Folding@Home PS3 News and version update 4/26/07

[qzak]

Quarter of a Million Fold@Home
PS3 owners help service reach "a level of computing power that is of historical proportions".
by Rob Burman, IGN UK
UK, April 25, 2007 - Sony has announced that in just over a month, 250,000 PlayStation 3 owners have registered for the Folding@Home programme and the disease-curing service is reaching "a level of computing power that is of historical proportions".

Since the Folding@Home service became available for PS3 in March, the computing capacity of the network has doubled and PS3 users are delivering nearly 400 teraflops of information - achieving a total power of 700 teraflops at any given time, in conjunction with PC users.

Sony is continuing its support of the service by offering an updated version of Folding@Home from April 26, featuring improvements in folding calculation speeds, increased visibility of user locations on the programme's built-in globe and the ability to create longer donor or team names.Folding@Home was established by Stanford University and combines the power of PCs and PS3s to decipher complex protein structures, which can then be used in the fight against incurable diseases such as Alzheimer's. PS3 owners can download Folding@Home by updating their firmware, adding a new option to the Cross Media Bar which can be run when the console is idle.



http://ps3.ign.com/articles/783/783277p1.html?RSSwhen2007-04-25_033400&RSSid=783277

[BruceWayneIII]

Cool, I was actually wondering when we would get an update. + rep

[VG Aficionado]

*cough* (http://forums.e-mpire.com/showthread.php?t=70832&page=29)

I wonder if it'll support background downloads now. All new apps and games have this feature enabled.

[BruceWayneIII]

^ cough*sorry*cough :thumbr:

[cliffbo]

featuring improvements in folding calculation speeds, increased visibility of user locations on the programme's built-in globe and the ability to create longer donor or team names

good news overload

[curryking1]

Courtesy ajreynol from over at TXB.

PS3 owners flock to health research program
Since the console included support for distributed computing project a month ago, more than 250,000 PS3 users have registered.
By Emma Boyes
Special to CNET News.com
Published: April 25, 2007, 12:13 PM PDT
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A month after Sony launched a PlayStation 3 update with support for the Folding@home distributed computing project, Stanford University is calling the response from console owners "phenomenal."

Since the PS3 part of the project went online in March, more than 250,000 PS3 users have registered for the program, more than doubling the power of the network.

Distributed computing refers to the practice of using computers' spare processing power to tackle programming jobs. The Folding@home project works by utilizing the idle processing power of PCs, Macs and PS3s to investigate the causes of diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cystic fibrosis and various cancers.
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Similar to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence's famed SETI@home project, in which thousands of PC users are donating a slice of their computers' processing time to aid in the hunt for intelligent life in outer space, Folding@home has been relying on contributions from PC users around the world since its inception.

An update to Folding@home will be available for download starting Thursday, April 26, and will feature "an improvement in calculation speeds, increased visibility of user location on the globe, and ability for users to create longer donor or team names." The update to version 1.1 can be downloaded by restarting the Folding@home application.

"The PS3 turnout has been amazing, greatly exceeding our expectations and allowing us to push our work dramatically forward," said Vijay Pande, a Stanford University chemistry professor and Folding@home program lead. "Thanks to the PS3, we have performed simulations in the first few weeks that would normally take us more than a year to calculate. We are now gearing up for new simulations that will continue our current studies of Alzheimer's and other diseases."

Sony said it plans in the future to support a wider variety of distributed computing projects across the medical and social sciences and environmental studies fields.

http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-6179187.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news
Don't stop the rock PS3 owners :)

[LaLiLuLeLo]

I'm gonna merge this with the other folding at home thread that was poster earlier, about the update coming tomorrow.

[curryking1]

^Okey Dokey, here's the link btw.

http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-6179187.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news

[LaLiLuLeLo]

ding!

[hevymac]

Y our F@H signature is incorrect Mr BruceWaynell. Tis not 54162.
Is suppose to be 54261