Someone on this list earlier warned about Juno using subscriber's
computers. Here is a portion of the current Juno Virtual Supercomputer
Project data.
"The idea behind the Juno Virtual Supercomputer Project is simple. Today,
researchers who have large, computationally demanding problems to solve
often tackle them by running them on a "supercomputer," which is a computer
facility that might be as powerful as several thousand separate personal
computers. Juno plans to offer such researchers an even more powerful tool,
by dividing such problems into a number of smaller, simpler problems, then
downloading each small problem to a Juno member's computer (in much the
same way that we currently download e-mail and advertisements to our
members' computers) to solve. The member's computer will work on solving
the small problem by running various mathematical calculations during time
when the computer would otherwise be idle. These calculations will be
performed only when the computer's screen saver program is running, and
never when the member is using the machine. Once the problem is solved, the
solution will be stored temporarily on the member's computer, then
delivered to Juno during the member's next connection to our central
computers (much as Juno currently stores and delivers your responses to the
ads you see on the service).
"I use Juno's free basic service—do I have to participate in the Juno
Virtual Supercomputer Project?"
Participation in this initial phase is strictly voluntary. At some point in
the future we may require some or all users of our free service to
participate as a condition of using the service for free, but we expect to
use volunteers to supply the computational power required for the project's
initial activities. If we do make participation mandatory for free
subscribers in the future, we will notify any affected subscribers by
e-mail, and would expect to offer them the alternative of upgrading to one
of our billable premium services if they prefer not to participate in the
project.
"I'm a paying subscriber to one of Juno's premium services—do I have to
participate in the Juno Virtual Supercomputer Project?"
No. Even if we decide at some point to require some or all users of our
free basic service to participate in the project, we do not expect such a
requirement to apply to our paying subscribers, whose participation is
expected to remain strictly optional.
"Should I be worried about Juno downloading data and software to my
computer?"
No. Juno has been downloading data and software to your computer since the
day you first subscribed. Ads, for example, are already temporarily stored
on your hard drive in preparation for display at times when you're not
connected to Juno's central computers, just as scientific problems and data
would be temporarily stored on your hard drive if you decide to participate
in the Juno Virtual Supercomputer Project. Software is already downloaded
for execution on your machine to allow you, for example, to respond to a
promotional offer by one of our advertisers, and such responses may then be
uploaded to our central computers the next time you connect to the service,
in a manner analogous to the downloading of scientific problems and the
uploading of results as part of the Juno Virtual Supercomputer Project.
>From time to time, we also download new versions of the Juno software to
bring your version up to date, and we expect to download new scientific
software from time to time as part of the Juno Virtual Supercomputer Project.
In short, we have downloaded data and software to literally millions of
people over the past five years, and have consistently done so
successfully, without causing problems to our users' computers. If you
decide to participate in the Juno Virtual Supercomputer Project, the main
difference will be that the software and data downloaded to your computer
will be used not only to support the Juno service and ad system, but also
to allow your computer to perform its share of the calculations involved in
various scientific problems, and to save the results of these calculations
so they can be reported back to our central computers.
"If I participate in the Juno Virtual Supercomputer Project, will my
computer have to stay connected to the Internet all day? Will I have to be
online for my computer to contribute to the project's supercomputing
activities?"
No. To participate in this project, your computer will only have to connect
to Juno's central computers for relatively short periods of time, roughly
comparable to the connections you currently make when you send or receive
e-mail. The actual work of solving the problem can take place even when
you're not connected to the Internet.
"Do I have to leave my computer on all day?"
No, but the Juno Virtual Supercomputer Project can make use of your
computer only if it is turned on, so the longer you keep your computer
turned on, the more you'll contribute to the project. At some point in the
future, we may begin requiring people who participate in the project to
leave their computers turned on for some minimum amount of time (or
possibly all the time), but there is no such requirement at the present
time. One other note: If you'd like to maximize your contribution to the
project while conserving energy, you may want to consider leaving your
computer on, but turning off your monitor when it's not in use, since
monitors frequently account for the majority of the power consumed by a
personal computer system.
"Will the Juno Virtual Supercomputer Project cause my computer to connect
to the Internet when I'm not around?"
Definitely not during the first phase of the project, and probably not
thereafter. The only time your computer might initiate a connection is if a
computational problem is downloaded to your computer when you establish one
connection to Juno's central computers, then don't dial in again for a long
time. Even in that case, your computer would only dial one of the access
numbers you've previously selected, connect to Juno's own central computers
(not to the open Internet), and stay connected long enough to deliver the
results of its computations (and any e-mail you may have received since
your last connection, etc.). We don't expect this sort of "automatic
connection" to occur frequently, if ever, but it is possible that we might
at some point use this feature under certain circumstances (for example, if
we believed the results of an important computation might otherwise be
likely to go unreported indefinitely).
"Will Juno be paid by the companies who use the Juno Virtual Supercomputer
Project?"
Yes. In general, we expect to charge for (or perhaps to derive other forms
of commercial benefit from) the use of the Juno Virtual Supercomputer
Project, and hope that any fees derived from such use will help us cover
the cost of providing our services to you and the millions of other people
who use them.
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