Site opportunities...

[geh51]

Hello everyone. I am in every sense a noobie to this site. Have some issues concerning the presentation of some of the information. Including content and lack of same. This is in regard to the site not the forum. Is it acceptable to voice my concerns and ideas to improve here or is there someplace else where voicing these concerns would be more appropriate? I shall await a response before proceeding. Thank you in advance.

[toTOW]

You're welcome to post your suggestions here. Pande Group members read the forum on a regular basis, and if they don't notice your suggestions, a mod or admin will bring it to their attention.

[7im]

I agree. For instance, the Site Search feature on the FAH site (lower left corner) should be more prominently displayed, so those who can't find the info they are looking for through regular navigation can search for that info.

Thanks.

[geh51]

This is a distillation of my experience of seven years with a major mainframe vendor as a customer support technician and as a newbie (noobie, NB..whatever) to this site. May be light years off base on my assumptions and conclusions and welcome all positive criticism. I've run into a bit of sarcasm on this forum, unwarranted imo. The T-shirt I'm wearing today: RTFM...I get it.

To say I was overwhelmed when first coming on site is an understatement. Yes, discovered what folding was, the importance of it, and how massive parallel computing could solve mind boggling problems in a fraction of the time that pure experimentation would take.

Then digging deeper, got lost...way lost. Continued and have not yet found an idiots guide to folding at home. Me of course the idiot. In the simplest of terms, the steps of the process, what each step does...i.e. pick out the software, install the software, run the software, stop the software. Explain points, teams and the like.

Have always been a fan of the old flow chart. Having been in computers, was able to assemble 90% of what was needed, but it took nearly 6 hours of liking all over creation to put together the picture I think I needed before letting loose F@H on my machine. After showing the main steps, then go more granular. I'm not a big fan of links because it breaks your train of putting together a clear picture of just what it is that is going to happen and in simple terms why. But I understand they reduce redundancy and provide a level of consistency. Realize there is an encyclopedia of information here and its great to add as links under the sub-title of "for more information, see the following links". The problem is would link somewhere and while reading saw a link that had something interesting that I knew I'd want to know and forget what I was looking at at the previous link. The concept of linking is great, but not when you start out and trying to assemble the big picture.

So here is a line of thought. Let's say that in describing the processor you use, you might have a link to processors and that would describe the forms of that type of processor and its use and relevance to the project. Maybe one for single core, one for 2 (duo) core, one for quad core one for GPU. Those that want to know more will link to get the information, those like myself that already know are moving on.

Would love to see a section of ALL the terms...a dictionary and a very short write up of each term, including abbreviations which in this world can be overwhelming. Am 58 and one more acronym and my brain will shut down. Have already had 30 years of just computer acronyms. Just today figured out what PPD is.

Am looking at this as a non-computer person that has a machine and the most basic of knowledge. Aimed at the lowest common denominator. Back to the flow, after the processor determination, explain the concepts of how the work is divided up, i.e. work units...small, medium and large and which processor is appropriate for each. Then move on to explaining you need to have software and the software is based on the processor that you are using: single core...gpu etc. then link to where they are downloaded and installed, then back to the flowchart.

These work units will process from sometime to days or weeks (Haven't fully found that answer yet). Explain how to start the client, explain that since it has the lowest priority, you can still use your computer for other things, don't turn off your computer unless you do a shutdown...not clear on that either...sounds like a good time is after a checkpoint??? And how exactly how to shut down the client...that took me the longest to figure out and restart later...finally found someone discussing just how to shut down a client in the forums. (It is Ctrl-C ???)

Next how to tell when your unit of work is complete...explain deadlines. This in far too many of my words has described what we used to call a "cookbook". Most all the information is contained on the site. But for anyone new to this site...well it's like driving an RX-8 and changing to a Cadillac STS, there are differences...lots of them. Start with Renisis (rotary) engine vs. the Northstar engine. How does this one work.. For cars you have an owners manual with a nice table of contents an index and a logical flow of all the systems of the car and how to use them, including what is there, how do you know all is well and how to trouble shoot when an idiot light comes on.

This cookbook is one singular train of thought and you can branch out using links to find granular detail. Find so much is taken for granted. Wonder how many people have not joined the ranks because they found the process/site intimidating. Or...I'm an old fool and have lost the edge. Not at all out of the question. My personal interest is my father died of Parkinson's and I saw that some of the research was on that disease. If I could donate machine cycles, well why not? Some studies have said it is genetic so I'm getting to the age of onset.

Am not a competition kind of person so the benefit of teaming to me is to ask questions. Free thinking here...maybe a noobie team from which you can graduate to a real team or go solo. This has been a jumble of random thoughts from my experience. Like to do the folding, like to do it right but don't necessarily want to know more than the complete basics. If/when I want to know more, there is certainly ample material to keep me occupied for a very long time.

As an aside, was scared to death about shutting down my machine to do some maintenance, but figured it was my machine and we'd see if/how the restart function worked. It appears to have worked just fine...I think...the messages looked ok, but don't really know what not ok would look like. Found some references to a monitor, rather than the plain console, but wasn't completely sure what was presented.

Feedback welcome. Must emphasize these are the impressions made while traversing the mountains of useful data, that through shear will power I think my first run ran ok. Am going to look into teams, but as mentioned, competition is not part of my nature. There are truly serious folders here. Am an amateur and happy to remain so. In my best Monty Python: "Do your worst" 7im the Enchanter !

[kelliegang]

There are a few F@H for dummies guides out there but it'd be nice to have one directly on the website as an "official" guide.
If you came here as a layperson you'd be VERY lucky to come away with a client appropriate to your system specs and even then it would be unlikely that you'd run it as a service, run it appropriately or even have a clue what impacts it would have on their day-to-day usage.

[BrownBullhead]

geh51: This site may satisfy you to a degree ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folding@home

kelliegang: There are "official guides" created by F@H advanced users, and approved by F@H administration. You can find the guides @ http://folding.stanford.edu/English/Guide#ntoc1

[7im]

I agree with your point, and that's sarcasm? Well, okay, maybe a little. But if you read it again, you'll see it's a shot at the Project Home Page, not at you.

I also think the FAH WIKI should be easier to find as well. Feel free to add any needed entries to that Glossary. The How To section is pretty good also. There is often more detail or history about certain features than what appears on the Project Home Page or FAQs.

[geh51]

No, no, wasn't referring to any shot against me...was there one (can be a bit thick as a brick)? No there were some other comments in other places where people were scolded perhaps excessively for asking innocent questions by what appeared to be "professional" folders. Life is FAR too short to be cross. Old fashioned I know, but Golden Rule does work rather well..or so I've found.

I fully maintain that 99% of the information is here, just that you have to really pull it out. A little more in your face...the cookbook reference...would be nice..something linked to right in the middle of the home page. I know it seems like "what's your problem" when coming from an experienced person that has been here for years as probably most of you. My wish is that the person, say a house husband/wife or their parents (getting a bit of help from their children) people that only use their computers to email, gamble (shhh...) and heaven forbid, twitter, that wanders in here can be productive and educated in the least amount of time without any (or little) feeling of being overwhelmed. Really is a tall order. The overwhelming feeling is a show stopper to people that would otherwise gladly contribute. Are we not grateful for each CPU/GPU cycle?

Remember, a fairly large (I surmise) number of us are not the scientists doing the work. Rather the most, though surely not all, are comfortable, perhaps even advanced in the ways of operating systems and hardware and most find things like Wiki's as natual as breathing. I was nearly 30 when Pong was released. Gamer? I know what a game controller is but walking and chewing gum is still high drama for me. I know hardware and have been using windows since version 1 (yep 1) and build my own rigs. Yet I'm still trying to get my head around all the new and valuable tools now available on the Internet. I dare say I'm not alone in MY generation, not to mention those that came before me.

Again, may be off base and perhaps a bit pushy but coming from a background of computer customer support, including being one who conducted exhausting reviews of tech manuals, those manuals that I knew would come back to bite us in support if things were not clear and understandable, I had to review from the mindset of the person in the company that was thrust into a job that they weren't comfortable with and had a stack of 10 manuals to manage the software. And the company needed the software up yesterday. Similarly daunting was my impression, perhaps flawed, on first arrival here.

No matter...thanks for listening. Must fold proteins and laundry now