October 21st, 2007 by Walt
I know, the title probably sounds like a chore related with doing laundry… It ain’t!!! It’s actually medical research.
Folding is what proteins do when they do what they do do. When they fold wrong, bad things like Alzheimer’s, and other problems occur. This can explain it better than I can.
Thousands of hours of thousands of computers working on the same thing yield microseconds of real time simulation. Folding @ Home is their way to reduce the time it takes to simulate this process. People volunteering the unused processor time on their computers is what makes this possible. Each computer is given a project to run and then report the results back, and then receive another assignment
This is much faster than trying to simply use “supercomputers” to do the work. Being a fan of technology, I ran across DL.TV some time ago. They support Folding @ Home, and have formed a group (number: 757391) to promote a bit of community and even a bit of friendly competition to other groups participating in the Folding project. Their site is www.dl.tv. If you don’t see a group that interests you, DL.TV would love to have you as a new group member! Check out their episode 200, where Robert Heron intervies Vijay S. Pande, a professor and the creator of the Folding @ Home project.
As I said, the competitive spirit is friendly, with everybody knowing that medical science and mankind being the real winner. EXTREME Overclocking graciously operates a wonderful site dedicated to Folding news and stats.
The Stanford site has software to download for just about everything out there including the newer video game consoles!
For those worried about errors, each assignment is repeated several times by different computers. This helps prevent unintentional and malicious errors from being introduced. The same repetition would occur if they didn’t use anything but their own computers.
Tags: community, DL.TV, EXTREME Overclocking, Folding @ Home, game consoles, Hardware, Internet, medicine, people, research, Software, Stanford
Posted in A-All posts, Computing, Health | No Comments »
June 16th, 2007 by Walt
I knew of her passing shortly after she died, but have not been able to put the words together until now (maybe not even now).
She was born to Presbyterian medical missionaries while on mission at a Presbyterian hospital north of Shanghai China. She knew nothing except for Christian mission work, and had planned to become a missionary herself. That is until she met Billy Graham, a student at Wheaton University. Even though Billy was studying to become a Baptist minister, she refused baptism by immersion, and remained Presbyterian.
Ruth was strong willed, and would not waver a bit from her interpretations of God’s Word. Billy often stated that she was the best Christian he ever knew. She helped him with his sermons, often giving advice on how to improve them. She was also his advisor for many things, including seemingly good (even supposedly God-oriented) plans that would have netted them quite a bit of money, but she could see through the worldly intentions, and fortunately he listened to her wisdom.
In a day and age of so-called “Christian” evangelists, both Billy and Ruth stuck to their roots. Nothing fancy went on, she was married in a homemade wedding gown, and made most of her clothes, and she and Billy lived in a log cabin built from used logs from cabins torn down. Finally, she and Billy built their own house.
Their influence on all five children is obvious, as well as that influence carrying down to their grandchildren.
While I am thankful for having known of her (and his) true Christian lifestyles, I am sorry for not having met her in person, but know that that will be rectified at some point in the future in Heaven.
Here is a link to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. There is also a memorial for Ruth Graham on the site.
Tags: Faith, people
Posted in A-All posts, Faith, Lifestyle/Society | No Comments »
May 29th, 2007 by Walt
I did not watch the Miss Universe Competition, but want to comment on how a young lady came back gracefully after a fall in a rather hostile atmosphere.
Rachel Smith’s fall on stage in Mexico gave fuel to the booing and catcalls coming from the Mexicans in the audience. I watched a replay on CNN today, and saw her bravely holding back tears, and keeping her chin up and a smile on her face.
Rachel’s “Buenas noches Mexico. Muchas gracias!” showed the fiercely competitive Mexicans that she had class they must have not thought she had. She seems to have earned quite a bit of respect from her salute.
In one way, I’m glad to not have witnessed her embarrassment, and in another, I wish I had witnessed her bravery and grace under not-so-great circumstances.
I admit to not keeping up with Miss (whatever) competitions, but am proud that somebody with her grace and quick thinking is currently Miss USA.
Tags: people
Posted in A-All posts, Lifestyle/Society | No Comments »
April 24th, 2007 by Walt
Ralph was one of my first introductions to Open Source Software. While he was a mathematician by training, he was a big fan of Open Source, as well as an active developer.
Ralph died of heart failure around 10 AM, Saturday, April 21, 2007. He was born December 12, 1953.
If I could count on anybody to be patient with a newbie like me, I could count on him. Even when I took something he said backwards, he could make corrections to my errors without making me feel like the dummy I was (am).
I learned right at the beginning that Ralph (he went by “glanz” on the Newbies Linux Forum) didn’t mince words! He simply said whatever was on his mind in the most direct way possible. If the discussion was about unsavory politics, I bet those who were being talked about had their ears burning!!
He was a living encyclopedia for many, many things, and kept notes on everything for future reference. On the forum, if he didn’t have an answer, he would take the time to research it for you. Honestly, I have never seen a person with as much dedication to Open Source as Ralph Glanz had, and a driving desire to help others learn.
I do not know how much time he spent on the forum (he was also an administrator), but it seemed like it was never more than a couple hours at most before he had an answer. Glanz, as we all called him, had a full time career as well, I don’t know how he managed to get over 32 hours put on the clock every day.
I know that there are many people who are dedicated to all forms of Open Source, but Ralph’s passing leaves a mighty big hole in the lives of many people. Those who didn’t know Ralph glanz cannot realize the hole his loss leaves in his friends, and his work in the Open Source community.
I feel very blessed for having had made friends with him.
Tags: people
Posted in A-All posts, Computing, Software | No Comments »
