Want to help find cures for HIV/AIDS, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, malaria or many other diseases?
Your computer isn't always using its power; in fact, a lot of it's going to waste. The Rosetta@Home project uses the power your computer isn't using anyway, to find the structures of proteins as they would be found in the body.
With this information, researchers can find new drugs and treatments to treat these diseases.
For a good video explaining it in depth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzATbET3g54
How do you get involved?
1) Go to http://boinc.berkeley.edu/download.php download and install the BOINC client.
2) On your PC (with BOINC open), simply select "Rosetta@Home" from the list of options, and then
and a valid e-mail address + password.
You're done! It will automatically start fetching tasks.
Optional: Join the Facebook team, competing with other Universities and Governments from around the world to see who can fold the most proteins.
1) Go to http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/team_display.php?teamid=4564
2) Click "Join" by "Join this team"
3) Enter the same e-mail address/password you set up earlier.
If you like the cause, join it. It's easy to set up, and YOU might be the one that helps cure cancer. =)
More information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta%40Home
http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/ - Official Site
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2223928761 - Facebook Group
Check the "Questions and Answers" post! I've been answering the questions I've been receiving in there.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Questions & Answers
Some questions I've been asked...
Q. Will this take up lots of room on my computer?
A. No. It takes about the size of 4-5 mp3's.
Q. I have a Mac. Does that matter?
A. No. There's a BOINC client for Mac, that works identically to the PC's version.
Q. Is there a Dal team?
A. Not currently. I'm having a hard enough time gathering support for a Facebook-wide team, let alone JUST Dal.
Q. I'm on a laptop, and after installing BOINC, my fan is going all the time. wtf?
A. BOINC uses the computing-power that your computer normally would not be using.
In a desktop, your fan is going all the time, and usually always at the same speed. In a laptop, this is not the case.
Using the fan takes battery power, so it's set up to only come on when your computer is warm. As well, the fans in laptops are smaller compared to fans in desktops, and because f this, have to spin faster to move the same amount of air. Things spinning faster make more noise, so it's a noise issue too.
When your computer uses more of its computing-power, it generates more heat. So, your fan turns on to blow that warm air out, and take cool air in.
PLEASE NOTE: If you own a laptop, this is something you should already be doing. DO NOT USE YOUR LAPTOP ON A BED/CARPET/ETC. You should always have a hard, smooth surface between your laptop and the bed/carpet. On almost all laptops, the air intake (where your computer sucks the cool air into) is on the BOTTOM of the laptop. If you cover this hole, your computer gets pretty warm pretty quickly, especially when running BOINC (which generates extra heat). So please, use a hard surface, whether you are participating in Rosetta@Home or not.
Q. Will my fan break/burn out?
A. Highly unlikely. Computer fans are one of the most important parts in your computer, and because of this, are designed to last a long, long time. In fact, having the fan come on and off every few minutes is probably harder on it than keeping it steady.
Q. I'm running my laptop off its battery. What should I do?
A. Unless you know you're only going to need to use the computer for little bit, you should put BOINC in "Snooze" mode. To do this, right click on the BOINC icon by the clock (It's a yellow B, in a navy blue circle), and click "Snooze". This will stop BOINC from doing any work until you take "Snooze" off.
The reason I suggest you do this, is that your computer uses a lot more power when BOINC's running. If you're running off your battery, it'll reduce the time remaining before your battery dies considerably. If you're plugged in, you have nothing to worry about.
To disable the snooze mode, simply do it again (right click, click snooze). You'll know if it's enabled if "Snooze" has a checkmark by it.
Q. My computer's slowing down!
A. I think you might be paranoid. Unless your computer is REALLY old (we're talking like, 4-5 years, or older), there should be NO observable difference in the speed of your computer.
The BOINC client is designed to get out of the way whenever any other program needs your computer power. But, you can check the system requirements here (which are very low): http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/rah_requirements.php
Q. Can I put more than one computer on?
A. Yes! If you have more than one computer in your possession/house, you can install BOINC on all of them, and use your account. For instance, you can see all of the computers I'm currently using here:
http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/hosts_user.php?userid=64302
Simply set up BOINC as usual, but instead of making a new account, simply say you're an existing user, and type in the same e-mail address/password you used before.
Q. When I try to say I'm an existing user on my 2nd/3rd/99th computer like you said, I get an error message, saying I couldn't contact the project. Now what?
A. Ignore it. Every time this has happened to me, it started doing work on the project a few seconds later.
Q. Do I have to have the BOINC screensaver turned on? I mean, the proteins are pretty, but I like my current screensaver.
A. Absolutely not! The BOINC screensaver is entirely optional, and in no way has to be enabled. You can definitely just say "no" when it asks if you want it to be your default screensaver.
However, it DOES show quite nicely the work your computer is doing, and gives you an idea how you're contributing.
Q. What does the BOINC program do?
A. The Rosetta@Home project's run by University of Washington. They have their servers set up with a ton of proteins, and they want to know how they fold. So, the program asks for one of these proteins, they send you it. You use your spare CPU power to fold it (to find out how the protein folds in on itself), and you send that information back once it's finished. They send you another, and the process repeats.
Q. So, do I have to keep an eye on it for when it finishes, to send it in? Or, do I have to ask for new ones? Or, do I have to do any sort of maintenance?
A. Nope! It's all automated. All you have to do is install the program, and it does the rest.
Q. Can they see any personal information on my computer?
A. No. The only information that's submitted is the type of computer processor you're using. For instance, you can view the computers I'm running here:
http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/hosts_user.php?userid=64302
Q. I noticed on the BOINC homepage it mentioned other groups. What are these?
A. The BOINC program can be used for more than just protein folding. There are various other causes that you can use your spare computer power towards. Perhaps if you don't like the idea of protein folding, you can find something else that interests you. =)
Q. How do I know if I've successfully signed up, and that my computer's currently working?
A.
1) Double click on the BOINC icon (the yellow B surrounded by a navy blue circle)
2) Click on the "Projects" tab near the top
3) On the right, check to make sure that you can see Rosetta@Home information (like, under "Project", it should say rosetta@home, and under "account", the username you entered)
4) Click on the "Tasks" tab at the top
5) Make sure there's stuff there on the right again.
If you want to actually VIEW it working...
6) Click on one of the lines to the right (the one with the protein information, rosetta@home, progress, etc.)
7) Click "Show graphics" on the left.
You can see your computer folding the protein. This same visual is available on the BOINC screensaver.
Q. What are credits?
A. Credits are simply their way of saying who's done how much. Because proteins vary greatly in size (and thus, some can take much longer to fold than others), it wouldn't be fair to simply have a "proteins folded" number. So, they use a credit system instead.
I said earlier that if using a laptop, you should put it in "snooze" mode when you're running power off the battery (ie, not plugged in)
With the new version of BOINC, there's no need. BOINC automatically realizes you're not plugged in, and stops working on the Rosetta@Home project until the next time you're plugged in. This serves to extend battery life.
If you've got any more, just ask. I'm more than happy to answer them for you.
There's also a FAQ on the actual site. Links here:
General Questions:
http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/forum_thread.php?id=669
Science Related:
http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rah_science_faq.php
Q. Will this take up lots of room on my computer?
A. No. It takes about the size of 4-5 mp3's.
Q. I have a Mac. Does that matter?
A. No. There's a BOINC client for Mac, that works identically to the PC's version.
Q. Is there a Dal team?
A. Not currently. I'm having a hard enough time gathering support for a Facebook-wide team, let alone JUST Dal.
Q. I'm on a laptop, and after installing BOINC, my fan is going all the time. wtf?
A. BOINC uses the computing-power that your computer normally would not be using.
In a desktop, your fan is going all the time, and usually always at the same speed. In a laptop, this is not the case.
Using the fan takes battery power, so it's set up to only come on when your computer is warm. As well, the fans in laptops are smaller compared to fans in desktops, and because f this, have to spin faster to move the same amount of air. Things spinning faster make more noise, so it's a noise issue too.
When your computer uses more of its computing-power, it generates more heat. So, your fan turns on to blow that warm air out, and take cool air in.
PLEASE NOTE: If you own a laptop, this is something you should already be doing. DO NOT USE YOUR LAPTOP ON A BED/CARPET/ETC. You should always have a hard, smooth surface between your laptop and the bed/carpet. On almost all laptops, the air intake (where your computer sucks the cool air into) is on the BOTTOM of the laptop. If you cover this hole, your computer gets pretty warm pretty quickly, especially when running BOINC (which generates extra heat). So please, use a hard surface, whether you are participating in Rosetta@Home or not.
Q. Will my fan break/burn out?
A. Highly unlikely. Computer fans are one of the most important parts in your computer, and because of this, are designed to last a long, long time. In fact, having the fan come on and off every few minutes is probably harder on it than keeping it steady.
Q. I'm running my laptop off its battery. What should I do?
A. Unless you know you're only going to need to use the computer for little bit, you should put BOINC in "Snooze" mode. To do this, right click on the BOINC icon by the clock (It's a yellow B, in a navy blue circle), and click "Snooze". This will stop BOINC from doing any work until you take "Snooze" off.
The reason I suggest you do this, is that your computer uses a lot more power when BOINC's running. If you're running off your battery, it'll reduce the time remaining before your battery dies considerably. If you're plugged in, you have nothing to worry about.
To disable the snooze mode, simply do it again (right click, click snooze). You'll know if it's enabled if "Snooze" has a checkmark by it.
Q. My computer's slowing down!
A. I think you might be paranoid. Unless your computer is REALLY old (we're talking like, 4-5 years, or older), there should be NO observable difference in the speed of your computer.
The BOINC client is designed to get out of the way whenever any other program needs your computer power. But, you can check the system requirements here (which are very low): http://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/rah_requirements.php
Q. Can I put more than one computer on?
A. Yes! If you have more than one computer in your possession/house, you can install BOINC on all of them, and use your account. For instance, you can see all of the computers I'm currently using here:
http://boinc.bakerlab.org/
Simply set up BOINC as usual, but instead of making a new account, simply say you're an existing user, and type in the same e-mail address/password you used before.
Q. When I try to say I'm an existing user on my 2nd/3rd/99th computer like you said, I get an error message, saying I couldn't contact the project. Now what?
A. Ignore it. Every time this has happened to me, it started doing work on the project a few seconds later.
Q. Do I have to have the BOINC screensaver turned on? I mean, the proteins are pretty, but I like my current screensaver.
A. Absolutely not! The BOINC screensaver is entirely optional, and in no way has to be enabled. You can definitely just say "no" when it asks if you want it to be your default screensaver.
However, it DOES show quite nicely the work your computer is doing, and gives you an idea how you're contributing.
Q. What does the BOINC program do?
A. The Rosetta@Home project's run by University of Washington. They have their servers set up with a ton of proteins, and they want to know how they fold. So, the program asks for one of these proteins, they send you it. You use your spare CPU power to fold it (to find out how the protein folds in on itself), and you send that information back once it's finished. They send you another, and the process repeats.
Q. So, do I have to keep an eye on it for when it finishes, to send it in? Or, do I have to ask for new ones? Or, do I have to do any sort of maintenance?
A. Nope! It's all automated. All you have to do is install the program, and it does the rest.
Q. Can they see any personal information on my computer?
A. No. The only information that's submitted is the type of computer processor you're using. For instance, you can view the computers I'm running here:
http://boinc.bakerlab.org/
Q. I noticed on the BOINC homepage it mentioned other groups. What are these?
A. The BOINC program can be used for more than just protein folding. There are various other causes that you can use your spare computer power towards. Perhaps if you don't like the idea of protein folding, you can find something else that interests you. =)
Q. How do I know if I've successfully signed up, and that my computer's currently working?
A.
1) Double click on the BOINC icon (the yellow B surrounded by a navy blue circle)
2) Click on the "Projects" tab near the top
3) On the right, check to make sure that you can see Rosetta@Home information (like, under "Project", it should say rosetta@home, and under "account", the username you entered)
4) Click on the "Tasks" tab at the top
5) Make sure there's stuff there on the right again.
If you want to actually VIEW it working...
6) Click on one of the lines to the right (the one with the protein information, rosetta@home, progress, etc.)
7) Click "Show graphics" on the left.
You can see your computer folding the protein. This same visual is available on the BOINC screensaver.
Q. What are credits?
A. Credits are simply their way of saying who's done how much. Because proteins vary greatly in size (and thus, some can take much longer to fold than others), it wouldn't be fair to simply have a "proteins folded" number. So, they use a credit system instead.
I said earlier that if using a laptop, you should put it in "snooze" mode when you're running power off the battery (ie, not plugged in)
With the new version of BOINC, there's no need. BOINC automatically realizes you're not plugged in, and stops working on the Rosetta@Home project until the next time you're plugged in. This serves to extend battery life.
If you've got any more, just ask. I'm more than happy to answer them for you.
There's also a FAQ on the actual site. Links here:
General Questions:
http://boinc.bakerlab.org/
Science Related:
http://boinc.bakerlab.org/
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