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F@H prize


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#1 Mind

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Posted 06 March 2008 - 07:30 PM


Live Forever: They key is advertising effectively. Posting in the Folding@Home forums would be a good place to start. A lot of the people with racks of computers post in there.


Here is how the prize is currently proposed:

-The prize money will be distributed based on the number of work units each person completes during each quarter (3 months).

Prizes each quarter are as follows:
$150 -1st
$100 - 2nd
$50 - 3rd
$25 - 4th
$10 – 5th thru 12th

The competitors will sign up as members of the Longevitymeme team and are also required to register at Imminst as a "registered user". Payments to the winners will be made through the Imminst paypal account.

We need to have a place to keep track of the competitors here at Imminst. Perhaps a team forum such as this one.

As far as promotion and publicity goes we should plan on hitting all the major techie/transhumanist/futurist websites/blogs/forums (such as the one Nate mentioned above) as well as sending a press release to major news outlets.

The press release should contain the rationale for offering the prize. It seems obvious to many of us, but the challenge is putting it eloquently and passionately into words. Some ideas:
-list the past successes of distributed computing.
-explain how it will continue to be a force for anti-aging research into the near future.
-people who don't have formal scientific training/education can help shape the future with their home computer.

Timing. I would like to have a large list of places to promote/publicize and a press release crafted by March 17th. That will give us the last 2 weeks of March to advertise the prize with a competition start date of April 2nd.

Please add comments and suggestions.

#2 dnamechanic

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Posted 06 March 2008 - 09:13 PM

All good comments, Mind. Discussion of all the topics would probably be good.

Addressing only one of your above items.

We need to have a place to keep track of the competitors here at Imminst. Perhaps a team forum such as this one.

This probably could be done in a F@H Prize thread similar to the current Folding@Honme: Longevity Team thread. In the recent past I have welcomed each new contributor to the team in this thread.

For the FAH prize, such a welcome for each prize entrant as they register could be placed in a thread for a somewhat permanent public record. On the same day that a new entrant is listed, a copy of the official Stanford stats page for The Longevity Meme team should be copied and saved, preferably at more than one location. For existing team members that are registering with ImmInst, their total accumulated points to date could also be listed in the thread along with the "Welcome" message.

Then at the end of each three-month period another copy of the Stanford stats page would be saved. The winners would be determined by the difference in points listed on the final Stats page minus the contestants' listed points on the initial page (when they registered).

To be accurate with quantifying beginning and ending points, this process necessarily must be carried out with vigilance, . This is especially so for current members of the team that have already accumulated points.

(A side issue here is what to do about someone that is already a contributor, but not currently registered at ImmInst, registers late in a three-month period. Should his/her points count at the beginning of the three-month period or when they register? My initial thought on this is the points count for prize purposes only beginning when the contestant registers. This would then be saying that current contributors to The Longevity Meme team who are already ImmInst members, and have not opted out as Maestro949 and myself have done, are automatically registered)

Maestro949 and I have volunteered to help with this process. Unless someone else wants the task I will initally take the responsibility. I will need help when on vacation or on travel and can notify you (Mind) or other responsible persons, a few weeks in advance.

Whoever does the daily watch (presumably myself) should be promptly notified by whoever is aware of the participants registration. Actually it would be good if the person that first becomes aware of the registration could make a copy of the F@H stats (this would constitute a second copy).

This of course leads to other questions about the rules of the prize, even the name of the prize. But for the moment, one thing at a time :)

Edited by dnamechanic, 06 March 2008 - 09:22 PM.


#3 maestro949

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Posted 07 March 2008 - 03:33 AM

Thanks for volunteering to capture the numbers. I'll back you up.

As far as those who join mid quarter, I like your idea of only using points contributed after they join.

I'm wondering if we could automate this a bit to save some trouble. Perhaps write a script that downloads the team stats and recalculates the stats-to-date per quarter, filters out those that have opted out and publishes them daily as a forum post, blog post or separate web page. I believe there's a live XML feed we can tap into. I'll take a look at it this weekend.

The EOC Folding @ Home - Stats page might be willing to advertise this endeavor for us.

We should ask for donations to bump up the prize money too :) I'll pitch in some to stretch the 5-12 out a bit more as people might not be inclined to join with only 12 prize slots available.

Was it agreed as to how long the pilot would run? 6mo, 1 year?

#4 dnamechanic

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Posted 07 March 2008 - 04:32 AM

I'll back you up.

Thanks Maestro.

As far as those who join mid quarter, I like your idea of only using points contributed after they join.

ImmInst will need a PayPal address to award prizes, so it may be best to set the requirement that anyone eligible for the prize must formally register (even those who are already team contributors and also already registered with Imminst). One good reason is that it would establish identities. There are currently folders with the team that use a different ID (handle) for folding than for ImmInst registration. In this case, points folded for the team will not count towards the prize until the person is actually registered for the prize.

How should they register? Maybe a minimum requirement would be that new contestants send an email, or PM to ImmInst, after registering at ImmInst to provide a PayPal address. Say to FAH-Prize@ImmInst.org or PM to someone in authority, or something like? Of course it would be good if they also posted in the FAH prize thread, but I don't think that should be required.

I'm wondering if we could automate this a bit to save some trouble. ... I believe there's a live XML feed we can tap into. I'll take a look at it this weekend.

Great idea. I am not sure about the details of the feed itself, Stanford does provide a feed for statistics. That of course is how EOC and the other Stat sites get their data.

The EOC Folding @ Home - Stats page might be willing to advertise this endeavor for us.

Yes good suggestion.

One potential difficulty is that all these sites have their own folding teams and they are 'jealous', ie they try to recruit for themselves. We (The Longevity Meme Team) might be viewed as a threat.

We should ask for donations to bump up the prize money too :) I'll pitch in some to stretch the 5-12 out a bit more as people might not be inclined to join with only 12 prize slots available.

Are you saying that you will add money to increase the number of slots for prizes?

Is so, that is great.

As you know Maestro, and others may yet learn; the Folding points contributed by an individual to a team are not a fixed thing. Anyone, regardless of their computer, can do things to optimize and increase their folding productivity. More incentives to lesser capable contributors will help raise awareness of the effort and once aware, contributors can find ways to increase their output.

Furthermore, even the fastest contributors can raise their output. All it takes is motivation.

Was it agreed as to how long the pilot would run? 6mo, 1 year?

This is a very good question, Maestro.

I think most of us assume that it will be for a minimum of one year. This is based on the Proposal that Reason, and pretty much the majority of leadership here at ImmInst seem to agree with. Some think it should be reviewed earlier, and that is fine. An early review at 6 months or so can help, maybe provide a mid-course correction. It will have to be reviewed before the end of a year anyhow to decide on future funding, if it is to be continued. An important point is that this is project will take time to grow.

Probably anyone that thinks differently will comment here and clarify the answer to your very important question.

Edited by dnamechanic, 07 March 2008 - 04:36 AM.


#5 maestro949

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Posted 07 March 2008 - 11:40 AM

How should they register? Maybe a minimum requirement would be that new contestants send an email, or PM to ImmInst, after registering at ImmInst to provide a PayPal address. Say to FAH-Prize@ImmInst.org or PM to someone in authority, or something like?


Perhaps we just have them post in this forum and indicate what their folding name is. We'll then just PM winners to get their paypal account.

One potential difficulty is that all these sites have their own folding teams and they are 'jealous', ie they try to recruit for themselves. We (The Longevity Meme Team) might be viewed as a threat.


Hopefully they'll recognize the greater good of a little more incentive. Perhaps other teams will respond by finding their own means to provide their own incentives.

Are you saying that you will add money to increase the number of slots for prizes?


Yes, if nobody objects to upping the # of $10 prizes.

Edited by maestro949, 07 March 2008 - 11:46 AM.


#6 dnamechanic

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Posted 07 March 2008 - 03:10 PM

Perhaps we just have them post in this forum and indicate what their folding name is. We'll then just PM winners to get their paypal account.?

That seems workable.

...Perhaps other teams will respond by finding their own means to provide their own incentives.?

This could happen! If this prize is a success, almost certainly there will be others.

Many teams are capable of funding prizes. There are around 200 teams, more or less, that are very likely to be larger (many of them much larger) than The Longevity Meme team. And many of these teams are already quite organized with fairly large team forums, etc.

Yes, if nobody objects to upping the # of $10 prizes.?

That is very generous of you. It is probably a matter of quantifying the numbers and then to get an OK from ImmInst leadership and Reason.

Contributions to the prize could be an important factor ensuring it's long-term success. After the prize is underway, contributions could be pooled for future prize increases at intervals of say 6 months or something like, depending on circumstances at the time.

#7 Mind

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Posted 08 March 2008 - 06:24 PM

Besides folding@home forums and EOC page, we should offer a press release/forum post to every page/forum that monitors the Folding@Home project.

As far as having a prize fund/pool, that would be particularly useful if there was a computationally intense problem that needed to be solved. A larger prize might show quicker results.

As for keeping track of participants. I think we should create a new forum thread for the prize participants and only email the winners requesting their paypal info/email (not everyone who participates).

#8 dnamechanic

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Posted 08 March 2008 - 08:02 PM

Besides folding@home forums and EOC page, we should offer a press release/forum post to every page/forum that monitors the Folding@Home project.

This probably would be a good goal. There are large numbers of forums that discuss Folding@home. I would say that many, if not most, teams have a Folding@home forum. As mentioned earlier there are around 200 teams larger than The Longevity Meme team (there are about 100,000 teams altogether). If an announcement could make it to some of the largest team forums, that would be very good.

Although, if an announcement were to appear to be mainly a recruitment effort for the Longevity Meme team, then likely it will not be well received by these other teams.

As far as having a prize fund/pool, that would be particularly useful if there was a computationally intense problem that needed to be solved. A larger prize might show quicker results.

A larger prize would likely attract participants with more computing capability. High performance computers can be costly and electrictity to run them can be a substantial cost, so to encourage such expenditures the prize should be as large as practical. This is one of the motivations for the prize. I think if a prize is good, then a larger prize is better :)

I think Maestro949 is speaking of broadening the prize structure by adding more slots. This could help the increase appeal to contestants with typical computers.

There is a "computationally intense problem to be solved" and both, high-performance contributors and large numbers of contributors, are needed.

As for keeping track of participants. I think we should create a new forum thread for the prize participants and only email the winners requesting their paypal info/email (not everyone who participates).

Seems reasonable.

#9 maestro949

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Posted 08 March 2008 - 08:26 PM

I think Maestro949 is speaking of broadening the prize structure by adding more slots. This could help the increase appeal to contestants with typical computers.


Yes, I will contribute to add a few more $10 slots. As far as how much is still pending review from the boss :)

#10 Mind

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Posted 12 March 2008 - 09:34 PM

Ok, I have crafted a press release. Please feel free to make it better.

On my to do list, an official Imminst page describing the rules, and a new forum where people can list themselves as participants for the prize.

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#11 maestro949

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Posted 13 March 2008 - 03:35 PM

Ok, I have crafted a press release. Please feel free to make it better.

On my to do list, an official Imminst page describing the rules, and a new forum where people can list themselves as participants for the prize.


Great job Mind. It hits the nail on the head IMO.

#12 dnamechanic

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Posted 13 March 2008 - 05:21 PM

Ok, I have crafted a press release.

Separately sent a couple of suggestions.

On my to do list, an official Imminst page describing the rules, and a new forum where people can list themselves as participants for the prize.

Great job Mind. It hits the nail on the head IMO.

Yes, agreed.

#13 Mind

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Posted 14 March 2008 - 11:47 PM

Here is a quick list of rules and regulations that I put together. Please look it over and improve it. I probably missed a couple of important items.

Eventually I plan to put this info on a seperate Imminst webpage for the Longevity Prize.

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#14 dnamechanic

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Posted 15 March 2008 - 12:04 AM

Eventually I plan to put this info on a seperate Imminst webpage for the Longevity Prize.

Is the name of the Folding@Home prize, "Longevity Prize"?

#15 Mind

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Posted 15 March 2008 - 12:21 AM

I guess we didn't really decide on a name, however, "Longevity Prize" or "Folding@Home Prize" would both be good with me. What do you guys think?

#16 dnamechanic

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Posted 15 March 2008 - 12:54 AM

I guess we didn't really decide on a name, however, "Longevity Prize" or "Folding@Home Prize" would both be good with me. What do you guys think?


Longevity Prize is uncomplicated and implies a good motive. Although, standing alone without other explanation, it would not seem to be connected with Folding@home. Possibly "Longevity FAH Prize" would be better in some respects.

#17 Mind

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Posted 17 March 2008 - 08:28 PM

Ok, here is an updated version of the press release. Please go over it with a fine tooth comb. I think it is pretty good and only needs one more detail and that is a new Imminst page specifically for the Prize. Will hopefully have that done in the next day or two. Many thanks to dnamechanic for help in editing the press release.

Here is the text of the document (word doc with Imminst logo and proper formatting, attached)



Contact: Justin Loew FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Phone: 715-297-2329
Email: justin@imminst.org
www.imminst.org


INSTITUTE AIMS TO CURE DISEASE THROUGH HOME COMPUTING

The Longevity Meme (www.longevitymeme.org) has teamed up with the Immortality Institute to offer prize money to people who contribute to the Stanford Folding@home distributing computing project – aimed at curing disease through understanding the basics of protein folding.

In the present day, computer simulation of basic physical processes has become one of the key components of scientific research, even within the fields of biology and medicine. Recently researchers have created models of human metabolism (http://www.technolog.../Biotech/18142/) and models of basic cells (http://www.vcell.org/) in order to speed up the process of drug development and assist in the understanding of disease. Protein folding is a fundamental process involved in human development, growth, and aging. This is the area where a team at Stanford University has stepped up with the Folding@home project. Much like SETI@home, Folding@home uses the resources of thousands of idle home computers. Individuals, who want to contribute, download a small software client that runs on their computer when they are not using it. The combined result of thousands of individual contributors is a virtual supercomputer that researchers have at their disposal to model and understand protein folding. The results have been impressive thus far (http://folding.stanf.../English/Papers), yet more resources are needed.

In order to increase the participation in the Folding@home and help discover treatments for many debilitating diseases, The Longevity Meme and the Immortality Institute have teamed up to offer a quarterly prize for the people who contribute the most (based on accumulated points) to the Folding@home project. Complete details and rules can be found here: (link to ImmInst page).

Many people feel helpless as they watch friends and family members succumb to disease. With Folding@home everyone can take part in the process of discovering cures for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer.

# # #

If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview, please contact Justin Loew at 715-297-2329 or email justin@imminst.org.

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#18 Mind

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Posted 17 March 2008 - 08:42 PM

Here is an edited version of the rules and regulations. Take a look, make sure everything is covered. This text will be a major part of the Imminst F@H page mentioned in the previous post.

Longevity Prize Rules and Registration:

To compete for the Longevity Prize you must complete 3 simple steps:

1. Go to the Stanford Folding@home website and download the folding client to your computer, link: http://folding.stanf...nglish/Download

2. Enter the number 32461 (Longevity Meme team number) in the “team number” box when installing the Folding@home client.

3. Register as a “Registered User” or “Member” at the Immortality Institute and affirm your participation in the competition by making an initial post in this forum: http://www.imminst.o...o...c=20898&hl=. This step is required because the Institute will be paying the prize money to the winners through Paypal. You must have a Paypal account in order to receive your winnings.


Winners will be determined by how many points are accumulated over the course of three months as reported at the Stanford Folding@home statistics site (http://vspx27.stanfo...e&teamnum=32461). The first quarter of competition begins at 12:00 a.m. Eastern daylight time (U.S.) April 2nd and ends at 12:00 midnight, Eastern daylight time, on June 30th.

For anyone who joins the competition after April 2nd, points will start accumulating from the date entered. Example: Competitor B registers for the competition on May 14th. Only points accumulated from May 14th through June 30th will count toward the competition.

Prize money will be distributed to the top twelve competitors, excluding members TMichael and Maestro949 (organizers of the prize), on the Longevity Meme team with the following amounts awarded:

$150 -1st
$100 - 2nd
$50 - 3rd
$25 - 4th
$10 – 5th thru 12th

The Immortality Institute Board of Directors will be the final arbiter of any tie-breakers or disputes.

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#19 Mind

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Posted 17 March 2008 - 09:30 PM

Caliban thought a banner or logo would be nice to go along with the whole effort. I agree. Although it is not exactly needed right now, it would be nice to have. Just fiddling around this afternoon for a couple minutes and came up with this. I made it this size since it is the size that fits within the homepage feature section (519x202).

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#20 Live Forever

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Posted 17 March 2008 - 09:45 PM

Caliban thought a banner or logo would be nice to go along with the whole effort. I agree. Although it is not exactly needed right now, it would be nice to have. Just fiddling around this afternoon for a couple minutes and came up with this. I made it this size since it is the size that fits within the homepage feature section (519x202).

Perhaps the group number (32461) should be listed prominently?

#21 Mind

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Posted 18 March 2008 - 07:03 PM

I think I will change the font and color of the text. Any other comments. Maybe it isn't perfect, but I think it will do, on short notice.

Nate, the team number will be displayed in many other locations, so I don't think it needs to be on the logo.

#22 Live Forever

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Posted 18 March 2008 - 07:08 PM

I think I will change the font and color of the text. Any other comments. Maybe it isn't perfect, but I think it will do, on short notice.

Nate, the team number will be displayed in many other locations, so I don't think it needs to be on the logo.

Ok, sounds good. I just noticed I had to dig around to find it because it wasn't in any of the main threads on the contest yet. (at least not displayed prominently) We definitely need one place with all the information on it so we can link to it and first time visitors can find everything they need without having to read through an entire thread (or multiple threads). Putting a page up like at imminst.org/foldingcontest or something like that might be optimal.

Edited by Live Forever, 18 March 2008 - 07:09 PM.


#23 Mind

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Posted 18 March 2008 - 07:24 PM

There will be a splash page for everyone to go to. It will have the prize logo, some positive words, and the rules and regs/links. In the future we will put pictures of the winners holding wads of cash on the splash page.

#24 Live Forever

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Posted 18 March 2008 - 07:42 PM

There will be a splash page for everyone to go to. It will have the prize logo, some positive words, and the rules and regs/links. In the future we will put pictures of the winners holding wads of cash on the splash page.

Sweet! I had thought that perhaps we were already supposed to be promoting the contest; I didn't realize we hadn't started yet. Excuse my ignorance. ;)

#25 Mind

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Posted 18 March 2008 - 07:50 PM

Another version of the logo. Added some eye-candy...just because.

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#26 Live Forever

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Posted 18 March 2008 - 07:52 PM

Another version of the logo. Added some eye-candy...just because.

Looks good, Mind! ;)

#27 Mind

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Posted 18 March 2008 - 08:40 PM

OK, here is the splash page. It is a combination of the logo, part of the press release, and the rules/regs. I added the phrase: "We hope this is only the beginning! If successful, bigger prizes will be awarded in the future for specific computationally intensive research into diseases associated with aging." Do you think that is alright? Please let me know if anything needs to be altered.

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#28 dnamechanic

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Posted 18 March 2008 - 09:35 PM

"We hope this is only the beginning! If successful, bigger prizes will be awarded in the future for specific computationally intensive research into diseases associated with aging." Do you think that is alright?

I think your statement projects a good image. Possibly "If successful" could be changed to something like "We foresee",

"If" in "If successful" raises an issue of doubt. Of course doubt is often a real issue in most important initiatives, but it may be good not to voice it.

and, maybe "bigger prizes" could be something like "other prizes" or "additional prizes" or some other adjective prizes. "Bigger" indicates a contrast and one oftens contrasts bigger with smaller. This could, in some ways, raise a concern that this prize is small.

Also, not sure how many of the website links willl be active in the text. For example (www. longevitymeme.org) is spelled out, others appear to be active hyperlinks. Maybe this will be clear when the text is converted to html etc.

Good work Mind. I realize that your schedule must be pretty tight.

#29 Mind

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Posted 18 March 2008 - 09:52 PM

Great suggestions Michael. I will incorporate them into the page.

#30 caliban

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Posted 20 March 2008 - 03:10 PM

I notice that the logo does not give any indication that this prize is for life extension. Also, ImmInst is not linked in the press release and its logo does not appear in there.




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