RE: The Gridcoin journey: Part 1 - Getting started
Great writeup.
I figured https://www.grcpool.com is the only good working/stable pool at the moment. I haven't tried another one. This is an opinion based on what I read and since things evolve rapidly that information might be outdated.
At this point in time, that is not just an opinion, but fact. =)
There is one other pool (pool.gridcoin.co) but it appears to have been abandoned and is not paying out.
I have not received a single unnecessary message from any party since I started.
In case it interests you, if you are solo mining then allowing the project admins to email you will let them alert you to any significant research findings your machines make. Unfortunately, the pool does not let you do this, as the BOINC project attributes all findings to the pool.
As a beginner I'm a bit careful to state my findings as facts.
On the emails: those research findings will be announced in the BOINC manager as well I think? Sometimes I take a look at them but most of the time I don't understand too much of it.
What I meant to say is that one has to give in an email address in lots of places. I myself am not too fond of sharing my email address. There is however no reason to be afraid of doing so is what I meant.
You could of course make an email address just for BOINC (I didnt bother!), but its not a good idea to change it after you registered, it causes problems with CPID