would be nice if we could get paid to take part in distrobuted computing
 

supercomputers get rented out... there should be some organisation which has a server and write code to split up the work and send it out to people like us, who get paid for work units completed...

seems possible, pity its not happening now...

Does anyone want to explain it to this poor fellow, or should I?

It's called making a contribution to the community...

...
 

youre assuming i consider simulating protein folding a contribution to the community

I would assume, then, that you would also like to get paid to serve food at a shelter?

Sure, it adds a little more money to your electric bill, but the point is that you are helping to possibly find new cures and/or vaccinations for different diseases.

Exactly, it could come back to you if you get ill later on... You could be curing your own diseases with your computer.

there are a number of other (proposed) distributed projects that directly benefit corporations.

I do agree that if someone is making money off our (computer's) labor then we should get a piece of it.

It's voluntary. If you don't like it, don't do it. I don't know why you'd expect to receive anything for it. But then again, some people think Seti@home is a more worth while use of their CPU cycles than F@H.

Finding extraterrestrial life sooner would be better cause then we could use alien technology to cure cancer :evilaugh:

I have yet to see any proof the extra $65 a month in electric bills I was paying actually benifits anything. Hell by the time they figure out all the work units uploaded computers will be so fast one computer could do all the work in a month that has already been done over the last 3 years. Not to mention they are making faster progress in labs than on distributed computing projects...

Looks like getting paid might actually happen: http://news.com.com/2100-1001-245266...e.1002.tgif.ni

EDIT: Well maybe not. That article was written in 2000....

I guess i'm lucky.. my place is inclusive..
so i don't mind running the hydro to the max...
then again i'd rather have my own house.. with an electric bill...
but then i probably wouldn't bew folding and save myself teh $$$

Man, sometimes I can't believe this sh*t! Paid! You gotta be kidding... Come to my place (space)... I'll pay ya!

Yeah, after 4 years and over $6,000 pissed away on the distributed computing projects they will have to pay to cover my costs if I am ever to do it again.

how did you get $6000 pissed away?

Electric bills and computer parts. I built 5 computers spacifically for DC. I kept records. $3,120 in electric bills and the rest in computer parts....

I myself do folding on PC I have around me at home or at work...
I think that building PC's exclusively for folding would be a bit obsessive.
Would you consider yourself obsessive?

I sure was.

The whole point of {x}@home was to make use of spare computing cycles of existing PCs otherwise left on.
Right now in this building there would be over 4000 PCs, all of which are left on overnight, and all of which exist and have been paid for.
I'm trying to get some seed money to port our VAR engine to a distributed platform so instead of maintaining 40+ dedicated servers we just run it as a screen saver on the PCs over night.

No way we'd get Folding@Home installed and operational though. We can't see the code, it talks to the internet and sociability on Win32 platforms is a continuous battle....

Shame, I could start my own team, and with 10k PCs in the Syd CBD area alone, I'd do pretty well...

Quite right MadHacker... Man, if ya give something for free, don't piss about what it cost! Charity, begins with what you have to give...

Oops, forgot to say... I can't even imagine pissing $6000 worth of anything! (but then again, I'm only "average") LOL!!!

Charity is only Charity if it is used. Nothing came from the 4 years of "Charity" I gave with DC. Would have been a lot better used for other things.. Live and learn....

Good luck with F@H. No reason to post here again. Good luck with the projects.

No offense intended, please accept my apology if, well, yeah, I stray off course. I guess it's earsier for me cause I know me. I won't spend a lot of money on this, but, what the hey! If I'm on here, I'll let them use it... but I'll never let it take me money away...

The eighth fan helped! What? can't hear you!