Thanks for that info. After having had no response to a subsequent PM it looks like DTF has left us. Your figure of 979 regarding phase 3 participants so far is about what I would have imagined, of whom I reckon only a small proportion are engaged with the forum (and clearly even fewer are likely to post).
In the light of your response, I must first apologize and withdraw my unfairly cynical comment about doubting the team would be either keen or bothered to share the figures. Second, it suddenly makes horrible sense that you are allowed to spend only a small proportion of your time to deal with us few remaining troublemakers .
jsmaje wrote:After having had no response to a subsequent PM it looks like DTF has left us. Your figure of 979 regarding phase 3 participants so far is about what I would have imagined, of whom I reckon only a small proportion are engaged with the forum (and clearly even fewer are likely to post).
Our tech was able to tease out a couple new stats for you John. We've had 107 dusters active over the last 30 days and there has now been a total of 1,323 that "did something" during Phase 3. The increase is probably due to some recent press we've gotten, like the Nature article at http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100804/ ... 6685a.html
Though it doesn't seem like there have been too many stats out lately. Is the project still running and active? Feels like I've jumped on right at the end or something!
Well, Pete, you've actually jumped in near the beginning of Phase IV of the project. Your timing is not bad. There were numerous "bugs" at the beginning of this phase that now have "mostly" been rectified. One change we expect soon is a revision in the way the "skill" score is determined, but that in no way should affect your dusting. There are new movies to scrutinize and potential tracks to find. Welcome aboard!
Speaking of where our volunteers are from, a Philadelphia-based freelance radio journalist is looking for a Stardust@home volunteer to interview. The best candidate will have put a fair bit of time into the project, and lives within an hour of Philadelphia (Southeastern PA/South Jersey). If you're interested, or know of a possible good duster to contact, please send me a Private Message via this forum.
I've been away for a while but am back and enjoying dusting again. I wondered how many people are left in the group and whether we are any closer to finding the little devils in the aerogel?
Welcome back Puddock! We are probably around 100 volunteers give or take, but few are on these forums lately. I heard you might be joining us next week for the Third Thursday Telecon - we hope so! That's the best opportunity to get questions answered and hear the latest stats on the project. Thanks and happy dusting! Dan
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