Do you leave your PC turned on when you’re not using it? If you’re like me, you probably do and you might feel a bit guilty about all that wasted power. Well I’ve found a way to allay my guilt. Its called BOINC from Berkeley University. It allows your computer to process raw data from various organizations. For example, you can help with cancer and AIDS research. Your PC analyzes protein molecules and sends the information back to the organization you’re helping. This is called Distributed Computing and it allows organizations to make use of a vast amount of computing power spread out over the planet! Good idea, eh?
If you’re interested in helping out, download the BOINC agent here: mach zehnder modulatorhttp://boinc.berkeley.edu/
I’ve had this running on Windows XP, Vista, Ubuntu and Macintosh all without any problems. If you need help getting started, drop me a line!
I used to do this years ago for a company that was competing to break some encryption scheme. That contest is long since over. They did it.
That said… back in the day it didn’t much matter what your computer was doing when you weren’t using it. No harm, no foul.
Today though, processors ramp down their speed and energy use when not being pushed, so I’m afraid that doing this sort of thing will put undue wear on the system and cost me more in power costs.
I guess this could be worth it to fight AIDS… but it’s certainly not something I’d consider anymore for purely philanthropic reasons. Just something to consider.