Since 1997distributed.nethas been utilizing the idle cycles of computers around the world. Distributed.net frequently runs multiple projects simultaneously. The longest lasting of their recent projects, RC5-64, recently concluded. The winning key was found by a machine in Japan, which revealed the message: “The unknown message is: some things are better left unread” (full details can be foundhere). The only active project currently isOGR-25, although other projects (including RC5-72) are currently under consideration. The OGR project’s goal is to compute Optimal Golomb Rulers of various sizes (or number of marks). Conceptually, this is a “ruler” constructed in such a way that no two pairs of marks measure the same distance.
Ars Technica Team Beef Roast (TBR)has been th Ars representative for the distributed.net projects for quite some time. Through the contribution of their members they were been able to achieve 12th overall in the RC5-64 project and are currently placed 17th overall in the OGR-25 project.TBRhas been, for the most part, the “quiet” Ars team, currently only 22 active members strong on the OGR-25 project. With a little help we would be able to establish ourselves firmly in the upper echelon of teams on this project.
