Ash HN: How can I make my idle CPU time useful to others?
Knowing that my computing resources just sit there unused bothers me.
It would be relaxing to know that my idle CPU/bandwidth helps others.
Previous/older solutions:
- SETI (discontinued, [1])
- Leave BitTorrent open (risky)
Are there any current distributed SETI-like projects that I can trust?
[1] https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/
62 comments
[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 139 ms ] threadSome significant features:
- Compensation (if desired)
- Community vetting of “hApps”
- Control of which hApps use your resources
- Distributed validation of all results, triggering “Warrants” against abusers
Letting random projects use your local resources has serious risks, which are mitigated via the novel agent-centric detection algorithms of Holochain and the Holo project.
Of course, you can just write a Holochain-based app and distribute it “by hand” to your own group of users’ resources - no Holo required.
In Beta now.
Just today, an article was published noting that, if AI becomes a significant proportion of modern productivity, then “When compute becomes the basic unit of labor, a currency to represent future potential compute is needed.”
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36761430
I personally modelled just such a thing early in the evolution of the Holo project, to see how value-stabilization algorithms might affect a currency denominated in compute, bandwidth and storage:
https://github.com/Holo-Host/holofuel-model
Attempting to account for fraud, attacks, etc. is a significant concern in any system, but especially those involving running arbitrary attacker-controlled code on systems managing valuable resources.
So, by downvoting in ignorance, you are diminishing the value of this platform for those seeking the distilled wisdom it (formerly?) contained.
This is like the Eco mode for iphone charging; or my oven that turns off the time display for power save; these are low watt devices that make the consumer feel as if they are doing something.
Look at the ATX12V standard coming soon for desktop PCs - just a couple percent increased efficiency at idle will save tons and tons of power when applied across entire office buildings, for example.
[0] https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=97&t=3 (10,632 kWh / year ~= 1215 W average)
Here in Germany the average (single household) is at around 1.5 MWh.
My first instinct would be "of course, US households almost all seem to have AC installed" as opposed to Europeans. But then again, we're cooking with electricity (at least the majority) instead of gas.
Is there a good resource for a utility breakdown? I would be interested to see where those high numbers come from.
And using this argument inversely, those 100 watts also cannot meaningfully help others, which is what the OP wants to do.
So if you have two options - meaninglessly donate 100 watts or meaninglessly save 100 watts, what’s better?
If someone were in need of significant amounts processing power (which is what the OP is hinting at), obtaining it from idle consumer PCs is an incredibly inefficient method of using that power. Think on the lines of CPU mining - a totally useless waste of energy. Whatever this hypothetical person is trying to do, it would be much more efficiently achieved via specialised hardware, and the OP would be better off supporting that than donating their processing power.
It's not something you can just throw idle cycles at.
If you want to contribute to people working on climate, then ClimatePrediction is a good option (they use BOINC) - https://www.climateprediction.net
1. https://boinc.berkeley.edu
https://boinc.berkeley.edu/
https://boinc.berkeley.edu/projects.php
Has a unified management experience with the ability to subscribe to various projects, and set priorities/schedules for work units.
The excess energy you would use is probably better spent elsewhere.
If you use them it will consume more energy.
Now if you are using your computer for resistive heating, fine -- although I'd encourage you to use a heatpump instead as it will be more efficent.
If you are somewhere where you are
1) Fully renewable
2) Can't export energy
Then fine, go nuts. How are things in Paraguay/Iceland/Norway?
Eg: Using electricity to run a computer that generates heat is more beneficial than generating heat directly from that electricity.
But in eg the summer when you have no use of that heat you have to weigh the calculation output versus the energy input and only when that calculation is positive you can justify running it. (And if you plan to cool it down with an AC then the equation will for sure not pay off)
While remembering electricity to run a heat pump is (usually) more efficient than using that energy to generate heat.
You could contribute it to our green network, and get paid for your idle time.
https://edge.network/
https://wiki.edge.network/contributing-to-the-network/settin...
Was this written by AI, perhaps? x64 means Alpha (I know - EVERYONE does it - that doesn't make it correct) and absolutely nobody has dual processor quad core after the 2008 Mac Pro.
Maybe it does.
It's like when people call Trojans viruses. Sure, it's common usage, but you just look stupid if you're someone who should know better. In technical contexts, the distinction matters.
x64 is generic enough to mean anything, and from popularity I have only seen it to mean x86_64.
I wasn’t nearly alive when any of those Alpha processors came out, so I am sure I am biased towards the more modern definition.
https://support.torproject.org/censorship/censorship-7/
For more information on Snowflake check: https://snowflake.torproject.org/
https://foldingathome.org/
Why? Does it bother you also that your car isn't driving when parked? Nothing bad about an idling CPU. Less power consumed, less CO2 produced.
The problem is, those workloads should be performed in a data center, not in a distributed residential fashion, for power efficiency that would likely be green enough to overshadow the extra manufacturing. The same logic would apply to cars: manufacture trains instead.
Yes, absolutely. I hate that my car sits all night, unused. then it sits in a work parking lot all day, again unused. I hate that 90% of the time, my car is just a waste of space, costing me money while depreciating right in front of my eyes, and that is if it don't have some sort of expensive problem that needs to be fixed.
If we shifted our transportation styles to be less reliant on car ownership (public transit, bicycles, walking, or even car rental/rideshares), that land could be put to much better use, such as building housing, parks, or wildlife preservation areas.
More discussion on this happening right now over here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36758355
https://aihorde.net/
So if you want to use resources in the best possible way and have a stable and quick internet connection, then switch to the smallest CPU that can run your system and use a cloud instance for heavy compute tasks. If you are able to scale compute up and down quickly and assume that chips continue advancing (e.g., miniaturisation and advanced packaging), then it might be even cheaper than owning a chip.
* should help the "even if you find a way to, please don't hack me" requests go further
It’ll run Stockfish analyses for Lichess.org users who click on Analyse Game.
[0] https://github.com/lichess-org/fishnet