Both my work and home MAC decided to die this week. Ugh. Both are in the shop, I hope to have their speedy return. I won’t be blogging much in the interim. Working on the Win2k machine doesn’t seem productive and I don’t like sitting at a computer desk at home–as is necessary to work from the media server.
This weekend, depending on the schedule with my father and the BikerRun at work, I need to get my macbook back into the shop. The screen is still flickering and it’s getting more pronounced. Thankfully, we still have applecare.
The obsession continues with checking my digital contacts, mostly work email and texts. I complain about this regularly, but I really need to put more effort into it. My will is lacking. There’s a payoff, a neurochemical one, that happens when I check my messages and contacts. This is sick. I think I’m going to twitter my usage so I can monitor it quickly and easily. This is another oxymoronic attempt, but I’m gonna give it a whirl.
I could have ‘twittered’ this, but it seemed worthy of a posting:
“Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence”
-Robert Frost
Looked at another house today. However, I’m not sure how to make the driveway accessible. There is a dearth of single, level entry homes in Washington and the surrounding area. It’s really starting to bum out Steph and I. The more we look, the more I think that accessibility might need to move down the requirement list. I’d be happy with something that could be modified in the first couple of years. This is a major compromise and I’m not sure I’m willing to make it, but it’s getting ridiculous. Hopefully something will develop soon.
I’ve written about distributed computing before, it’s important. Folding@Home is important. SETI@Home is important.
So…a reprint (and another list):
In the age of Dual Core Pentium’s and AMD’s, we’ve got computer power to spare. The average home computer is able to process an exponentially ever increasing number of calculations, faster than commercial supercomputers of only a decade ago.
In an effort to put these extra CPU cycles to work, a number of distributed computing projects have emerged. These projects take your free/unused CPU cycles and use them to compile data that is latter analyzed by a centralized system. This is most famously used by SETI with their SETI@Home project.
Below are some other distributed computing projects, from the profound to the profane:
So get of yr lazy bum, stop stealing music, playing games and downloading porn. Put yr computer to good use. It could save yr life.
And from Discover:
| Stardust@Home What it is: In 2006 the NASA spacecraft Stardust brought back cometary and interstellar dust. This program continues the scrutiny of minute aspects of the universe from Earth. |
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| SETI@Home What it is: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence scans the sky for signs of life. David Anderson, SETI’s cocreator, says beyond finding E.T., he hopes to promote interest in science. |
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| Folding@Home What it is: This program looks at ways proteins go awry by running? simulations of how the molecules are supposed to fold. Researchers hope to shed light on diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. |
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| Cosmology@Home What it is: Cosmology@Home is run by the Department of Astronomy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The goal: sifting through theories of the universe. |
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| FightAIDS@Home What it is: Run by the Olson Laboratory at the Scripps Research Institute, this is the first biomedical and the first humanitarian distributed-computing project. |
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| Climateprediction.net What it is: Roughly $2 billion is spent each year on modeling the impact of global warming. This project attempts to vet the varying predictions. |
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| Einstein@home What it is: So far none of the gravitational waves that Albert Einstein predicted in his theory of general relativity have been detected. But if spinning neutron stars are creating ripples in space-time, the thousands of home computers chugging away at the data from the U.S. Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory may have the best chance to find them. |
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| Help Defeat Cancer Project What it is: One of several research initiatives supported by World Community Grid, a public computing grid dedicated to humanitarian causes. By the time Help Defeat Cancer had completed its project a few months ago, more than 2,909 years of work had been completed in eight months. |
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| GIMPS What it is: Insomniacs who count prime numbers to fall asleep are in for a treat. The mathematicians behind the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) recently broke their own record to find the largest known Mersenne prime number, a whopping 9,808,359 digits long. |
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| BURP What it is: The Big and Ugly Rendering Project (BURP) is still in its infancy, but it’s already attracted a close-knit group of 3D animation enthusiasts. According to BURP creator Janus Kristensen, “no lengthy analysis or scientific know-how is necessary to understand the images and movie clips that are produced. They speak their own universal language.” |
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| Electric Sheep What it is: If Darwin returned as an artist with a knack for computer science, he might be Scott “Spot” Draves, creator of Electric Sheep, a collective of computers that renders artwork. Animations, or “sheep,” evolve into high-definition abstract paintings, spawning off in random mutations. But it’s more science than you’d expect. “I want people to see the power of evolution,” Draves says. “I’d like people to accept evolution and randomness as the ultimate creative force in our universe.” |
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| LHC@home What it is: When the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) switches on this year, it will be the most powerful particle accelerator ever built—protons will zip around its 27-kilomter-long tunnel and smash into one another with an energy of 14 teraelectron volts (that is, rather a lot). |
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| Malariacontrol.net What it is: A part of Africa@Home, malariacontrol.net works with population models to determine the best strategy to control malaria—from researching vaccines to deploying mosquito nets. |
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| Spinhenge@home What it is: The group researches nanomagnetic molecules, which may eventually be targeted for local tumor chemotherapy and the development of tiny memory modules. |
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There is water ice on Mars within reach of the Mars Phoenix Lander, NASA scientists announced.
Follow the Mars Phoenix lander on Twitter.
Today was better than yesterday. I received some advice and support from those around me and managed to solve some problems. Yes, it was a good day. Logging off. Probably, unless something huge happens, will not be on until after the weekend.
Today is my niece’s 1st birthday. Happy Birthday Grace and congratulations to her parents, Samantha and Cliff. It’s hard to believe it has been a year! We miss you and love you all!
We aren’t making an offer on the house we liked. After our excitement passed, we realized it was way too close to the highway. The house is less than 50 yards from Route 70 and not much further from 79. With the noise and my allergies, it just doesn’t seem like a wise move. Additionally, the resell can’t be that good, that close to the highway. So, the search continues.
I’ve had a weakness for fancy guppies since when I was a child. They’re really beautiful for freshwater fish and are reasonably easy to keep. They also breed prolifically. Our fanciest guppies, the sunburst, have been having similar looking male offspring as of late. It is a little creepy, like a eugenics program though. Either way, guppies make me happy. I’m looking forward to having a large freshwater tank when we move. Our tank is currently a 4.5 gallon…very tiny. I’m also going to save for a small saltwater setup, I really would like an octopus. It might seem frivolous, but I’ve always been fascinated with their intelligence.
The vet knocked Riot out today and examined his hips and knees, X-rays and so forth. Everything, surprisingly, is okay. He just has a bad soft tissue injury. Whew, I’m very relieved. Steph and I were really worried…and since Steph is a vet-tech and was worried…well, I was even more concerned.
I think we might have found a house. If a couple of things clear, we’re going to make an offer tomorrow. I’m both nervous and excited, it’s a big potential move.
A few months ago I received notice that American Heritage’s Invention and Technology was discontinued and out-of-print. Much to my surprise, I received a new issue today. Huzzah! This is my favorite magazine and I couldn’t be happier. I’m not sure how long it will last, but I’ll enjoy it while I can.
The new 3G iPhone is due July 11th. I’m going to pre-order as soon as I can, …provided they don’t charge a premium for data services. I’ve been holding on to an aging cell phone in anticipation of this. Woo Hoo Apple!
Our home is selling in a couple of weeks and we still haven’t found anything. It’s really working our nerves and getting exhausting/stressful. We’re not asking for much…and we still can’t seem to find it. Grrrr.
We’re expanding our search region into Allegheny County (near the Washington border) and further up Route 40–towards Fayette. We’ll see how it goes. I really don’t want to live in Allegheny County if it can be avoided. West Virginia is starting to look more and more promising…
Ugh. I’m worried about Riot, my friendly goofy rottweiler. For the past few weeks he has been limping on his rear left leg. Steph and I have had a close eye on him and it doesn’t seem to be getting better. Next up are X-rays and a thorough checkup. However, it is looking like the problem is either his knee or hip. The whole situation has me a bit frazzled and bummed. Our dogs are our best friends and like our children. Hopefully this is all much ado about nothing and the X-rays will come back clear…but I’m not optimistic. Ugh.
