What do you make of this?

[Tresco]

'If you join this site (free) you can download a piece of software that sits on your toolbar and when you are not using your computer,  a screensaver kicks in and the PC contacts this company, is assigned a task and starts processing loads of medical research information in an attempt to find cures for various diseases.  Once you waggle your mouse .. it stops.  Once the task is complete, it sends the information back to Oxford Uni for compilation ... and your PC is given another task.  I've been running it for a week now and I can say it has no effect on the speed of you PC what so ever as it only runs when you are not using it.  Basically Oxford Uni are using peoples PC's around the world to create a super computer for medical research.  Pretty cool really'.

 

http://www.grid.org/download/gold/download.htm

 

Someone I know sent this to me a while ago, and it's been sitting there unattended to because I don't really know what to make of it. Has anyone here done anything like this, or heard of something similar?

 

tresco

[Will]

I've never done this myself, though I've known some very internet-savvy people at another forum who have done so, had no problems, and felt good about helping out. I can see that you need to be 110% sure about the validity of the organisation that's 'borrowing' your computer time, because there is an awful lot of potential for this to be abused.

[sherwood]

I have been running a programme from Oxford University for the last four years with no problem at all. It is called 'Find-a-Drug' and is concerned with cancer research - among others.  The programme sits in the background and uses your unused computer capacity - it does not make your machine run slower or open you to any possible interference.  Computers all over the world are running this and the results have been very good.  Perhaps you would look at:  http://www.find-a-drug.org.uk/frame.html.  It is a very worthwhile cause and costs you nothing, in either time or inconvenience!

 

Joan