Have you ever wondered what your computer does when you're not there to provide it with ... On Windows, it runs a process called the 'System Idle ... Doesn't sound very ...
Have you ever wondered what your computer does when you're not there to provide it with stimulation? On Windows, it runs a process called the 'System Idle Process'. Doesn't sound very intellectually challenging does it? As far as an intellectual challenge, let’s not flatter ourselves either: To our computers we move at the speed of molasses in winter.
Well what if your computer could be running software that benefited humanity in its ample spare time? That is precisely the task the World Community Grid offers your computer when you aren't using it.
Currently, the World Community Grid is looking to dramatically shorten the Human Proteome Folding Project. This is a project that could take years even on the most powerful supercomputer. The answer is to take advantage of parallelization (using many computers at once) to dramatically shorten this computational time.
Many of us have heard of the Human Genome Project that recently completed a map of all human genes. In order for that information to be useful, scientists seek to understand how the proteins that those genes code for are formed in a process called protein folding. It is the shape of proteins that determine their bio-chemical properties. Knowledge of protein folding could, one day, be used in dramatic treatments of all diseases.
To contribute to this admirable task is quick and painless. Visit: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/ and download the client program and within seconds your computer will be solving the problems of humanity.
Download? Download?! This word is sacrilege to many network administrators. Well you needn't worry because IBM, 'Big Blue', has lent its name and resources to ensuring that this is a safe and reliable process.
Once downloaded, the client program will allow you to see the proteins currently being computed. In future, upon completion of the Human Proteome Folding project, the grid can be used for other challenging scientific problems. One likely candidate is signal processing for the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program which required distributed computational power.
Gandhi once said: "life is full of seemingly inconsequential acts, but it is absolutely essential that we do them." This seemingly small act may yield research that can improve the quality of life for all. Visit: http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/ and help contribute to scientific history.
Reconciling Biblical Numbers: Three Million at Sinai is making a Mountain out of a Molehill
Imagine a historian 500 years from now constructs the following proof. “The culture of 1960’s widely accepted homosexual activities. Evidence can be found in the theme song of a popular cartoon of the era, ‘The Flintstones’. This is a cartoon involving the implied homosexual activities between the two male lead characters Barney and Fred with no visible objections of their wives which they mutually took for procreation. The theme song ends: ‘we’ll have a yabadoo time… we’ll have a gay old time.’[1] Clearly, this open admission was made in front of millions of watching viewers and there is no archeological record of a single objection to their categorization as being gay.” Do you accept this method of proof to be valid?
Intelligent Design: If A Tree Falls In The Forest, It Does Not Land In A Science Classroom
There has been a lot of controversy regarding the proposed integration of ‘Intelligent Design’ into current biology curriculum. Intelligent Design is the hypothesis that all life on Earth was created and designed by an intelligent designer. Subsumed by this hypothesis, although not clearly stated, is that most proponents of Intelligent Design believe the intelligent designer to be the most intelligent designer, namely God. It is proposed that in the name of impartiality, Intelligent Design be taught along side Darwinian Evolution in biology classes.
Kierkegaard, Don Giovanni, and the Messiah
“If you marry, you will regret it; if you do not marry, you will also regret it; if you marry or do not marry, you will regret both; whether you marry or do not marry, you will regret both.”-- Soren Kierkegaard.Soren Kierkegaard was a tremendous fan of Don Giovanni (aka Don Juan). Kierkegaard pined in regret over his broken engagement with Regine Olsen. He feared that once she saw the rottenness and evil within him, that she would no longer be able to love him. Many of his earlier works were works dealing with faith and coming to grips with his decision not to marry her. Such a person would be interested in the character of Don Giovanni who slept with thousands of women in fear that no one woman would ever love him. Both Kierkegaard and Don Giovanni had a fundamental lack of faith: Not a lack of faith in God, but a lack of faith in humanity. We’ll soon see that the two are related however.
