I got permission from Eric a couple of months ago to post this here.
Please realize that the main goal here is to find cures for various disease and to further scientific knowledge in general.
I was running this on only one webmaster board but I now realize I need to take it to as many places as possible. I will be posting this across the web. I am gaining no profit from this.
World Community Grid is a program developed by scientists at IBM and used by researchers at Stanford university to map out protein structures, help develop new drugs to combat various diseases, map genomes for plants and animals and even to develop new molecules that may help solve many pressing problems on our planet.
By downloading a small program on your system you can use your excess processing power to crunch very small pieces of data that are then sent back to the WCG servers. These small bits of data are then put back together. Basically thousands of home based computers can now do the work of one super computer and research that would have taken decades to complete in the past can now be completed in a matter of months or a few years for larger projects.
There are limitless applications for this program as well. One recent project that was just completed mapped the genome for white rice. With this new information scientists can figure out how to develop stronger strains of genetically superior rice that will grow in harsher environments or produce higher yields.
Last time I checked there were only a few hundred genomes of various species that have been mapped. There are billions of animal, plants, bacteria and viruses that could still be mapped.
Another project is trying to find a new molecule that will absorb a higher percentage of energy from solar rays than what is currently being used in most solar panels.
Two other projects are trying to find cures or better treatments for cancer and A.I.D.S.
As you can see the possibilities are endless and millions of work years will be needed.
So What Is This Contest For And How Can You Get Some $$$$?
The
WCG program gives out points for each piece of data that gets crunched. The larger the piece of data the more points you get. This allows me to put a cash value on points.
You can see how this has worked out in past contests I have run.
We had some $100/month contests that stacked up like this
12-2009 |$100 = 698,110 points in 31 days |22,519 points/day|$1 = 6,981 points |
01-2010 |$100 = 1,008,831 points in 31 days |32,542 points/day|$1 = 10,088 points|
02-2010 |$100 = 782,321 points in 28 days |27,940 points/day|$1 = 7,823 points |
Then we had some $50/14 day contests that look like this
05-03-2010 |$50 = 847,465 points in 14 days |60,533 points/day|$1 = 16,949 points|
05-17-2010 |$50 = 826,091 points in 14 days |59,006 points/day|$1 = 16,521 points|
05-30-2010 |$50 = 803,847 points in 14 days |57,417 points/day|$1 = 16,076 points|
06-14-2010 |still running
06-28-2010 |will be running
So basically I calculate how many points you have and then tell each contestant how they rank every 2-3 days until a contest period is done.
This is how it works.
Day 1
Starting points
Poi 1,003,000 points
Footman 2,330,543 points
Riddler 1,462,952 points
Earned points
Poi 267,883 points
Footman 56,740 points
Riddler 24,396 points
$50 = 349,019
Poi $38.37
Footman $8.12
Riddler $3.49
Last Contest Day
Starting points
Poi 1,003,000 points
Footman 2,330,543 points
Riddler 1,462,952 points
Cybermike 31,334 points
Earned points
Poi 499,198 points
Cybermike 159,263 points
Footman 103,168 points
Riddler 26,938 points
$50 = 788,567
Poi $31.65
Cybermike $10.09
Footman $6.54
Riddler $1.70
In this case only $50 was on the line but starting July 12th we will be giving away almost 6x that much and maybe more.
How Can You Help?
The best thing you can do to help is to simple download the program here.
http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/te...mId=2H274R71S1
Simply download and run it. I ask that you also join my team. Getting new team members is really the only thing that keeps me motivated.
I also have a youtube channel that I will be using to give away physical prizes like PS3 games and blue ray movies as soon as I buy a new flip mino.
https://youtube.com/user/endthedisease
If you run the program with no financial motivation you will be doing the most to help me out.
Another thing you could do is donate some cash to the total. It's not really necessary though. As you can see below many others have already given. As it stands right now we will get a lot of work done as long as we have plenty of contest participants.
Here are the donations we have received so far.
Mikesinner $1,631.69
smiley $138.88
Raja $100.00
Globofun $93.04
Footman $69.44
LezGeri $50.69
Lace $43.61
Artwilliams $38.87
Lazzlo $34.72
Damian $22.91
Volante $17.15
Halfpint $12.35
Michelle69 $7.91
Gonzooprano $6.94
The New Guy $5.69
GlamRock $1.80
Kletoto ???
When Does This Start?
It's actually running right now. We are in a contest period now that will end on 6-27. $50 is up for grabs. The latest totals are
Earned points
Poi 54,381 points
Cybermike 9,994 points
Footman 7,635 points
Jerry43812 4,311 points
$50 = 76,321
Poi $35.62
Cybermike $6.54
Footman $5.00
Jerry43812 $2.82
Another $50/14 day contest starts after that and then on July 12th the big contest starts.
There is $2,300 collected so far and the contest will run for 18 weeks. These will be split up into 8 periods of 14 days each except for the very last period which will last for 31 days. The prize money will be divided evenly between each two week period. It should look like this.
July 12th - July 25th 1/8 of cash total.
july 26th - Aug 8th 1/7 of cash total
Aug 9th - Aug 22nd 1/6 of cash total
Aug 23rd - Sep 5th 1/5 of cash total
Sep 6th - Sep 19th 1/4 of cash total
Sep 20th - Oct 3rd 1/3 of cash total
Oct 4th - Oct 17th 1/2 of cash total
Oct 18th Nov 18th all of remaining total.