New Idea...

[enhanced08]

Hey guys, how is everyone? i have noticed that the DC area of the forums has become somewhat.... dead. i myself rarely visit this place anymore. i was over at EOC forums and just happened to start looking throught their folding area. they have what they call "adopt-a-rig" which is where people from the forums donate parts of a computer to a given member who builds a machine and then another member of the forums takes the machine and keeps it running while it folds for the team.

i thought it was a neat idea as some members who have one or two older machine running could host one of the adopt-a-rig machines and feel like they are helping out a little more.

i don't know if anyone has ever seen this on EOC but i figured i would tell everyone about it and see if anyone would be willing to see if we could put something like this together for pcmech....

questions/comments/concerns/ideas all welcome...

[netnamakan]

I love the idea, sounds great. Lotsa fun to

I would be happy to help out in any way possible, I don't have to many parts around right now, but if it gets going I'll lend a hand in any way I can.

namakan

[lil Jimmie]

I've actually mentioned this to Kov through a few PM's a few weeks ago, but I've not had the time to follow up on it.
We both like the idea cept this was more or less a piece together build to send various used parts to a selected member who could then build/adopt a rig and name it something like PCMECH1 so that the donating members could see their donated parts in use. This would also give some less experienced builders a lil more knowledge as to building one out of spare parts.


I know there are many of us that have spare mobo's, cpu's, ram, hdd's and such and we really don't need a case to have a unit folding although it would be nice but the shipping cost would be the biggest issue there. This is also a way to have those who don't fold the chance to help out as well by donating some used parts that is not in use.

I think it's a better idea to ship the various parts to one person who would piece the unit together as well as adopt it, this will save $$$$ on shipping.

I'd like to hear more feedback on this idea!

I can't house anymore computers myself as I've already got 6 at my house and one at the shop, but I do have a few spare mobo's, one cpu and few sticks of ram.

[enhanced08]

i never thought about the idea of giving new members the chance to build something. thats a good idea! i know we don't have nearly the amount of active members as EOC but i think we could make somethin happen here. we need to find away to get the rest of pcmech involved with DC... this could help.

[Kov-Ice]

It's definintely a cool idea. What it needs is someone to be able to catalog available parts and then direct them to the proud new owner. During the school year, it's hard for me to keep up with teaching, coaching, and family, tho I have a few bits and pieces that are no longer folding for me that I'd be willing to pass along.

We could have a thread that allows people to list available parts and offer to host the Adopted Machine, but it would still need a facilitator to keep track and try to piece together matching parts to the right spot.

[bigandy]

I really like this idea. I don't have too many parts to donate, nor could I actually house the computer because we don't have too much space, but I would do whatever I could to help.

[bigandy]

So I've been thinking about this a bit today, and I don't know what if any steps anyone else has taken in terms of getting this idea up and running, but I think that the first thing we would need to do is find people who are willing and able to not only build but house and maintain these machines. Then obviously after that we would need to find out what parts everyone has available and would be willing to contribute to the building of these machines. I think the easiest way to do this would be to have two seperate threads. One in which people express their interest in having one (or more) of these machines under their care, and the other in which people list the parts which they could donate. Perhaps we could also ask a mod about starting a thread in the Trading Post about our project and see if people might be able to donate a few extra parts they have laying around.

I'm probably over simplifying this, but I'm thinking that this is a good starting point.

[Lamilia]

hey I have one old machine and another one on the way (well not old but they are beige so I guess.....) and once I get a router I plan on getting using them for folding. sorry to go off subject but what is distributed computing? I read the description under the forum link and I still don't understand.

[bigandy]

It's a bit long, but take a look at this article.

And we look forward to having you aboard.

[Force Flow]

http://www.pcmech.com/newsletter/vie...4&type=html#20

Also take a look at the stickies in this forum.

[Kov-Ice]

Originally Posted by bigandy I think the easiest way to do this would be to have two seperate threads. One in which people express their interest in having one (or more) of these machines under their care, and the other in which people list the parts which they could donate.

I think that makes sense. The main thread could describe the idea and offer the incentive of a free computer. We of course still need to make sure this will fly with those in charge. Force, any chance this will be OK?

The other hold-up is that we need a volunteer or two to offer to help match parts to parts and computers to owners. I guess it could be a community effort, but it would be nice to know that someone has the time and inclination to be the primary watchdog.

[netnamakan]

I can help out in any way you guys need, as I stated before I don't have much as far as parts, however I would be happy to help get this organized. If shipping to canada was not to large of an expense, for the donators I would happily House a rig.


namakan

[lil Jimmie]

I really wish I had a lil more time to keep and eye (or be watchdog) on this but my free time comes in spurts and right now I'm in between spurts. I wouldn't mind keeping an eye on things and helping out when I can.

Any youngsters that wants to adopt a rig needs to ok this with your parents as far and having the used parts sent to you and being able to power another rig. I know some parents don't want a PC running 24/7 even if it is for a good cause.

I think we would need a donors thread as well as an adopters thread, also those that trade in the For sale or trade forum can keep an eye out on things we might need or trade for with our future project builds.

[Kov-Ice]

Looks like namakan could be the first name in the "Adopt A F@H PC" thread. I'm sure all of us could help monitor the "F@H PC Parts Donation" thread, but I'd still like to see someone as the official organizer. namakan, is that you as well?

I'd really like to hear from a mod to make sure there's no problem with us giving this a go before we babble any further.

[netnamakan]

Sounds good to me, so all we need is a green light from a mod and were set to go?

So I am resposible for opening thread to gain awareness of what were doing and figure out about team PCM F@H rig home?

I would be happy to be organizer, whatever it takes to get this of the ground.

This project will not only get a another rig on the team, but it will show that others are really working on getting our folding team stronger, and helping an important cause.

namakan

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by Kov-Ice I'd really like to hear from a mod to make sure there's no problem with us giving this a go before we babble any further.

Nope, I don't see a problem with it, however, it must fall under the same guidelines that the trading post falls under. You can use the forums as an organizational medium, but the mods bear no responsibility for any arrangement that you guys agree on in terms of swapping parts and housing machines.

In addition, I would rather see a well established mecher house a machine rather than a new member with 20 posts because there's no telling if they're going to be around for a while or not. So if they do disappear, what happens to the rig?

Aside from these sorts of problems, it's a great idea to get more members involved and get use out of the random spare parts you have kicking around.

[bigandy]

Thanks for the "OK" Force!

I do agree with Kov, we should have someone in charge of these threads. As long as netnamakan is fine with starting up both threads, I don't see why we shouldn't move forward. And if not, I'm sure we can find another person who can start one up.

[lil Jimmie]

Originally Posted by Force Flow Nope, I don't see a problem with it, however, it must fall under the same guidelines that the trading post falls under. You can use the forums as an organizational medium, but the mods bear no responsibility for any arrangement that you guys agree on in terms of swapping parts and housing machines.

I agree and following the guidelines was what I had in mind for this project.

Originally Posted by Force Flow In addition, I would rather see a well established mecher house a machine rather than a new member with 20 posts because there's no telling if they're going to be around for a while or not. So if they do disappear, what happens to the rig?

Here again I fully agree, it needs to go to someone who will stick around and if not then forward the PC or parts to it's next home. I know I would like to see my parts serve the purpose I had intended them to be used for.

Originally Posted by Force Flow Aside from these sorts of problems, it's a great idea to get more members involved and get use out of the random spare parts you have kicking around.

Thanks for OK!

[netnamakan]

Great, I will start up a thread in the DC forum to see if we can get some interest, and a home for the PC. I will start another in the Trading Post about getting parts together.

namakan

[Force Flow]

I would be willing to set up a sticky with a parts listing where I can add and remove items on the list in the first post.

As with the addition with the milestone thread, give me a day or so to set something up. That doesn't mean a halt on the ideas, though. Keep 'em coming.

[netnamakan]

So force you're saying you will make the post and sticky it, or I should make the post and you can sticky it and edit as needed?

[Force Flow]

Hold your horses, young grasshopper, I'll still have to make some arrangements and discuss it with the other mods.

[netnamakan]

lol aright, I won't write anything up yet

[Kov-Ice]

Probably a good idea to let Force set up the original threads. Outta curiousity FF, could one thread be made that shows up in two different forums? For example, could the parts thread be shared between both DC and Trading Post forums, so that when you post in one place it updates in both?

Anyway, namakan, you'd be helping keep an eye on which parts are donated and then trying to find matching/compatible parts to complete a system (that's counting on lotsa parts being offered up). You'd also help get addresses from Adopters we all agree upon and then to the donators so they can send the parts. Everyone, does that sound right?

As for content of the threads, can we borrow some of the wording from the thread at EOC? Or is that not cool?

[glc]

The staff needs to discuss whether we want to allow the use of the Trading Post for this, that would not be Force's decision by himself. We also need to clear the whole thing with Dok.

[netnamakan]

Alright, sounds good Kov.

About the wording, maybe just ask on the EOC forums, and if it was a specific user that wrote it maybe PM them and ask for permission, and tell them what it will be used for. I'm pretty sure they would not mind.

[enhanced08]

i sent hotrod(the mod in charge of adopt-a-rig at EOC) a PM about wording but havn't heard anything back about it as of yet.

i don't see why they wouldn't let us, its all for the same cause...

[Force Flow]

Ok, folks, lets get the ball rolling

F@H Adopt-A-Rig Parts Donations: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?p=937636
F@H Adopt-A-Rig Information, Status, & Questions: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?p=937635

[netnamakan]

Great, thanks FF.

[Kov-Ice]

So everything's cleared? Most excellent.

If you have any changes or additions to make to the parts list, please email me at force.flow at gmail dot com, with the subject: PCM Adopt-A-Rig Parts.

Force, for all parts donations you want us to email you rather than post what is available, is that correct?

Discussion on parts distribution and matching shall take place in the Distributed Computing Forum

Will you be starting additional threads for these discussions, or do we add to the Adopt-A-Rig thread?