A Bold Idea For Significantly Increasing FAH Donors

[widsss]

I like all of the ideas put forth so far. I also agree that having your average "civilian" trying to understand how to install, run and stay dedicated to FAH is a long-shot. My initial reaction is that any affect that a celebrity might have would be short lived and amount to a very small increase in production. Any efforts to push FAH into more computers would be better spent going after computer users and people with a competitive drive, not Oprah's audience. For instance, gamers, colleges, social media junkies etc. Think of how big a Call of Duty team would be? Or the rivalry between college teams. My university puts 100,000 people in the stands every football game, in addition to a 50,000 student enrollment and millions of alumni. A tiny fraction of those people would make a huge FAH team. And if our rival college team is out producing us, you'd better believe there'd be hell to pay! Facebook or Twitter teams could potentially be bigger than all other teams combined. I know Reddit has well over 100,000 people subscribed to various computer related sub-reddits. Their FAH team is pretty small, but the potential output of a social media team like that would dwarf anything overnight. I agree with the overall goal stated in every post, I just think the efforts should go towards people already inclined in this area, namely computers and competition.

[Alan C. Lawhon]

I like all of the ideas put forth so far. I also agree that having your average "civilian" trying to understand how to install, run and stay dedicated to FAH is a long-shot. My initial reaction is that any affect that a celebrity might have would be short lived and amount to a very small increase in production. Any efforts to push FAH into more computers would be better spent going after computer users and people with a competitive drive, not Oprah's audience. For instance, gamers, colleges, social media junkies etc. Think of how big a Call of Duty team would be? Or the rivalry between college teams. My university puts 100,000 people in the stands every football game, in addition to a 50,000 student enrollment and millions of alumni. A tiny fraction of those people would make a huge FAH team. And if our rival college team is out producing us, you'd better believe there'd be hell to pay! Facebook or Twitter teams could potentially be bigger than all other teams combined. I know Reddit has well over 100,000 people subscribed to various computer related sub-reddits. Their FAH team is pretty small, but the potential output of a social media team like that would dwarf anything overnight. I agree with the overall goal stated in every post, I just think the efforts should go towards people already inclined in this area, namely computers and competition.

widsss:

I became a "folder" precisely at 7:32 P.M. (local time) on December 11th. With the brief exception of approximately a 6-8 hour period when Microsoft shut me down while they downloaded monthly updates, my machine has been crunching work units continuously 24/7 without a problem. (I'm allowing my desktop computer to run FAH as a dedicated standalone FAH client while I stretch out in bed with my laptop. Other than occasionally retrieving email, my desktop box is crunching work units.) As far as ease-of-use is concerned, the V7 client software is great! Downloading the software was easy and it's been running (with virtually no attention) ever since. In about two more hours, I will have amassed approximately 53,000 points and 123 WUs completed - all of this with negligble contact with my computer. The V7 "Novice" mode has greatly simplified the download and installation process and made FAH really easy. The experience with my computer may not be typical, (I have a 5-6 year old box with a slow poke uni-processor CPU that most of you folks are probably running circles around), but the view that FAH is "too complicated" for non-technical folks is a bit overstated. New folders need only a minimal amount of training and "handholding" in order to be up-and-running and churning out work units. Most of what they need to know - such as pausing their computer when they need to use it and resuming when they're through - is covered on the web site. The V7 client has made all this really easy - especially for the not-so-savvy folks like my 80-year-old mother. Given this reality, there's no reason why we shouldn't be welcoming new folks (and new CPUs and GPUs) into the team. (I like to think of every one of us as members of "the team" since we're part of a noble cause - whether we're folding individually or as part of a formal team.)

I like your comment about a "Call To Duty" team and forming college teams. I don't know much about Call To Duty, (I suppose CTD is some type of video game popular with younger folks), but wouldn't Notre Dame and Alabama folding teams be really great right now? I wish I knew more about FacedBook and social networking, but I'm a bit of a Luddite in those areas. (I was in college like 35 years ago when personal computers were running an operating system called "DOS" and most of you younger folks were but a gleam in your future parents eyes.

We should really be welcoming Oprah's audience and folks who tune in every night to watch Jay Leno and David Letterman. Even if only a small portion of Oprah's audience (like say ten percent) become dedicated long term folders, that could be 100,000 new folders! A boost of that many new folders increases our FAH community by between 50 to 100 percent - at a minimum. My sister has Parkinson's disease. It breaks my heart to see the struggles she is going through every day. One of the "larger" proteins that is suspected to be a misfolder and a factor in PD is Alpha-synuclein. It is my understanding that no FAH projects are currently underway on this particular protein due to its complexity and difficulty to simulate within a reasonable timeframe - there are other proteins that can be attacked in a more timely manner. This drives me nuts! We need more computing power (more CPUs and donors) in order to go after the larger proteins such as Alpha-synuclien. To get more computing power (and more CPU cycles) we need to encourage everybody and welcome them with open arms. If I could get the Pope to agree to become a new folder, I would be on a plane headed to Rome. This is a fantasy (more like a dream) but if the Pope appealed to his flock to join FAH, we would have TEN MILLION new folders! Even if you're not Catholic, everybody knows that you don't turn down the Pope! Oprah Winfrey is not the Pope, but she has the power to bring us a lot of new folders. We need to figure out a way to get people like the Pope (and Oprah) on our team. I can't live with myself if I'm doing any less for my sister.

[Jesse_V]

(I suppose CTD is some type of video game popular with younger folks)

*facepalm* It's "Call of Duty". Try http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xjCdN_rWCE

but wouldn't Notre Dame and Alabama folding teams be really great right now? I wish I knew more about FacedBook and social networking, but I'm a bit of a Luddite in those areas. (I was in college like 35 years ago when personal computers were running an operating system called "DOS" and most of you younger folks were but a gleam in your future parents eyes.

There are plenty of team names that are designed as a sense of comraderie, competition, and teamwork. For example, I fold under the "USU Aggies" team, and we are aiming to beat the last of the BYU teams...

One of the "larger" proteins that is suspected to be a "misfolder" and a factor in PD is Alpha-synuclein. (sp?) It is my understanding that no studies or projects are currently underway on this particular protein due to its complexity and difficulty to simulate within a reasonable timeframe - there are other proteins that can be attacked in a more timely manner. This drives me nuts! We need more computing power (more CPUs and donors) in order to go after the larger molecules such as Alpha-synuclien.

You spelled it right the first time. Parkinson's research is a pilot project, with most research going to other areas. Different scientists study different diseases and do different research. Parkinson's is listed in the Cause Preference in FAHControl, so while this control doesn't work server-side and so AFAIK it currently has no impact on WU assignments, it suggests that you may be able to focus your computer's time on any available Parkinson's research. More computing power is always a good thing, no matter what research is being done. Remember that the work can carry over into other areas, so research on one disease is not necessarily exclusively for that disease.