On 4 Dec 2001, at 11:48, Nathan Russell wrote: > For the information of the list, the folks who *want* to try to get > exponents below (the presumed) M#39 might want to look into manually > fetching work at 2:00 (IIRC) in the morning Eastern standard (7 or 8 GMT), > when the server releases exponents of folks who have stopped participating > without properly quitting.
The best time to get small exponents is 0601 GMT. I thought the point of the original message was that someone specifically wanted to get larger exponents. The best time to do that is 0559 GMT. You do run a "risk" that someone will throw back a "small" exponent just before you grab one, but you can always throw it back & try again another day. You face a small risk that the original tester > will submit a result, but even in that case you'll get credit for the > double-check (though that would be a small consolation if a prime were > found). This would be an interesting situation: (a) I acquire an assignment, let it expire but carry on working on it (b) You grab the assignment when it's recycled Case 1: I finish first, find a prime and announce my discovery. I did the work but the exponent is assigned to you! Who gets the credit??? Well, I suppose I _could_ grab the credit by making a public announcement without checking the result in to GIMPS/PrimeNet, but this is definitely against the spirit of the project. Conversely you hardly deserve to get the credit for a discovery which you haven't yet made. I think it's better to withhold publicity until you finish, then we can be treated as co-discoverers. Case 2: We both finish independently (it doesn't matter in which order, provided that we are not in direct contact with each other & aren't aware of each other's discovery until after we have communicated the result to GIMPS/PrimeNet). This case is clear cut, we're co-discoverers. Case 3: You finish first & communicate your discovery through GIMPS/PrimeNet in the "usual" way. This case is also clear, you're the discoverer. This probably needs to be spelled out in legal language just in case it happens in a situation where a substantial cash prize is involved (enough for it to be worthwhile paying to fight a court case). Regards Brian Beesley _________________________________________________________________________ Unsubscribe & list info -- http://www.ndatech.com/mersenne/signup.htm Mersenne Prime FAQ -- http://www.tasam.com/~lrwiman/FAQ-mers
