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Save the world while you sleep

Interested in finding a cure for HIV/AIDS? A treatment for Alzheimer’s? A new gene therapy for cancer? Then take a nap. Go for a walk. Head to the bar for a few hours. Watch TV.

Interested in finding a cure for HIV/AIDS? A treatment for Alzheimer’s? A new gene therapy for cancer?

Then take a nap. Go for a walk. Head to the bar for a few hours. Watch TV. But whatever you do or wherever you go, please leave your computer on.

IBM and partners from several leading science and education organizations are spearheading a new global grid computing project that will essentially use your computer to crunch numbers, analyze data and run simulations when you’re not using it.

Think about it – there are more than 24 million computers in North America that are connected to the Web, about half of them through high speed broadband services. The majority of these computers are probably less than five years old, which means that most have around a gig of processing power, which means they can make about a billion calculations per second. If the average computer is used about four hours a day and sits there doing nothing for the other 20 hours, just imagine how many calculations your computer and a hive of 24 million computers can make? I tried to crunch the numbers on this one, but gave up because they made my head hurt – one billion, times 60 seconds in a minute, times 60 minutes in an hour, times 20 hours a day, times 24 million computers produced a number with about 18 zeros attached, if my feeble math skills are accurate.

Right now the grid will only work with computers that are running Microsoft Windows XP, 2000 and ME editions, but there is work underway to expand that to include Linux and Apple.

The idea is not new. The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence, or SETI, Institute has been using grid-based computing for years, with thousands of computers analyzing a massive volume of data collected from radio telescopes. Although SETI@Home hasn’t found little green men yet, the project has found a few interesting signals that appear to be intelligent in design because of the frequency and the odd repeating patterns. More research is needed, but it’s safe to say that those strings of repeating signals would have been lost in the shuffle if it wasn’t for SETI@Home.

The IBM grid will tackle a variety of different topics, from health problems to natural disaster models. The first project, if you choose to accept it, is the Human Proteome Folding Project, sponsored by Seattle’s Institute for Systems Biology. The purpose is to figure out what proteins make up a human proteome, or the proteins used by different cells and organs at different times and in different conditions – at least according to one online genome dictionary I found.

That’s okay if you’re as confused as I am because with the grid system you don’t have to understand what’s going on, you just have to leave your computer on.

The important thing is that the benefits of mapping the Human Proteome include cures for diseases like tuberculosis and malaria, which are currently running rampant in the Third World. That’s a cause that’s worthy of a few extra cents on your power bill.

Future projects will be evaluated and chosen by the World Community Grid Advisory Board. If all goes well, they expect to complete up to six projects a year once the grid is large enough.

If you can spare your computer for a few hours a day, then sign up at www.worldcommunitygrid.org.

After you download the software, your work is basically done. The grid essentially functions like a screen saver – step away from your system for a predetermined length of time and the research begins. You don’t even need to be connected to the Internet at all times for it to work – your computer will be sent a task that it will work on and will send it back once it’s completed.

To make things more interesting all participants will receive points based on the amount of computer time you’ve donated to the cause. You can’t redeem those points for free ice cream or anything, at least not yet, but other forms of recognition are being devised.

How cool is that? Your computer does all the work and you get all the credit.

Always read the fine print

E-Bay has been in the news a lot lately, mostly because of a bidding war over a decade-old grilled cheese sandwich that has the likeness of the Virgin Mary singed into one side. Sacri-licious…

Another interesting story that hasn’t received nearly as much attention, however, is an unusual scam/joke (not sure which) by a British seller named "cockydude".

The sale item in question is a Toshiba Laptop. According to cockydude, "This Laptop was bought for me by my parents as I was going to university but I haven’t used it yet and don’t really think I am going to! Was bought for 1,100 pounds about two months ago…"

It was a steal, with the bidding starting at just 300 pounds U.K. There were two conditions to this sale – the first was that all sales would be final. The second was in a small disclaimer at the bottom of the item description:

"You are bidding on a picture of my new laptop which will be sent via email." In other words, there is no laptop for sale, just a picture of one.

Obviously some people don’t read the fine print because bidding on this item went up to 600 pounds with dozens of bids just before the auction closed – a lot of money to pay for a poor digital photo of a laptop.

The bid winner was a person using the moniker "unclefista", who thankfully appears to have read the small print after all.

In cockydude’s comment area, following the conclusion of the auction, unclefista wrote: "No pic yet, maybe he’s waiting for the photo of the cheque to clear?"

Justice.