Mersenne Digest         Monday, April 3 2000         Volume 01 : Number 714




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Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 02:41:14 EST
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Mersenne: The Hard Drive of the Gods and a Slam-Dunking Bill Gates

<<The possibility of LGM is "sexy" in a pop-culture kind of way.   Prime 
numbers are only "sexy" to a handful of people.>>

Nerds vs. pop culture?  Simple.  Bill Gates is, oh, about a kazillion times 
wealthier than Michael Jordan.  Yet few people have posters of Bill Gates 
hung up in their rooms.  Speaking of kazillions....

<<Perhaps if I'm feeling up to it, I'll find which book I read this example
in.  It probably doesn't bear mentioning that I read this stuff in a book on
the odds of abiogenesis occurring. :)  So just ignore that aspect.  Probably
in Behe's "Darwin's Black Box" or Sproul's "Not a Chance">>

Yeah, the psuedomathematical kooks like to bring up huge numbers based on 
crud arguments.

By the way, a common estimate for the number of elementary particles in the 
universe is 2^83.  I remember noting this in my Extended Essay:

"If the modulo M[N] operation is not performed at every cycle of computing 
S[K], the estimated number of elementary particles in the observable universe 
soon becomes insufficient to store the value of S 
(http://www.tasam.com/~lrwiman/faq-mers)."

Had it been a less serious paper, I would have thrown in my usual reference 
to The Hard Drive of the Gods, the one that uses every elementary particle in 
the universe to store a byte.

By the way, my Extended Essay titled "Mersenne Primes: Development through 
History, Ongoing Work, and a New Conjecture" is still at 
http://homepages.go.com/~joekorovin/Mersenne.html  (or Mersenne.zip for the 
.DOC file - capitalization is important!)

Stephan T. Lavavej
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Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2000 08:58:32 +0100
From: Michael Oates <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Mersenne: How do I start factoring...

Hi,

How do I start factoring when I am part way through doing an LL test, I
would just like to have a break from LL tests for a few weeks and do some
factoring, but I don't want to loose the number I am part way through.

What is the procedure to use?

Thanks,

Mike,

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Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2000 11:39:34 -0800
From: Eric Hahn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Mersenne: How do I start factoring...

Michael Oates wrote:
>How do I start factoring when I am part way through doing
>an LL test, I would just like to have a break from LL tests
>for a few weeks and do some factoring, but I don't want to
>loose the number I am part way through. 
>
>What is the procedure to use?

There's actually 3 ways you could go about doing this...

1) Request exponents to factor thru the manual testing forms
   at http://www.entropia.com/ips/manualtests.html#checkouts
   and then add them to your WORKTODO.INI file at the beginning
   (stopping PRIME95 first, adding the lines, then continuing).

2) Make sure PRIME95 is set up to request factoring, stop PRIME95,
   edit the WORKTODO.INI file to remove the LL-test, save the
   WORKTODO.INI file, continue PRIME95 and let it contact IPS
   and request some factoring work, stop PRIME95, re-edit the
   WORKTODO.INI file, add the LL-test back at the end, save the 
   WORKTODO.INI file, and continue PRIME95.  NOTE: Cut and Paste
   works best if doing it this way.

3) Start a new instance of PRIME95 doing factoring work.  At
   this point you can either let the new instance run (stopping
   the original instance while the new instance in running), or
   stop both instances, combine the WORKTODO.INI files into the
   original instance's WORKTODO.INI file (having the LL-test at
   the end), and continue on with the original instance of
   PRIME95.

I sure there are probably a couple of other ways too....

Eric


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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2000 11:25:18 -0800
From: Eric Hahn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Mersenne: Factoring Depths

Dave Mullen wrote: 

<excerpt><fontfamily><param>Arial</param>I'd just like to get a
clarification on some files I downloaded from the Entropia FTP.

</fontfamily>  

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param>Re the file of exponents, and how far
they have been trial factored. 

</fontfamily>  

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param>I extracted a range using the decomp
program. Each exponent has a number by the side, but I am unclear to what
this number refers.

</fontfamily>  

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param>Is it 

</fontfamily>  

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param>a) The bitlength of the K value alone
i.e. a bit length of 32 would indicate all K values 1 to (2^32) have been
tested ?

</fontfamily>  

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param>or

</fontfamily>  

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param>b) The bitlength of 2 x K x Exp + 1 as
computed ?

</fontfamily>  

<fontfamily><param>Arial</param>Just to save me repeating previously done
work.

</fontfamily></excerpt>  

The answer is B.  It the length of the actual factor being

tested.  Therefore, 10000139,64 means that all potential

factors thru 2^64 (18,446,744,073,709,551,615) have been

tested (all ~10^12 of them).


Eric



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Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 14:52:07 -0500
From: mark snyder <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Mersenne: The Hard Drive of the Gods and a Slam-Dunking Bill Gates

At 2:41 AM -0500 4/1/00, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

(snip)

>
>By the way, a common estimate for the number of elementary particles in the
>universe is 2^83.  I remember noting this in my Extended Essay:

(snip)

>Stephan T. Lavavej

Wrong base. The number of atoms in the universe is about 10^81, so maybe
the number of elementary particles is about 100 times that.

mark


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Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2000 21:02:24 +0100
From: Michael Oates <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Mersenne: How do I start factoring...

Eric, & Brian

Thank you both for your detailed explanations
(Brian sent his by email)

I am sorted now :)


Mike,

- --
ATLAS CELESTE - Bevis Star Atlas - & "The CD-ROM"
A very rare atlas found at the Godlee Observatory
       http://www.u-net.com/ph/mas/bevis/
 Astronomy in the UK    http://www.ph.u-net.com
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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 18:28:26 EST
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Mersenne: Insidious Mersenne Brainwashing

<<2^83>>

D'oh!  Of course, I meant to write 10^83.  I guess that with this being the 
Mersenne mailing list and everything, all of those "2^P - 1" vibes got into 
my brain, or something. :-D

Stephan T. Lavavej
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Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 21:45:54 -0500
From: Pierre Abbat <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Mersenne: GIMPS in Science News

>M(17) is the number of people that could fit into a /very/ large open arena 
>or stadium.

What stadium is that big? The one at Urbana seats only about 20000.

phma
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Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2000 19:12:52 -0600
From: kilfoyle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Mersenne: GIMPS in Science News

I think the one at U. of Texas Austin holds 60,000

Pierre About wrote:

> >M(17) is the number of people that could fit into a /very/ large open arena
> >or stadium.
>
> What stadium is that big? The one at Urbana seats only about 20000.
>
> phma
> _________________________________________________________________
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Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 20:43:41 -0500
From: "Rick Pali" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: RE: Mersenne: GIMPS in Science News

Pierre About wrote:

> > > M(17) is the number of people that could fit into a /very/
> > > large open arena or stadium.
> >
> > What stadium is that big? The one at Urbana seats only about 20000.
>
> I think the one at U. of Texas Austin holds 60,000

Even one of the shorter tracks on the NASCAR circuit (Bristol) holds 250,000
people.

Rick.
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Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 20:45:57 EST
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Mersenne: GIMPS in Science News

<<M(17) is the number of people that could fit into a /very/ large open arena
or stadium. >>

We get what you're saying with the /very/ (emphasis on very), but it could 
have been more accurately expressed with:

M(17) is about the number of people that could fit in three open arena 
stadiums.

 - Blaine Higdon
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Date: Sat, 01 Apr 2000 20:57:28 -0500
From: "Fred W. Helenius" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Mersenne: [OFF TOPIC] Stadiums

At 08:45 PM 4/1/00 EST, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
><<M(17) is the number of people that could fit into a /very/ large open arena
>or stadium. >>

>M(17) is about the number of people that could fit in three open arena 
>stadiums.

The subject of stadium sizes is off-topic for this list; let it end here.

Brazil has two football (soccer) stadiums with capacity larger than M(17).
Maracana, in Rio, has held over 200000 people.  The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA.
holds 105000, over 80% of M(17).

Reference: http://www.nlink.com.br/~diogo/t_l_s_o_e.html

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Date: Sun, 02 Apr 2000 12:29:20 EDT
From: "Nathan Russell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Mersenne: GIMPS in Science News

>From: Yvan Dutil <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: Re: Mersenne: GIMPS in Science News
>Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 14:45:22 +0100
>
>Well, I think the diffence of culture between the people of GIMPS and those
>of SETI@Home can be illustred simply by the comparaison of subject of
>discussion

Agreed!

>between this list and  sci.astro.seti. This is the listing of recent
>subjects:
>
>
>SETI@home Online Newsletter                                             1
>Cmd line ver 2.4
>exe                                                                   2
>problems width WINNT CLI 2.4                                            5

One wonders whether this is a typo or a problem resizing the window.  Rather 
sad in either case.

>No more blinking
>icon                                                                2


>Exobiology and the Fermi paradox.                                      32
>BeOS client
>question                                                                   
>6
>Command line 2.4 is "Doing basline smoothing." all          5


No problems with these three...

>!!!! HAVE FUN
>!!!!                                                                    2
>Fight Gasoline
>Prices                                                               119

Can you imagine how upset the people on here would be if there were an OT 
thread that got that many replies?

>ANN: SETI Spy 2.3.1 available                                               
>9
>
>WINNT CLI 2.4 upgrade from WINNT CLI 2.0              32
>Clarification on "strongest gaussians"                                   3
>Win NT CLI version 2.4 still gets   wrong percentage      3
>SETI Monitor is ZDNet's pick of   the day!!!                      9
>MicroSoft
>Case
>7

Another OT thing typical of Usenet... I might note here that the 's' in 
Microsoft should be lowercase.  I wonder whether that was noted.

>Ye Olde
>data?
>3
>Scientists discover two new planets circling stars             1
>anybody know how to set up a     ramdisk?                           5

?!

>Mac s@h
>clients
>10
>Software Flaw - WHO DO I TELL                                       5

Sounds like some of the stuff I posted when I first got on, only about ten 
times worse.

>Problems with
>server                                                                  1
>A quick
>tip...
>1
>Problems with returning result (error -20;2)                       1
>2 cts about WU processing time                                              
>1
>
>Missing switches in CLI S@H   clients                                 1
>
>This newsgroupe may not represent teh majority of users. maybe, 
>alt.sci.seti
>would do better.

LOL

>
>Yvan Dutil

Regards,
Nathan, wondering how much it cost the Usenet server companies to pass along 
that "gas prices" thread.
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Date: Sun, 02 Apr 2000 13:31:46 +0100
From: Yvan Dutil <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Mersenne: The Hard Drive of the Gods and a Slam-Dunking BillGates

mark snyder wrote:

> At 2:41 AM -0500 4/1/00, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> (snip)
>
> >
> >By the way, a common estimate for the number of elementary particles in the
> >universe is 2^83.  I remember noting this in my Extended Essay:
>
> (snip)
>
> >Stephan T. Lavavej
>
> Wrong base. The number of atoms in the universe is about 10^81, so maybe
> the number of elementary particles is about 100 times that.

I think photons and neutrinos are about 1 millions time more abondant than
other
particles.

Yvan Dutil


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Date: Mon, 03 Apr 2000 18:02:26 EDT
From: "Nathan Russell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Mersenne: Interesting press for GIMPS

There is an article at

http://www.newscientist.com/keysites/netropolitan/981128.html

that discusses GIMPS as "perhaps the most famous--and most 
notorious--distributed computing project" and then refers to Aaron as an 
example (the only one they give, BTW) of why it is so notorious.  The 
article is quite outdated - for example, it refers to D.net as having 
several projects going.  Interestingly, it does not state any figure for the 
number of primes found by GIMPS, or state any prizes for any of the 
projects.  Despite being a 1998 article, it is still listed in Yahoo!.

Regards,
Nathan, noting that every project's clients have undoubtedly managed to find 
their way where they are not wanted, and that this no more makes the project 
'notorious' than any large company is 'notorious' because some of their 
employees may be over-charging the health plan.
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End of Mersenne Digest V1 #714
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