At 01:42 AM 9/26/1999 -0400, Lucas Wiman wrote:
>> not, but, what would it show? A progress bar, maybe... anything else? There
>> isn't really anything else to show. Intermediate results of the LL test
>> don't themselves have a lot of meaning (even the final result, if non-zero,
>> is devoid of much interpretation). There's not a lot you could plot - a
>> graph of the iteration time would only serve to show when you opened
>> Microsoft Word or something...
>
>Yes, but the point is that they may be pretty. (?) This probably wouldn't
>alter anyone who already is at GIMPS, but it might attract new members.
>This feature (based on George's postings about his interests in the project)
>would be badly maintaned, and a support headache.
I think it should be emphasized, though, that that pretty-looking SETI
interface is a pig. On Win* machines, it often more than doubles the time
required to complete a block of data. All of the people I know who run
SETI went "Ooooh, ahhhhh!" when they saw the GUI, then promptly turned it
off because it hogged so many cycles. The REAL attraction of the SETI
project is the chance to be the person who helps to discover the existence
of E.T. Face it, that captures the public's imagination much more,
generally, than does hunting for large prime numbers.
I believe the initial attraction to SETI is not the interface, but rather
the chance to discover E.T.
Just my $.02,
Kel
_________________________________________________________________
Unsubscribe & list info -- http://www.scruz.net/~luke/signup.htm
Mersenne Prime FAQ -- http://www.tasam.com/~lrwiman/FAQ-mers
