Distributed computing - I've been an enthusiast for a long time but I haven't always been enthused about the projects available. I first started several years ago when I was part of the Screensaver Lifesaver project run by Oxford University. Then there was the BBC climate change experiment, but that too finished.
I am delighted therefore to have found malariacontrol.net which will harness the volunteer computing power of thousands of people around the world, to help improve the ability of researchers to predict, and so control, the spread of malaria in Africa.
The intention is to involve African academic institutes as well as the original partnership. The link to their site is here. (I can't seem to mention them by name, Blogger keeps wanting to turn it into a mailto: address.)
And whether it was intentional or not, I like the play on words.
A photo of a malaria control net
from Flickr user mandaville_flickr. Creative commons licence.
Distributed computing is a great concept. To shear computer power and free available resources is for me like Networking: A Givers Gain. I'll gladly give you some of mine (when I don't use it), and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen any project of the concept in practise so far though - thanks for the links!
Wishing you a great end to your week :-)
How interesting! This was the first time I've heard of something like this. Of course it's a good thing to really use the comp powers out there. Smart idea!
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