Neeum Zawan wrote:
> On 11/10/09 19:43, somebody wrote:
> 1. I benefit directly.
> 2. Others benefit but don't prevent yet others from benefit.
> 
>     Most tenure track professors (and the ones who already have tenure) 
> publish in "closed" journals - so almost everyone on this planet won't 
> have access to their findings unless they pay a (hefty) fee.
> 
>     If a pharmaceutical company makes a better drug using this data, but 
> does not allow the actual findings of this collaboration that allowed 
> for that drug to be made public, why should I contribute to it? It may 
> well become a tool to deprive people of medication.
> 
>     (I haven't actually looked at the site myself to see if these 
> questions are answered - and I vaguely recall you posted something like 
> this a while ago and it probably was addressed then).

Having a AIDS vaccine would be quite direct benefit IMO. Protein folding 
research is key to many important diseases including Cancer. All 
projects are different approaches to protein folding in general, 
including the 'Clean Energy Project'.

IBM is giving all, the website, support, the equipment, the software 
(for the projects to run on BOINC), the administration, everything, so 
you can read more WHY at IBM's site.

The World Community Grid has more than 400 Partners world wide each 
helping in some special way to the WCG, you think that IBM and all these 
Partners wanna make something dumb and screw everyone over? by making 
all private when the research was public? I certainly think not.

Check the site it a grid for the good of Humanity, is all that it is, it 
explains nicely everything you want to know and then there is a Forum, 
there, you can get a sea of info about WCG. Now you can read it in 
different languages.

Check YouTube, example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyJ1JaIIhbU, 
there are many videos made by people talking about WHY they're doing it.

Computers are a wonderful tool, can calculate and do a lot of 
interesting stuff but for the first time we, as a World, are making them 
work to accelerate dramatically health research for our benefit and of 
course share the knowledge among us through the Internet. If you think 
about it, the Humanity greatest inventions, computers and the Internet, 
working finally as 1 developing a huge potential for a greater good: 
save Humanity from diseases that could wipe us if they get out of 
control, finally we're making as much as we can, with our brains and 
hearts, to save ourselves. And the beautiful part is that everyone can 
help as a scientist without having to be one.

http://boincstats.com/

Cheers.

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