Any person interested in WCG has two options at the moment: running FA@H, or HPF. Here are some links which I hope can help to explain to newly recruited members:

FA@H:
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/projects_showcase/viewFaahAbout.do

HPF:
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/projects_showcase/viewHpfResearch.do

http://www.systemsbiology.org/Scientists_and_Research/Faculty_Groups

Results so far:

FA@H:
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/forums/wcg/viewthread?thread=5730

HPF:
http://robetta.bakerlab.org/

HPF:

It is both surprising and unfortunate that the majority of people on the internet want nothing to do with DC.

I have tried to explain the AIDS and Protien Folding projects to many well educated and affluent people just to be met with mindless stares of indifferance.

I have given up in any recruitment efforts myself. I dont have the patience required to explain something that people display indifferance to by default.

The Rosseta@Home project is particulary heartbreaking to me in that the Baker lab is very sure that if they had maybe 3 to 4 times thier present compute power. That they have a 100 percent chance at solving the Protien Folding Problem. Which would then give rise to a whole new class of drugs to maybe cure everything from cancer to malaria.

You would think people would stand in line volunteering thier computer.

Go Figure. DC has taught me alot about human nature. I still hold out hope that companys like IBM may be able to raise awareness.

Untill then Chrunch ON......Congrats on your commitment to the AIDS cure.......

I work for an employer with a couple hundred desktop computers. Recently I suggested to the CEO that we participate in a distributed computing project. This was my written request below, I removed any reference to the organization by name.
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Currently our work stations are left running 24/7 in order to receive pushed out upgrades and updates. It would seem that we could use this under utilized resource by corporately participating in a non-profit "folding" project, such as the "World Community Grid" hosted by IBM. Folding projects involve processing medical research data when the workstation would otherwise by idle. The processing program is given the lowest system priority, so that it does not affect performance when the computer is actively being used. Other than the initial installation, which is trivial, this process is does not require any interaction on the part of the individual user. More information about the project can be found here;
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/


Corporate partners participating in this project are listed here;
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/about_us/viewOurPartners.do


This could be a great way to do some good and improve our community relations at the same time. All at very little or no cost to our organization.


Thanks for your consideration.
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The response from the CEO was;

It is true that these applications do not normally impact performance; however, we have seen these types of programs negatively impact system performance in the past. In addition, there have been known security vulnerabilities associated with these programs, so the assumption that there is no associated cost with installing and maintaining an application like this is not true. Like other software programs, security vulnerabilities turn up constantly, which then require intervention and resolution.

When looking specifically at the "World Community Grid" project it appears they are moving over to the BOINC client, but their current client seems to have some undesirable characteristics (here's a quote from their forums on their current client: "Whether you have a large or small network, installing the WCG UD agent on multiple machines has always been difficult, as each PC has had to be manually registered with the WCG servers").

It's easy to say that there's no cost associated with something, but when you have to deploy it, respond to questions about why someone's system is running slow and then have to maintain a piece of software when a new critical vulnerability is discovered in it, you get to see the real costs associated with a single application.

With this in mind, I will not recommend that we deploy this application on our desktops.
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Anybody have any similar experiences? Any suggestions how I might politely address these concerns?

Corporate and personal responsibility


I believe there must be a balance between security and doing what you can for your community and the world.

How would some of these same SELFISH people feel the next time their DAUGHTER or SON was in the hospital with a potentially deadly illness such as CANCER and the doctors could only recommend was mass amounts of kemo therapy, radiation and pumping them full of drugs and to hope for a lucky outcome. Yet, this is an everyday deadly reality being played out across our country in hospitals on a daily basis.

Then you have to tell your son or daugther that everything will be okay and that you love them..very well knowing what the outcome could be very well likely be if LUCK isn't on your side that day.

I believe there is a greater cause at hand and the benefits potentially outweight the risks assciated with it. Often times EXCUSES and JUSTIFICATIONS are really just reasons not to take PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Surely, our society can do more then just DRONE our daily functions in the name of personal interests,wants, needs,personal stakes and money...i would HOPE.

How bad are we? Look how hard some of these poor handicapped people in wheel chairs try...some even race in their wheel chairs and do great things that you or I wouldn't even think of doing..yet, we can't even manage to install a potential life saving program that takes minimal effort and time? That same person in that wheel chair could be making up all kinds of excuses and justifications not to live.

Alot of times throughout history the greatest accomplishments have had to be SOLD under personal STAKES, INTERESTS, WANTS and NEEDS...even national security which goes back to the first ones in my opinion.

I don't think any excuse or justifications is enough to dismiss our personal reponsibility to do what we can for those who are in need because one day that might be YOU, ME or someone we LOVE,KNOW or CARE about.

- That's my little speech for the day :)

Thanks for the suggestions. Can anybody else relate how they have convinced their employers to participate in the project?