While not good news, I completely understand why you choose to do that. I too only crunch betas, new projects and Dengue here. There are about 80 other Distributed Computing projects worldwide and most of them work on a low budget and always need crunchers. With a user name of “Astrolabe.” perhaps you should look at some of the astrophysics projects like Milkyway and Einstein. POGS and Cosmology are some new ones. Anyway, thanks for the work you have done and for future work at any crunching level.

I understand what you are saying, however their are always new vistas and opportunities you can try. As Dataman pointed out above, those and two relatively smaller projects such as Asteriods@home and Orbit@home would probably appreciate your crunching abilities. While certain other BOINC crunching sites may not have an active message board as compared to WCG, you could still obtain recognition or badges from other BOINC sites where it is offered or join a team for camaraderie and for the social aspect.
You might rekindle that joy you once had when you started here and realize that in some way you are helping someone out with a project they could not do otherwise.

Just give it a try, as you really have nothing to lose.

"It can be really hard to feel involved without recognition."

There's no lack of recognition on here for you or any of the volunteers who give so much of their time and resources. Every person on here who chucks in a crunch-box for a few days/months/years/decades is doing a fine job.

Cancer and all the other nasty stuff isn't going away by itself though.

"We shall never surrender" - Winston S. Churchill

Yup. Stay and crunch. You're recognised.

You want badges I'll send you my off-i-shul Area 51 Pilots patch. Now they are rare.

Astrolabe, I wish you all the best, and btw 100 years is not a small feat, and I know what it takes to reach it.

You mention "no recognition for four years of effort". If this was one of the objectives then I understand your frustration. But this was known from start. You could have crunched 1000 years and be at the same point in terms of recognition. The reasons why you have participated are yours only, and the motivation, pride and satisfaction have also to come from your "inside".

After all tomorrow, next week, month or year, IBM can decide to pull the plug and that's it. Blank screen and all badges, years, ranks, points are just gone, wiped out. Thanks to all of you for having participated, good bye.

We have to be very conscious about that. What will remain for each of us is the "real" contribution to help scientists to "maybe" make some progress in understanding, finding improved or new cures.

This contribution is anonymous and even if your WU that you have crunched is at the origin of a major discovery you may never know it and in any case you will get nothing for it. These are the hard rules of the WCG grid game. Those who decide to play have accepted them from inception whatever the cost.

Let me ask you a small question. If there would have been badges for 10, 25, 50, 100, 500 years, would that have kept you more motivated?