Some of you have probably heard of Folding@Home. Basically, this is a distributed computing project run by Stanford University designed to search for cures to various diseases by doing protein simulations. Here's how it works: You install a small program on your PC, it downloads "work units" to that use the spare processing power of your CPU to crunch numbers for medical research. When the work unit is completed, your PC sends it back and downloads a new one. The Folding program essentially ties together thousands of individual computers from around the world to run these calculations, getting them done much faster than any existing supercomputer. It's a great cause that anyone can participate in. It only takes about 5 minutes of your time and then continues to use the resources of your computer whenever you're not using it.

You can read about it here:

http://folding.stanford.edu/English/FAQ-main
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folding@home

One cool thing about it is that you are credited points for each piece of work completed, and you can join different folding teams to engage in a friendly competition. To join the TranceAddict team, enter 351 in the "team" box during installation and all your stats will count towards the total.

For most people, the "uniprocessor" option during installation is the best choice. This is the version that takes up the least resources and only runs in the background when you aren't doing anything else. The newest version of folding software can be downloaded here: http://folding.typepad.com/news/201...-open-beta.html
For those interested in more advanced options (such as folding with your video card), here is a detailed guide for how to set it up.

Fold away TA!

Last edited by Capitalizt on Aug-04-2011 at 08:35