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The Reason We Fold

W

Wenglish

Gawd
Joined
Sep 15, 2004
Messages
566
I hate to make a cliche thread, but alas, at times life is cliche.

I've been quietly folding for quite some time. I honestly don't remember when I first installed F@H, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I mean, why not use my spare CPU cycles to fight cancer? That was my first reason to fold.

My cpu count went up and down over the years but I always had a box or two folding, at least. Sadly right now I only have one box churning out WUs and I'll be damned if I even know where it is (I think it's sitting in a corner at JHU, but I'm honestly not sure). I remember being around rank 320 on the team at one point, but that was before the we had gpu or smp clients. Climbing the ranks and increasing my PPD, when I actually started paying attention to that stuff, became the second reason I folded.

I really haven't given F@H much thought over the last year or two. My tightening budget, a reduction in the amount of systems I have running/access to, instability in clients, and just a general shift in what I counted important in life, I guess. I stopped caring about the points and more about my writing. Fighting cancer was good and all, but paying the bills comes first, y'know? Borging boxen just doesn't compare to borging SWMBO--hell, just having a SWMBO changes things. I didn't stop having a reason to fold, I just didn't have a reason to make it a priority. So it fell by the wayside.

Last Monday my grandfather passed away. If you guessed cancer, you guessed right. He's not the first person I've known to lose the battle with cancer, but he was the first person I was close to. I don't fold because the spare cpu cycles should do something. I don't fold because I like having lots of points. And I'd like to think that I don't fold out of some reactionary self delusion to feel better (though I'm sure that's part of it). No, none of those.

I fold for a cure.

That's the whole point of the program. That's the slogan. That's the cliche. Those words are how half of the posts end in the threads here. Now I know it for more than words, more than a slogan, and certainly more than just another cliche. It's a truth. I have my reason for folding. I fold for a cure.

How about you?
 
I used to fold constantly back when I was still living with my parents. It would keep my room nice and warm at night and I would have my computer on anyway due to torrents, so I figured why not. I'm not folding much anymore since I moved out. Can't afford to keep the computer running all the time now :[
 
Same here, I fold for a cure because I saw the whole dying and death of my grandmother of liver cancer. I made the pledge from that day to do anything to help find a cure and here I am :)

 
My family and, and the children that I hope to have in a couple of years.

If I can make it a bit better for them, I should try right.....

 
I actually have one of the folding "serious consequences" that the Stanford Folding@Home site lists...

 
I think Mr relic has several fantastic posts about reasons for folding (remember he's one of those "old timers" at folding) ;).

Some of the main reasons I fold :
I lost my real mother at the age of 35 yrs old to cancer
I don't think I'm smart enough or people orientated enough to be a doctor (I'm also a little old to start trying now, 60 yrs old)
I'm not in any medical field
computers are my hobby. :)

Unless you have a large farm or live in the part of the world that charges "a arm and a leg" for electricity IMO your electical bill doesn't increase enough to offset the benefits of finding an elusive cure through folding or DC'ing. :D

The way I see it, everyone has their own reasons for folding. To each his/her own and thanks everyone for folding or DC'ing. To be sure it's highly appreciated. :p

Folding and WCGing for a CURE


 
I started because it seemed the right thing to do, I had just built a fine new computer and I wanted to give something back to the universe.

Also the free beer and women were a great plus.

Then my uncle came down with Alzheimer's.

Now also because of my girlfriend. She had to have a bone marrow transplant a year and a half ago because of Leukemia. She also had a secondary form of cancer caused by the Leukemia. She won't be concidered "cured" until she is cancer free for five years after her transplant. I had to give her up when we first dated some twenty years ago, (we just got back together a few weeks ago) The thought of losing her again for good is frankly terrifying.

I have also decided to become a bone marrow donor. Someone out there decided to do this a year and a half ago and saved the life of my girl. This is something I can never repay.


 
I just fold for the points TBH, I support [H] wherever I can.

The cure is just a nice bonus :p
 
My father died of lung cancer at 49. So I fold in the hope of saving another from seeing that disease eat away at a loved one.
 
I think most people started folding for one of two reasons. Either being touched by a personal experience (family, loved one or close friend) that have given them a reason to pause and ponder a way to help fight against these tragedies that some will inevitably endure, or they just have a need to try and help society in some meaningful way.

There are many generous people in this world. Some share and give to others via direct monetary contributions. Some volunteer their time in various ways like Red Cross, Meals on Wheels etc. While I've tried the direct monetary contributions and didn't really get any personal satisfaction from it, and my wife is a Red Cross volunteer which I don't really have the time currently to pursue effectively, the one thing I can do (and do pretty well) is build PC hardware and make it sing. From this capability, I've found that I can use this "hobby" to potentially benefit others and at the same time get a sense that I MAY be making a real contribution to helping someone, somewhere, someday enjoy a better life.

All this for doing something I enjoy doing anyway. To me it just doesn't get any better than this.

 
Wenglish, sorry for your loss, I lost my father about a year ago. He was killed when a car fell on him. In some ways I am glad he didnt stay in a hospital for months ( he hated them) but in a way it didnt give me time to say all the things I needed to either. My condolences.

I dont fold, well, not until tomorrow until I can get it all set up. I have at minimum probably 3 pcs on at a time and a total of 7 total and have always considered it. But alas its quite late here so it will have to wait. If anyone has a "team" Id love to join.

Ill fold for you Wenglish, and all the good people like you.
 
jay2472000 said:
Wenglish, sorry for your loss, I lost my father about a year ago. He was killed when a car fell on him. In some ways I am glad he didnt stay in a hospital for months ( he hated them) but in a way it didnt give me time to say all the things I needed to either. My condolences.

I dont fold, well, not until tomorrow until I can get it all set up. I have at minimum probably 3 pcs on at a time and a total of 7 total and have always considered it. But alas its quite late here so it will have to wait. If anyone has a "team" Id love to join.

Ill fold for you Wenglish, and all the good people like you.
Click to expand...

Sorry for your loss.

Everyone here is on the same "team" for Folding@Home (team # 33) and for WCG(World Community Grid) it's team # 1411 (HardOCP). If you decide to join us GREAT! Take a bit of time and check out the great guides compiled/written by brother Xilikon. They will possibly help you decide which "clients" will best run on your hardware. If you have any questions from that point, this is the place to get the answers.


 
jay2472000 said:
Wenglish, sorry for your loss, I lost my father about a year ago. He was killed when a car fell on him. In some ways I am glad he didnt stay in a hospital for months ( he hated them) but in a way it didnt give me time to say all the things I needed to either. My condolences.

I dont fold, well, not until tomorrow until I can get it all set up. I have at minimum probably 3 pcs on at a time and a total of 7 total and have always considered it. But alas its quite late here so it will have to wait. If anyone has a "team" Id love to join.

Ill fold for you Wenglish, and all the good people like you.
Click to expand...

nomad8u said:
Sorry for your loss.

Everyone here is on the same "team" for Folding@Home (team # 33) and for WCG(World Community Grid) it's team # 1411 (HardOCP). If you decide to join us GREAT! Take a bit of time and check out the great guides compiled/written by brother Xilikon. They will possibly help you decide which "clients" will best run on your hardware. If you have any questions from that point, this is the place to get the answers.


Click to expand...

As said above, we are all on the same team here at the [H]

If you need any help on setup after going though the guides, just start a thread. Thats the real reason this place is here..... ohh and folding wars :D

 
There is no reason not to fold. except for cost reasons, but realistically extra cpu wattage isnt much unless you have a great deal of systems.

However what bothers me is that stanford does not share the data they gather from folding@home. hence slowing down research in folding. I understand this is their advantage and the university wants to be able to be the first to patent or publish any findings, but still slows down potential progress.

I boycott folding now for this reason, However I used to fold for some time. Once Stanford agrees to share their data with other requesting research firms (or universities) I'll begin folding again.
 
Ozzman said:
There is no reason not to fold. except for cost reasons, but realistically extra cpu wattage isnt much unless you have a great deal of systems.

However what bothers me is that stanford does not share the data they gather from folding@home. hence slowing down research in folding. I understand this is their advantage and the university wants to be able to be the first to patent or publish any findings, but still slows down potential progress.

I boycott folding now for this reason, However I used to fold for some time. Once Stanford agrees to share their data with other requesting research firms (or universities) I'll begin folding again.
Click to expand...

Stanford does share the data : http://folding.typepad.com/news/2008/07/sharing-fah-results----raw-data-now-available.html

 
Why I fold:

Wednesday, Nov. 19, 8 to 9 a.m., poster presentation: "Dendritic-cell based vaccination with a weak agonist of myelin-derived peptide attenuates Alzheimer's-like pathology in APP/PS1 transgenic mice." In a study using a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, researchers administered a vaccine to boost recruitment of blood-borne immune cells and halt progression of the disease. The vaccine caused a reduction in the amyloid plaques and toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer's disease, arrested cognitive deterioration, and increased repair and renewal of damaged neuronal tissue. The vaccine appears to restore the brain's ability to fight off the disease by recruiting monocytes affecting the behavior of resident immune cells of the brain changing them from destructive to supportive cells. This study a collaborative effort of Cedars-Sinai's Department of Neurosurgery and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel supports our pioneering studies over the past decade demonstrating that cellular components of the immune system have a pivotal function in brain maintenance, function, renewal and repair.

From http://www.genengnews.com/news/bnitem.aspx?name=45861858

My mom had Alzheimers - she's better now because she's dead - trust me, you never want to see someone go through that. This disease's association with protein and Folding@homes focus on protein folding along with real world experiments like this give me hope that maybe in the future families won't be visited by this particular little slice of hell ever again.
 
I donate my computer since i built a gaming machine (q6600, 4850) for just two games. I want those two processors to be doing something important to because i spent so much money on them. (im 16)
 
I fold for 2 reasons, points, and my grandma. She has Alzheimer's. I wouldn't wish it on my worst hated enemy. She can't even remember my mom's (her daughter) name half the time, and can't remember who I am at all. She barely remembers my grandpa. I hope and pray to God that they find a cure for this disease in her lifetime.

 
I fold because I can. I don't need to, nor do I want to be in a position of reliance upon others for help as some have indicated. Hopefully, we can resolve many health problems before I am, or anyone for that matter, affected with some mutation that life throws at us.

Enjoy life. Life has a habit of screwing with us when we least expect it.

 
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