WCG -How to install and join the team

[LP]

Go to the WCG website and download the version you need. Since most people use Windows, that will be covered first. Downloads and installation instructions can be found here.
After you have installed the program, go to your "My Grid" page here.
There you select from the column on the left, and change your Profile, Projects, and Preferences on how the program runs.
Most important is to click on Device Manager, and it will show your device.
Where it says "selected profile", click on "default". Once there, you can change when and how the program runs on your machine.

To join the AOA Forums team, go to this page and clcik on "join this team".
On that page you will see some team stats. Scroll down to where it says Team Member Details and Statistics and click on Points Generated, and it will give you list of members and stats. I think that stats update every 6 hours or so, but I'd have to double check.

Once you have joined the team, you can edit your signature so that you can sport AOA's beautiful WCG badge. To do so add the following to your signature:

PHP Code:

[team=wcg]YOUR_WCG_USER_NAME[/team] 


Remember to replace YOUR_WCG_USER_NAME with your actual user name on the World Community Grid. That's all there is to it!

Oh yeah, if you want to have your sig badge link back to this page (so that others can easily find the information on how to become part of our team, just include the thread id like in the following code:

PHP Code:

[thread=34835][team=wcg]YOUR_WCG_USER_NAME[/team][/thread] 


[LP]

A few images to show what the registration screen looks like for new and existing members.

[LP]

You can click on the "check mark" on the bottom of the program window and it gives a option to "run as screensaver only", along with some links to other WCG options and pages.

[LP]

An image of what one of the running programs looks like.

[LP]

The program does set it's self up run as your screensaver by default, so if you don't want it run as screensaver, you'll need to change that in your Display Properties.

[Gizmo]

Sorry if this question is answered in the docs, as I haven't looked yet, but can I run it as a service?

[LP]

I'm not sure. I'll see what I find out.

[dsio]

I find this rather interesting, but what is it actually for?

[aghastpumpkin]

I'm on. What about sigs? Is there going to be one like the Folding@Home one?

[LP]

Originally Posted by dsio

I find this rather interesting, but what is it actually for?

Human Proteome Folding Project

Only a few years ago, scientists completed a draft sequence of the Human Genome. While our genes are an amazing repository of information, knowing the genes is only the beginning. It is the proteins made from these genes that actually carry out all the functions that keep us alive.

However, scientists still do not know the functions of a large fraction of human proteins. With an understanding of how each protein affects human health, scientists can develop new cures for human disease.

Huge amounts of data exist that can identify the role of individual proteins, but it must be analyzed to be useful. This analysis could take years to complete on super computers. World Community Grid hopes to shrink this time to months.

Proteins are long and disordered chains folded into globs. The number of shapes that proteins can fold into is enormous. Searching through all of the possible shapes to identify the correct function of an individual protein is a tremendous challenge.

The Human Proteome Folding project will provide scientists with data that predicts the shape of a very large number of human proteins. These predictions will give scientists the clues they need to identify the biological functions of individual proteins within the human body. With an understanding of how each protein affects human health, scientists can develop new cures for human diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, SARS, and malaria.

Visit the About the Project page for a non-scientist description of proteins and how World Community Grid folds proteins using the agent software on your PC.

ISB designed the Human Proteome Folding project for World Community Grid and will use the results within its larger research efforts. For more information about the Human Proteome Folding project, please visit the Institute For Systems Biology web site.
------------------------

FightAIDS@Home

UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, estimated that in 2004 there were more than 40 million people around the world living with HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. The virus has affected the lives of men, women and children all over the world. Currently, there is no cure in sight, only treatment with a variety of drugs.

Prof. Arthur J. Olson's laboratory at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) is studying computational ways to design new anti-HIV drugs based on molecular structure. It has been demonstrated repeatedly that the function of a molecule — a substance made up of many atoms — is related to its three-dimensional shape. Olson's target is HIV protease ("pro-tee-ace"), a key molecular machine of the virus that when blocked stops the virus from maturing. These blockers, known as "protease inhibitors", are thus a way of avoiding the onset of AIDS and prolonging life. The Olson Laboratory is using computational methods to identify new candidate drugs that have the right shape and chemical characteristics to block HIV protease. This general approach is called "Structure-Based Drug Design", and according to the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of General Medical Sciences, it has already had a dramatic effect on the lives of people living with AIDS.

Even more challenging, HIV is a "sloppy copier," so it is constantly evolving new variants, some of which are resistant to current drugs. It is therefore vital that scientists continue their search for new and better drugs to combat this moving target.

Scientists are able to determine by experiment the shapes of a protein and of a drug separately, but not always for the two together. If scientists knew how a drug molecule fit inside the active site of its target protein, chemists could see how they could design even better drugs that would be more potent than existing drugs.

To address these challenges, World Community Grid's FightAIDS@Home project runs a software program called AutoDock developed in Prof. Olson's laboratory. AutoDock is a suite of tools that predicts how small molecules, such as drug candidates, might bind or "dock" to a receptor of known 3D structure. The very first version of AutoDock was written in the Olson Laboratory in 1990 by Dr. David S. Goodsell, while newer versions, developed by Dr. Garrett M. Morris, have been released which add new scientific understanding and strategies to AutoDock, making it computationally more robust, faster, and easier for other scientists to use. AutoDock is used on the World Community Grid to dock large numbers of different small molecules to HIV protease, so the best molecules can be found computationally, selected and tested in the laboratory for efficacy against the virus, HIV. By joining forces together, The Scripps Research Institute, World Community Grid and its growing volunteer force can find better treatments much faster than ever before.

More info can be found by visiting the WCG website at http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/index.jsp

[LP]

Originally Posted by aghastpumpkin

I'm on. What about sigs? Is there going to be one like the Folding@Home one?

I believe so.

[LP]

Originally Posted by gizmo

Sorry if this question is answered in the docs, as I haven't looked yet, but can I run it as a service?

According to this thread at the WCG forum, you can.

The info can be found here.
Please note that is from an unofficial site, and I haven't had a chance to check it out, so use at your own risk.
The site does link to the WCG's top ranking team, so it's probably ok. I just don't want to endorse it until I know for sure.

[Gizmo]

How exactly is the Proteome project different from the Folding@Home project?

[cadaveca]

the folding at home does specifics, while teh wcg is doing EVERYTHING. folding at home does protiens that are known to fold, WCG find the protiens to be folded. same work, different take on it...there's a tonne of info that needs to be processed, and all teh findings are shared, so no matter which project, it all benfits the same in the end.

in regards to running it as a service, the boinc client offers this functionality upon installation, and hence my curiousness towards that client.

[LP]

Originally Posted by gizmo

How exactly is the Proteome project different from the Folding@Home project?

Hi Giz. I believe they use different programs and look at different things, in the Human Proteome. Sorry, I can't be more specific at the moment, but will post a comparison as soon as I can.

I believe they are both good projects. They just go about it differently.

edit- Thanks Dave!
I will tell you that I run the Boinc version in both Linux and Windows, and it does seem to run faster. Boinc work units are much smaller and finish faster, imo. They convert Boinc points to regular WCG points at the rate of 7 WCG points per 1 Boinc point, and it's all added together for your stats totals.

[Daniel ~]

In the words of show bizness:

LP! You really pull a crowd!

Great first day all and all.":O}

[Daniel ~]

Originally Posted by LP

I believe so.

FOR SUUURE! ":O}

[danrok]

I'm up and going now... 21% done...

[Daniel ~]

Just nudging 83%

[danrok]

Originally Posted by Daniel ~

Just nudging 83%

What CPU are you running?