Help Cure Diseases With Your Computer or PS3!!!

Kirk Gillock

Kirk Gillock

Rebel with a cause
Stanford University has created a way that everyone can help find cures for diseases simply by running a small application on their computer while working, surfing, or sleeping? It's called Folding@Home and it's safe to do and easy to setup.

The fun part is thousands of websites and forums have created Folding teams, so I'm inviting all of you computer (or PS3) users to join our Isara team and lets kick some protein butts!

Please download the application and, after installing, input a Username (same for each computer) and, most importantly, our Folding Team Number (53762) in the "Configure" section.

Software: http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/download.html

It takes a few days to process one Work Unit so give it some time. FYI - The faster your computer the more points you'll get!

Let me know if you join and have a good weekend!
pk
 
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That takes me back to the days when i had 44+ GHZ folding for my old team... We where in 13th place back then.
 
MiniMan13 said:
That takes me back to the days when i had 44+ GHZ folding for my old team... We where in 13th place back then.
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That's so cool. That's a HUGE accomplishment. You must have gotten onboard when they first started.

-zack- said:
I'm not sure I understand what I'm supposed to do?
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Sorry, I didn't explain it very well. Visit the Download link and install the version of the software you want to use (pc/mac/linux). For the PC there's a Graphic version (where you can see the protein molecules you're Folding) or just a text based version (uses less system resources).

http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/download.html

Once you install it just enter a username and our Team Number (53762) in "Configure". And then the application will run in the background whenever the computer is on (a PC shows a little red icon in the task bar - right click for options) or double click to see the molecules. It's pretty cool!

We've already gone from 2 CPUs to more than 10, in just a day, so hopefully our stats will jump in a few days when users first Work Units get completed.

Let me know if you have any more questions.
 
-zach- said:
So I'm folding a molecule... but how does this help us?
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Thanks, zach! To find cures for diseases scientists need to understand how protein molecules work so they use our computers to analyze them and see how they work. The more people who are Folding molecules the more they'll know about diseases and where they come from. It could save our lives one day. :)


Kholi said:
I entered the team number, can't see team stats.
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Thanks for joining the team! It might take a while for you to get registered into the system. I had to complete my first Work Unit (2 days) before it started showing my stats. But once you're in the system it becomes competitive. You want to get more and more points and watch your ranking go up, up, up!
 
NvCJD ('mad cow' brain-wasting disease, in humans) is caused by a prion, a mis-folded protein molecule. Just an example of the sorts of things one can prevent, treat or cure, given enough knowledge about protein folding.

Plus, if all your proteins are neatly folded, they're easier to put away. No more sloppy dingy piles of mis-folded proteins, cluttering up your home and embarrassing you in front of houseguests.
 
SuperTrooper - It would be great to have you on the Team. :) Thanks!!!

Sad Max said:
Plus, if all your proteins are neatly folded, they're easier to put away. No more sloppy dingy piles of mis-folded proteins, cluttering up your home and embarrassing you in front of houseguests.
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Martha Stewart had some great advice on folding proteins. She said to place a teaspoon of cinnamon on your molecules and that will not only make folding easier but makes them taste great too!!!
 
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When it says "downloading... ????bits", it's not actually downloading that stuff to my harddrive... right?
 
I think what it does is, it downloads a small packet for your computer to process (usually just 2-5mbs). This is the file your computer will be working on. Once your computer has completed its processing for that protein it will then upload the results back to Stanford and give you points for it.

Here's an FAQ section they have.
http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/mail.html

There's also a very popular forum.
http://forum.folding-community.org/


If you're using the Graphic version you can close the window and it will still run in the background. Also, in "Configure" you can adjust how much of your CPU it uses. For our dedicated machines I have it using 95% of the CPU. But for my laptop I have it at about 50%.


MiniMan has been doing it for a while, so feel free to correct me if the info I'm providing is incorrect.
 
PK Gillock said:
I think what it does is, it downloads a small packet for your computer to process (usually just 2-5mbs). This is the file your computer will be working on. Once your computer has completed its processing for that protein it will then upload the results back to Stanford and give you points for it.

Here's an FAQ section they have.
http://www.stanford.edu/group/pandegroup/folding/mail.html

There's also a very popular forum.
http://forum.folding-community.org/


If you're using the Graphic version you can close the window and it will still run in the background. Also, in "Configure" you can adjust how much of your CPU it uses. For our dedicated machines I have it using 95% of the CPU. But for my laptop I have it at about 50%.


MiniMan has been doing it for a while, so feel free to correct me if the info I'm providing is incorrect.
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Your Pretty much spot on, Hardcore folders prefer not to use the Graphical version, as it will fold just a little bit slower, and if you have a dual core machine, the graphical client will only run on one core. Now the percentage of CPU usage is very flexible, so if you leave it running while rendering, and lets say - Premiere takes over 80% of my CPU usage, F@H will grab the remaining 20%. For those of you that do not always have internet access on there editing, there are ways of grabbing 5 or so WU's at a time when connected, and uploading them when connected. I Urge people to go to there friends, family and neighbors and ask them to Help Cure Alzheimer's, Mad cow, Cystic Fibrosis, Cancer, Etc. - Im sure they will be more than happy to help out.

If anyone has any questions about the Technical side of things for F@H, feel free to post or PM me. Im no Scientist, so i may be a little confused when i comes to the actual usage of the folded molecules

-Zach "Miniman"
 
Having just rejoined the F@H team, i hope to see more competition from my Fellow DVXuser's
This image might get you going :-D
cert.jpg


How many WU's have YOU Folded?
 
Update: Team Isara just passed the 100,000 points mark and we're now in the Top 5% of the 61,000 Folding Teams. Thanks to all the DVXusers who joined.

Way to go team!!!

keepfolding.gif
 
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lame...one of my computers isnt getting counted...it wraped up a unit days ago and it still hasnt gotten a credit?

There doesnt seem to be any sort of tech support for this either...
 
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