Why Do You Fold@Home?

[Nibiru2012]

Mainly for my own curious nature. Please answer all the questions, if possible.

1. Why do you folks use the Fold@Home client?
2. What is your purpose in doing so?
3. Is it to really help with the project or for self-gratification?
4. Do you feel this project is truly worthwhile or doing it just for grins?
5. Does Stanford really need all this help when they have some of the most powerful computing systems in the USA?

Just my two-cents here and plus I'm am stirring the proverbial pot.

 

[clifford_cooley]

Why do you folks use the Fold@Home client?
What is your purpose in doing so?

Being a part of something bigger.
Hope, hoping for a better future.

Is it to really help with the project or for self-gratification?
Do you feel this project is truly worthwhile or doing it just for grins?

Whether we think we are helping others or seeking gratitude, It doesn't really matter why we do it.

Does Stanford really need all this help when they have some of the most powerful computing systems in the USA?

Allowing people to do work for them saves them time and money in the long run. Standford does have huge computers for this cause. At the same time they are allowing the public to join in and help.

• For every person that joins in and helps:
  • It's that much wear and tear on their servers they didn't experience.
  • It's that much electricity they don't have to pay for.

I'm pretty sure Stanford is working under a budget. As much as people think they could operate more efficient under donations, Donations are not a guarantee every month. I'm pretty sure Stanford is working their servers under a budget and are very grateful for every WU that is donated to them. As far as why people fold, without hope there really is not any need in doing anything much less folding@home.

 

[TrainableMan]

I only fold@home when the towels are dry
But I do know it is set up as a competition on purpose; kind of how Tom Sawyer gets other kids to paint the fence for him by making them think it's fun.

 

[Nibiru2012]

Tom Sawyer and whitewashing the back fence. LOL! Great analogy for sure.

I have messed with this F@H a few times, but it kept causing issues on my system and that was ticking me off so I keep removing it. GPU excessively hot, BSODs and other things.

I suppose if I was rich, I could build a dedicated computer to do just this, but I'm not so sure for now, until the group at Stanford develops better quality and stable clients.

 

[TrainableMan]

Well supposedly it is to help people, not just get ole Tom out of work.

 

[Nibiru2012]

Well supposedly it is to help people, not just get ole Tom out of work.

I knew that, maybe it's to develop the next "Andromeda Strain" of nasty virus to wipe out the Earth's population... JK!!

 

[TrainableMan]

Yeah maybe, one from cyberspace instead of outer space.

 

[yodap]

1-Because it's there and I chose not to help with the SETI project at WCG.

2-My purpose is to help find cures for diseases just as the project purports to do. Some of these diseases afflict my immediate family members. If none of my completed WU's help find cures then that's okay. But they might. If I never
fold another WU for w7forums, be assured that I will continue to fold.

3-Both

4-I really feel this project is worthwhile. Grins have nothing to do with it (for me).

5-Who knows. :dontknow:

One of several good things to come from this for me is that, with the help of someone I respect, I built my first computer last summer. So I'm learning something too.

 

[draceena]

1. Why do you folks use the Fold@Home client?

I like to feel that I am helping humanity in some small way.

1. What is your purpose in doing so?

Much like my answer above, add to that several family members as well as myself with health issues that F@H is looking to help solve

1. Is it to really help with the project or for self-gratification?

See my answer above

1. Do you feel this project is truly worthwhile or doing it just for grins?

I do feel it is worthwhile, I have my computer on all night anyway so whay not use the unused processing power for a possible good use. I also think we have a better chance of finding cures than finding "aliens" out there.

1. Does Stanford really need all this help when they have some of the most powerful computing systems in the USA?

Every drop helps fill a bucket / many hands make light work.

 

[Nibiru2012]

Thanks go out to Cliff, Yodap, Draceena, TM and any other future responses.

It was good to see the answers and such. Helps me to ponder certain things.

Keep 'em comin' folks!

 

[catilley1092]

1: It's a great project, looking for cures & treatments for Alzheimer's disease (and others too), and I want to be a part of it.
2: My grandmother died of complications of the disease.
3: I believe in giving to good causes (the project), it's the right thing to do. No pride or bragging rights is involved, it's from my heart that I donate.
4: Yes, I believe it's worthwhile.
5: Yes, it's a research project, all donations (completed WU's) are used for the cause. It would take several massive buildings to run enough computers to equal the work that the donors give.

Cat

 

[Full_Taoer]

1. Why do you folks use the Fold@Home client?

It's the only way to contribute work units to the F@H project.
​

2. What is your purpose in doing so?

Making use of processor power that is under-utilized most of the time.
​

3. Is it to really help with the project or for self-gratification?

It is really to help the project. Points are only a benchmark of what I am providing to Stanford and my goal is to maximize what I am providing.
​

4. Do you feel this project is truly worthwhile or doing it just for grins?

I believe in the project. If I can have grins along the way, that's a bonus.
​

5. Does Stanford really need all this help when they have some of the most powerful computing systems in the USA?

Molecular biology is only one project competing for time on the computers at Stanford. The amount of actual processor time they would get from only that is dwarfed by the number of petaflops a distributed computing system provides.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folding@home#PetaFLOPS_milestones

​

1-Because it's there and I chose not to help with the SETI project at WCG

FYI, currently SETI is dead in the water.
http://www.vancouversun.com/busines...+hits+budgetary+black+hole/4757571/story.html

 

[davehc]

I have never been drawn to investigate the project. But when Nibs posed the question (Thread title) I followed the comments with curiosity.
One surprise, is the enthusiasm created on this site. Of six sites I visit, excluding this one, four do not have any interest and the remaining two started it, but it later faded.
Googling Stanford University, surprisingly, brings up no folding links. (However, googling (e-mail address removed) does!)

It is a totally gray area for me.I contribute to health matters more local sources so my interest possibly stops there.
One worry I would have, possibly unfounded, would be the security risk with so many students having open access to the project. Once again, googling security, in connection with the project, bring a whole bundle of returns.. Too numerous to reproduce, but such as this did disturb me:
Quote:
"I've been running the folding@home software under windows for a few weeks now, and thankfully, I also have Norton Internet Security running as well. A few days ago Norton stopped a program from sending the last 6 digits of my bank account number to 171.64.122.143:8080 - this turns out to be an IP address at Stanford University. After a little investigation I also found a program called REBOOT.EXE in my startup folder (the EXE file was actually in that folder, not just a shortcut). I'm not sure if that EXE was related to the folding@home installation though. After deleting that file and stopping f@h, I restarted f@h which then _immediately_ tried again to broadcast my bank account information. Has anyone else encountered this kind of problem with f@h? I'm currently on TeamAnandtech but will no longer be taking part as long as f@h seems to be compromising my system."

 

[yodap]

Sigh!

It's volunteer work. Everyone should check it out fully and to their hearts content before acting on it.
That goes for just about everything in life.

I will refrain from going off on NIS but if you google about problems caused by that program.... forget it.

( Not directed at you Dave, you're simply posting info)

 

[catilley1092]

Team AnandTech tried to recruit me (I'm an occasional visitor there), but I declined. As long as this team is in place, I'll remain on it.

The issues with NIS, is well documented, no need for me to go there. I ran into a site today that was GIVING away a year's subscription just to try it (there were others too). Quality AV/IS solutions don't have to give away their products for that length of time. A 30 day trial, but that's it.

But I've had no problems with my security running folding@home, and considering the millions of folders worldwide, if this were a serious problem, then surely there would be a lot of media attention in their direction. Stanford is a major university in the US, I highly doubt that they would play a part (directly or undirect) in stealing user info.

Cat