Distribute Stuff: Cosm Project's CS-SDK

Duncan3 writes: "After almost 3 months of public testing the Mithral Client-Server Software Development Kit is now officially out. The Mithral CS-SDK is a part of the Cosm Project which longtime slashdot readers will remember, and is fully buzzword-compliant with "distributed computing", "peer-to-peer", "file-sharing", and "cycle-sharing" - meaning you can easily build any of those types of applications in a weekend. So I expect to see slashdot readers put out at least 20 projects by next Thursday. The Folding@home project based at Stanford has been running for a couple months now doing protein folding and uses the CS-SDK. You can visit them at and download their client software or OpenGL screensaver for Linux x86/Alpha, Tru64, and Win32." Interesting to see how mainstream distributed computing has become even in just the past 12 or so months. Fold proteins, find aliens, break crypto ... what else?

Echelon? Carnivore? Distributed?

Maybe some of you will remember this article, reposted on alt.humor.best-of-usenet...

---------------

You may have heard or Echelon, the worldwide computer system that
monitors all electronic communications.

Well, don't believe what the conspiracy crackpots tell you - it does not
automatically detect messages containing sensitive keywords. Using voice
recognition software on all the data that's been recorded needs a lot of
computing power.

But now you can help. Download the new Echelon@Home screensaver - it
regularly retrieves recorded conversations from the archives at Menwith
Hill and, while your computer is idle, scans them for keywords.

If you want a copy of the screensaver, simply send a message with the
subject line "Echelon Wiretap" and you will be emailed a copy.

It doesn't matter who you send it to, we'll get the message.

----#('!(- ECHELON AUTOMAILER ----------

Re:What else?

"That's all well and good, but searching ads doesn't require distributed computing. It requires 10 seconds on a 386."

There are other concerns where the distribution might help. For example, how many ad sites are out there with stale ads? By maintaining your own ad on your own "servlet" app, ads should be better maintained. If you don't want people looking for that used TV you were offering because you sold it, you nuke the ad on your machine. Presto! No more appearing in search results! Compare this with the week or so worth of phone calls in a paper after a sale, or the tendency for people to convieniently "forget" to delete an ad at, say, Excite after it has served its purpose.

Use of an appropriately flexible format (I work with XML, so I'm biased as some have noted, but whatever works...) can make this a reasonably effective "distributed classifieds", IMUO.

-TBHiX-

Try this one!

It's called electricsheep [electricsheep.org] - a distributed screensaver.

That's it!

A distributed screen-saver! All these monitors that auto-power-off don't need to spend their precious CPU cycles on a screensaver for themselves, so use them to run a screensaver on another computer! Imagine how fluid a single screensaver coudl be if it has the processing power of twenty CPUs behind it? Imagine, real-time-rendered flying toasters! Video-quality fish! You could fly through space just like you see on Star Trek!

Good news both internal and external

In addition to seeing a rise in internet-based distributed computing projects, Cosm (as I understand it) will enable companies to use their vast internal network for real-world business applications. This is pretty exciting stuff.

Now, if I could only convince my PHB...

Another distributed effort...

"Fold proteins, find aliens, break crypto ... what else?" How about a distributed system where a given site is listed at a central site, and then everyone uses their machine to slow it down some with a few to many data requests... Oh, hang on - I'm already in this project (and so, dear reader, are you ;-) Regards, He who takes the time to smell the roses

One Idea...DivX

Hey hey. I just was thinking the other day about how useful a distributed network would be for encoding DivX movies.. those things take FOREVER. We have a bunch of DVDs that we want in DivX so we can chop up the video and play with it (I have a digital camcorder and would love to try to put myself inside of "Die Hard", for example.)

I was going to look into it (just split the job up over my LAN inside my house here with 6 computers) and it seems the solution has come to me.. whoop! Anyone have any specific ideas how to go about making this distributed DivX encoding software quickly, now that this package is out?

Next Distributed Project

Interesting to see how mainstream distributed computing has become even in just the past 12 or so months. Fold proteins, find aliens, break crypto ... what else?

What else?

HOW ABOUT FINDING ME A GOD DAMN DATE?

What else?

Hmmm... good questions. Wanna brainstorm on this thread?

Believe it or not, I'm wondering if you could run a dating service or people-locator using a distibuted approach and, say, XML format. Create a file describing oneself and what/who they are seeking, then let the servers pass your profile around. If your "seeking" tags match someone's "is" tags, that profile is shuffled to you and yours is shuffled to the match.

Man, I've mixed too much coffee and Yahoo Chat to have come up with that little frivolity... ;) Mind you, it doesn't have to be dating... employer/employee matching, activity planning ( seeking=rock concert when=yadda where=New York, etc), and similar things. All you have to agree on is the XML file format. (And the software can always hide the grubby details...)

-TBHiX-

the answer

Fold proteins, find aliens, break crypto ... what else?

The Answer!

To Life... The Universe.. Everything!

wish

Vote for freedom! [harrybrowne2000.org]
---

Not Free Software

He said you should be able to write a program over the weekend. That is assuming you have already written the software, and want to make it client-server. Otherwise, it's going to take you months of design and architecture just like any other program...

If you do convert existing programs to use this software, you better have written it, because it's not compatible with the GPL (yet? They mentioned a dual license in the future):

You may NOT make any change, removal or additions to the Software's underlying protocols or APIs without the prior written permission of Licensor.

You will use your best efforts to discontinue the use and distribution of earlier versions of the Software once a new version, update or upgrade is available. You will also use your best efforts to distribute such new version, update or upgrade to any third party to whom you may have distributed an earlier version.