From: Bryan Moss (bryan.moss@dial.pipex.com)
Date: Tue Aug 17 1999 - 06:54:11 MDT
Spike wrote:
> [...] If you have any ideas on how to take the extropians GIMPS team and
> use the spare CPU cycles for something else, good deal. Code up that
> something else and lets go! {8-] spike
I have an idea to get all 5 of those (potential) undiscovered Mersenne
primes and the $100K prize in maybe a year or less. We'll use the CPU
cycles of internet users without asking them. GIMPS-like software will be
hidden in a novelty e-mail attachment; while the recipient is laughing at
the sight of Kermit the Frog getting a blow job the software will install
itself on their computer. As long as the software can 'get out of the way'
when the computer is being used, and doesn't have to tranfer too much data,
it should remain undetected. The only downside I can see is that we'd need
a server to collect results and some people, if they found out, might
object. But I would estimate that the amount of people who trade and run
these novelty attachments is far in excess of the number of GIMPS members,
and that the total CPU power would be much higher (you'd have virtually the
whole of AOL for instance). Also, people who do trade these files aren't
likely to use a lot of CPU cycles (except for games, maybe) but (ironically)
are likely to have fast CPUs. The same software could also be spread by
other means (using loopholes in Outlook, IE, Windows, AOL, et cetera),
although having them inside an executable might make for a better legal case
(if you had the user sign a disclaimer to install the software 99.99% would
say "yes" without reading it).
Comments?
BM
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