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Citizen Science and Grid Computing

Posted by kdawson on from the greyware-network dept.

japonicus writes "The Economist has an article summarizing the current state of distributed computing (think SETI@home and its ilk), which suggests that distributed-human projects are going to be the next big thing. (We discussed one such project, the Galaxy Zoo, a few months back.) The distributed-computing platform BOINC is about to expand to human processing. Distributed proofreaders have been a longstanding success (yet inexplicably failed to get even a mention in the article); but there are a lot of other projects waiting in the wings."

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  1. With a real operating system by zazenation · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    The Economist has an article summarizing the current state of distributed computing (think SETI@home and its ilk), which suggests that distributed-human projects are going to be the next big thing

    After all, just look at BotNets. How much more insight do we need than that?

    If only Joe Sixpack (who leaves his computer on 24/7 even tho he only uses it about a half hour per day) would understand that every clock cycle is sacred, every clock cycle is great...

    If only. That would apply only to sixpackers who don't use MS Windoze which needs to be rebooted daily to fend off BSOD's. I mean really, you're doing some humongus calculation to resolve some combinitorial nightmare of an equation that could revolutionize cancer treatment and just when Joe's PC is about to return the pearls of wisdom that it has generated, your connection blows up because Joe's PC hung because it was Windowized.

    I guess this brings up , "What is the MTBF of XP or VISTA"? In a real environment as opposed to a laboratory controlled setting?