The tentative BOINC Challenge schedule for 2015 has been released.
What kind of challenges do people enjoy? Long or short, separate or combined, CPU or GPU, mini-drives instead of challenges?

Below are some suggested dates that don't clash with the current BOINC schedule:

Two quick suggestions:

1) A GFN65536 one would be nice given that at around 425k digits, it is not far from being exceeded by the PPSE LLR units on BOINC in size. Thus, it (much like the SGS LLR on BOINC PG) will begin to be pushed off the top 5000 list eventually.


2) I have a feeling that GFN524288 will be beyond its "transition" from GPU ranged work to exclusively CPU by March.

As much as possible, avoid northern summer months for GPU challenges. Electricity bills tend to be higher and the demand for air conditioning is already higher.

As much as possible, avoid northern summer months for GPU challenges. Electricity bills tend to be higher and the demand for air conditioning is already higher.

Looking at my test_results.txt file I can see GFN524288 transition challenge needs to be in 2014:
19/06/14 b=800786
19/07/14 b=819924 increase per month=19138
17/08/14 b=838960 increase per month=19036

21/10/14 845966 today
21/11/14 865002 projection
21/12/14 884038 b-limit approaching
21/01/15 903074 hitting b-limit

So lets take that onboard and split the 27/121, changing the March GFN524288 challenge to a 27 challenge.

In Southern Hemisphere I have to deal with GFN challenge in January and Tour de Primes in February. I can actually "feel" the heat coming off my PC when ambient gets above 30degC. I have to babysit the PC in case my Wife turns it off when I am not around.

Northern Hemisphere Summer is June/July/August. There is no July challenge for this reason. In June we have GFN262144. We can swap that with GFN65536. In August we have GCW. We can swap that with Primorial.

A GFN challenge for my space heater would feel good right about now, here. It's -17 C outside this hour, ("feels like" -24 C with the wind). Of course, the last week of January would be better, when the air temperature sits around -28C during the day and -35 C at night.

Edit: Actually, I should consider putting something in the car as an interior heater. The standard heaters are purely resistive loads.

Still no suggestion for January challenge?!
time flies fast ...

PS: Jan 3 to 11 is blocked by PrimeGrid-Challenge
____________
Sysadm@Nbg
my current lucky number: 113856050^65536 + 1
PSA-PRPNet-Stats-URL: http://u-g-f.de/PRPNet/

Still no suggestion for January challenge?!
time flies fast ...

PS: Jan 3 to 11 is blocked by PrimeGrid-Challenge

Since Wall–Sun–Sun (WSS) has two challenges, maybe Wieferich (WFS) could have a challenge in January, in addition to the one proposed in September? "Wieferich Water-carrier", for the astrological sign Aquarius. (The Sun will have celestial longitude 300° (2π × 10/12) circa January 21; we could look up the exact time of day.) /JeppeSN

Still no suggestion for January challenge?!
time flies fast ...

PS: Jan 3 to 11 is blocked by PrimeGrid-Challenge

Since Wall–Sun–Sun (WSS) has two challenges, maybe Wieferich (WFS) could have a challenge in January, in addition to the one proposed in September? "Wieferich Water-carrier", for the astrological sign Aquarius. (The Sun will have celestial longitude 300° (2π × 10/12) circa January 21; we could look up the exact time of day.) /JeppeSN

There is no PRPNet challenge in January due to it being the height of Summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Still if someone else will second this nomination we can schedule a 7 day WFS challenge from 21-28 January. I am keen to get WFS beyond 4*10^17 into fresh search territory.

Still no suggestion for January challenge?!
time flies fast ...

PS: Jan 3 to 11 is blocked by PrimeGrid-Challenge

Since Wall–Sun–Sun (WSS) has two challenges, maybe Wieferich (WFS) could have a challenge in January, in addition to the one proposed in September? "Wieferich Water-carrier", for the astrological sign Aquarius. (The Sun will have celestial longitude 300° (2π × 10/12) circa January 21; we could look up the exact time of day.) /JeppeSN

There is no PRPNet challenge in January due to it being the height of Summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Still if someone else will second this nomination we can schedule a 7 day WFS challenge from 21-28 January. I am keen to get WFS beyond 4*10^17 into fresh search territory.

I think that Jan 21-28 for WFS would be good

I tried to find the exact time. Maybe I misunderstand some astronomical notions(?), but I think we want the longitude of Sun in a geocentric ecliptic coordinate system. I tried to fill in some time deltas in this form, and I got this response which suggests we start January 20 at 09:37:19 UTC. Maybe someone knows a better source or way to find the time where Sun's longitude is 300°? /JeppeSN

Still no suggestion for January challenge?!
time flies fast ...

PS: Jan 3 to 11 is blocked by PrimeGrid-Challenge

Since Wall–Sun–Sun (WSS) has two challenges, maybe Wieferich (WFS) could have a challenge in January, in addition to the one proposed in September? "Wieferich Water-carrier", for the astrological sign Aquarius. (The Sun will have celestial longitude 300° (2π × 10/12) circa January 21; we could look up the exact time of day.) /JeppeSN

There is no PRPNet challenge in January due to it being the height of Summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Still if someone else will second this nomination we can schedule a 7 day WFS challenge from 21-28 January. I am keen to get WFS beyond 4*10^17 into fresh search territory.

I think that Jan 21-28 for WFS would be good

I tried to find the exact time. Maybe I misunderstand some astronomical notions(?), but I think we want the longitude of Sun in a geocentric ecliptic coordinate system. I tried to fill in some time deltas in this form, and I got this response which suggests we start January 20 at 09:37:19 UTC. Maybe someone knows a better source or way to find the time where Sun's longitude is 300°? /JeppeSN

01 - 21-28 January - WFS - "Wieferich Water-carrier"

Next challenge is:
21-28 Wieferich Water-carrier
Start at 09:37:19 UTC (time when Sun's longitude reaches 300°) and end at 09:37:19 UTC, 1 week later.

I tried to find the exact time. Maybe I misunderstand some astronomical notions(?), but I think we want the longitude of Sun in a geocentric ecliptic coordinate system. I tried to fill in some time deltas in this form, and I got this response which suggests we start January 20 at 09:37:19 UTC. Maybe someone knows a better source or way to find the time where Sun's longitude is 300°? /JeppeSN

01 - 21-28 January - WFS - "Wieferich Water-carrier"

Next challenge is:
21-28 Wieferich Water-carrier
Start at 09:37:19 UTC (time when Sun's longitude reaches 300°) and end at 09:37:19 UTC, 1 week later.

I think it would be 20–27 January if my attempt at understanding ecliptic longitude was successful. I know I said circa 21 January earlier... Anyway, very nice with a January challenge. /JeppeSN

fixed stats pages are online
and crontab is changed too
____________
Sysadm@Nbg
my current lucky number: 113856050^65536 + 1
PSA-PRPNet-Stats-URL: http://u-g-f.de/PRPNet/

Are we still looking for a name for the next prpnet challenge? This is March 6 to 13 on the "27" port, right? How about the "Cube" challenge, in honor of "27"?

I did look through events that occurred in history on both the 6th and the 13th (at least as far as Wikipedia can be considered reliable) but everything looked pretty obscure, or, kind of a "downer", like someone being assassinated, a war starting, etc. So, no.

Now, if I can only get that "Age of Aquarius" song out of my head :-)

g

As of the last information I can find, it appears that a BOINC PG challenge and a PRPnet challenge in June overlap (starting June 12, 13). Did I miss something?

--Gary

BOINC started out with 1-4th June ESP Sieve challenge, then changed to 12-15th June:
http://www.primegrid.com/forum_thread.php?id=5940

Some options I can think of to de-conflict by changing 13-27 June (14 days) - GFN65536 to:
• 20-27 June (7 days) - GFN65536
• 20 June-4 July (14 days) - GFN65536
• 20 June-20 July (30 days) - GFN65536
Let me know what you prefer?

• 20-27 June (7 days) - GFN65536

I like Scott's thinking on this change.

G

p.s. I only noticed this conflict by using an iCal calendar of challenges provided by PG user/teammate mattozan, whom I acknowledge and thank for his efforts.

• 20-27 June (7 days) - GFN65536

I'd prefer this one simply because the GFN65536 project is using the x87 application, and I'd not want to tie up too many AVX and FMA3 capable CPUs on a longer challenge rather than having them crunch other GFN and LLR projects where they are more efficient.

Can you post the finished calendar?

Next challenge is:
03-10 April - Wall-Sun-Sun "Easter Egg Hunt"
I suggest we start at 12:00 UTC and end at 12:00 UTC.

Top Gun Day is May 13th:
http://www.topgunday.com/2009/02/top-gun-day-is-may-13th/
Generate your Call Sign and prepare for the Top Gun Challenge.
In addition to the usual stats I'll be running 1 day training sorties.
Teams will be divided into Student Aviators against TOPGUN Instructors.
Winning side gets split into Students and Instructors for the next training sortie with handycaps based on previous sortie until one Team is victorious at the end.
eg. Team rank 1,3,5,7,... TOPGUN Instructors vs Team rank 2,4,6,8,... Student Aviators, based on http://u-g-f.de/PRPNet/allteam_stats.php?proj=FPS
Say Instructors win, then next sortie is 1,5,.. vs 3,7,... with handycap (sum side this sortie/sum side teams scores from previous sortie).
Maverick:

This is what I call a target rich environment.

Top Gun Day is May 13th:
http://www.topgunday.com/2009/02/top-gun-day-is-may-13th/
Generate your Call Sign...

The next challenge is a factorial prime search. What executable is it supposed to use?
pfgw or llr?

Next challenge is:
20-27 June - GFN65536 - "Solstice Challenge"
I suggest we start at 12:00 UTC and end at 12:00 UTC.

Looking at pending test for GFN655436, there are 27,679 tests in progress.
http://u-g-f.de/PRPNet/pending_stats.php?proj=GFN65536

We better solve this prior to running a challenge.
IIRC, this can happen when cache is a bit too large.
____________
My stats
Badge score: 1*1 + 5*1 + 8*3 + 9*11 + 10*1 + 11*1 + 12*3 = 186

Looking at pending test for GFN655436, there are 27,679 tests in progress.
http://u-g-f.de/PRPNet/pending_stats.php?proj=GFN65536

We better solve this prior to running a challenge.
IIRC, this can happen when cache is a bit too large.

Looking at pending test for GFN655436, there are 27,679 tests in progress.
http://u-g-f.de/PRPNet/pending_stats.php?proj=GFN65536

We better solve this prior to running a challenge.
IIRC, this can happen when cache is a bit too large.

George Boole Mathematical Sciences Conference 17 Aug 2015 - 28 Aug 2015
http://georgeboole.com/events/conferences/george-boole-mathematical-sciences-conference.html
Boole is a pivotal figure who can be described as the ‘father of the information age’. His invention of Boolean algebra and symbolic logic pioneered a new mathematics. His legacy surrounds us everywhere, in the computers, information storage and retrieval, electronic circuits and controls that support life, learning and communications in the 21st century. In 2015, University College Cork celebrates the bicentenary of George Boole, 1815-64.

Lines up pretty well with the Primorial challenge.

Other challenge ideas:
- World Humanitarian Day, 19th August
- International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition, 23 August
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August

Next challenge is:
14-28 August - Primorial - "George Boole Bicentenary Challenge"
I suggest we start at 12:00 UTC and end at 12:00 UTC.

Next challenge is:
14-28 August - Primorial - "George Boole Bicentenary Challenge"
I suggest we start at 12:00 UTC and end at 12:00 UTC.

Next challenge is:
19-26 September - Wieferich

Any ideas? How about :-
Clean Up the World Challenge:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Up_the_World

Tolkien Week Challenge:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobbit_Day

Bear Market Challenge:
http://www.investing.com/indices/major-indices

I'd avoid "bear market" challenge. This may be a painful time for some of us, and we don't want to rub it in. Plus, it's very unpredictable, so it could just as easily be a bull market.

____________
My lucky number is 75898⁵²⁴²⁸⁸+1

I like the "Tolkien Week" challenge, but I am an avid reader of his works including several of the academic pieces. :)

I like the "Tolkien Week" challenge, but I am an avid reader of his works including several of the academic pieces. :)

Very good. Next challenge is:
19-26 September - Wieferich - "Tolkien Week Challenge"
I suggest we start at 12:00 UTC and end at 12:00 UTC.

We just made a change to the BOINC challenge schedule.

The BOINC October challenge is now 5 days instead of 3 days, so it ends on the 9th, the same day the PRPNet challenge starts.

The October BOINC challenge is now 3 days instead of 5 days, and starts two days later but the end day hasn't changed. That should have no impact on the November PRPNet challenge.
____________
My lucky number is 75898⁵²⁴²⁸⁸+1

I suggest we start a day later; so it is a 20-day-challenge instead of a 21-day; this seems to me still long enough to celebrate our coma wall
____________
Sysadm@Nbg
my current lucky number: 113856050^65536 + 1
PSA-PRPNet-Stats-URL: http://u-g-f.de/PRPNet/

Next challenge is:
10-30 October - Wall-Sun-Sun - "Coma Wall - Sun/Sun Challenge"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CfA2_Great_Wall
I suggest we start at 12:00 UTC and end at 12:00 UTC.

Yes indeed, purpose is a 20 day WSS challenge.

In 2014 we had the following:
2x 1 month: September Wieferich challenge and Tour de Primes challenge
5x 2 week
2x 1 week

By end of 2015:
1x 1 month: Tour de Primes challenge
1x 3 week: WSS challenge
2x 2 week
6x 1 week

These long GPU challenges can really advance the leading edge of a sub-project, and increases the chance of near-finds.

Next challenge is:
21-28 November - GCW - "Snark Hunt Challenge"
I suggest we start at 12:00 UTC and end at 12:00 UTC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunting_of_the_Snark

I'd like to propose the "Binomial Challenge."

It works on "two" levels:
1) Binomial-2 numbers: 27 & 121, the 2nd is the 2nd row of Pascal's Triangle
2) The 884th anniversary of the passing of Omar Khayyam, Persian mathematician who may have known and used the complete binomial theorem, is December 4. (Noting all the powers of 2 in those numbers)
____________
Eating more cheese on Thursdays.

I don't see 27 in Pascal's Triangle until the 28th row.
Nevertheless time is short so we'll go with your suggestion.

Next challenge is:
01-11 December - 121 - "Binomial Challenge"
I suggest we start at 12:00 UTC and end at 12:00 UTC.

Omar Khayyám:
“Your hand can seize today, but not tomorrow; and thoughts of your tomorrow are nothing but desire. Don’t waste this breath, if your heart isn’t crazy, since "the rest of your life" won’t last forever.”