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World Community Grid Forums
Category: Community
Forum: Chat Room
Thread: February 27 unoffical update |
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Thread Status: Active Total posts in this thread: 13
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Unixchick
Veteran Cruncher Joined: Apr 16, 2020 Post Count: 835 Status: Recently Active Project Badges: 
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We got an amazing update from the lead scientist himself, Dr. Jurisica, but it was buried in a thread called " information organization" so I wanted to put it here so more people could see it.
------------------- "Dear all – thank you for the comments and suggestions. Well received. We do try to increase the communications, but I rather not post than just post for the sake of posting. Too much of that on social media and unfortunately news channels too. We have regular monthly meetings with all science teams but even in between them we try to encourage the teams to send us updates we can share with volunteers. There were several posted on the web and forums over the last few months – but I agree, more good quality updates would be better. As we have posted – SCC/OPN/HSTB all were off due to science – finishing analysis on the past targets and preparing new work units. OPN and SCC are entering new phase – OPN WUs are already available and new WUs should be increasing from SCC shortly in addition to the current MCM. Technical side of the Grid – we are making some progress – but still, it feels like trying to fit F1 engine into Fiat 500 chassis (no disrespect to the classic Italian design). We had to rebuild the back end to fit the hardware constraints we live with – and we still discover some strange behaviour (e.g., the recent drying out of WUs, while we had them ready due to automation). We do not have hardware that would match cloud setup used before – but we continue to look for funding or partners that could help us there (note: we do not have budget to run cloud going forward either). As the projects move on to the new phase, and as we solve our back-end aches, there would be more science to report on. Also, once we resolve our technical challenges, we have plans for new projects and new initiatives. The balance between number of projects and number of volunteers/devices is a tricky one – and there are also (multiple good) reasons why only about 1-2 new projects were onboarded annually over the history of WCG. So, while I do not have the answers yet, and cannot commit ETA for new projects, we are on this together with you – we do not have split personalities but we wear multiple hats – we are volunteers, science partners, and we also try to run the Grid now. While it is not perfect – we are making a progress and the Grid with 62,751 devices actively contributing over the last month and producing 3,340,603 run time days contributing to science in that period is much better than Grid closed by the end of 2021. For now – we have only limited resources – but in time improved infrastructure and funding would enable us to expand. One such expansion in the future will also be a full time communications professional. thank you Igor" |
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TPCBF
Master Cruncher USA Joined: Jan 2, 2011 Post Count: 1928 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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We got an amazing update from the lead scientist himself, Dr. Jurisica, but it was buried in a thread called " information organization" so I wanted to put it here so more people could see it. What is so amazing about it? -------------------  Ralf  |
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Unixchick
Veteran Cruncher Joined: Apr 16, 2020 Post Count: 835 Status: Recently Active Project Badges:
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It is amazing because it gives a ton of information. It goes into the status of WCG as a whole and each of the projects ( except ARP).
It talks about the problems they've encountered and what they see in the future. They did an amazing thing of committing to take WCG instead of letting it die when IBM abandoned it. Krembil has kept it alive ! I admit I want MORE, but I'm very grateful for what Krembil has done to keep it alive, even if it is limping a bit. I don't expect them to solve every problem immediately, and I expect there to be further bumps in the road. What I do really want is communication. What is the current top issue they are working on? What issues are not worth working on with their limits of time & money? What issues are they aware of, so we can inform them when we see issues not on their list? Is it an issue with WCG or has an individual project run into a problem, or natural pause point to analyze data? I'm not here to whine (though I do occasionally do that). I'm here to volunteer to help, and I just want to know if I need back up projects to fill in for a few days, or if I should move on to another project completely and make this one my backup project. I think it is cool to donate my computer cycles to help out projects. WCG doesn't owe me anything, but them giving me info, helps me feel good about helping them. |
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Tomahawk4196
Advanced Cruncher USA Joined: Aug 16, 2007 Post Count: 93 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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Dr. J said: "We do not have hardware that would match cloud setup used before – but we continue to look for funding or partners that could help us there"
----------------------------------------How hard would it be to set up a Kickstarter / crowdfunding type of account, to raise funds for better server hardware ? I would be happy to contribute $50 towards the purchase of a serious server, and I'll bet another $50 that Dell would HAPPILY donate some hardware, once they understand what Krembil / WCG is all about ... and to piss off IBM  If 10% of 100,000 WCG crunchers donate $10 each, Krembil will be able to buy $100,000 worth of hardware, which may go far toward solving some of these problems, yes?  [Edit 2 times, last edit by Tomahawk4196 at Feb 28, 2023 3:57:54 AM] |
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Aperture_Science_Innovators
Advanced Cruncher United States Joined: Jul 6, 2009 Post Count: 139 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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Thanks for maintaining a consistently positive attitude here. Seems like sometimes all we see here are complaints about the issues.
----------------------------------------It is amazing because it gives a ton of information. It goes into the status of WCG as a whole and each of the projects ( except ARP). It talks about the problems they've encountered and what they see in the future. They did an amazing thing of committing to take WCG instead of letting it die when IBM abandoned it. Krembil has kept it alive ! I admit I want MORE, but I'm very grateful for what Krembil has done to keep it alive, even if it is limping a bit. I don't expect them to solve every problem immediately, and I expect there to be further bumps in the road. What I do really want is communication. What is the current top issue they are working on? What issues are not worth working on with their limits of time & money? What issues are they aware of, so we can inform them when we see issues not on their list? Is it an issue with WCG or has an individual project run into a problem, or natural pause point to analyze data? I'm not here to whine (though I do occasionally do that). I'm here to volunteer to help, and I just want to know if I need back up projects to fill in for a few days, or if I should move on to another project completely and make this one my backup project. I think it is cool to donate my computer cycles to help out projects. WCG doesn't owe me anything, but them giving me info, helps me feel good about helping them. Agree entirely on this front. After contribution to WCG for nearly 15 years, I feel quite some attachment to it and want it to succeed. The project is definitely struggling more than in the IBM days, but it's doing better than if it wasn't there, and I wish Krembil and the team all the best in keeping it running and ironing out the issues. And for what it's worth, things seem to be better over the past ~8 hours. My pending validation queue has dropped by 50%, and I have a few devices that had run out of work earlier that have a few hundred WUs each again. Not quite the 1000 I like to keep in each of them, but it at least keeps the CPUs busy. EDIT: And checking again, 8 hours later, and I'm back up to about ~1000 WUs ready to run on each of my systems. Good stuff :)  [Edit 1 times, last edit by Aperture_Science_Innovators at Feb 28, 2023 12:48:04 PM] |
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Jurisica
World Community Grid Admin, Mapping Cancer Markers and Help Conquer Cancer Scientist Joined: Feb 28, 2007 Post Count: 87 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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Dear volunteers:
thank you for your nice words, and understanding. Thank you Tomahawk4196 for suggesting fundraising. As mentioned before, without corporate backing, we rely on government funding (research) and philanthropy. While the lab is within Krembil Research Institute, UHN, we do not get any financial or technical support from Krembil Research Institute or UHN. Notably, even the servers are running from Sharcnet data center in Waterloo, Ontario. We have considered Kickstarter and other fundraising options - but the overhead is much higher compared to UHN or PMH Foundation. I should highlight that besides hardware, we have a need for salary support (not mine), but technical staff. We cannot continue running WCG on the side and trying to do 100% of research and 100% of WCG support. As we highlighted in the Newsletter, initial funds from IBM and Distributive helped us to go from 09/2021 till Dec 2022. Since then - we managed to fundraise just below CDN 1,000 (and indeed, we put the basic page up, but did not advertise it). So, in 2023, we run only on Ian Lawson Van Toch support for comms, and the rest is research funds. The donation link (https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/donations) has a direct link to WCG account at UHN Foundation - which is critical, as it bypasses "decision making" for all hospital and research priorities (https://support.uhnfoundation.ca/site/Donatio...p;set.SingleDesignee=2001) -- you can choose "OTHER" amount of support, but please do not change "Other" for directing the gift – keep it at World Community Grid. I hope that we can find (soon) a sustainable formula for diversified funding model - government - private – philanthropy. We appreciated your advice and help to find partners and securing funding for sustaining World Community Grid. Thank you igor |
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davidjharder
Cruncher Joined: Oct 2, 2016 Post Count: 14 Status: Offline Project Badges: 
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Quick note for Canadians: UHN Foundation is a registered charity; donations would be eligible for a tax receipt.
----------------------------------------https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/hacc/srch/pub...864068RR0001&dsrdPg=1 [Edit 1 times, last edit by davidjharder at Feb 28, 2023 3:18:01 PM] |
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Tomahawk4196
Advanced Cruncher USA Joined: Aug 16, 2007 Post Count: 93 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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Dr. J.:
----------------------------------------You are quite correct that the overhead for Kickstarter is going to be higher, but that overhead is (ostensibly) paying for much higher visibility, which should result in many more donors. Its the old question: Do you want 50% of the watermelon, or 100% of the grape? This can work, we just need a volunteer who is expert in crowdfunding (apolitical, please). I looked at the Donation link: Can it be changed to offer smaller amounts, please? Inflation is killing everyone, so please make the donation amounts $5, $10, $15, $20, and $25. Also, please ensure recurring monthly or quarterly small donations can be set up. Once that is done, PLEASE use the power of the WCG website, (along with socials), to post a major update, to get the attention of all volunteers, and ask for $5 or $10 from each, at the revised donation link. If 1,000 respond, you will find true happiness. Meanwhile, I am contacting Dell and HP to find the departments responsible for donating hardware to VERY worthy causes, so you may be hearing from them in the near future. Thanks again for all of your efforts - you are NOT alone, but you may be a little too quiet  |
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Unixchick
Veteran Cruncher Joined: Apr 16, 2020 Post Count: 835 Status: Recently Active Project Badges:
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This is a good conversation. Tomahawk has some good points. There is a "other" button for donation, but having some smaller amounts recurring could work too.
The thing that kickstarter does well is have a defined goal to reach that excites people to give. It is a sense of accomplishment to reach it, and a sense of community that we all pulled together to get there. There is also a running total, which gives one again the community sense that you are doing this together. You can see others are donating. SETI gave donors a star to put next to their name on the boards for a year when they donated. It was easy to see on the boards those who not only donated their computer time, but also their money. Not sure how easy or hard it would be to do, or if it actually encourages donations. I'm going to guess that WCG doesn't have the power to change the donation page as it is for a much bigger organization, and thus why it is VERY IMPORTANT to have the WCG in the one field for who the money goes to, so it doesn't just go into a general fund. |
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Sgt.Joe
Ace Cruncher USA Joined: Jul 4, 2006 Post Count: 7545 Status: Offline Project Badges:
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There is one little item I would like to mention. I did not see any option for paying by check or money order. I only use a credit card when I am forced into it and never over the internet. Maybe for us old fashioned types an option for this payment method could be incorporated into the site.
----------------------------------------Cheers
Sgt. Joe
*Minnesota Crunchers* |
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