I have used the BOINC-wide team page to create a series of CFI teams on most BOINC projects.  I have also made a team for .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). 

I was thinking of making a more detailed FAQ on this.  How to join teams, what this is, recommended settings, etc.  Maybe making a forum thread on this.  But then I see that there already is a thread on this.  But mine would be a bit more detailed. Perhaps we could merge these thread or something.

Then I was thinking of having the CFI people promote this a little bit.  Maybe an article in Campus Inquirer.  That sort of thing.

Add what you like to this thread, if it’s relevant to the BOINC projects.

I’ve brought up the matter of having CFI promote the endeavor. As of yet there hasn’t been much uptake, but I suppose it’s worth continued pressure. Feel free to do your bit.

This is my first stab at a FAQ.  It is far from complete.  When done, I recommend that this replace the first post in this thread.  Or we can start a new thread.  Whatever. 

Thread Title: Want to help scientific research? (CFI Distributed Computing Teams)

Distributed computing is when many computers work together to complete a very large calculation.  It is an alternative to using large super computers.  Scientists use distributed computing for many worthy scientific and humanitarian tasks, such as hunting for gravitational waves, running climate models, or searching for cures for cancer.  By simply downloading a program and having it run when your computer is idle, you can participate in such projects.  After setting up the program, it downloads and uploads the data automatically.  Make sure to go to preferences and set them to what you are comfortable with (CPU usage, network usage, etc). 

Center for Inquiry teams have been created on most distributed computing projects.  By joining a team the entire group can get credit, and promote the organization. 

BOINC:
Initially designed for SETI@Home, it has since expanded and runs many other science projects. 

- A list of projects can be found here and here. 
It can be downloaded for Windows, Mac, or Linux. 
- To join a CFI team, left click the project icon and go to the project’s website.  While there, log in and go to your account.  Under community, go to team and search for the “Center for Inquiry” team and join it. 
- Many projects use nVidia or ATI GPUs to speed up calculations. 

World Community Grid.

It focuses on humanitarian and medical projects. 

- This can be run through BOINC (see above), or through a standalone platform. 
- List of WCG projects
- It is available for Mac, Windows and Linux. 

Folding@Home

This program runs one project, and it focuses on simulating protein folding. 

- Available for Windows, Mac and Linux, and PS3
- To join the CFI team, go to the control panel of the program and input the CFI team code: 173631
- PS3 installing FAQ
- PS3 will complete tasks much faster than regular computers

Great, thanks. Just to reiterate: the CFI team on Rosetta@home (a BOINC project) presently has 17 members, of which 11 are active. We have 955,517 credits, and 3,413 recent average credits, which puts us in 210th place, ahead of a LOT of much bigger folks.

(Our ranking is based on “recent average credits”; a lot of these larger teams have more overall credits, but they’re racking them up now at a slower pace).

We can do better! (I’ll do better in the next few months, since I’ve been away awhile I haven’t been doing my bit for BOINC).

Well, I joined and I feel good about it already. Now I’ll just have to see how it effects my computer. I use to do this many years ago with Seti, but my computer kept overheating. I have a much better computer now, so it shouldn’t be a problem. The great thing is that you can try it, and if it doesn’t work out for you, you can uninstall it. No long term commitments.

I’ve added a bit about GPUs to the FAQ.  The last part that I need info on is recommended settings.  Many people whom I’ve talked to have complained about their computers overheating.  I think that can be prevented by altering the settings (specifically the % of CPU time used).  Is this true?  What else needs to be added to the FAQ? 

For the FAQ, I think its done enough to be its own thread.  So Dougsmith, should I just make a new thread which is then stickied while you delete the old thread.  Or, we just change the title of this thread (“Want to help scientific research? (CFI Distributed Computing Teams)” seems good, since it should be about more than just SETI and Rosetta), and copy-paste the FAQ I made into the first post.  I don’t think that it terribly matters. 

Lastly, I shall further annoy CFI-leaders about promoting this.

Havermayer - 08 August 2010 02:02 PM

I’ve added a bit about GPUs to the FAQ.  The last part that I need info on is recommended settings.  Many people whom I’ve talked to have complained about their computers overheating.  I think that can be prevented by altering the settings (specifically the % of CPU time used).  Is this true?  What else needs to be added to the FAQ? 

For the FAQ, I think its done enough to be its own thread.  So Dougsmith, should I just make a new thread which is then stickied while you delete the old thread.  Or, we just change the title of this thread (“Want to help scientific research? (CFI Distributed Computing Teams)” seems good, since it should be about more than just SETI and Rosetta), and copy-paste the FAQ I made into the first post.  I don’t think that it terribly matters. 

Lastly, I shall further annoy CFI-leaders about promoting this.

Changed the title.

No idea about CPU usage. I haven’t had any problems, but you may be right; I am sure that BOINC and other distributed computing sites will have FAQs there about how to use their software best. I suppose if there are a number of important questions among our members, and an inability to find answers, we can try to research simple things here. But generally folks with technical questions should probably look to the relevant source websites for answers. (We’re not experts).

I think best to append your FAQ here, or I can copy and paste it into the OP of this thread, or both.

dougsmith - 08 August 2010 02:37 PM

Changed the title.

No idea about CPU usage. I haven’t had any problems, but you may be right; I am sure that BOINC and other distributed computing sites will have FAQs there about how to use their software best. I suppose if there are a number of important questions among our members, and an inability to find answers, we can try to research simple things here. But generally folks with technical questions should probably look to the relevant source websites for answers. (We’re not experts).

I think best to append your FAQ here, or I can copy and paste it into the OP of this thread, or both.

I’ll look into CPU usage and other things.  We could put a very general tip on our post, and then link to more detailed information on the BOINC wiki or sties.  For now we can ignore it.

So, if you could copy/paste my FAQ into the original post (op) of this thread, that would be good.  You can include information on the Rosetta@home CFI team if you wish (since it is our biggest one).  If you cannot copy paste the formatting of the post (eg. links), then I could email you the post or something. 

So now I will focus on promoting it.  I will contact the CFI directors and leaders.  I’ll see if they can include a short blub about this in their next email updates that I can write.  It would give a brief description of this, and then link to this thread for more information.

Article in the NYTimes today about one of the other protein folding strategies from U. Washington, a sort of companion to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Read it HERE:

In a Video Game, Tackling the Complexities of Protein Folding
By JOHN MARKOFF
Published: August 4, 2010
Gamers, 1; computer, 0.

In a match that pitted video game players against the best known computer program designed for the task, the gamers outperformed the software in figuring out how 10 proteins fold into their three-dimensional configurations.

<snip>

In May 2008, researchers at the University of Washington made a protein-folding video game called Foldit freely available via the Internet. The game, which was competitive and offered the puzzle-solving qualities of a game like Rubik’s Cube, quickly attracted a dedicated following of thousands of players.

The success of the Foldit players, the researchers report in this week’s issue of Nature, shows that nonscientists can collaborate to develop new strategies and algorithms that are distinct from traditional software solutions to the challenge of protein folding. ...

You can find the game HERE.

For the first post, you could just erase the original post and just go straight to the faq.  It makes it much easier to read.  I’m also going to be editing/updating that. 

I’m also probably going to write something about this in either the August or Sept. newsletters for the SSA and CFI on Campus. 

For myself, I’m not sure which projects to support.  My criteria tends to favor medical or humanitarian projects.  Any suggestions? 

For now:

- Folding@home (on m ps3)
- WCG on laptop
- malariacontrol.net on old desktop

FYI the CFI team has 25 members and is now #119 in the WORLD for rosetta@home. That’s pretty cool!

I’m on the list.    Which is now up to 30!

Armchair astronomy… who knew… its good!

Home computers from Iowa and Germany, using Arecibo data, help discover unusual pulsar

Yippee! I’m user of the day     SEE LINK

traveler - 10 April 2011 08:33 AM

Yippee! I’m user of the day     SEE LINK

Eh… Congratulations? Most computer time? CPU cycles? Most solved?
Up to user of the year!