I read this diary on World AIDS Day in 2005 that explained how to help find a cure for AIDS. TheSwampDweller's diary notified kossacks of a no-effort program we could participate in together. He started the DailyKos Team on December 31, 2004. We currently have 41 members.
Updated #s As of tonight, the DailyKos Team was ranked #566 out of the thousands of teams using the FightAIDS@Home program. All together we have contributed 22 years, 157 days, and 17 hours to the fight against AIDS with our computers’ idle time. On an average day we contribute 5 days and 17 hours with our combined computers. This has led to 22,046 results in the research.
The program uses your computer’s idle time to learn more about the structural biology of AIDS, to help further research in discovering new drugs, and to study the mechanisms of multi drug resistance. The great thing about it is that I don’t have to do anything. I just downloaded the FightAIDS@Home program from World Community Grid and it runs in the background on my computer. I’ve never had a bit of trouble with it and don’t even notice that it is working to solve this critical problem.
According to the Scripps Research Institute the program can be used by:
any Internet-connected Windows XP, 2000, NT 4.0, Me, or 98 PC with a Pentium 550 MHz or above, 256 MB of RAM or more, and 50 MB of Free disk space. Mac OS X and Linux systems are also supported... You will never lose control of your dial-up or network connection or any other part of your system.
The first medical article from the FightAIDS@Home project was published last year.
How do you join us? Simply go to the DailyKos Team page whenever they finish loading the updated statistics. The directions are pretty clear from there.
More information about the program and the Scripps Research Institute FightAIDS@Home here. The nerdier explanation for what happens on your computer is:
FightAIDS@Home captures the otherwise wasted cycles of your computer and applies them to model the evolution of drug resistance and to design drugs necessary to fight AIDS. When your computer has finished a FightAIDS@Home computation, the FightAIDS@Home results are packed up and sent back to The Scripps Research Institute, ready for Scripps researchers to collect and analyze them. Then when you are using your computer and it needs cycles, FightAIDS@Home instantly and automatically turns those resources back over to the program you are using.
So what's your happy story this week? Do you have something to share about what is going well for you or someone else in your life? Even something as simple as a good meal or enjoying nature.
Got a Happy Story is a community gathering every Friday night where we share stories large and small that have put a smile on our face. It is a time to acknowledge the joy and wonder we experience. The Happy Story diary exists as a way to anchor the community in hope and comfort while we do the hard work of taking back our country. Everyone and all sorts of stories and pictures are welcome. May we find joy and strength here.