Wow.  Google Compute

I just saw on my Google toolbar, a "New" button, which when clicked gives this explanation:

Put your idle computer time to good use

Google would like to request your help on Google Compute, a new feature for the Google Toolbar. By turning on this feature, you can allow your computer to work on complex scientific problems when it would otherwise be idle. The work it does is automatically sent via the Internet to researchers who combine it with information sent by thousands of other users.

The first beneficiary of this effort is Folding@home, a non-profit academic research project at Stanford University that is trying to understand the structure of proteins so they can develop better treatments for a number of illnesses. In the future Google Compute may allow you to also donate your computing time to other carefully selected worthwhile endeavors, including projects to improve Google and its services. [ Go ] [ FAQ ]

Is this really new or did I miss it when it came out and my toolbar was "retro".

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Honestly Curious: What do Catholics Think?

I generally avoid religion, sex and politics in this blog so why not take a chance ... I mean it's been such a good week so far.

Bias Disclaimer: I'm not particularly spiritual and I do regard it as a highly personal thing.  (Don't show me yours and I won't bother you with mine type of thing).

I just saw this:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Roman Catholic bishops overwhelmingly voted Wednesday to establish church tribunals for priests accused of sexual abuse and sent the plan to the Vatican for its approval.

The move modifies a "zero tolerance" policy adopted at an earlier bishops' meeting in Dallas that was rejected by the Vatican, which said it did not allow due process for priests accused of molesting children. The bishops' vote Wednesday was 246-7, with six not voting. [ Go ]

And I'm curious as to what people of a Catholic persuasion think?  Personally I find it revolting (note -- I would say this no matter what the denomination) but I'm a hard ass when it comes to child safety.  Heck ... What do non-catholics think?  Leave comments if you would.

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Inbox Buddy Mini Review

Andy over at SurfMind just posted a quick bit on Inbox Buddy highlighting one of those features that emerges after a "Wouldn't it be cool ..." session one day.  The next day we had a cool email feature: Notify Me if No Reply by X Days. [ Go ]

Andy's also pushing me in the direction of a SigChi poster on Inbox Buddy using his Uzilla Engine for handling the surveying.  I haven't been to an ACM conference since Hypertext '94 so that's looking like a good idea.  The fact that it's in Florida makes it an even better idea.  Sounds like a plan to me.

Thanks Andy!

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From the Things I Didn't Want to Know Department

Well there's info on blue whales today and this which shall go nameless and undescribed.  There's also now a reason to get an XBox -- if you're a gamer, check out the screenshots. [ Go ]

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When You Don't Know What the Heck You're Doing ...

Like a lot of technical folk, I frequently find myself doing things where I just plain "don't know what the heck I'm doing".  I mean the 1st 10 or 20 times you do anything there are always nuances, details and such that just plain don't make sense.  So what I do is always look for someone smarter than me, someone geekier than me -- in that area.  So, for example, if I need to:

• Figure out MySQL replication, it's a quick jaunt over to Jeremy [ PPT ]
• Deal with *nix system administration, it's a hop, skip and jump over to Apokalyptik
• Learn about accessibility, run NOT walk over to Mark and then spend a lot of time there.  Just outstanding.
• Get into Java stuff, dash off to Spain and visit Russell (and also envy him being in a warm climate)
• Figure out anything PHP then it's a cast of many including Simon, Natrak, the Drupal project (reading source is good), Keith, Apokalytik (again)
• Review the latest in online marketing, power walk over to Inluminent and try hard not to get distracted by the pictures
• Do Python stuff then I need to see Mark (again)

So while this isn't news to anyone I suspect, this blog entry is definitely tribute to those that have helped me.  Perhaps these resources will be useful to others.  Thanks everyone.  And I apologize in advance for anyone I left off.  Bear in mind that this was a quick core dump (inspired by getting Pear coding working via looking at the Drupal code base when I hit a snag). 

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Ah Monday ... 

All I will say is that a) It got worse and B) It go worse.  'Nuff Said to quote Stan Lee.  But now it's wednesday and I'm hopefully free of Monday's curse.  Today will be a better day as exemplified by my rolling out of bed and getting some php code working even in the pre-shower period when usually it's all I can do to not drool on the floor (it's also the pre-caffeine period). 

I did manage to get MySQL running on my iBook but I'm failing at getting php running on pre-Jaguar OS X.  Anyone have suggestions or do I just bite the bullet and go for the Jaguar upgrade?  Fink is interesting and works fairly well but doesn't list PHP as one of it's options. 

6:16:19 AM      Google It!   comment []    IM Me About This