Topic: Distributed Ward?

Hmmm. This looks new. Whats the purpose of this forum?

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cheers.jay

From what I can tell... there isn't one.

See this thread. Don't feel like explaining again.

-cyoung

its a secret project the east wing is doing, take some red pills and join.

I've read all this nonesense about what ever this is.
And I still don't understand.

I'm not the dumbest fuck around here... and I'm certainly not the smartest.
I can't say I'm all that interested anyway...
but if someone would put this in the most simplistic manner possible...
I'd appreciate it.
If not... oh well....
I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

me not understand too...

ah, ok....
i think this thread explains it very well: http://www.ozoneasylum.com/Forum16/HTML/000012.html

edit: AHHHHHHHHHHHH.... someone delete this post and hit my head!
sorry, cyoung! i was too fast with clicking and didnt read your post above.... SORRY!

[This message has been edited by GRUMBLE (edited 09-15-2001).]

This probably demonstrates the need for a clear FAQ. Here's my explanantion in the meantime:

1. In Distributed Computing centralised servers make use of the spare processing power on participants computers to provide the kind of processing power that is usually only available from super computers.

2. The participant downloads a small piece of software to their computer which connects with the central servers, downloads a small part of the 'work' required, does that work and then uploads the work back to the central server which gives it more work.

3. There are a wide range of projects making use of this kind of technology (curing cancer, searching for ET, etc.) but the Doc selected the attempt to crack 64 bit encryption as it allows us to work as a team.

That's it really. This forum is to provide information and help on this project and distributed computing in general (if people are interested in the broader topic) and to keep an eye on the team stats.

Some answers to common questions:

1. The small piece of software uses up any spare processing power but doesn't demand any (unless you change the settings) so you shouldn't notice any drop off in performance.

2. You don't need a fixed connection to the Internet (I've not got one from home) you can flush and fetch work when you want (and it seems to find work to do if its not flushed when its finished its work).

Hope that helps,

Emps

is this something like the seti @ home project?

GRUMBLE: Exactly. I posted some links to other distributed computing resources in this thread:
http://www.ozoneasylum.com/Forum16/HTML/000008.html

The only difference is that we are trying to demonstrate that 64 bit encryption is breakable and so we really need the US government to allow the widespread use of 128 bit encryption.

Follow the link cyoung gave and have a look at the resources and explantions listed there (esp. distributed.net's FAQ).

It is all pretty simple and is very little hassle for participants to set up and use - give it a try you can always stop whenever you want (and people here can help explain most/all of your questions if you run into a problem).

Emps

OK, so, can someone explain as best they know what exactly 64 bit encryption is? This sounds reasonably interesting, I might download the client or whatever...

Of course, if 64 bit is decryptable, I'm sure 128 is too... is the idea just the amount of time it takes to decrypt it? Because it's pretty ovbiously impractical to decrypt 64 bit.

This page should answer your question Slime. It is doable. The odds are 1 in 525 that somebody cracks it within the next 24 hours according to the stats page at distributed net. Doable yes, fast no.

-cyoung