Do you have a Mac? You can really help our research!

Apple's Xgrid software makes it really easy for Macintosh computers connected to the Internet to band together to create a super-computer. If you're running OS X 10.3 or beyond, it's a simple matter to become an Xgrid Agent and donate some of your idle computer time to a good cause.

Q: Will this affect my computer in any way? A little. When your computer is idle, for example at night, jobs can be sent to your computer. So your computer will use a little more electricity. Once you sit down to work, your computer's resources will be promptly returned to you. You may never notice Xgrid is running.

Q: Why should I join your Xgrid? Most computers are idle at night. This represents a huge, unused, valuable resource that can benefit a variety of endeavors. Super-computers aren't cheap. If a problem can be solved by a bunch of idle Macs acting like a super-computer, it makes good financial sense - and it's pretty darn cool. Plus, if you help us, we'll "owe you one". If you need some sequence analysis help, how can we refuse?

Q: Okay, I've decided I want to help you, where do I begin? It's really easy to connect your computer to ours. Just follow the directions below. Hey, thanks a lot.

Directions

Step 1: Checklist

The first thing to do is to check if your computer meets the minimum specifications for joining on our Xgrid. Use the "About this Mac" item from the Apple menu to check.

Ideally, your computer meets these specifications.

• Mac OS X version 10.4 or higher
• G4 or G5 processor 1 GHz or greater
• 512 MB memory or more

Step 2: System Preferences

Select System Preferences from the Apple menu.

Click on Sharing.

Step 3: Configuring Xgrid

Highlight Xgrid. Don't click the checkbox. Now click on the Configure button.

Fill out the form as shown. The full name you can't see is spitfire.genomecenter.ucdavis.edu. Click OK when done.

You may get a dialog box with a security warning like this. Since you are only allowing Xgrid services from a specific controller, this is not a concern.

Step 4: Starting and Stopping Xgrid

Click on the Start button. You should now see a check in the Xgrid service. You can turn on/off Xgrid with this checkbox at any time.

That was it, you're done!