Good morning, people!

As you know, I don't stop by here and chat very often, but I thought I'd say something about MIP as I do keep track of what's being said.

It seems that there is some sort of problem with contention (and it doesn't seem that it's likely that it will get fixed). What is not clear is just what the source of the contention is. The problem certainly seems to be exacerbated on processors with HT when MIP is sharing two threads on the same core, but that doesn't seem to be the whole story. Nevertheless, if anyone wants to run MIP as hard as they can without sacrificing too many points, I would recommend that you don't let BOINC run more than nthreads/2 (perhaps even one less that that) WUs at once. I don't know how bad things get on machines with a massive number of processors though, so those of you with 16 thread plus beasts, or multiprocessor motherboards, are on your own!

Having said that, it doesn't score particularly well anyway. I used to run three threads on my eight thread lappie, but now I just run one and let the hours crank up slowly while the other threads do more profitable work. I know that sounds mercenary, but I figure that unless the science is getting hit by a poor result return rate, no-one will ever try to fix the problem.

I totally agree with you. BOINC does a pretty good job of "set and forget" IF you don't twiddle the more deeply hidden knobs. If you do tweak, you can find yourself having to micro-manage things to avoid the unwanted side-effects. I guess that's why they're buried!

I've got Ruby on MIP and am working towards Emerald. So long as I've got the time and inclination I'll keep going, but I'd be surprised if I go beyond two years, especially if another project comes along. But I find that a shame, as the microbiome is something that I personally think deserves a lot of time being spent learning more about.

Good morning all. All is quiet on the southern front with the carnaval petering out. Lots of rain due at the weekend (bring it on!)

Sorry for your loss Steven.

Thank you Tom and Rod,

It was completely unexpected, My Aunt and her children are great people whom I have a lot of respect for. They visit NI often as my mother is A's sister, and the third sister lives about 400 yards from her. I have known the kids since they were toddlers. They are grown up now with families of their own, It has hit them hard.

I have been to about 6 funerals since I returned home, and 2 weddings, 1 which was mine. Sorry for rambling.