't hear from him.
You think maybe he found out I like corn muffins hot with lots of butter?

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Post by unregistered » Mon Dec 22, 2003 5:35 pm

Is "Themuffinman" an AKA?

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Post by aristide1 » Tue Dec 23, 2003 7:23 am

It was his name or nickname here. Like others he wandered here, quieted down his system and left. I hope his blueberries go POP in the microwave.

:shock:

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