How do I know if I’m the first to find a real track?

Frequently Asked Questions

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bmendez
Stardust@home Team
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How do I know if I’m the first to find a real track?

Post by bmendez »

Q: How do I know if I’m the first to find a (potentially) real track?

A: When you think you have found a track:
1) note the movie ID # in the VM and your current score/stats
2) click directly on the track and confirm the click
3) note your score/stats, if they changed it was a calibration movie not a real track.
If they did not change...
4) Visit the My Events page and look in the list of movies at the bottom. Find the ID# matching the one you just clicked.
5) Note the Number of Agreements: if it is equal to 1, then you are the first.

Edit: 8/16/07

For Phase 2 this will no longer be true in many cases. In Phase 2, the VM displays movies that have been seen in Phase 1 at higher resolution as well as new movies that had not been seen in Phase 1. If you click on a feature that has been previously identified in Phase 1 there is currently no way to know from the My Events page.

While it still may be possible that the feature you are identifying is new and you are the first to see it, you will not know that for a fact for possibly several months as the Team reviews the data.
Last edited by bmendez on Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
sub212
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2006 4:27 pm

so what?

Post by sub212 »

Is there any significance in being the "first", selected randomly by a online lottery-like system?
Sharqua
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Re: so what?

Post by Sharqua »

sub212 wrote:Is there any significance in being the "first", selected randomly by a online lottery-like system?
If you're the first, and if there's an interstellar particle at the end of the track, you get to give it a name.

Pretty cool, neh?

-Shar
UnreferencedVariable
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Post by UnreferencedVariable »

Is there any way to find out if you were the first to spot a particle if you didn't check your events at the time or you later forgot?
Sharqua
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Post by Sharqua »

UnreferencedVariable wrote:Is there any way to find out if you were the first to spot a particle if you didn't check your events at the time or you later forgot?
Hrmm... I'm not sure it's possible without having them actually check the time/date of your mouse click.

I suppose that, barring a direct response, the way to tell would be that message congratulating you for being first. :?

-Shar
Alex280
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Joined: Tue Aug 15, 2006 8:56 pm

Post by Alex280 »

It would be nice to have a asterisk next to the movie we clicked first on the "my events" page.
sub212
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2006 4:27 pm

what is it worth then

Post by sub212 »

So, in other words if we are the second or later ones (or started one week later than all the other freaks here), we're just good to reduce the noise of the cheaters? Great.
(Well, yes, I
ve seen new vids are added, so even the late birds have a chance for a worm, ah dust, ...
sub212
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2006 4:27 pm

P.S.

Post by sub212 »

Except for the dubious honor of naming sth. that we see in the hundreds every night in the night sky; Are we mentioned on any paper?
fjgiie
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mentioned on paper

Post by fjgiie »

Hi sub212,

See this link down at the bottom of the page where it talks about putting sub212 as co-author on any scientific paper. ( If you find a track)

http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/about.php

Thanks,

fjgiie
sub212
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2006 4:27 pm

Post by sub212 »

thanks fo the link.
enowicki
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First to spot a dust particle? Second?

Post by enowicki »

Question: If you are not high in the rankings, will you only be reviewing movies by those that have viewed a lot of them?

IN other words, is the chance of finding a dust particle the same for everyone or is it better for those high in the rankings because they will be viewing "virgin" movies whereas those lower in the rankings will be merely reviewing and helping review the movies earlier identified by others as possibly containing a dust particle??

Good luck to everyone...its been fun thus far!
Ed
TimStrange
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Post by TimStrange »

New movies are sent out randomly. It doesn't matter what your score is or what your percentages are. The only thing that would effect your chances of seeing a new movie is the number of movies you’re seeing. In other words, if Viewer A is looking at 10 movies a day and Viewer B is looking at 1000 movies a day, Viewer B is more likely to see a new movie.
starbright
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Location: Perth, Western Australia

Post by starbright »

TimStrange wrote:New movies are sent out randomly. It doesn't matter what your score is or what your percentages are. The only thing that would effect your chances of seeing a new movie is the number of movies you’re seeing. In other words, if Viewer A is looking at 10 movies a day and Viewer B is looking at 1000 movies a day, Viewer B is more likely to see a new movie.
I gather that new movies are uploaded in batches, a tile at a time, as they become available. So getting to be the first to see a movie would also presumably depend on being online at the time of, or soon after uploading. After a few hours or less every new movie in the batch has probably been viewed by someone.

Starbright
Twinkle twinkle little stardust
How I wonder what you are dust
khearn
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Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2006 1:19 pm
Location: Silicon Valley, Califonia

Post by khearn »

Starbright,

I think you're right. Every time I click on something that turns out not to be a calibration movie, I go check my events, and it always has been viewed by at least a fifty people before me. I always do my viewing in the evening, and I suspect the new movies are added in the morning, so plenty of other always see them before I do. Oh well.

It would be nice if they added them at different times through the day and night, so people who can't spend their days looking would have an equal chance of being the first. But that would be that much more work for the people running the program, and I suspect they have enough to do as is.

I know that the fiftieth person looking is just as important as the first when it comes down to using statistics to decide which movies to take a closer look at, so I know I'm not wasting my time. That's more important than whether I'll get to name a spec of dust after my wife. :)

Keith
DiamondGirl
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How do I know if I’m the first to find a track? - Phase 2

Post by DiamondGirl »

[quote="bmendez"][b]Q: How do I know if I’m the first to find a (potentially) real track? [/b]

[b]A: [/b] When you think you have found a track:
1) note the movie ID # in the VM and your current score/stats
2) click directly on the track and confirm the click
3) note your score/stats, if they changed it was a calibration movie not a real track.
If they did not change...
4) Visit the My Events page and look in the list of movies at the bottom. Find the ID# matching the one you just clicked.
5) Note the Number of Agreements: if it is equal to 1, then you are the first.[/quote]

Hi, Brian. :)
I was just wondering, for Phase 2, does this still apply? Do we know that if we see a score of 1 that we are the first person to select a potential track, or are there any that were in Phase 1 as potentials and we are just confirming with the better scans?

Signed,
Interested and Excited because I think I found one...

DiamondGirl
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