This project has recently been getting a lot of backlash for their legitimacy, and recently they took down their site and there servers are down, this may be proof of this project being fake.

Depends on where this "backlash" is coming from.
Can you post a link to the backlash site please.

Les, there was some chatter a while back here on the BOINC forum that was shut down by moderator's due to violation of forum rules. It also might of been removed by mods.

I would advise the original poster NOT to post any discussion, links, etc or mods might take same action again.

Collatz is down because the owner is in the process of moving to new home in another state. Owner didn't give time line for site to be back up.

Depends on where this "backlash" is coming from.
Can you post a link to the backlash site please.

Hope this does not violate any rules. My memory is that it was alleged the algorithm used by the project didn't do what it said on the tin, making the project a waste of computer time. I didn't look at it for long enough to determine that though I do know someone whose PhD is in a closely related field who would probably be able to tell a lot more quickly than I could. If true, I suspect the project owner disagrees with those who say the algorithm doesn't work rather than it being a deliberate fake. As far as I am aware, no one from the project joined the discussion to try and refute the claims.

Ah, right. I remember some one posting that that wasn't how to solve the Conjecture problem.
Not my field, so I ignored the discussion.

Les, there was some chatter a while back here on the BOINC forum that was shut down by moderator's due to violation of forum rules.

Stick to the facts please. That other thread auto-locked due to inactivity.

May I please ask you to stop telling users here what they can and cannot post about? With your threats of moderation, while trying to tell the moderators what to do as well.

We allow that concept of free speech very broadly, as we're supposed to do. I see nothing wrong with the OP's post. All you had to do was post the facts why Collatz is offline.

the project isnt "fake". it exists (or did). whether it comes back or not remains to be seen.

but their methodology was shown to be flawed in the referenced old post, and the project admins refused to change anything about it when it was brought to light. they were more than happy to continue on crunching numbers uselessly.

people are free to waste their compute power there if they wish. it's just a points faucet for low powered systems after all.

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Hi Ian&Steve C! Could you please provide us with a gist of the argument that the methodology was flawed? Or, could you please provide me with a link to that argument? I have had a number of exchanges over the years on this topic and I remain unconvinced that the methodology was flawed. poppinfresh99 has posted several times his concern that the algorithm employs a sieve and thus the algorithm fails to analyze all possible candidate exceptions to the Collatz Conjecture. For an example of that argument, see this thread: https://boinc.berkeley.edu/forum_thread.php?id=14159.

This particular argument from poppinfresh99 is flawed because any even candidate number N can be reduced to N/2 and N/2 was analyzed approximately 18 months ago. Thus, the project does not even request that any even candidate number N be analyzed. Furthermore, I postulate, but cannot confirm (because I have not seen the source code), that once any candidate number N has been reduced to less than N/2, analysis of that number can cease, as the result can be determined using previously-determined results. My hypothesis is supported by the observation that Collatz work units have not been taking longer to analyze as N increases; the algorithm only has to reduce N to less than N/2, regardless of how large N gets.

But, I could be convinced by additional analyses and data.

"Points faucet for low-powered systems"? Don't you think that is a little harsh?

the project isnt "fake". it exists (or did). whether it comes back or not remains to be seen.

but their methodology was shown to be flawed in the referenced old post, and the project admins refused to change anything about it when it was brought to light. they were more than happy to continue on crunching numbers uselessly.

people are free to waste their compute power there if they wish. it's just a points faucet for low powered systems after all.

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1. I agree with poppinfresh’s point/analysis.

2. I do not believe this conjecture can be disproven. Akin to finding the last digit of Pi or the largest Prime. It will never end. Exercise in futility.

3. No I don’t believe it’s harsh.

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The project/server is down temporarily due to moving to another residence in another state, that's what I know about it and believe it was mentioned here https://www.boincstats.com/ or in the chat box.

Time to consider removing Collatz Conjecture from the project list... Been like a year since the Sonntag's disappeared!

If it were up to me, I would give Slicker until the 1-year anniversary (early June 2023) before removing Collatz from the project list.

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