
Over at Gizmodo they've pitched an interesting question, why not allow Xbox Live members to participate in the
[email protected] project like the PS3 has? If you aren't familiar, the PS3 allows users to use their PS3's horsepower to aid in disease research when they aren't gaming online. So, with Gizmodo's plan, 360 and PS3 users could take the console war into the science lab by keeping track of which console completes the most work units each week or the fastest. It'd be a mini competition that helps keep the (not so) friendly console war alive while helping disease research. Sounds like a win-win solution to us. So, what do you think? Should Microsoft give us the option to donate our 360's computing power in the
[email protected] project or any other charitable cause?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
3-25-2007 @ 10:09AM
Boomhauer said...
~ First ~
Yea,I'd run it
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3-25-2007 @ 10:10AM
Muffin_man said...
I wouldn't mind as long as it doesn't sacrifice my gaming experience or system performance.
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3-25-2007 @ 10:16AM
Rascal89 said...
I dont see why it isnt anyway if its helping to find cures for cancers and diseases. I think it would be a great thing and it would be interesting to see which works better at that sort of thing (the 360 or the ps3)
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3-25-2007 @ 10:16AM
adam said...
I run [email protected] on my PC already, I dont know if Id leave my 360 on all the time to run it, but if it could run in the background as I play a game, then I would do it, no doubt.
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3-25-2007 @ 10:17AM
Jason Smith said...
I don't believe they should do the [email protected] project but why not give us xbox 360 users the option of what project they want to do. Currently I am runing 3 projects on my pc from http://boinc.berkeley.edu/projects.php They give ypu a multitude of choices from SETI to Climate Prediction. It would be awesome if we could run these on our 360s
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3-25-2007 @ 10:21AM
Service_Games said...
To be honest, as soon as I heard that Distributed Computing was releasing a version for the PS3, I was very curious why they hadn't already released a version for the 360. Lack of HDD across every system maybe? But, yes, I think Folding @ Home should come to 360 also.
SG
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3-25-2007 @ 10:23AM
vahdyx said...
I would do it as well, but if the majority of us say we would, I'd be willing to bet microsoft won't ever do it. For some reason I don't think microsoft is that friendly.
If I were to put all the consoles with a face, Nintendo would be a Kindergarten Teacher, but a pretty one. PS3 would be a "bad ass power ranger" but power rangers are not popular anymore that was so 5 years ago. And Microsoft... I see them as a Jock. Cool, fast and when they're in the game they do good especially this season (console war). I don't see jocks caring to much about charities, more so about the game (console war) than anything else. Keep my head in the game coach!
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3-25-2007 @ 10:40AM
Pinhead said...
Run [email protected] so I can cut the lifetime of my 360 in half? No thank you. Hats off to anyone who'll contribute to such a coble project, but I can't afford breaking my 360.
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3-25-2007 @ 10:54AM
Sircolby45 said...
To # 7 Microsoft has donated more money to charities than most people will make in 100 lifetimes.
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3-25-2007 @ 10:55AM
Jolt said...
No.
For the reasons of #8 and also that Microsoft/Bill Gates already donates enough to charity as it is.
MS don't need to pawn off their charity work on their users like Sony.
The [email protected] initiative is just a gimmick by Sony to try and improve their tarnished public opinion.
Don't get me wrong I think the "concept" is great, but I'd like to see how many users Sony manage to get (maybe 5-10% of their relatively small user base).
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3-25-2007 @ 11:02AM
Arno said...
Nope. Do I really want my 360 turned on 24/7 sucking up energy when my server already does that?
Stop trying to copy Sony/PS3.
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3-25-2007 @ 11:10AM
Mike Pernecky said...
F that. The 360 is like a delicate flower, push it any more than it is built to go, and it will break into a million pieces. I'm sure MS doesn't want to release [email protected] for the 360 just to avoid the PR nightmare. Again.
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3-25-2007 @ 11:19AM
Zac LaCombe said...
@ #11.
Yes, please, stop following Sony's lead on helping the world. No one cares about your server. I think Bill and Melinda Gates' charity works alone would equal more than enough to overrule any Sony effort, but to say that we should not follow Sony in helping because of "copying" or "wasting energy" is why some fanboys need to be exiled to the Sahara.
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3-25-2007 @ 11:19AM
J.Goodwin said...
Sure, give people the option.
Preferably a proper implementation that harnesses the GPU as well as the main processors.
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3-25-2007 @ 11:22AM
Saccia said...
I work on BOINC (in the Alpha group) and I posed this question to them about running BOINC in the Xbox360 since [email protected] is running on the PS3. Here is the reply I got from the lead:
"We're negotiating with Sony to get BOINC and
2 or 3 BOINC-based projects running on the PS3 also.
Xbox has potential too;
however, the potential speed of the PS3 (100 GFLOPS)
is several times that of the Xbox.
Also, Microsoft has not been forthcoming with
help getting things running on the Xbox.
And I don't think they'd ever help distribute BOINC;
Sony has indicated a willingness to do this."
So the fault lies with Microsoft for not being cooperative. SHAME ON THEM! You think that they would be willing to work with Berkeley to get this ball rolling and steal any thunder from Sony. After all, they expend so much effort crashing launch parties. This would be a hit that lasts.
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3-25-2007 @ 11:36AM
Deano said...
If you want to help, do it on your pc. Everyone and their dog has one of those.
The 360 is an entertainment device, let's not muddy those waters.
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3-25-2007 @ 11:40AM
Tony said...
"If you want to help, do it on your pc. Everyone and their dog has one of those."
Yeah, at this point I'm willing to bet if you're online with either of these consoles you have a computer. I have no problem running software like that on my PC.
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3-25-2007 @ 11:44AM
Tony said...
Also, I thought the 360 had 115.2 GFLOPS to play with, so I'm not entirely sure where they're even getting their specs from.
Why couldn't they just get an XNA license, try to set something up and see how it works and then bother MS about it? I'm kind of surprised MS isn't really cooperating, supposedly, but you know, it's the users choice to run these things.
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3-25-2007 @ 11:49AM
lord hobo said...
well i would use it if it was there
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3-25-2007 @ 11:51AM
GRT said...
"keep the (not so) friendly console war alive while helping disease research. Sounds like a win-win solution to us."
So XBox360fanboy's official stance is that the 'not so friendly console war' is a good thing? I should think there's enough hate in the world without seeing it as a 'good thing' into the realm of videogames.
And for the record, Microsoft doesn't donate to charity. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation does. I suspect a lot of that is Melinda's influence.
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