Suggestion for organizing the hunt
 

tha,

Rather than having to check all the individual threads for which ranges are reserved, wouldn't it be simpler to maintain a single thread containing a table that summarizes all of the inputs from the other threads. Here's a possible format, based on a skim of the threads...

[code:1]Range begin Range end Who What
----------- --------- ----------- ----------------------------------
13.38M 17.85M garo Factoring leftovers to 2^64
17.85M 18.5M trif Factoring leftovers to 2^65(?)
19.48M 19.66M garo Factoring leftovers to 2^66
22.015M 22.020M trif Factoring to 2^67
36M 40M Henk Factoring to 2^58
46M 47M lycorn Factoring to 2^59
70M 75M wackyeh Factoring to 2^62
[/code:1]

Re: Suggestion for organizing the hunt
 

[quote="dswanson"]
Rather than having to check all the individual threads for which ranges are reserved, wouldn't it be simpler to maintain a single thread containing a table that summarizes all of the inputs from the other threads.
[/quote]

Well, maintaing such a list is always the problem. People add reservations all the time, sometimes unreserve, sometimes not. Such a list may present a picture that is more precise than what actually can be relied on. If you can't clean it up, it's better not to present it as cleaned up.

I do not object to people posting an oversight every now and then, as long as good consideration has been given to the different attitudes of the participants.

YotN,

Henk

Would having a list as dswanson has suggested be any less reliable than individual posts? What you could do is anytime someone changes their assignments, they could copy and paste the list, and modify their assignments, and re-post the list.

I agree with dwanson. Having a list is definitely better than individual threads. And we could make the thread a sticky one. But caveat emptor still stands :) BTW, the 19.48-19.66 range is on Primenet and I am just distributing the work between several TPR members - I am not doing any crunching.
Also trif's 17.85-18.5 range is on Primenet.
Garo

So here is the corrected list:

[code:1]
Range begin Range end Who What
----------- --------- ----------- ----------------------------------
13.38M 17.85M garo Factoring leftovers to 2^64
22.015M 22.020M trif Factoring to 2^67
36M 40M Henk Factoring to 2^58
46M 47M lycorn Factoring to 2^59
70M 75M wackyeh Factoring to 2^62
[/code:1]

Re: Suggestion for organizing the hunt
 

The best way would be to start a thread with a table of Ranges that are currently reserved. Then people can post ranges beneath it.

Periodically, the owner of the thread will update the table and delete the posts beneath it. That way, the table plus the posts beneath is always an up-to-date picture of reserved ranges.

There could also be a 'form' posted beneath the table (or someone could design one similar to the form I'm typing in now) -- users could cut-&-paste their range into it to make updating easier and improve readability.

If there is a concern about keeping the table current, create a member id with moderator rights specifically for the thread, and hand out the password to a few of the regulars (or give several users moderator rights to the thread).

Making members go on a scavenger hunt -- building their own table by hand as they go -- just to reserve a range is silly.

Bruce

[quote="eepiccolo"]Would having a list as dswanson has suggested be any less reliable than individual posts?[/quote]

Not neccesarily, I welcome efforts to keep oversight, I just have experienced the difficulties of it.

[quote="eepiccolo"]What you could do is anytime someone changes their assignments, they could copy and paste the list, and modify their assignments, and re-post the list.[/quote]

Any system that requires the discipline of more than one or two people is bound to fail. A forum is like a cafe. You yell around what you're doing and what you want to know from others. Everyone answers unstructured and at least you know their is no central authority, so you remain careful in your assumptions.
Nevertheless everyone is free to propose, introduce or maintain whatever he or she thinks the community might like.

Two notes...

1) I'd prefer if no threads/posts get deleted... This allows us to "go back in time" to resolve disputes or wagers or whatever...

2) If you all need a MySQL database to keep track of this stuff just let me know...

:)

Actually, my range is not on Primenet. I do have a lot that are on Primenet, but there are quite a few exponents in this range (66 bit) that are not on Primenet, but not done. I have been watching this range on the nofactor database for about a month and seen nobody turning in results for it, so I've started to "adopt" them as my Primenet work runs over them. Many thanks to Henk for the programs to graphically look at the nofactor file, it gives me a nice bit of extra egoboo to watch these ranges thin out on the graph.

As for how to keep track, if someone want to keep a list and keep it up to date, that's great! But if not or if the list falls out of date, it would be nice to be able to just look at subject lines and tell what's being worked on. The individual threads could also be used by people who were interested in cooperatively working on the same range.

Okay. Here is the revised list:
[code:1]
Range begin Range end Who What
----------- --------- ----------- ----------------------------------
13.38M 17.85M garo Factoring leftovers to 2^64
17.85M 18.5M trif Factoring leftovers to 2^65
22.015M 22.020M trif Factoring to 2^67
30M 32M jocelyn1 Factoring to 2^58
36M 40M Henk Factoring to 2^58
46M 47M lycorn Factoring to 2^59
60M 69M nitro Factoring to 2^60
70M 75M wackyeh Factoring to 2^62 [/code:1]

[quote="garo"]Okay. Here is the revised list:
[code:1]
Range begin Range end Who What
----------- --------- ----------- ----------------------------------
13.38M 17.85M garo Factoring leftovers to 2^64
17.85M 21.6M trif Factoring leftovers to 2^66
22.015M 22.020M trif Factoring to 2^63
30M 32M jocelyn1 Factoring to 2^58
36M 40M Henk Factoring to 2^58
46M 47M lycorn Factoring to 2^59
60M 69M nitro Factoring to 2^60
70M 75M wackyeh Factoring to 2^62 [/code:1][/quote]

Okay, I fixed my entries. :D