(check out Protein Folding on wikipedia for more information)
I decided to start helping this project out today. formed team "phreadom", #44247 if you'd like to help out our team.
so far I think it's myself, josh (yath) and josh (the mormon). proc insists on helping out arsfoodcourt (the ars technica boys I guess) Team Eggroll. :-/ TRAITOR! ;)
so far, I'm running a client on this machine (2.2ghz/2gb ram) and on my webserver (1.33ghz/768mb ram). (both AMD Athlons) crunching away...
I downloaded the latest Slackware-current (linux) to install on here... figure that way I can at least compare the results on this box fairly against those from the webserver (also running Slackware linux) and see what kind of performance discrepancy I'm getting... as right now it appears that the webserver is kind of kicking this boxes ass, which doesn't make sense unless either the work unit is really that drastically different in it's computations (folding 2 different proteins) or that windows is simply sucking a lot of the CPU with stupid crap (a distinct possibility).
I have another 300mhz box just sitting here... but need a bigger hard drive for it and haven't really felt like swapping it's 2gb with the 10gb that I for some STUPID reason put in the OpenBSD router, which does nothing but sit there with a basic install sorting packets all day. :P
Graphical Windows Client:
Command Line Clients for Linux (left) and Windows (right):
5 comments:
Hah. I love how you have to bash religion at least once every few posts. It's like you feel it's your duty, or it makes you feel smarter. Or both.
To which you reply "but I AM smarter than everyone else" (in more words, to be sure). And then you'll go about listing the reasons WHY you're smarter than everyone else.
I think you complain about religion the way that people complain about politics. You can't figure out why everyone with any amount of intelligence doesn't think the same way that you do. But it all comes down to the same principle: you can't change the way people think, but it's amsuing to point out why you're right and everyone else is wrong.
It's true. And quite childish, when you think about it. Which is ironic, if you think about it further.
I do it with politics (although I tend to gravitate towards complaining rather than insulting), you do it with religion.
And I assure you, the above was said in a tone which is not attempting to start a fight (see how on-the-edge I am around you?). Just some simple observations.
Hm. For the record, the above comment was supposed to be posted on another one of your posts (the one with your bible pictures, etc.).
This is the result of many hours of non sleep. Sorry 'bout that.
heh... yeah, I had a little trouble tracking it down. I have it set to email me, but it doesn't tell me which post it was in response to... so assuming a religious based one... yeah. ;P
for the record, I can do politics too... but I think that religion is a more fundamental problem. generally speaking, the issues with politics are simply more of a matter of choice... ie; based on factual information of what a person thinks makes a particular party a better choice for them. financially, morally... hell, most of the people that I know who voted for Bush, voted for him in spite of thinking he was a total idiot and a bad candidate etc, simply because he was against abortion and shared their religious views.
there are many issues related to politics which are simply a matter of not having much choice but to try to make a choice of the lesser evil, and while doing so, trying to educate people on the flaws in the system, the propaganda in the media etc. politics are a reality... and essentially a necessary evil most people would say. (of course the nihilists, anarchists, libertarians etc here would disagree... PC is very Libertarian and might just jump my ass for touching on this subject ;) heh)
anyway... I've stated many times before that I -DO NOT- think I'm smarter than everyone. so please don't say that again.
I simply rail against religion because it is fundamentally founded on a lack (willful even) of objective reasoning, critical thinking and cognitive ability. the same principles which made religion such a powerful tool in the past for political power structures to maintain their power, still apply today to some extent. blind obedience to authoritarian figures. sheeplike acceptance of a dictated reality, in spite of what should be obvious contradictions, fallacies, distortions etc.
if I were to stand on the street corner advocating the downfall of the US government, not only would I be failing to take into account the full consequences of such action, but I would also likely end up in Guantanamo with no trial, no lawyer and no real charges aside from being a "TERRORIST" etc. there is a very real power structure, military forces, laws, police forces etc... put in place to maintain a certain type of societal structure. take a look at Waco, Ruby Ridge, the Freemen in Montana etc... for what happens to you when you try to step outside of that system. seriously, go REALLY read up on those...
advocating the downfall of religion on the street corner is probably just going to get me beat up at most. the only thing people have to lose is their stupidity and their hope that there really is a man and a castle in the sky where they can go and live in paradise forever with their loved ones. (or with their 70 virgins... or with the alien creators of man... just depends on which story you choose)
what people would have to gain is the ability to actually think for themselves and start seeing the world around them a little more clearly. not being so easily led around like sheep.
the problem is, people don't want to have to think about things like that. they don't want to feel like they'll be GONE when they die... or that there isn't some man in the sky that always loves them no matter what. they don't like how it feels. most people, almost all people, would rather be lied to and feel good, than be told the truth and be uncomfortable. what harm does it do? they say. it's like Pascals Gambit... they feel like it's better to believe just in case, than risk being wrong.
*sigh*
honestly I could go on about this, but it seems that you have a somewhat skewed and simplistic view of this whole situation, and about how exactly I feel about it. I'd love to actually discuss it in some detail... but I guess right now I'm just feeling both defensive and frustrated at being told that a choice to not believe in primitive superstitions is the same as making a political decision in which candidate or party to back in a political context, on top of being told that even though I've REPEATEDLY corrected the ignorant statement that I believe I'm smarter than everyone, it STILL gets brought up because people can't understand the difference between "I'm smarter than most people" and "I'm smarter than everyone."
generally speaking, by definition of the professional testing I had done at both 5 years old and 10 years old (when they skipped me from 5th to 7th grade) that put me at the 98th percentile (only 50th in math), and many unofficial screwing around ones since that put me at well above average intelligence etc... that makes me smarter than most people. IQ speaking, or however you want to put it. I simply see that cognitively, I excel in spatial perception and seeing things in a holstic sense because of the vast array of topics I've studied.
and that's where you'll probably point and laugh and say that I'm doing just like you said I would and defending how smart I am.
*sigh* lisa, you're very smart yourself. if you actually set aside modesty at some point and said so about yourself, I wouldn't suddenly say "oh, so you're saying you're smarter than everyone!?". I would simply say "you're right".
I wasn't comparing religion to politics in the way you took it. I remember a Time magazine front page, and it stated "how could five million people be so stupid?" (or whatever the number was). People get on their high horse when they believe that everyone else is wrong. There's a distinct parallel there, and I mostly mean how Canadians feel about the US. Moral superiority.
II magine I do have what you would consider a "simplistic" view on the situation, but that is because I don't know why you believe what you believe (which is not opening this up for you telling me). So in that sense, yes I do. But look at what I see. I see you, every few posts, bashing religion. You constantly complain about it. And as I choose to believe that it's not the actual negativity that drives you to do so, it would make sense that it is the feeling you get from basking in your own intelligence, and other people's stupidity. Don't you see how I could wind up with that "skewed" version?
Ok, you don't think you're smarter than EVERYONE. But as you said, most people. When you refer to masses of people as being weak minded and dellusional, I think it's fair to assume that, don't you? You don't have to stand up and say "I'm smarter than most people", because you say it with the words that you use.
The only reason why I bothered to say anything was because it's not a post once every so often. It's every few posts. It seems like you need to do it to let off steam or something.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but it's just what I've gathered based on the stuff you've written. And, once again, none of this was meant to be said in an overly negative tone, and I'm sorry if it came off that way.
no, I appreciate the discussion with you.
the problem is really just that it frustrates me. it's not that I feel the need to feel smarter than people... it's that I wish they were all as smart or smarter than I am.
one of the driving forces in that is my family. their devout religious beliefs have driven a wedge between my sister and I, as I'm generally not allowed to talk to her about things like religion or politics or the world in general because my parents are afraid that she'll turn away from god and burn in hell for eternity. they don't see me teaching her acceptance and understanding of other cultures, they don't see it as understanding different sides of a conflict, or different views on things... they see anything I say, anything I do... as being an attack on christianity specifically and directly against god. they've literally told me that I'm possessed by demons and that's why I say the things I do... not that those things are the result of years of thought and study.
so that is a very deep rooted driving force in my life... to rail against religion not only because I feel that its outdates superstitious beliefs are counterproductive in modern times, but also because that foolish belief in the sky god has caused my parents to tear apart their own family by putting a figment of their own imaginations before their own children.
it damages a child when they get out into the world and feel that they've really accomplished some good things... learned a lot... and then to have their parents say to them "we failed as parents with you. you didn't turn out to be a good christian." and "you're only saying these things because you're possessed by demons." etc.
I don't think that requires a whole lot of explanation. but I hope that it corrects your assumption that I purposefully make my life difficult and make people hate me because I enjoy it. because I certainly don't.
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