Computer power for a good cause.

[supervike]

I posted this at CMoN too....if anyone is interested.

A good friend of mine pointed this out to me....

http://folding.stanford.edu/

Basically it is a screen saver that you download. The screen saver program downloads, crunches incredibly complex numbers, then uploads back to Stanford University. The project is seeking to take advantage of home computers idle time and help a very worthwhile cause.

The project is working on the following conditions:

* Alzheimer's Disease

* Cancer

* Huntington's Disease

* Osteogenesis Imperfecta

* Parkinson's Disease

* Ribosome & antibiotics

I've nothing to gain from it, but in case you are interested I started a group called

MINI PAINTERS

Group number 63887

(the data units are kept track of, and as a group, we get 'credit' for it...which is really just bragging rights)

The project is very worthwhile and very ingenious, and I hope some of you take it to heart and help out.

I believe you can even get your PS3 to do it if you'd like.

[EricJ]

these are good fun actually, I had a different one for a while which helped decipher images from space to map the universe. Nothing big, but just a little way to help out the science world

[supervike]

I did one years ago involving the SETI project (search for Extra-terrestrial intelligence)...It was kinda cool after each 'milestone' (1,000 5,000 and 10,000 units)being able to view my 'certificate'.

Just kind of a neat way to harness all that idle computer power.

[Duende]

How secure is it? I can't help but be a little leery about stuff uploading to who-knows-where when I'm not around.

:thinking:

[Hinton]

I did one years ago involving the SETI project (search for Extra-terrestrial intelligence)...It was kinda cool after each 'milestone' (1,000 5,000 and 10,000 units)being able to view my 'certificate'.

Just kind of a neat way to harness all that idle computer power.

I remember being involved in that a few years back. It was kind of fun and a great way to do something contructive when I wasn't on the computer.

[supervike]

How secure is it? I can't help but be a little leery about stuff uploading to who-knows-where when I'm not around.

:thinking:

Well...I can't vouch for it, but it seems on the up and up....I read through much of the stuff over at the Stanford site...here is the main snippet about security:

What about security issues? We have worked very hard to maintain the best security possible with modern computer science methodology. Our software will upload and download data only from our data server here at Stanford. The Cores are also digitally signed (see below) to make sure that you're getting the true Stanford cores and nothing else.

How is this possible? We take extensive measures to check all of the data entering your computer and the results we send back to Stanford with 2048 bit digital signatures. If the signatures don't match (on either the input or the output) the client will throw away the data and start again. This ensures, using the best software security measures developed to date (digital signatures and PKI in version 3.0), that we are keeping the tightest possible security. Finally, the client/screen saver are available for download only from this web site, so that we can guarantee the integrity of the software. We do not support Folding@home software obtained elsewhere and prohibit others to distribute the software.