Computers on all night for seti and/or folding

DavidOS · Jun 15, 2002

Hey folks,

I love seti@home. It is such a great idea to harness the wasted computing power of computers all over the world through the internet.

I'm a romantic and just love the idea that I might be the one to decode the message some day.

I am interested in folding - the easier shot at top 100 (we are already there), the team spirit, and all the great scientific and medical applications are all great reasons to participate. I just might download folding and do both.

BUT

I have read in various threads of people keeping their computers on all night BECAUSE OF THESE PROGRAMS.

Some of you keep them on for other good reasons anyways - web servers, whatever. Ok, fine.

But I am not sure it is such a great idea to leave them on all night only because of these distributed computing programs. even if you set energy conserving settings on (hard disks, screen turn off, etc.), I would argue that a computer on all night is unnecessarily using energy, and often, depending on where you get your power from, environmentally irresponsible.

I live in Michigan - I get my power from coal! there is no way I am going to leave my computer on looking for aliens at night on coal power!

What type of power plant are you getting energy from? Do you leave your computer on all night? Should you?

In California there is the Energy crisis to add to the picture.

And, dont forget that you pay for that energy.

etc. etc.

What do you folks think? shall we have a friendly discussion here?'

Rower_CPU · Jun 15, 2002

Friendly, schmendly...

I live in CA and the "energy crisis" is pretty non-existent at this point in the summer...no matter what the local power companies may be telling us in their commercials. That mess was brought about by deregulation, and has mostly been fixed now.

As to the environmental concerns, I agree...sort of.

I think it's the responsibility of the energy companies to use "clean" energy sources. We consumers should not be made to feel guilty because they are not doing everything in their power to look out for the environment.

At least some of my power comes from nuclear, so at least that is a positive. I run Folding 24/7 on my PC at home, I pay the bills, I don't see a problem with it.

iwantanewmac · Jun 15, 2002

Ah great finally some1 brings this up.
A lot of people leave their comp on for no reason at all.
I personally hate that. It's just a waste of energy. there will be enoourmous problems when non developed countires will start using computers at the scale thewestern world does. There will be vast energy shortages.

and rower....your energy comes from a nuclear powerplant...and you say that's positive?

People should be more aware of how much energy they use.
(especially Americans who are still the biggest poluters in the world)
don't leave light on in every room in the house when there is no1 there. Same goes for computers......if u don't really use it... turn it off.

j763 · Jun 15, 2002

Leaving your computer on doesn't actually use that much power... Just turn your monitor off!!!

firewire2001 · Jun 15, 2002

Leaving your computer on doesn't actually use that much power... Just turn your monitor off!!!.

yea! totally.. computers take up relatively no power compared to all the other power hogging stuff we do all day... the monitor is the only thing that takes up a ton of electricity...

Beej · Jun 15, 2002

I usually don't leave mine on becuase of the noise (my comp's in my room). I have been leaving it on lately, though, because of catching Mac Central (already there - Apple's out next target) and because I'm going away in a couple of weeks, so I want to get a few more SETI units cruched so I don't fall too far behind.

I'd love to leave my computer on while I'm away and just let it crunch crunch crunch, but I know better than that

Hmmm... just a thought... can you set OS X to start up and shut down like OS 9? Cuz I might just let it run for a few hours a day...

MacAztec · Jun 15, 2002

me?

I put my G4 to sleep, and it goes DEAD silent. Then, i shut the monitor off....

IndyGopher · Jun 15, 2002

I'm with Rower on this one.. I pay my electrical bill.. bite me if you don't like me leaving half a dozen computers on 24/7. As for Americans creating the most pollution, that statistic is absolutely true.. and it totally ignores the fact that you can't pollute if you live in a dirt hut and eat whatever runs slower than you or grows in your "yard" or whatever passes for it. I am sooo tired of treehuggers trying to make everyone feel guilty for every little thing. How miserable will everyone have to be before you're happy?

Amadeus · Jun 15, 2002

woh.

Originally posted by IndyGopher
I'm with Rower on this one.. I pay my electrical bill.. bite me if you don't like me leaving half a dozen computers on 24/7. As for Americans creating the most pollution, that statistic is absolutely true.. and it totally ignores the fact that you can't pollute if you live in a dirt hut and eat whatever runs slower than you or grows in your "yard" or whatever passes for it. I am sooo tired of treehuggers trying to make everyone feel guilty for every little thing. How miserable will everyone have to be before you're happy?

Strangely enough, I agree with you. I think the way you chose to express your points was pretty pathetic (begging to be flamed and so on), but I agree with your viewpoint.

While the theory of conservation is good, the movement can pretty much be summed up as public reminder for people not to be lazy -- i.e. turning lights / tv off when you leave the room / house. To argue power conservation or environmentalism based on those kinds of things is just garbage -- you are just fighting the collapse of American (global) work ethic and general awareness. We have reached the point where you can't count on the average consumer to do these types of things -- that is why you must seek alternative solutions..

What we need to change is the corporate responsiblity, not the consumer responsibility. That is attacking the true problem. Instead of blaming people for utilizing the system that has been provided for them, force changes in the system, not in the consumers -- only then can you hope to escape the problems of our power hungry society.

That is.. if you care enough to try to fight the system (yes, it is much harder to do than to remind people to turn off their computers). Most people (including me) don't care that much-- and that's the problem...

Amadeus

Rower_CPU · Jun 16, 2002

Originally posted by iwantanewmac
Ah great finally some1 brings this up.
A lot of people leave their comp on for no reason at all.
I personally hate that. It's just a waste of energy. there will be enoourmous problems when non developed countires will start using computers at the scale thewestern world does. There will be vast energy shortages.

and rower....your energy comes from a nuclear powerplant...and you say that's positive?

People should be more aware of how much energy they use.
(especially Americans who are still the biggest poluters in the world)
don't leave light on in every room in the house when there is no1 there. Same goes for computers......if u don't really use it... turn it off.

Yes, nuclear power is a positive thing because it affects the atmosphere less than coal or other high emmission types of enrgy production. Barring a meltdown, nuclear power is one of the cleanest power sources widely available today.

Last I checked Mexico City was the most polluted city in the world, so I don't think you can blame everything on Americans.

Yes, we are the worst offenders overall, but we are also among the largest industrial countries in the world...it goes with the territory.

I do my part to prevent wasting energy. I turn lights off when I'm not using them, etc. I recycle, I conserve water...I am environmentally conscious.

I choose to run my computer 24/7 because I think that distributed computing is a good cause. I think the possible benefits (cures for diseases) outweigh the cost incurred. They're my kilowatts to spend as I see fit.

pc_convert? · Jun 16, 2002

Amadeus said,

What we need to change is the corporate responsiblity, not the consumer responsibility.

I partially agree with this, but consumers i.e. individuals all need to take responsibilty for their actions.

Just blaming corporations is lazy and dangerous.

iwantanewmac · Jun 16, 2002

Originally posted by firewire2001

yea! totally.. computers take up relatively no power compared to all the other power hogging stuff we do all day... the monitor is the only thing that takes up a ton of electricity...

What the hell is this?
You ever thought about the possiblity that there are millions and millions of computers left on at night. (with monitors off?)
That's still an enormous energy usage/waste.
All those small pieces........

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Computers on all night for seti and/or folding

Do you leave your computer on all night running seti/folding??

yes, b/c of seti/folding

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I don't do seti/folding at all. (pick this option if you don't do seti/folding, whether or not the c

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