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ThinkCycle: Solving World Problems With A Cluster of Brains

Posted by timothy on from the hope-some-good-comes-out-of-it dept.

eaglemoon writes: "ThinkCycle is an MIT Media Lab project to apply SETI@Home principles to design problems for underserved communities. Only, intead of donating spare cpu cycles, you donate spare 'think cycles.' Their aim is to build a community of designers, inventors and innovators that want to collaborate on developing novel solutions to some what intractable problems like clean water access , cholera treatment and appropriate shelters. Their aim is to encourage an "open source" ethos for tough design and technology challenges."

8 of 161 comments (clear)

  1. enough problems by TimButterfield · · Score: 3, Funny

    That should probably be 'apply SETI@Home principles to design challenges." If the communites are underserved, they have enough problems already without designing more.

  2. so let me get this straight by lingqi · · Score: 4, Funny

    you will be providing the lazy-boys w/ a hole cut out of the head rest, as well as the necessary implants to the back of my head where a spiky-thingy can be shoved, right? and for the hardcore there is always the "donate some spare electricity" version complete with plexiglass goo-bucket and full interface including "liquified dead" being "intraveneously fed" into my blood stream?

    cool

    --

    My life in the land of the rising sun.

  3. Because all you need to solve the world's... by SIGFPE · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...problems is more CPU.

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    -- SIGFPE
  4. I don't have any to spare by NineNine · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sorry, but any "spare cycles" my brain has are going towards figuring out how I'm gonna pay my bills in this piss-poor economy.

  5. Re:Great! by Tarquin+Sidebottom · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why limit "open source ethos" to advancing the human race? Why not use it to get the average /. geek laid? Yes, all of you with your spare sex cycles, come together [no pun intended] and embace the wonder of the human body!

    * puts on his tin hat and hides under the desk *

  6. open source ethos by Lord+Omlette · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Their aim is to encourage an "open source" ethos for tough design and technology challenges."

    Redesign the wheel and tell the underserved community members to RTFM if they have a problem using the redesigned wheel?

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    [o]_O
  7. Could you please tell me.. by Kwil · · Score: 2, Funny

    what part of "society's most complex and vexing problems" is solved by the creation of the 'singing big-mouth bass'?

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    That Jesus Christ guy is getting some terrible lag... it took him 3 days to respawn! -NJ CoolBreeze

  8. If this is such a good idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    how come it wasn't thought up by hundreds of collaborating geniuses?