Help treat diseases with your computer

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the use of distributed computing projects to assist in medical research aimed at treating or curing diseases. Participants explore various programs that utilize spare CPU power from personal computers for calculations related to drug discovery, protein folding, and genome studies.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Experimental/applied

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants describe distributed computing projects like Find-a-Drug, Genome Project, and Folding @ Home, highlighting their purposes and resource requirements.
  • One participant mentions running multiple computers for these projects, prompting questions about the practicality and necessity of having several machines dedicated to this work.
  • Concerns are raised about potential issues with software, such as unexpected sounds from the Find-a-Drug program, leading to discussions about overheating and computer maintenance.
  • A participant provides a simplified explanation of protein folding and its relevance to diseases, emphasizing the importance of understanding this process for medical advancements.
  • There are suggestions for creating a group account for the Physics Forums community to collectively participate in these distributed computing initiatives.
  • Some participants express interest in building or acquiring computers specifically for these projects, indicating a commitment to contributing to medical research.
  • One participant shares a negative experience with distributed computing software, raising concerns about reliability and user experience.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a general interest in supporting distributed computing projects, but there are varying opinions on the practicality of running multiple computers and the reliability of specific software. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the best practices for participation and the effectiveness of different programs.

Contextual Notes

Some participants mention specific technical issues related to computer performance and software behavior, indicating a need for further exploration of these aspects. There are also references to personal experiences that may not reflect the broader user experience with distributed computing projects.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to individuals involved in computer science, medical research, or those looking to contribute to scientific projects through distributed computing initiatives.

  • #31
You just have to delete the shortcut in the start up menu.
 
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  • #32
It isn't in my startup menu
 
  • #33
Ki Man said:
It isn't in my startup menu

Uninstall it, and when re-installing, tell it to not load on startup.
 
  • #34
But isn't these programs working exactely like wiruses and trojans ?

If you install a trojan with open eyes as it claim to fight AIDS, which guarantee do you have for that your newly installed trojan is as friendly as it claim to be ?

What is the argument to claim that using home computers in this way for a kind of distributed computing does have much reasonable ideas behind it, except for some project to see if it can work, and some hackers as well, to see if ddos attack etc can work.

Is it likely to believe that AIDS research projets uses methods that breakes with basic computer security.

ShawnD -> Are you really sure of what all your computers really are doing ?

Distributed denial of service attacks (ddos) is performed by fooling a huge number of people to install programs on their machine, that converts a huge number of PC's to remote controlled or time controlled attach machines.

One of the well known methods is to offer free security scans and then a free "security program" that in real life is a trojan.

I would not install some medical reseach program that have some of the same structure, unless I were quite sure about what I were doing.

It could be that most such projects is good ones until now, but for real hackers the distrubution of such programs should be a dream.

... Well I se that some of the project has adresses that seems to be secure, but I would really worry about the security if participating in such a project.
 
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  • #35
Langbein, these programs are put together by reputable organizations and if they were doing something malicious, it would be easy to see.
 
  • #36
OK, they might be good enough, but the way they work does have a bit in common with how viruses and trojans are working, so I would like to be rather sure that the one I am connecting to is a good one.
 
  • #37
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