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How To Convince Others Of Joining Folding.

MrMacMan

MrMacMan

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 4, 2001
7,002
11
1 Block away from NYC.
I think this is an important part of folding, trying to get other people involved.

It seems really simple... but once people start asking you questions it might be hard.


Do you have any tips, advice or other reguards on how to approach someone and ask them to join the folding cause... a way to deal with the IT persons perhaps? How to help a laymon join folding?

Please post here! :D
 
Nice of you to start this very relevant thread, thank you.

I ask two of my friends about folding. Told them that it was for medical research into diseases. An investigation into DNA. I explained all the information listed in the FAQ thread. Told that it would help Stamford, my team, and me. Both said yes, they would help. They both have a PC and they are not running 24/7. So far they haven't showed up yet.

I think that the nicely completed banner by cjc343 will really improve recruitment. It should catch the eyes of our fellow members.
 
Well I just started folding yesterday. The multiple sigs of people got me interested. Anyways how do I know my results will post to the Mac Rumors team is it after a WU is finished, during? The team number is 3446 right?
 
i finally got around to starting folding yesterday. i've known about it for a while, but my old laptop was hardly able to handle a messenging client and web browser being open at the same time, so wasn't really useful for folding i figured. now that i have my new ibook, i've joined - still on my first unit (its nearly at 40% done).
 
Thanks to both of you for joining the team. You should show up in the stats after you finish your first WU, though sometime it takes a little bit longer.

I'm glad to hear the links in our sigs are working. That's what got me interested in folding also. I haven't tried to convince anyone (outside of the internet) to join folding. Though if I ever was going to, I would be sure to explain to them about why it is so important for researchers to see how proteins fold, etc., and that their contributions would be very much appreciated.
 
Give yourself a day to show up after finishing your first unit..... that's about how long it took me.


A for recruiting...

Yeah, spread the banner around... I have a version (I haven't taken the time to update) in my sig at 3 other forums... so far as I know, no-one has joined, but I haven't pushed people to... I might start a thread on it...

In person: just explain what you know, if you don't know an answer, say "go to https://forums.macrumors.com and they can answer that... I really don't know myself" post ads on bulletin boards, and if you are rich, take out a ad in a newspaper, on tv, or on the radio (ok, so I am not being realistic.....) Just talk to people about it.... spread the word.... if they don't join, oh well... but if one person of all the people you talk to joins, you've done a good job....
 
UPDATE: i finished my first unit yesterday (left it running all day while i was at uni and work). I've now started on a second unit - it is considerably bigger than the first. The first took between 7 and 15 mins for each step, with each being 1%. This one takes half an hour for each step, with each being 0.25%. I have been told that as you finish units quickly that you will be given bigger units - but is this kind of increase in unit size normal?

edit: i've now added a sig, so i can try to get other people to join folding.
 
I don't understand why busy/rich sites like yahoo etc. don't have a folding banner they show for free as a way to help out.

just a thought..
 
UPDATE as well:

today i finished my first WU and am on to the next one which is a nice 400 frame Tinker monolith of a protein. Well I plan to recruit others as well. Family members mostly. Wish me luck.

P.S. I also changed my sig to promote folding. Other people's sigs brought me in to the fold (pun intended). Perhaps mine will help others come as well.
 
Make sure you tell people that your processor is NOT affected. If you're rendering 3-D models or something, folding will quietly sip cycles and not affect your performance. Just avoid doing it if you're trying to concerve laptop battery power.
 
well, i've been folding for just under a month now, and i've just hit 5000 points today...and also just broke into the top 200 folders for the macrumors team. Look out top 100!
 
:) there's one guy below me who is rising faster than me through the ranks, but only one....

i think his user name is kbonnet?
 
benpatient said:
:) there's one guy below me who is rising faster than me through the ranks, but only one....

i think his user name is kbonnet?
Click to expand...

How many processors are you using to fold? Still the important thing assist in medical research. Secondary is to keep MacRumors #1. ;)
 
I started folding this month. Kind of interesting to think that my Mac is plugging away unraveling the mysteries of the stuff from which we're made.

Didn't know anything about distributed computing - outside of SETI - until I began posting here. Maybe just introducing people to the concept of folding is the only persuasion you'll need.

One question: Is it ok to let my Mac fold 24-7-365? Can my processor handle it?
 
I don't 'fold'.
I have heard of Folding, and that it is used for some sort of research. But never went beyond that to check out what it meant. All the acronyms you guys use confuse me...

Anyway, if you could convince me to fold, maybe that would tell you how to go about it for the rest of the world ;)

btw, this is not a challange, just a plain statement.
 
folding and SETI are two totally different things that just happen to use the same research architecture: distributed computing.

a computer downloads a set of basically raw data and runs a pre-defined set of operations and calculations on that data that typically take quite a while to process.

then the computer processes in it's "spare time" and you basically see very, very, very little slow-down in almost all situations. If you run the console version of folding@home or SETI on anything after an early G3 (or early P3 if you're a PC person), you probably won't even know it is on.

After your computer has processed a work unit, then it sends back the results.

the net result is a virtual supercomputer that can basically handle more number crunching than anything else on the planet.

"folding" refers to the type of research that folding@home does...they study how proteins in our bodies "fold," which is a barely-understood and crucial-for-research process. It's one of the weakest links in the "how life works: exhaustive edition" archive.

We're helping to fill in the blanks by donating wasted computer time.

iBook, to answer your question, yes, it's fine to run it all the time.

if you have stability problems on your machine, though, you may not want to run it. i know several people have trouble with iBooks...if you're not one of them, then the only reason i can think of NOT to fold is because you don't want your battery life to suffer...which i suppose it could, because there is a constant "full" load on your processor when F@H is on..

so if you spend a lot of time not "plugged in" then you may want to avoid using the console version of F@H, because if you're uncomfortable controlling stuff in the console, you would find it a bit difficult to turn F@H on and off.

and to anwer your question, wdlove, I have a dual 1.8 G5 and two little old 300mhz G3s...needless to say, the G5 is pretty much the only one doing anything worth mentioning...the other two are basically headless and folding all the time...the G5 is kept quite busy in photoshop, etc by yours truly...
 
benpatient said:
the only reason i can think of NOT to fold is because you don't want your battery life to suffer...which i suppose it could, because there is a constant "full" load on your processor when F@H is on...
Click to expand...

Sorry if this is a dumb question... :confused:

My iBook is plugged in while folding. By folding 24-7, will the life expectancy of my battery be shortened?
 
benpatient said:
and to anwer your question, wdlove, I have a dual 1.8 G5 and two little old 300mhz G3s...needless to say, the G5 is pretty much the only one doing anything worth mentioning...the other two are basically headless and folding all the time...the G5 is kept quite busy in photoshop, etc by yours truly...
Click to expand...

Aha, that is why you are gaining! I also have a dual 1,8 folding and a G3 400, both folding 24/7. You have 200 Mhz G3 power more then me!! :D
 
iBook said:
One question: Is it ok to let my Mac fold 24-7-365? Can my processor handle it?
Click to expand...

Well, they don't recommend it for a laptop. Because of heating problems. Even older desktops they recommend to shut them down one day per week. But if it doesn't cause heating problems, keep on folding!! Only turn your screen of if that is possible!
 
radhak said:
I don't 'fold'.
I have heard of Folding, and that it is used for some sort of research. But never went beyond that to check out what it meant. All the acronyms you guys use confuse me...

Anyway, if you could convince me to fold, maybe that would tell you how to go about it for the rest of the world ;)

btw, this is not a challange, just a plain statement.
Click to expand...

Radhak, if you go to our FAQ sections at the top of the Distributed Computing section, everything you need to know is explained there quite simple. There is a link to Stanford's page which explains everythin. Also Apple support folding and has its own folding team. On there website there is also information about it that explains it.

I don't going to convince you to fold. If you are interested and want to learn a bit more about it, visit the site above. Then you can make your own decision; to fold or not to fold. I fold because I like the "game-element" that's in it (the taunting, kicking butt, etc.). That we are helping the world is nice, but not my priority.
 
radhak said:
Anyway, if you could convince me to fold, maybe that would tell you how to go about it for the rest of the world ;)

btw, this is not a challange, just a plain statement.
Click to expand...

Radhak, I dare you yo fold and overtake me. It is a challenge to see so many computers that sit idle and where you want to install folding on it. Only you can't get to those machines, or a firewall keeps you from getting and sending WorkUnits. It's a challenge to get up higher on the ranks and keeping potential threats behind you. So therefore I dare you to fold and overtake me! I dare everyone! When you succeed, you can rub it in my face! So, Radhak, do you have the balls, or are you just someone that complains all day?

greetz, Dreadnought
 
radhak said:
I don't 'fold'.
I have heard of Folding, and that it is used for some sort of research. But never went beyond that to check out what it meant. All the acronyms you guys use confuse me...

Anyway, if you could convince me to fold, maybe that would tell you how to go about it for the rest of the world ;)

btw, this is not a challange, just a plain statement.
Click to expand...

Radhak,
I do medical research. it's my job. I'm in the position to understand the benefits and the possibilities of folding.
it's a good thing. It is a long shot but it will help understand basic biology, and this will eventually trickle down to therapy.
I also happen to have a 4 ys old who's been started on chemio two days ago, and I am about to panic.

Fold, Redhak,
it won't help him, but it might help someone else's kid.
Thanks
 
Dreadnought said:
Well, they don't recommend it for a laptop. Because of heating problems. Even older desktops they recommend to shut them down one day per week. But if it doesn't cause heating problems, keep on folding!! Only turn your screen of if that is possible!
Click to expand...

I do notice the iBook's fan running more over the past couple of days, but it doesn't seem to feel any warmer than usual. Still OK to proceed?

With respect to the display, I can turn the brightness all the way down. Anyone know how to turn it "off"? Or will turning the brightness down alleviate the heat concerns?
 
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