http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/ Engadget Comments for PlayStation 3 to join Folding@Home for Cure@PS3 http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
http://www.chasetheglow.com

]]>Aug 14th 2008 3:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 23rd 2006 7:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 23rd 2006 7:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 23rd 2006 7:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
Hey...if you're not folding...get your wasted cpu cycles to work right now!]]>Aug 23rd 2006 7:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 23rd 2006 7:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
That being said, basically what either program does is it has your computer or PS3 crunch data. This is called "distributed computing."

Instead of employing some massively expensive supercomputers to do the work, distributed computing allows members of the public to help scientific endeavors such as this (or SETI@Home, etc.) to analyze scientific data using thousands of everyday PCs (and now PS3s).



]]>Aug 23rd 2006 7:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
So yes with your PS3 you can help fight cancer.]]>Aug 23rd 2006 7:35PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
Who do they think they is trying to help cure cancer or how dare they!!!!! Ya best buy a nin wee-wee or else you're going to help cure cancer!!!]]>Aug 23rd 2006 7:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 23rd 2006 7:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 23rd 2006 8:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
If you could download video updates to see the progress of the research program, that would be really clever.]]>Aug 23rd 2006 8:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 23rd 2006 8:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
I think its a good Idea and whatnot...since SuperComputers are very expensive...I just have no ambition to be apart of it.]]>Aug 23rd 2006 8:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 23rd 2006 8:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 23rd 2006 9:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 23rd 2006 9:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
The other systems can't do that, so that leaves only the PS3 do this kind of thing. If the 360 could do this M$ would be all over it to. Sine PS3 has the power to do it, I guess SOny is using their powers for good.]]>Aug 23rd 2006 9:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
I'm surprised at some of the comments being so unsupportive. What a shame! Must be tweens because if you knew someone that has lived, survived or passed because of cancer and the tortures of treatment, I would think you'd want to help anyway possible. My mom is a breast cancer survivor and my 32-year old friend battled prostate cancer last year and now is battling liver cancer that spread through lymph nodes.
Both have endured tremendous pain in chemotherapy treatments and emotional trauma of the disease.

It stops being "funny" when it starts being you.

Props to Sony. ]]>Aug 23rd 2006 9:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
I also wonder, could PS3's and PC's work together on the same work units? if yes, then fps could rise a lot. else, no matter how realtime and realistic RSX displays it, if it ain't working that hard, it ain't displaying that fast.]]>Aug 23rd 2006 9:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
"after checking that video I wonder what "real-time" really means... 2 frames/sec? I guess it depends on how many PS3's are working together..."

the intention isn't to create a 300fps animation full of effects, all the processing power goes to the WU processing.]]>Aug 23rd 2006 9:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 23rd 2006 9:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://folding.standford.edu).]]>Aug 23rd 2006 9:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
Publicity, hey we're talking about it, aren't we? Plus, it's another way for Sony to advertise PNP in a very vague sense.]]>Aug 23rd 2006 10:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/He puts it there pretty nicely.

Why all the unsupportiveness?]]>Aug 23rd 2006 10:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
Do you hear people who fold on PCs going around with big huge egos? Why is the PS3 folding program going to be different in your opinion? I fail to see what the PS3 has to do with it. Unless you have a good reason, I fail to see any point to your rant at all.]]>Aug 23rd 2006 10:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 23rd 2006 10:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 23rd 2006 10:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
As far as the capabilities of Xbox 360, it is definitely capable of doing the same computation. The computing power of the two machines is very similar. (see http://forum.pcvsconsole.com/viewthread.php?tid=19237 for some details) It is really hard to predict which one would be better/faster without knowing a lot of specifics about the problem. (For example, how much branching, floating point, or register pressure the problem requires) So overall this is a PR move by Sony to try to show off PS3 as something more than pure gaming.

(With the recent announcement by MS of opening up development on Xbox 360 it will be interesting to compare the hobbyist market for both)]]>Aug 23rd 2006 11:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
Leaving a single high powered PC on can cost between $3-$6 a month. Suffice to say, $40 a year donation is actually more cost effective in finding cures than visualizing protein folding on your computer screen.

In addition, most people usually run this on multiple computers at home and work. Electricity is NOT FREE. It still comes from nasties like coal, natural gas, and the almighty troublemaker, OIL.

Distributed computing at this moment is an absolute waste of resources.]]>Aug 23rd 2006 11:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
Protein folding is incredibly resource intensive, well beyond the funding of most bioinformatics departments. Every bit does help, and kudos to the PS3 for at being able to do it.]]>Aug 23rd 2006 11:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 23rd 2006 11:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 24th 2006 12:16AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
Next, people just dont' see wasting of electricity in the same light of other resources. One would see the absurdity of leaving the shower or faucet running 24/7 (even though you do actually use them everyday). That is obviously wasteful. Leaving 6 computers on is just as wasteful. And if you say you're running a server or some other nonsense, you could host that offsite in a much more efficient and equally cost effective manner (considering 3-6 dollars a computer a month). This is especially prevalent at work and an school environments. No consideration is given at all towards responsible energy usage. I can't even begin to imagine what the electricity bill is for a average dorm.

While some love the nobelity of helping a cause, donate funds and becoming active in your community gives more back as a whole then Folding or wearing a yellow bracelet for that matter.

*And with hibernate/suspend modes, computers now reboot in under 15 seconds...turn off your computers and electronics when not in use.*]]>Aug 24th 2006 1:24AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 24th 2006 1:33AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 24th 2006 2:04AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
The element your missing is that by contributing to distributing computing projects, you are helping to develope the systems that will enable researches to solve hard problems. Folding, Rosetta, and the others probably haven't added a whole lot to our understanding of proteins. But they HAVE added a lot to our ability to understand how to create distributed models, how to apply those models to particular biological systems, which avenues show promise, etc.

It's all science that needs to get done.

As an example, billions were spent mapping the human genome. There's a lot of (potential) value in the genome, but in the short term, you might have said that the researches time would have better been spent on the worse diseases. Additionally, there's even more value in the ability to map genomes in general, and that science benefited immensely during the human genome project.]]>Aug 24th 2006 2:18AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 26th 2006 1:51AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 26th 2006 12:52AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.grid.org/home.htm (also set as my site link incase it's removed)]]>Aug 24th 2006 3:43AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
Guess that's what happens when you teach typing to six year olds.]]>Aug 24th 2006 8:22AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 24th 2006 8:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 24th 2006 9:33AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/That curved top (all be it a pain in the rear if you want to stack it in a Home Theater system) is for keeping it COOOOOL! When the system is horizontal the heat is channeled to the center spine of the dome then wised away through all those vents pictured above. And you know, I’m starting to come around on the look. I just hope the thing doesn’t sound like an airplane hanger! “NOW, BREATH, BREEEEATH, MY NOT SO PASTY FRIEND!” RIIICOLA!! Um, sorry. Got carried away ;^)...

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OH, AND JUST INCASE YOU NEED ANOTHER PS3 REMINDER. IF YOU MISS THIS HOLIDAY CYCLE YOU ARE, TO QUOTE A FAMOUS FRENCH POET, FUX’ED!]]>Aug 24th 2006 9:35AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
Don't believe for a second that each core is as powerful as a PC's CPU.

In the year before the PS2's launch, Sony and the media were hyping the PS2's "emotion engine" processor and revolutionary architecture as a "supercomputer". In reality, it was just a crippled MIPS CPU with a pair of floating-point co-processors tacked on. It could barely keep up to a good PC at the time.

If the PS3's cell processor really was as powerful as some people think, IBM (who designed and makes the Cell CPU) would be building supercomputers with it.]]>Aug 24th 2006 9:43AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
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If the PS3's cell processor really was as powerful as some people think, IBM (who designed and makes the Cell CPU) would be building supercomputers with it.
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They are.

http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/09/07/ibm_to_build_cell_hybrid_supercomputer/]]>Oct 2nd 2006 12:31AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
that goes the same for the PS3.]]>Aug 24th 2006 9:49AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/
Depending on the application, they certainly can be, or more powerful, as has been demonstrated in a number of benchmarks and applications.]]>Aug 24th 2006 10:19AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 24th 2006 10:53AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/http://www.engadget.com/2006/08/23/playstation-3-to-join-folding-home-for-cure-ps3/Aug 24th 2006 10:59AM