In this edition, we can discuss current research into HIV as well as provide a link to where people can help solve this problem.
Simply donate the time your computer is turned on, but would normally lie idle, for projects that benefit humanity. Like a screensaver, grid technology is easy to use, safe and free. When you are ready to use your computer, the grid software will shut itself off until the next time your computer is idle. To learn more, click on Become a Member. Or to start volunteering your PC time now, click the button below.
On our first anniversary, we are pleased to announce the launch of our second project: FightAIDS@Home. This project has the potential to stop AIDS, perhaps the most devastating disease of our time.
If you are not already a member of World Community Grid and want to donate your computer time for this project, please click on the join now button on the right.
To join go to http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/index.jsp
After you join as a member, join our team by selecting "join a team" and then go to {T section page 3} to pick "Team EvC" to join ("Team" is part of the team name, so we are the Team EvC Team).
Enjoy.
{abe} It appears that the BOINC agent may be easier on the computer (disturbs other activity less) and is more productive than the standard UD agent and can run on older slower computers that the UD agent cannot use. I don't know how to set this up other than to (a) run the worldcommunitygrid download on one machine to sign up, (b) download the BOINC agent and assign it to worldcommunitygrid.org and then (c) uninstalling the worldcommunitygrid download (so you don't have both agents running), (d) repeat (b) for any other machines once you have a valid sign-up to attach it with.
To download the BOINC agent go to http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/ms/viewDownload.do?platform=all
If you want to just us the standard UD agent then you should use the throttle or you will probably see jerky mouse behavior:
Enhance your preferences with the Throttle Tool When running World Community Grid's agent for Windows, you will now see that 100% of the CPU is not used by default. World Community Grid has introduced a default setting of 60%. We've found that some recently designed computers deal with slight increases in CPU temperature (such as those caused by running at higher utilization) by slowing the CPU rather than speeding up the cooling fan as needed. This could cause a computer to run slower than usual. To keep this from happening, World Community Grid decided to reduce the grid agent's default CPU throttle setting so that the CPU does not heat up significantly. If you wish to change the CPU utilization setting, we provide a downloadable tool to do this. (This throttle feature is not yet available for the BOINC based agents.)
{/abe}
Edited by RAZD, : added information on BOINC and throttle tool
Chimpanzees living in dense jungles in Africa have been confirmed as the probable source of the HIV virus which caused the human AIDS pandemic.
Researchers have identified simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in wild apes for the first time. The virus, which at some point jumped to humans as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has been found in chimpanzees in Cameroon, west-central Africa.
The virus was found in chimpanzees in southeastern Cameroon, where SIV infection rates were as high as 35 percent in some chimp populations.
Further genetic analysis linked these chimps to the source of the main strain of HIV-1, the most prevalent form of HIV. The team's findings are to be published tomorrow in the journal Science.
The Cameroonian chimps showed a diversity of SIV strains, with some twice as similar to human HIV strains as any found in captive apes, says study team member Beatrice Hahn, a professor of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
"Two clusters [of SIV strains] were very closely related to human strains," she added.
These human strains belong to the M group of HIV-1, the group which has spread among humans worldwide.
Hunters in the region who caught and ate chimps were probably the first to contract HIV, she adds.
Chimps in turn are thought to have picked up SIV by eating infected monkeys.
Chimps, however, are the only apes known to be infected.
"The chimp virus is a mosaic of viruses that infect prey monkeys," the University of Alabama's Hahn said. "Chimps had to eat these monkeys first but they have certainly had their infection a lot longer than humans."
"As far as we know, the chimps don't get any type of AIDS-like disease," he said. "That's part of the reason for being very interested in the infection of chimps, because chimps and humans are very similar genetically."
In other words we may find the best source of information on how to cure the disease in our genetic cousins.
Current Members 31 (#324) Total Run Time (y:d:h:m:s) (Rank) 10:249:13:53:35 (#353) Points Generated (Rank) 2,267,133 (#377) Results Returned (Rank) 8,839 (#406)
Almost 11 years of runtime and pretty much in the top 400 teams out of 10,883 teams over all in just over 6 months.
Current Members 31 (#325) Total Run Time (y: d: h: m: s) (Rank) 11:033:05:21:54 (#345) Points Generated (Rank) 2,354,332 (#369) Results Returned (Rank) 9,195 (#398)
There are currently 10,965 teams working on the World Grid...we are in the top 400.
Over ELEVEN years of run time WOO HOO.
Omni is leading with over a year of run time all by himself! Jazzns is pushing his first year with over 354 days. Both our frontrunners here have over 1000 results returned.
We have a lot to be proud of people!! And a lot of people to be proud of :D
Nerd ego officially hurt now that Omni has beat me.
*sniff*
(starts scrounging in his closet for old hardware)
Of course, biblical creationists are committed to belief in God's written Word, the Bible, which forbids bearing false witness; --AIG (lest they forget)
I built a new machine at home (has taken upwards of a month to buy parts, assemble, and debug this beast), and just signed it up on the grid to help me "stress" the system while I try and fight system instability.
Does anybody know any good tools to help with detecting system incompatibilities? I'm getting fairly random reboots. I think it may be a motherboard / RAM interaction issue...
Also, anybody know if you can run 2 versions of the grid at the same time? I'm running dual core, and the grid doesn't seem to be taking advantage of it.
Re: OFFICIALLY IN TOP 400 (and edging ever closer to the top 300)
Statistics Last Updated: 07/20/2006 23:59:59 (UTC) [21 hour(s) ago]
Totals: Current Members 34 (#307) Retired Members 0 All-Time Members 34 Total Run Time (y:d:h:m:s) (Rank) 13:056:17:42:45 (#309) Points Generated (Rank) 2,810,101 (#337) Results Returned (Rank) 10,700 (#367)
We'll probably end up stuck in the 300s for number of members but in the three categories that count (Run Time, Points and REsults) we are heading in the right direction.
In the slightly more than a month since Asgara posted we have improved in all three categories:
Total Run Time 345 -> 309 Points Generated 369 -> 337 Results Returned 398 -> 367
I know we shouldn't need any motivation or reward beyond doing the right thing but personally I don't see anything wrong in getting a slightly smug warm glow out of seeing us climb the charts.
So I'm shallow... I know it and I don't care!
Since I check out the WCG stats every few weeks for my own curiosity I'd be happy to post our progress say once a month if anyone else is interested. Let me know.
Try checking the FAQs to see if this is already asked?
Can you assign users to one core? Then you could create two users with the different cores and try to run two -- if you get a message that it is already running then that would indicate it was using both.
Re: OFFICIALLY IN TOP 400 (and edging ever closer to the top 300)
I'd like you to keep those summaries coming, MT. I'd like to see all 2xx's on our rankings.
Doing the right thing for the right reason is all very well, and sufficient, but it's good to know how well that right thing is being done. It's difficult to do one's best without having some Honorable Other to push.
We evolved that way, I think; full, angelic enlightenment might be beyond all that, but at this stage harnessing our competitive engines for enlightened purposes is about the best we can do.
Anyway, IMHO that's the true worth of competition, a worthiness that can leave all the runners smiling at the end of the race. I'd love to see some smartass upstart overtake my spot on the team, piss me off, and make me try harder: Jazzns should get major credit for making me redouble my efforts earlier.
Otherwise, I'm too lazy: mostly good, but lazy. ;)
I just migrated to the BOINC agent. Best feature about it...--you can install it in windows as a service. Now I don't have to worry about staying logged in, and I can assign restricted permissions to the Grid user.
Cool :)
Hope my 2GB of RAM show up soon. Not having much luck with EBay these days...
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