Interview by: [email protected]Interviewee: Steve Blum aka. tackaberry 
UBBDev: Could you give a brief description of the UD program?
Tacks: I'll try to keep it short. The project operates on the concept of peer-to-peer computing, where hundreds of thousands of computers are working together to help search for a cure for cancer. The project is being co-ordinated by the Oxford University and The National Foundation for Cancer Research, along with Intel and United Devices. You start with a target protein, then thousands of different combinations of molecules are evaluated against that protein/target. When it finds a potential match, it is marked as a hit. The results are then compiled so that scientists will know which molecules may offer promise of a cure. It is a massive project that has been chopped up into tiny little bits so every day people, like you and I can dedicate our spare processing power and make a difference!
UBBDev: What was the catalyst in starting up the Team UBBDev Forum?
Tacks: We started to see some sporatic questions posted in some of the other forums about Team UBBDev. People seemed to have questions about how to join the team, or problems running the agent software. We figured this would be a good way to collect all of those posts, and build upon the effort we had made in trying to promote the team
more. It's been a great success. The forum has been pretty active, and the team's
contribution has increased as well.
UBBDev: Why are the color and graphics in the Team UBBDev Forum different from the rest of UBBDev?
Tacks: We think the people who are participating are special, and we wanted to do something special too. We started first with the Haxxor Avatars, and then expanded that theme into the current graphic set. A lot of it centers around the United Devices "Blue Pill" icon, that users see in their system tray when the agent is running. Although we are really just getting started.
UBBDev: How is that?
Tacks: We are working on developing a Team UBBDev page. It will contain a lot of useful information for the team members and those wanting to join the team. Stuff like Frequently asked questions, Stats, Member recognition. We want to provide a place that team members who really don't visit the UBBDev forums can come to get some more
information.
UBBDev: We have Team UBBDev Members who don't visit UBBDev?
Tacks: We sure do! Initially the participants were regulars. We also had a few people who "lurk" on UBBDev, but don't post much. We started to promote the team a little more and started to pick up friends of friends of UBBDev. In the past couple of months we have gotten a lot of new members from the extended community.
UBBDev: Does this explain the "Team UBBDev Referral Program"?
Tacks: Yes, we wanted to find a way to give back to the Team Members who were able to recruit some of their friends to join our team. With the referral program, a Team UBBDev Member can receive the points generated by their friends good toward reaching their avatar level goals. Basically, a member can chose whether they wish to receive the points themselves, or if they chose, they can assign them to a friend. Of course both members have to remain current.
UBBDev: That leads to my next question, What are the requirements in obtaining and retaining UBBDev's UD avatar?
Tacks: Everyone who actively participates gets to sport the Team UBBDev Avatar. Users start off with the Blue avatar, after generating their first points for Team UBBDev. When they hit 10,000 points, they get the Bronze avatar. At 25,000 points they receive the Silver avatar, at 50,000 points they get the Gold, at 100,000 points they receive a Platinum avatar, and at 250,000 points they get the Diamond. Generally speaking, the levels are set up in order to provide sustained and reachable goals for everyone. Of course you have to stay with the team to keep your avatar. We watch the results each week, and if someone stops participating they stand to have their avatar deactivated.
UBBDev: Do you have any tips on improving the performance of a participants computer?
Tacks: There are plenty of ways to boost your performance. And you don't have to go out and buy a new machine or get DSL either. You can change the setting to allocate more hard drive space, as well as, adding some more memory to your pc. You can also try to get multiple pc's running. It's a great way to make use of your old retired pcs. Just dust them off and get them running the UD agent. Points are generated by multiplying the cpu time spent times the machines rating. An older pc will take longer to process work units but it will still generate points. And for those who cannot upgrade their pc, or run another one, they can always get a friend to join and earn points through the referral program. Other people can also boost performance by improving their efficiency. Third party apps like UD Dialer and UD Monitor will help keep your pc from having any downtime between work units.
UBBDev: What are UD Dialer and UD Monitor, and are there any benefits in having them?
Tacks: UD Dialer is great for users who have a dialup internet connection and cannot be online 24/7. Basically the program waits for a work unit to complete, then it initiates a communication session, connects to the UD server, transmits results, receives a new task, then disconnects. I run it at home and it is a big help. UD Monitor does a couple of things. First it "watches" the UD Agent, and lets you know how long it has been since the last save. This is important for some of those complex molecules that take a while to run. Second, it backs up your tasks, making it easier to recover if your pc crashes. My favorite feature however, is caching! UD Monitor will allow you to load up several work units, and then when one is completed, it moves to the next without having to transmit the results first. I'm sure there will be some other clever third party apps developed in the future, and we'll make sure that our team members can benefit from them.
UBBDev: Overall, how are UBBDev's statistics compared to others in the program?
Tacks: We've been making some good progress in the past few months. UBBDev only got started a few months ago, so a lot of the other teams had a good head start. However, we are quickly making up ground. Based on the running total, we are the 160th largest team, and we are around #350 in terms of points and results. That's pretty impressive, considering six weeks ago were #265 in size and around #650 in points/results. We've done a great job in getting new people to join up, as well as boost performance of those already on the team.
UBBDev: Do you have any additional advice on how users can help make a difference?
Tacks: What can I say. Cancer is a devastating disease. Everyone has been affected by it, one way or another. Besides letting your computer run the agent there are plenty of other things that can be done on an individual basis. We recently participated in a Walk for Breast Cancer that was an incredible experience. Thousands of people walked 5 miles and raised lots of money. There are always fundraisers and benefits looking for support and volunteers. You can also look into helping at your local hospital. For those looking for more information, the
American Cancer Society is a great place to start. If you can't give with your wallet, you can always give with your heart, or your time.
UBBDev:
Tacks, thank you for your enlightening comments and tips concerning this worthwhile project. Your efforts have helped to make the UBBDev Haxxor Team grow faster and stronger than anticipated. We at UBBDev's encourage and challenge everyone to help make a difference in this fight against cancer. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the active participants of the UD project.
