Newsletter

I don't really have any skills and with my psych issues I'm not very reliable, but I'll still try to help where I can. I do have my own domain with unlimited storage so I can set up an ftp account for you to use if that would help.

BinaryMage said:

This seems like it would work, software wise. Maybe an FTP account would be useful, I'm not sure. Mostly I just need some advice as to how to design a newsletter, what to put in it, etc. The technical stuff I can figure out.

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First, I think we need to find a way of getting in touch with existing members. It just occurred to me that team captains have to have a way of getting in touch with members. I never really paid attention though, however that is something we could look into and then present to CP. I used to have a one-man team but I dissolved that, however anyone can created a team so it shouldn't be too much work to find out. I'm not volunteering or anything, just putting the information out there.

Second, i've noticed that a lot of new members don't know some basic but very information about BOINC and how WCG works. I don't mean that in a condescending way though. There's no reason they SHOULD know any of those things. However some of them could make BOINC run more smoothly for them.

So I think we should put maybe 2 or 3 short, helpful tips in each newsletter and keep an index of them somewhere. Again, you're welcome to host a web page like that on my domain. edit - however a blog would be a lot easier to do and might be more appropriate since I may not keep the domain forever.

I'm probably good for maybe a half-dozen or so tips to start off with plus there are ION's old threads that have a wealth of information.

It might be a good idea to have tips for both the newbies and more experienced users. You know, something for everyone.

Great input on this Twilyth!! I agree though, we really need to know all the contact information for our current members of the team.

That is a great idea having tips for both the new members as well as the veteran members.

That's great Binary that you are willing to do the news letter man!!!

Also, I would be more than willing to proof read the letter before sending to the members.

Also wanted to tell ya Binary, if you do not have MS office and need it for doing the news letter, I would be willing to give ya a Office 2010 Pro key man. Just shoot me a PM if you need that bro.

if you have outlook, just compose it there and drop all email adresses into the BCC field. BCC not CC

BinaryMage said:

Thanks a lot twilyth, stinger, and w1zzard. I can get Windows Mail for free, or I could use Mozilla Thunderbird - that shouldn't be an issue. I will definitely want people to proofread it, and the tips thing is a great idea, and could probably help us get more credit too. Can you give me examples of specific tips that you think are useful but not too well known?
A blog makes sense, twilyth, and WordPress has a newsletter plugin (here); I'll probably just use that.
I'll go ahead and create some sort of draft and upload it so you can give me feedback. Should have it up by tomorrow night.
Thanks again everyone. I hope the newsletter works out; it would be really cool.

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I'll have to give this some thought, but some basic things would be
1. how to register to get a WCG badge in your sig
2. how to set boinc up to run only when machine is not in use (and to unload apps from memory)
3. the difference between crunching and folding.
4. how to force an update
5. how to select your projects within WCG
6. the importance of setting boinc to buffer several days worth of work
7. the difference between WCG points and BOINC points

More advanced topics could include
1. Using Free-DC and BOINC stats to track host performance (and how to reveal hosts to stats tracking services)
2. What to consider when building a dedicated crunching rig.
3. How to manage headless crunchers.

Will have to put more thought into the advanced options.

BinaryMage said:

Thanks, all those are good. I think I can explain all of them excepting 2 and 3 on advanced - I haven't built a dedicated crunching rig and I am unsure what you mean by "headless crunchers". One more thing I would include under advanced is how to use Boincstats BAM! (BOINC Account Manager), it is super useful for managing multiple hosts.
Again thanks, those are great tips.

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the main thing for a crunching rig is processing power. Everything else is secondary. So as long as you have 1-2gig of memory (1 for XP, 2 for W7 - although some projects might require more depending on how many cores/threads you have), nothing else matters.

A headless cruncher is one that has no video or has video but no monitor. There are several solutions including using W7 remote desktop. The one problem with remote desktop is that you can't restart the machine. But I like to use Autoshutdown to reboot machines every couple of days anyway. Plus you can use it to restart by setting it to timer mode and inputting a restart time of 1 minute.

BinaryMage..I have experience in managing things like this, drop me a PM with contact info and we can work together.

damn Twilyth pretty much named all ideas already

I'll try to think of some for the advanced list.

Are you feeling better CP? Man I hope so bro!

stinger608 said:

Are you feeling better CP? Man I hope so bro!

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Yeah dude, had me out of commission for a whole week almost but here I am.

Just got a slight cough, and runny nose. That should be gone in a day or two. Thanks for asking Stinger.

Cool man, glad your feeling better bro! That sounded like a nasty sucker man

None the less, glad your back and feeling better

Oh yeah, it was the worst I've caught one EVER!!!! Glad I'm through that!

W1zzard said:

if you have outlook, just compose it there and drop all email adresses into the BCC field. BCC not CC

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But that would break the "reply to all" function

Have you gotten started on the news letter yet Binary?