Comments on the following newsitem http://eternity2.net/all_news.php#7

good, can we scrub this from our minds and DB now?

Too much hard work for so little reward:

http://eternity2.net/newsletter2.php

No boinc participant has won the prize and it appears that the puzzle may never be solved. However, everyone who bought the puzzle can feel proud to have helped the 3rd Viscount Christopher Monckton overcome the financial difficulties he has suffered in the past. Remember that after the disaster of Eternity1 which was solved in months without boinc, he and the Viscountess had to sell their home in Scotland:



The money he shows us below doesn't add up to the full value of the prize, but I expect he's sold more boxes of the puzzle since the photo was taken.

Notice how his left shirt-sleeve is buttoned up incorrectly in the nonchalant fashion of all true inventors and aristocrats.

He has already admitted that was fake: Aristocrat admits tale of lost home was stunt to boost puzzle sales.

So, why is the BOINC project shutting down?

The project admin doesn't think he'll win part of the prize and it's quite time-consuming. I'd guess that running the project is incompatible with Christmas and New Year activities.

So the story about losing the mansion was a stunt............... Shouldn't make any difference to the third Viscount's need for financial help - the aristocracy always need lots of support from the rest of society. If we had to keep a very large mansion warm and dry and pay all the house and garden staff, we'd also need generous contributions from the public.

Prince Charles even needs someone to squeeze his toothpaste, so it's clear that the expenses are never-ending. And his organic Christmas geese have been stolen from the royal farm yet again!

How fortunate we ordinary mortals are that we only have to pay for a few computers.

*LOLOLOL* Wiping the tear from my face...
I see Royal life is really a burden.

Yes, it's a terrible burden, but what a lot of friends they have. The 3rd Viscount's sister, Rosa Monckton, was a great friend of Princess Diana. Rosa's sister-in-law is Nigella Lawson, the celebrity cook, so I expect she taught the Princess how to achieve miracles in the Royal Kitchen. Her father-in-law Nigel Lawson was Chancellor of the Exchequer, so she probably also taught the young Princess how to keep all her money safe.

Viscount Monckton continues to work tirelessly for the good of the whole world. He's even been to Bali for us to tell the United Nations what a load of rubbish the scientists and European politicians have been telling the UN about global warming. He's done his own scientific analysis and says we don't need to reduce CO2 emissions or worry one bit. That's a great relief.

He's done a separate scientific analysis of climate prediction and tells us it's also a load of rubbish. I'll have to explain this to the CPDN researchers in Oxford. They can then stop issuing their horrible 160-year models which take months, or in some cases years, to crunch. That will be another great relief.

We have many reasons to be grateful to all the Moncktons.

*Ouch* Mockton really believes "our" Climate models are rubbish?? And global warming does not exist? What a stupid stupid man!

The Viscount tells us we don't need to worry about CO2. It has no effect on the climate. Rosa Monckton's father-in-law Lord Lawson told a US Senate Committee that the International Panel on Climate Change had underestimated the positive effects of global warming. How right he is; why should Siberia be horribly cold, why shouldn't we swim in the North Sea and the Baltic?

The Viscount's sister-in-law Nigella Lawson also tells us we don't need to worry about eating mountains of chocolate and we don't need to count the calories. The chocolate cheese-cake gives her such 'deep, deep pleasure' and I'm sure we will feel the same just from looking at the ingredients:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_578Uk8y2aM&feature=related

For an ineffable moment while watching the film we can admire and share the impeccable style, the je ne sais quoi, the dolce farniente.......

We should be equally grateful to the Lawsons and the Moncktons for wiping away all our existential angst.