# Should we do something to help?



## PaulieG (Sep 8, 2021)

It looks like the guy who runs the Free-DC site is having a rough time financially and physically. Should we do something as a group to help him out? It's just too easy to take free services like this for granted. I know I'd be on board. 

Project Team Stats for TechPowerUp! in World Community Grid (free-dc.org)


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## 1freedude (Sep 8, 2021)

Hey there, I'm folder now and again and see that site as a real benefit to the community.  Let me know how I can help.

How did you find out about problems?  Nvrmnd, I see it at the top...

@NastyHabits @phill @TheoneandonlyMrK @debs3759


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## PaulieG (Sep 15, 2021)

@1freedude and I want to help. Anyone else? Bueller, Bueller?


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## stinger608 (Sep 16, 2021)

PaulieG said:


> @1freedude and I want to help. Anyone else? Bueller, Bueller?



Naturally you can count me in.


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## 80-watt Hamster (Sep 16, 2021)

I could probably drop some dollars...

EDIT:  ... and now have.


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## PaulieG (Sep 16, 2021)

stinger608 said:


> Naturally you can count me in.





80-watt Hamster said:


> I could probably drop some dollars...
> 
> EDIT:  ... and now have.


I'm hoping to do a group donation OR even better, talk to the Admin and see if there is a monthly bill that we can pay as a group for awhile or something. I registered with the website so I can contact or post, but I never received a confirmation email that allows me to do so. Hmm.


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## 1freedude (Sep 16, 2021)

I saw a post asking if Bok ever considered putting it in the cloud.  What kind of cost would that be?  Is it a traffic based fee, or storage/processor fee?  Thats the kind of support i am interested in providing


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## 80-watt Hamster (Sep 16, 2021)

PaulieG said:


> I'm hoping to do a group donation OR even better, talk to the Admin and see if there is a monthly bill that we can pay as a group for awhile or something. I registered with the website so I can contact or post, but I never received a confirmation email that allows me to do so. Hmm.



Oops.  I just pressed the PP button...


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## PaulieG (Sep 16, 2021)

1freedude said:


> I saw a post asking if Bok ever considered putting it in the cloud.  What kind of cost would that be?  Is it a traffic based fee, or storage/processor fee?  Thats the kind of support i am interested in providing


Agreed. I think this is long term, functional support. We really need to contact Bok.


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Sep 16, 2021)

1freedude said:


> Hey there, I'm folder now and again and see that site as a real benefit to the community.  Let me know how I can help.
> 
> How did you find out about problems?  Nvrmnd, I see it at the top...
> 
> @NastyHabits @phill @TheoneandonlyMrK @debs3759


I'm happy to help, but not sure how, I'll do the obvious shortly, could TPU servers possibly host him?!.

@PaulieG I'll await your confirmation on the group donation actually, let us know.


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## 1freedude (Sep 16, 2021)

80-watt Hamster said:


> Oops.  I just pressed the PP button...


The best honest mistake



TheoneandonlyMrK said:


> I'm happy to help, but not sure how, I'll do the obvious shortly, could TPU servers possibly host him?!.


While this is Paul's show, and we are the actors, I never had remotely ever even considered asking W¹z or TPU.


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Sep 16, 2021)

1freedude said:


> The best honest mistake
> 
> 
> While this is Paul's show, and we are the actors, I never had remotely ever even considered asking W¹z or TPU.


I live by don't ask, don't get?! And no is fine.


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## HammerON (Sep 17, 2021)

I donated last week when I first noticed the banner.  Count me in for a group donation.  Just let me know @PaulieG


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## Space Lynx (Sep 17, 2021)

PaulieG said:


> @1freedude and I want to help. Anyone else? Bueller, Bueller?



go over to the crypto threads and ask the miners to help. they got the money and the gear and are also a part of this community, lets see if they want to step up to the plate and help the community or continue to fuel their short term greed 100%


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Sep 17, 2021)

lynx29 said:


> go over to the crypto threads and ask the miners to help. they got the money and the gear and are also a part of this community, lets see if they want to step up to the plate and help the community or continue to fuel their short term greed 100%


Personally I think they were talking more to the crunching team and as a retired miner I would say chill they're hateable but many things in life are, if you get caught up in hate it really does lead to the dark side.


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## PaulieG (Sep 17, 2021)

I'll get back to you all in the next 2-3 days. I'm looking into a couple possibilities. I seem to be unable to confirm my registration at Free-DC. Never got the email to confirm after registering. Is anyone already a member over there?


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## phill (Sep 18, 2021)

Apologies guys, works been busy and when I've got home, I've been shattered...

I'm really surprised by this and please let me know if I'm just a numpty for thinking like this at this point, but wouldn't something like a datacenter were he could host this be better for him?   I mean $600 a month on electric is crazy and commendable at the same time, don't you agree?

What sort of donation are we thinking of doing here?  What would anyone like to do?  Do a set amount each and then leave it there for now?  

Running costs for these sites must be big but surely you'd be telling people what it costs and such right??  Even more so if its a hobby??...  Please feed back whatever your thoughts are


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## 1freedude (Sep 18, 2021)

phill said:


> Apologies guys, works been busy and when I've got home, I've been shattered...
> 
> I'm really surprised by this and please let me know if I'm just a numpty for thinking like this at this point, but wouldn't something like a datacenter were he could host this be better for him?   I mean $600 a month on electric is crazy and commendable at the same time, don't you agree?
> 
> ...


He is a few hours drive south of me, and in a hot part of the country.  Not Florida hot, but enough that cooling costs can get into the hundreds.  Not to mention cooling the rigs too.

He says he want to back out by the end of the year, so I see this discussion as a first step to taking it over.  Of course, that wont help him now.


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## PaulieG (Sep 18, 2021)

1freedude said:


> He is a few hours drive south of me, and in a hot part of the country.  Not Florida hot, but enough that cooling costs can get into the hundreds.  Not to mention cooling the rigs too.
> 
> He says he want to back out by the end of the year, so I see this discussion as a first step to taking it over.  Of course, that wont help him now.


This was one of the options I was thinking about. If I was able to have an actual discussion with him, I'd like to find out if he really wants out or not and what it would take for someone to take it over if he wants out, If he really just needs helps but wants to keep it going, I'd like us to troubleshoot, come up with a plan to help him reduce costs, increase sustainability and maybe have a monthly group contribution to help him pay the bills.


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## phill (Sep 21, 2021)

PaulieG said:


> This was one of the options I was thinking about. If I was able to have an actual discussion with him, I'd like to find out if he really wants out or not and what it would take for someone to take it over if he wants out, If he really just needs helps but wants to keep it going, I'd like us to troubleshoot, come up with a plan to help him reduce costs, increase sustainability and maybe have a monthly group contribution to help him pay the bills.


I'm quite honestly surprised he's running it from his home...  Surely having something in a datacenter or something like that where it's built and maintained would be a better and much cheaper option for him?   I mean the hardware costs alone and electric could surely be reduced in that regard maybe?   I've honestly no idea about the costs of that side of it but would that be a start??   

I guess and can understand the reason he's done it for himself is everything under one roof, easy to get to, maintain etc. but sometimes money gets in the way of it all...  This hobby ain't damn cheap at all!!


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## thebluebumblebee (Sep 21, 2021)

IIRC, about a year ago, he was talking to someone about hosting it, that is, someone offered to host it somewhere.


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## PaulieG (Sep 23, 2021)

Does anyone have alternative contact info for Bok? I'd really like to talk to him and see if he wants out and if he would like to "pass the torch". If he was interested in parting with the site, who would be interested in contributing time, effort and some cash to obtain and maintain the site?


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## W1zzard (Sep 23, 2021)

TPU can provide hosting. Anyone talking to him yet and can ask in interested?


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## PaulieG (Sep 23, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> TPU can provide hosting. Anyone talking to him yet and can ask in interested?


I've hit dead ends since the site won't confirm my registration and therefore I can't post or send him a PM. It feels like he's just maintaining the very basics right now.


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## thebluebumblebee (Sep 23, 2021)

Maybe send him money with Paypal and attach a note????


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## HammerON (Sep 23, 2021)

I was able to login on their site and posted this in their Admin section of their forum.  I forgot that I registered years ago.  Let me know if there are other points/suggestions I should post over there.








EDIT:  Bok did respond in the thread.


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## Arjai (Sep 26, 2021)

I have contributed, and posted the link in a couple of places, before finding this thread. I am unsure how much I, personally, have donated, over the last years. However, I don't mind doing it, when I can. Free-DC is an invaluable tool, as I learned when I was doing the Crunching 'Daily Numbers'. There are other sites but, they are far less accurate and not nearly as easy to navigate. Not even sure if any of them still exist, as I have defaulted to Bok's site for nearly 10 years! 

I believe it would be awesome if Bok were to train someone here, on TPU, to do this work and hand over the keys before his health becomes overwhelming. It would take someone, more technically savvy than me, that is passionate for the numbers. I am sure this could be a fulltime, or nearly, job to stay on top of. I am unsure, completely, whether TPU could afford to pay someone to maintain this. If so, I think it would be a good time to get Bok onboard. 

Put it all on TPU servers and have him on the payroll, while training a replacement.

Just my 2 cents. Like I mentioned, Free-DC is an invaluable tool, it should not rely on just Bok, anymore. He is, and has been, a rock. That rock is starting to show it's cracks, let's not wait for the failure.

If I had a air conditioned server room, I would offer to use it and the electric, and just remotely access it. I know he uses a ton of drives to run Free-DC and has to live in the same space, apparently, in a very warm part of the country. Not sure if this is also an option for him.

So, maybe that was 4 cents. Just spit balling, in the hopes that something better happens, for Bik and for all of us using his site.

 and Free-DC


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## 1freedude (Sep 26, 2021)

Looks like the added attention helped, looking at the reply in HammerON's screenie.


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## W1zzard (Sep 26, 2021)

HammerON said:


> Bok did respond in the thread.


Oh interesting, I didn't think the hardware requirements were so significant. Does anyone know what uses so much space?


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## 1freedude (Sep 26, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> Oh interesting, I didn't think the hardware requirements were so significant. Does anyone know what uses so much space?


I'm guessing here, but maybe all of the recent stats, perhaps the previous day's worth, are in RAM, then get thrown into long term storage


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## Arjai (Sep 27, 2021)

I'm unsure how he gets all the info, I do know he uses a lot of drives and is constantly having to replace worn out one's. Not sure how that has translated to NVME, better or worse, wear-wise (comparing to HDD's in the past). 

It would be great, if you @W1zzard could reach out to him. Perhaps the two of you could work something out that is mutually benefiting. It can't hurt, can it?


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## W1zzard (Sep 27, 2021)

Email sent to bok


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