How many people take F@H seriously?

[Spud1200]

Not really. I donate to charities I can actually see making a difference. It's why I'm such a strong supporter of Child's Play. I used to be down with Folding back when I thought it would actually make a difference. Now we have so much compute power at our disposal and the amount of power coming out of folding GPU farms and still nothing real notable.

Gonna have to think about ^^^ . Hence I do it to try and make a difference but yeah I agree, a lot of power is available and no results yet.

Folding program has had beneficial results come from it, but more on the simulation side than the actual physical medical side.
Though the sim side has allowed for drug designs to help target specific things, vs say an aspirin for a headache which kills pain everywhere.

Power cost run about 2 bucks a day for me, which is viable for MY financial situation, but I can easily see how many can't. My issue is heat generated during the summer.

I'm sure I seen that on the News, hear in the UK. Or deffo on I know that for sure. Might of been a Documentary about the use of Drugs.

Can you shed any light while were on the subjects about other near or actual results of the Folding DC project? I'm a big fan Boy of it but haven't read any white papers on the topic, I tend to stick to the Forums.

 

[PP Mguire]

You basically quoted what's been done. Simulations. It's like building a rocket and doing simulations but never going outside and really doing it. They don't have enough there to work with and so to me that seems like a waste of resources on my end to help. If I wanted to blow some cash I'd rather go to Amazon and buy an Xbox for a sick child to make their last days a little bit better.

 

[patonb]

Not really. I donate to charities I can actually see making a difference. It's why I'm such a strong supporter of Child's Play. I used to be down with Folding back when I thought it would actually make a difference. Now we have so much compute power at our disposal and the amount of power coming out of folding GPU farms and still nothing real notable.

This is what I mean.

The "Charity" relies on people who help as they see the cause doing something positive.

 

[PP Mguire]

And in my eyes I don't see any positive, I see good intentions with a waste of computing resources. Maybe in the past 10 years we had at least one good thing come out of Folding I wouldn't be so negative about it but we haven't. Just being completely realistic and honest.

 

[-RockMan-]

1 step at a time, using super computers worth of processing power for years with nothing really to show. #1 why I stopped. Power and heat was #2.

I think you missed some key information here.
You may want to read this, if it still doesn't seem legit.
Best way to find out is ask the f@h community and the people working on finding a solution/drug or cure to todays diseases.

Diseases Studied — Folding@home

Yes I stop folding for the same reasons you did, just the past few months I was thinking about folding.
If I do it will be 2 or 4 times in the month once per week or every 2 weeks.
You don't have to fold if you don't want to.
Just do what you feel is best after getting some answers from legitimate sources.

If the electric bill gets abit too just stop folding.

 

[PP Mguire]

Yea I've read that before and have been following folding the last 10 years. When I say 10 years, I mean literally since about March 2004.

The most they have done for the #1 thing people fold for (cancer) are still in simulations and the furthest on any of them is AD where they are close to a drug. The problem with that is the first few usually don't pass lab tests and then we have to spend more years folding for more simulations and releases. Back to my initial argument, the whole folding motto is "fold for a cure for cancer" which is what it started out being. We IMO are nowhere closer than where we were 10 years ago. THey even admitted to how much more processing power they had which was another argument I had before. Their quote is on CPUs, but GPUs can process the data MUCH quicker and there are a ton of GPU folders out there probably making that number 4-10x greater in actual compute processing capability. All these resources being used, yet we haven't made any real advancements.

I'll leave it at this, if my dad didn't believe in it then I don't. He was a supporter of Seti and we had arguments on Folding before. Being 10 years younger I couldn't see things like he could. Being older now, I can and his words hold true for the most part.

Edit: Seems like I'm not the only one. Their userbase seems to have dropped.

 

[patonb]

Yes and no to the drop.

The number of computers dropped as the high end folders ditched the multi gpu sets like in bitcoining, for 4p amd servers. 1 amd 4p did 200x the points for 1/2 the power. As each gpu was deemed a folder, the number dropped.

But some folders finally got tired of Stanfords, "we'll do whatever we want" attitude last yr with how they treated the folks who dumped oodles on money on systems, so there was a drop from that.

And P, your power.. Your choice so I care less if you do or not.

 

[PP Mguire]

The numbers are significantly less than what they could be, if say something real happened and more people got on board for that.

Dude I'm not gonna lie, my power is paid entirely by child support right now. We do TXU pay as you got which at the time of sign up was 2c less per KWh (currently like 9.9c or something) but my issue is Texas heat. We are in a 1 bedroom with a 1ton unit, 2 TVs, 3 monitors, 2 laptops, an Xbox, DirecTV DVR (thing gets HOT), DTV mini genie (also gets hot not being on, hotter while on), my 955BE server, 3 adults, 1 child (soon to be 2 again), and more. All that plus cooking during the heat of the day (I eat at 5:30pm on the dot) means the majority of time it's 80f in here as a norm with AC set to 73f and it's actually not freezing up. We don't have the money for a portable unit and we cannot use a window unit. I'll also say, over half the day only 1/4 of the electronics are on and I usually don't game in the later hours either because it's so hot. So all that being said power isn't too much of an issue as our account just accumulates money over time because we don't use all the money each month. Heat is my #1 issue for anything PC wise which includes gaming. So if heat wasn't an issue the only thing standing in my way is running my hardware 24/7 for something that hasn't shown any real progress in 10 years. If they start making real progress I'll reconsider. Otherwise, my spare resources will go unused to try and keep it cooler in here.

My responses aren't meant to offend anybody that does actually fold, I'm simply answering the question from the OP with my opinion and feelings on the matter.

 

[patonb]

The numbers are significantly less than what they could be, if say something real happened and more people got on board for that.


My responses aren't meant to offend anybody that does actually fold, I'm simply answering the question from the OP with my opinion and feelings on the matter.

Quite frankly, you don't fold because you don't want to. And for me, that is a perfectly valid reason.

 

[Spud1200]

Dude I'm not gonna lie, my power is paid entirely by child support right now.

We are in a 1 bedroom with a 1ton unit, 2 TVs, 3 monitors, 2 laptops, an Xbox, DirecTV DVR (thing gets HOT), DTV mini genie (also gets hot not being on, hotter while on), my 955BE server, 3 adults, 1 child (soon to be 2 again), and more. All that plus cooking during the heat of the day (I eat at 5:30pm on the dot) means the majority of time it's 80f in here as a norm with AC set to 73f and it's actually not freezing up. We don't have the money for a portable unit and we cannot use a window unit.

My responses aren't meant to offend anybody that does actually fold, I'm simply answering the question from the OP with my opinion and feelings on the matter.

To be perfectly honest you don't have to justify your self to me because that being the case what you have explained I'm going to be honest and say I'm in a better position than you P and the only reason I fold as well as wanting to make progress is my Power is free. I do pay for it but it comes of my Disability every Monthso I don't see it. Not having the money to Pay for the Power, in connection with the Heat Issues, You don't have to explain your self to me. I have no Children but do receive DWP help, hence the wealth fair system hear in the UK. Honestly speaking I hope your not sitting their feeling as is you have to justify your self, because even if your didn't want to Fold just because you don't want to out rite for whatever reason, that's your decision hence its a charitable organization and Its perfectly up to you.