user770: Strongly inspired by the SETI program, I was considering putting together a mining client that mines when a computer switches to screensaver. I know this would cost some PGU when the computer takes a nap, and would kind of defeat the purpose.
But would such a product be of interest to the bitcoin crowd ?
Would people be interested in a piece of software like this ?
I understand that serious miners would not be interested in this, but maybe, just maybe, the whole BitCoin thing would be easier to explain to some, if there was a piece of software that resembled the SETI program (which many people know or remember.)

user323: Casual mining is not too popular or profitable. If you are not mining casually, you mine all the time and don't want to slow your computer down with anything.
Moreover, one can set the priority of mining program to be quite low, thus not impeding the functionality of the computer (when computer is idle, computer mines at full speed, otherwise it slows down to let normal use have as much processing power as it needs).
Despite that. Some casual people might be interested in playing around with a screensaver miner if it was available.

user2551: There's a project on google code: http://code.google.com/p/miner-scr/

user516: In the interests of keeping people's power bills low, I'd recommend not bothering to write anything that uses CPU mining as the bitcoins earned will not even come close to recovering the cost of the electricity.
If you can get it working with ATI graphics cards though, it would be quite a neat idea. It would also be a good way for charitable organisations to earn donations without people needing to put in their credit card details. Eg a donate-to-wikileaks screensaver.
However, there are also ethical issues to consider - not only does mining have a substantial electricity cost (where I live, it can be as high as $45 a month with my 5850 card), it also has a substantial effect of shortening the life of the hardware doing the processing. The average Joe Bloggs should really be made aware of those issues before they install & run mining software.

770: <p>Strongly inspired by the SETI program, I was considering putting together a mining client that mines when a computer switches to screensaver. I know this would cost some PGU when the computer takes a nap, and would kind of defeat the purpose.</p>

<p>But would such a product be of interest to the bitcoin crowd ?</p>

<p>Would people be interested in a piece of software like this ?</p>

<p>I understand that serious miners would not be interested in this, but maybe, just maybe, the whole BitCoin thing would be easier to explain to some, if there was a piece of software that resembled the SETI program (which many people know or remember.)</p>
 323: <p>Casual mining is not too popular or profitable. If you are not mining casually, you mine all the time and don't want to slow your computer down with anything.</p>

<p>Moreover, one can set the priority of mining program to be quite low, thus not impeding the functionality of the computer (when computer is idle, computer mines at full speed, otherwise it slows down to let normal use have as much processing power as it needs).</p>

<p>Despite that. Some casual people might be interested in playing around with a screensaver miner if it was available.</p>
 2551: <p>There's a project on google code: <a href="http://code.google.com/p/miner-scr/" rel="nofollow">http://code.google.com/p/miner-scr/</a></p>
 516: <p>In the interests of keeping people's power bills low, I'd recommend not bothering to write anything that uses CPU mining as the bitcoins earned will not even come close to recovering the cost of the electricity.</p>

<p>If you can get it working with ATI graphics cards though, it would be quite a neat idea. It would also be a good way for charitable organisations to earn donations without people needing to put in their credit card details. Eg a donate-to-wikileaks screensaver.</p>

<p>However, there are also ethical issues to consider - not only does mining have a substantial electricity cost (where I live, it can be as high as $45 a month with my 5850 card), it also has a substantial effect of shortening the life of the hardware doing the processing. The average Joe Bloggs should really be made aware of those issues before they install &amp; run mining software.</p>
