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HEY HUMANITY, PLAYSTATION 3 IS HELPING YOU OUT!
(Okay, apparently this is really old news, but hey, I’ve only owned my PS3 for a humble 5 months now.)
Folding@home is a project created by some fine folks at Stanford University in order to simulate molecular behavior, specifically how human proteins fold. Uh…or something like that.
This vid does a better job at explaining everything:
From what I understand in layman terms, the PS3’s processor is crazy fast, much faster than the average PC, and can basically be considered a supercomputer [edit: when several work together] (I love you, Sony). This helps speed up the folding simulation so researchers can sooner and faster understand how those evil molecules that trigger diseases like Parkinson’s, cystic fibrosis and cancer.
Owners of supercomputers,or more commonly, of PlayStation 3s/regular computers can help out by networking their hardware to the Folding@home folks.
Here’s some info on Folding@home and how to hook up your PS3 to join the cause:
http://folding.stanford.edu/English/FAQ-PS3
Folding@home is accessible through the “Life with PlayStation” application under the network icon on the main screen. Once the software is installed and updated (this took me about 10 minutes to download), you can watch Folding@home go to work.
I just started my account today.
If you go hit the triangle button while on the Folding@home channel, select “Current Channel”, then scroll down to “Identity”. Under this option, you can create a username and join a team.
If you’d like to join my team (TEAMLUM) enter this team number: 167872.
THANK YOU, SONY for making such an unnecessarily powerful, beautiful piece of machine. I’ve always been a bit of a Sony loyalist, so Sony’s unfortunate lackluster sales in the past few years has been disheartening.
Microsoft played it smart by purchasing and developing great game titles exclusive to the Xbox 360, especially multiplayer/online titles like Gears of War and Halo 3. Xbox marketed heavily towards the main gamer demographic: male gamers in between 18-32. Microsoft’s investment in great games with its gamers in mind came at the cost of cutting corners on its hardware. The Xbox 360 console has been plagued by the red ring of death and even more so by its slow tech support, customer service and repairs.
Nintendo invested in a new sort of motion interactivity with the Wii, which they marketed to non-traditional gamer demographics: the young family and women. However, Nintendo really sacrificed in the graphics/hardware department as well, and didn’t bother developing either HD DVD or Blu-Ray technology. Nevertheless, Nintendo put out a truly innovative package that has changed the face and feel of modern gaming.
Sony, on the other hand, had very big plans … perhaps too grand. Sony really put out an excellent piece of hardware, spearheading the Blu-Ray revolution and creating a console that allows room for expansion, improvement, and well…stuff like Folding@home. However, Sony’s vision is a little beyond the average consumer’s needs–as was its price.
Nevertheless, Sony has proven itself a true technological visionary through its use of Folding@home.
To top off all of its claimed social and scientific contributions, Folding@home just looks fantastic. There’s a really cool graphic that shows all the blips where people are running Folding@home all over the world. The east coast is pretty hot right now, along with some pockets of insomniacs like myself on the west coast. Much of Japan and Seoul, South Korea are lit up as well. Possibly one (??) in North Korea? What’s interesting about this whole display is that it is really telling of global affluence as well..huh, maybe that could be the next PS3 project.
In any case, I’m a pretty proud owner of my PS3 right now.
[Thanks, Stanley]
11-year-old Moshe Kai Cavalin recently made headlines as one of the region’s youngest college graduates.
This kid is pretty accomplished. I assume he received an Associate’s degree in Astrophysics from East Los Angeles College, an area community college. And he’s well-rounded! He excels in martial arts and idolizes Bruce Lee (like most of us Asian and non-Asian kids).
But accomplishments and endearing qualities aside, the darn kid had to say something at the last minute that really killed it for me.
“I feel it’s a waste of time playing video games because it’s not helping humanity in any way,” says Moshe, who wants to use his knowledge to change the world.
Oh, COME ON! This kid sounds like my mother. But even she enjoys playing Guitar Hero.
Alright, kid, you’re smart, well-balanced, and horribly cute. Most college-grads are/consider themselves to be (maybe not the cute part). But really? Generalizing an entire industry and culture of video gaming, and then discounting it?
Ho ho, dare you, eh? Okay, okay, this probably makes me an even bigger loser-geek for making such a huge deal over the misinformed comment of an 11-year-old. But I don’t care. No geek would stand such an insinuation from a nerd, even if he’s only 11 years old, or your mom.
IGN wrote a little response that summed up most of my thoughts pretty well: http://games.ign.com/articles/992/992542p1.html
I, as well as the article, admit that the laudability of video gaming is certainly not comparable to say, finding the cure for cancer.
Perhaps I’m just simple-minded and because I am equally misinformed and admittedly ignorant of the possibilities of astrophysics, I can’t see how pointless and stupid my fascination of video games is and that I’ve wasted my time looking at words in old British books instead of testing the limits of science and math. Maybe video games can’t “help humanity” in the same way that idealistic 11-year-old (I’m mean, but what 11-year-old isn’t) astrophysicists might one day be able to.
However, I come from the new school of thought that declares that video games, play an important, though not central, role in humanity, whether as an industry, as entertainment, or as art. I think this concept is pretty well-accepted among gamers (we grumble when told we’re wasting our time) and the gaming generation (typically anyone who is old enough to have grown up with games; usually those 30-something, heck, maybe 40 and younger. We’re aging every day!). However, those who were “adults” during the time some 20 or so years ago when video games were still considered a kid’s toy, and those who lack interest (who were deprived of the enjoyments) in video games, often assume that gaming is largely a worthless pursuit.
Ouch.
Granted, I think many of us can also attest to how video games DO NOT help humanity. I admit that I was once a video game addict, and I am guilty of shutting my family out of my life when they needed me the most; when my sister discovered she had cancer, my inability to deal with family’s and my own emotions resulted in my foolish refuge in Final Fantasy, of all things. My relationships were strained. I gained a few extra pounds (that I could afford) in my vegetative, snack-friendly state in front of the television.
But my gaming addiction (and some wise guidance from my mom) taught me a few valuable life lessons. Cheesy, yes, but this was a pivotal moment in my life. Video games served as a bit of an object lesson for me when I was about 13; most of us live our childhood and early adolescence in a bit of a self-centered bubble, the center of a world, or in a world separate and disassociated from those around us. For me, that world was embodied by video games. It was much easier for me to withdraw into a place where conflict was much more clear-cut, far less emotional, and death could be reversed with the administration of an inexpensive, 500 gil Phoenix Down, or the “Continue” option. The appeal of existing in such a world had its appeal, even my mom could see this. But what my mom needed to coach me to realize was that real, responsible, mature people can’t live in a self-centered world, or a silly fantasy world, no matter how awesome it is. Voila, my coming-of-age.
To obsess, or build my life around video games would be foolish, but at the same time, as equally foolish as it seems, I can’t deny that video games play a considerable role in my life.
Along the same strain of thought, to assume that video games only serve up societal detriment or has no redeeming value for humanity as a whole would be severely fallacious.
The video game industry functions as a sort of hybrid of the film industry (marketing and creative production) and the tech industry (marketing and development). Even the most utilitarian informed mind cannot deny the role of the video game industry as a employing, profitable industry that has broken so much ground in graphic design, interactive entertainment, and even the very medium through which we watch our movies: Blu-Ray or HD. Sure, it’s not the greatest advancement mankind has ever made, but it’s certainly noteworthy.
Entertainment might be one of those more frivolous pursuits that humanity takes on. It is, however, a sign of societal and cultural affluence if we can afford to invest so much in these diversions. And as trivial as it seems, entertainment plays an important role in the psychological well-being of humanity–or at least for me. Heck, if everyone set aside time to enjoy themselves, relax, and bask in the glory of small video game victories, we’d probably have fewer stress-related mental and physical health problems, if only by a few cases; I’m in no way advocating that video games will solve all of our problems. Excess video gaming– heck, excess anything–can be even more detrimental, as I know very well. But reasonably enjoyed, video games are active, interactive, and REALLY FUN! Is fun useless to society? If so, 
…
Some might not consider video games pure art, as per last month’s PCGamer article, but in any case, great author Oscar Wilde points out that “All art is quite useless” (Heh, this includes martial ARTS). Yet we make a special place for it in our societies and in our minds. Broadly defined, art is a source of expression both for the artist and the observer, subject to academic and social interpretation, and certainly weilds the power to expose, mock, and question society, authority, and well, humanity. Art and video games can cause us to examine ourselves, to question the notion of an impersonal and terrifying face of war in Metal Gear Solid 4, to be forewarned of the pitfalls of engineered self-improvement in Bioshock, or even to just have fun making our own art, landscapes, and physics-based gameplay in Little Big Planet. Games make us think, strategize, dream, imagine, and process the relationship between video games and society.
When you’re my age, maybe you’ll understand.
Dear E3,
It’s been my lifetime dream (ok, since 7th grade when I first learned about the awesomeness that E3 is) to attend E3.
I was 12 years old, and back in 2000, E3 used to be a really overblown event, inundated with booth babes, fanboy bloggers, and what someone ultimately decided was unprofessionalism.
I wholeheartedly agree with that decision. By 2007, however, the entire event restructured, and became invite-only. Mostly to weed out bloggers and welcome “real” journalists (yay newspapers!).
The video game industry needed to change its public face in order to match the new market it was pursuing. Video games are no longer just for children (and many games simply aren’t for children). The gaming generation is aging, and the industry must age with it. Plus, with the millions of dollars poured into game development and marketing, the video game industry needed to distance itself from Anime Expo and Comic Con (sorry) in order to be recognized and even more aligned with say, the film industry.
But still, E3 is filled with so much promise, so much excitement, forward thinking! So many things that I also care for, deeply admire, and would love to be a part of!
However, E3’s decision to privatize the convention meant that despite the fact that I was working as a college journalist, reporting to the largest target demographic that the industry would be interested in, I wouldn’t be invited. I’m in the trade, for a print paper, I’m not a fanboy (I’m not even a boy) or a blogger (except for here). I dutifully attended the sparse, almost dull first year of E for All, the consumer “replacement” for E3. It really didn’t cut it. I even more dutifully attended a second year at E for All, which proved to be even slower. I was deeply disappointed. I strove to bring back video game reviews and coverage at the Daily Bruin, both to serve my gamer-heavy readership and peers, as well as to better link the industry better with its consumers. I even dared to suggest more video game coverage at my internship, and got to write a silly little blurb on competitive “professional” video gaming.
All that I’ve done was not simply to build a resume for myself. It was largely to one day get to see you.
But this year, I got cancer, had to move home (with my parents) for medical care, and lost three jobs at college, one of which was my job at the Daily Bruin. The job that would qualify me for this year’s E3, which is now open for applying members of the media.
I’m sorry…the one year you’re available to me, and I can’t be there for you.
And now that I’m graduated, it’ll probably be a very long time before I find a job, let alone one that will qualify me as a member of media reporting on the industry (that’s my dream job, still).
But…I have cancer, so who knows if that can ever happen. I hate to pull the cancer card, but you (hopefully) and I both know that this is a card that no one wants to have.
I thought we were destined to meet, E3. But each time…my plans to attend you were foiled.
This year is the most frustrating of all, ESPECIALLY since, I assume, you are going to be revealing the next Hideo Kojima project.
Alas, perhaps we were never meant to be.
But I still ask you, from the depths of my heart to yours, if you will grant me access next year, whether I’m reporting or not. Just to be there, with you.
Nevertheless, I hope you have a good time this year. I’ll be keeping up with you.
With Love,
Jessica
