Donna,

When your article is published, could you provide information in this thread to help the Rosetta User community find it? Many are interested in any information about Rosetta.

Thank you in advance

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When my article goes out on The AP wire, I'll post a message here to let everyone know. I'll also make some suggestions about how to find it online. It'll be a few weeks at least.
Donna

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Donna, the internet is a facinating place, full of wonders, but it also has a dark side. There are always a few who will ruin it for everyone. If I email you my real name and you quote it, any cyber weirdo, can read this thread, find the matching quote, see I'm in South Carolina, and pretty easily locate me "personally". Being Anonymous with a username is a decent safeguard against normal crackpots. I'd just as soon, not open myself up to this. Feel free to use what I've provided as I feel ok with that, or I wouldn't have provided it. You can always ask other questions as well.

tony

Just to be clear for anyone who is not sure they want to share their "real" name with me, I don't plan on putting any user names in the story. I just need to know your user name so I can connect your comments with a real person. Of course, I totally understand why anyone would not feel comfortable sharing personal information, but thanks to those who have emailed me.
Donna
dblankinship@ap.org

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I seem to be protected when it comes to using my real name online - since many consider it a 'nym. :) It's the nickname of another fellow here in town, so the last 20 year's worth of announcements of wedding that have happened, birth announcements, and divorces aren't for me. The proposed April 1st wedding would have been mine but she ran off on Halloween.. (Guess I should have bought a vacuum cleaner, instead of broom and dustpan if I wanted to keep her.) *grin*

Hopefully, we've got a few members of each of the top teams to explain the fun of the BBQ gauntlets against the Mad Cows that happen to be Dutch.. :) And if you want to give the impression that we're not all normal folks in this for the science, perhaps ask a member of the (Knights Who Say Ni!) why Monty Python fans enjoy DC projects like this - so much. :) These examples aren't to prove that the people here are just plain weird.. but that they've found ways of making this FUN.

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How did you find out about the project?

I was involved with Find-a-drug, another biomedic distributed project. That closed down in late 2005, at which time the users over there talked about other worthwhile projects to join. Rosetta was one that was mentioned, and looked like the best one from my perspective.

Why did you get involved?

Biomedic research can have some real world impact. Keith Davis, the man behind Find-a-drug has a tremendous amount of useful results to work on as a result of his project's wild success. Likewise, Rosetta has some very serious medical problems very firmly in its gunsights. Malaria and HIV to name just two.

Did you buy any new equipment to get into the project or did you just use existing computer hardware?

Just used existing hardware.

What have you learned about biomedical research?

Like many people here, I've learned a great deal. Just reading the posts by David Baker and the rest of the Bakerlab team, it's almost impossible not to learn something.

What have you learned about computers?

Not too much. That's probably due to the fact that I work with computers as a full time job.

What have you gained from your participation in the project?

The knowledge mentioned above, and the sense that I'm helping make a real difference to some medical issues provide a tremendous sense of satisfaction. Plus the thought that at some time in the future, I could well be a small part of the team that cracks the HIV problem.

Where do you live?

San Francisco Bay Area

What do you do for a living?

Software engineer.

How old are you?

Mid 40's

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I'm fine about hearing from the computer folks out there. I'm not looking for survey-like information, just anecdotes. By the way, I have other ways to reach the biologists. Thanks for all your responses. This is very helpful.
Donna

one of the reasons for many of us at Anandtech is one of our members granddaughter has cancer and it's a small way for us to try to help
http://forums.anandtech.com/categories.aspx?catid=39&entercat=y
http://www.team-enterprise.org/joomla/
http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=maegan

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How did you find out about the project?

I made an interface for CPDN and included a link to Rosetta@home on it. I've only just had a good look and decided to join.

Why did you get involved?

I'd like to put my PC crunching onto other worthwhile causes other than just Climate Change.

Did you buy any new equipment to get into the project or did you just use existing computer hardware?

Used existing, including junk from my attic which I turned into an extra PC.

What have you learned about biomedical research?

Nothing. Yet.

What have you learned about computers?

More than I let on.

What have you gained from your participation in the project?

I'll let you know later for this project, but I know a heck of a lot more about Climate Change.

Where do you live?

Surrey, UK

What do you do for a living?

IT Support.

How old are you?

Old enough to care.

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A message from my penguin

Donna, one of your questions during our phone interview was about the results of projects the R@H volunteers have been working on. The volunteers are really just getting a foothold and just producing our intial results now. While there is no one reason for increased participation, the volunteers put together a newsletter to Rosetta participants.

We wanted to make sure everyone was aware of the software improvements that have been made, and try to win back some that dropped out due to some of those problems. Also, to inform everyone about CASP7 and some of the new features of the project website. The EMails were sent last week throughout the day of the 10th I believe. And you can see from this chart the results have been very gratifying.

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Add this signature to your EMail:
Running Microsoft's "System Idle Process" will never help cure cancer, AIDS nor Alzheimer's. But running Rosetta@home just might!
https://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/

Please note, my spell checker has died and I'm not good a spelling.

I'm probabliy to late (I don't check the cafe often just to see if anybody has posted to the esperanto thread I started)

How did you find out about the project?

I'm unsure, perhaps on Predictor@Home?

Why did you get involved?

To me this is a question "why did you get involved to protien prediction?" The answer is that I saw a programme (or read somewhere) that an island had people that didn't have heart attacks, the scientists decided that it was because of a protein that was in their bodies, and they thought that if they could make this protein available to everybody then nobody would ever have a heart attack again.

Did you buy any new equipment to get into the project or did you just use existing computer hardware?

Existing hardware, though I'm considering upgrading the memory on at least one machine specifically for Rosetta@Home.

What have you learned about biomedical research?

So much it's not funny, I didn't know:
1. That proteins were as important as they are.
2. That insulin was a protein.
3. That there were so many proteins in the human body.
4. That genes had anything to do with proteins.
5. That there were families of proteins.
6. That biomedical research used computers for predictions shapes of proteins.
7. That CASP existed.
8. What meta-hueristics is (I found out after posting a "why don't you use this idea of mine", that people had been using it for ages).
9. What global optimisation is (I'm still a little wooly on this one, but I'm getting there).
10. What homologous meant.
11. That there were structural data bases that scientists used for prediction (another one of my great ideas, that was just a bit slow) of proteins.
12. What a genetic algorithm (GA) was.
13. That there were people like the Rosetta@Home team out there that weren't condescending, and understand that the subject is difficult to comprehend for ordinary folk but don't make you feel like an idiot for saying something well ... silly.
14 the list goes on and on ...

What have you learned about computers?

Hardware nothing.
Software: algorithms a huge amounts, though I must admit I've learnt this off other sources than Rosetta@Home.

What have you gained from your participation in the project?

knowledge, interest, how a Distributing Computing (DC) project should be run and the belief that this is the next great step in health since antibiotics.

Where do you live?

Australia, New South Wales, boon docks.

What do you do for a living?

I'm a manual labourer and have been for 20 odd years.

How old are you?

35 (for those in Oz, no I didn't get my school certificate, I left school at about 14)

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It probably is too late, and your article is going to press, but just in case, here are my responses:

How did you find out about the project?

Saw it on the BOINC projects page, and I followed the link to investigate.

Why did you get involved?

It is exciting to be involved in cutting edge scientific research, and providing a meaningful contribution to gaining new knowledge. Plus protein folding research is the next big step following the sequencing of the human genome. and it is exciting to be part of this endeavor!

Did you buy any new equipment to get into the project or did you just use existing computer hardware?

I put more RAM into my computers.

What have you learned about biomedical research?

The project scientists are very good about educating us regarding their research, and I have learned a lot.

What have you learned about computers?

Nothing new, I have been involved with various distributed computing projects for about 10 years.

What have you gained from your participation in the project?

A sense of providing a meaningful contribution to important scientific research, which may yield real benefits to improving the human condition.

Where do you live?

Metro NYC area.

What do you do for a living?

A land use planner and project manager for a site design/civil engineering firm.

How old are you?

52.

If you are still collecting information for your article, and wish me to e-mail you, please let me know.

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Regards,
Bob P.

Well also probably too late, but still:
How did you find out about the project?
- Found out about it on the news, although did vaguely know about it as another medical DC.

Why did you get involved?
- I'm currently heavily involved in Folding at Home (FAH) (Protein misfolding research) DC project. That project has somewhat different goals & approach, but is somewhat of a competitor to Rosetta for volunteered CPU power. With FAH, I've launched two teams and recruited hundreds of people (with about 1000 active cpus currently) (people mostly new to DC) in the last year for that project.
But not wanting to have "all the eggs in one basket approach", I decided to learn more about Rosetta DC projet to see if I will also start recruting for it. (So far so good!)

Did you buy any new equipment to get into the project or did you just use existing computer hardware?
- For this project no.
My general recommendation for people is to use what they have, but keep their computers clean, make sure their cooling is adequate, and add more RAM if necessary. And beware energy costs if air conditioning is in use.

What have you learned about biomedical research?
- Hard to say. Did learn some so far, but only scratching the surface.

What have you learned about computers?
- Not much. Was already quite advanced.

What have you gained from your participation in the project?
- Some knowledge but as a fairly new member I'm still learning. And will need to learn a lot more before I could start recruiting for this project.

Where do you live?
- Canada

What do you do for a living?
- Computerized systems project engineer/manager

How old are you?
- in the 30s

Thank you all for your interesting responses to my questions. My story goes to press early next week. It's scheduled to be published in newspapers, and on Web sites and broadcast media starting Tuesday, May 30. It may even show up in your hometown newspaper even if you live somewhere other than the United States. I'll post again with some links to the story when it does come out, but you'll probably see it first.

I hope you've enjoyed learning about each other as much as I've enjoyed learning about the Rosetta@home community, which is what most of my story is about. And those who are not quoted directly will still find they made a contribution to my understanding of the project.

Thanks,
Donna

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Thank you all for your interesting responses to my questions. My story goes to press early next week. It's scheduled to be published in newspapers, and on Web sites and broadcast media starting Tuesday, May 30. It may even show up in your hometown newspaper even if you live somewhere other than the United States. I'll post again with some links to the story when it does come out, but you'll probably see it first.

I hope you've enjoyed learning about each other as much as I've enjoyed learning about the Rosetta@home community, which is what most of my story is about. And those who are not quoted directly will still find they made a contribution to my understanding of the project.

Thanks,
Donna

Thank you Donna!
Glad we could help.........

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003027076_homecomputer30m.html

This is a more complete version of the story. It also has a photo.

The story is supposed to reach a wider audience (not just Washington) soon.
Donna

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I read your article in the Seattle Times last night at work. Soon as I got home (at 3am heh) I downloaded and installed BOINC, it's running now! Thanks for the article, and for helping to inform the public (which naturally includes me).

I read your article in the Seattle Times last night at work. Soon as I got home (at 3am heh) I downloaded and installed BOINC, it's running now! Thanks for the article, and for helping to inform the public (which naturally includes me).

Welcome aboard Bosozoku! If you have any questions, be sure to search, and post. Be sure to check out Dr. Baker's journal. If it all makes sense the first time... then you're reading too fast :) But over time, and review of some of the message boards, there is a lot of interesting and informative material available about the project.

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Add this signature to your EMail:
Running Microsoft's "System Idle Process" will never help cure cancer, AIDS nor Alzheimer's. But running Rosetta@home just might!
https://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/

Me too! I read the article yesterday and fired up my old computer to see if it would work and now feel that it is contributing instead of gathering dust. Thanks for letting us know about a worthwhile project.

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Me too! I read the article yesterday and fired up my old computer to see if it would work and now feel that it is contributing instead of gathering dust. Thanks for letting us know about a worthwhile project.

That's great! I note we've seen about 400 more new hosts than is typical for the project today. It's almost enough to make me think people DO still read, and care about stuff like this.

Berach: Be sure your old computer meets the suggested requirements. But I see you've got credits already, so it must be working. And I see you are running Win98. I seem to recall there are some problems with Win98 where it crunches ok, but doesn't properly record the crunch time or there are issues getting the credits for the work or something. So, don't be surprised if you see something odd like that on your PC. Windows 2000, XP or 2003 server are the Windows releases that are formally supported... but others do work for many too.

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Add this signature to your EMail:
Running Microsoft's "System Idle Process" will never help cure cancer, AIDS nor Alzheimer's. But running Rosetta@home just might!
https://boinc.bakerlab.org/rosetta/