Sad news at MaximumPC

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We at MaxPC received sad news from one of our teammates, Gordon Smitheman (folding as gsmitheman). Gordon has been our Motivator in Chief for years, doing many things to draw and keep interest in our forum and folding in general, and he has acted as our Captain for the Chimp Challenge in the past.

Gordon posted late this week that his wife, Rose, has been diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer. Read more here. http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/view...?f=32&t=126023
If you wish to leave a comment on his post, I'm sure he would be touched by the sentiment.

Many people in our forum cite Gordon's posts as a reason for being drawn into and staying with folding. His one goal has been to keep people folding, no matter what team you choose.

My thanks to all of you for folding.
 

yodap

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I am saddened by this news. Please convey my thoughts and prayers to the family as my lifetime ban prevents me from doing so personally. Also let me know if I can get into the Fold-a-thon for Rose.

Be good and stay strong.
 
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I created an account and posted over on MaximumPC.

Hope to see you there Full_Taoer.
 
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I created an account and posted over on MaximumPC.

Hope to see you there Full_Taoer.
I saw you were logged in just a little bit ago as I was checking back in. The post hasn't shown up yet, but it should once the moderators OK it. They only have to do that for the first post to help reduce spam. Welcome!

I am saddened by this news. Please convey my thoughts and prayers to the family as my lifetime ban prevents me from doing so personally. Also let me know if I can get into the Fold-a-thon for Rose.

Be good and stay strong.
If you wish to fold in tribute to Rose, you would be most welcomed to do so. Just use the following:

Username: Rose
* case-sensitive

Team #: 11108

yodap, I'll send you a PM with a passkey we are currently trying to get qualified if you want to do SMP folding.
 

draceena

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Truly sad news, please convery my well wishes to thoes affected....makes me wish I had a huge farm of computers to Fold like crazy for her.
 
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I'm not complaining, just curious.
I posted my 3rd post and it still said must be moderator approved?
In the rules page for folding it says and I was wondering why;
2) You should not be actively folding for any other team. (100% of your controlled folding hardware should fold for team 11108) If for some reason, you do have machines on another team, please pm Satchboy to discuss the situation. A quick pm, to explain the circumstances may be all it takes.

I am up and running 1 rig in Rose's name now and after tzc can add 2 servers.
 

yodap

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Don't get marked as spam or you might get the permanent ban.:eek: I got it after 1 post.

Maybe someday in some way they will figure out the big picture. Folders tend to stick together and help each other.

In my mind I'm folding for Rose and her family, not there team.
 
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I'm not complaining, just curious.
I posted my 3rd post and it still said must be moderator approved?
In the rules page for folding it says and I was wondering why;
2) You should not be actively folding for any other team. (100% of your controlled folding hardware should fold for team 11108) If for some reason, you do have machines on another team, please pm Satchboy to discuss the situation. A quick pm, to explain the circumstances may be all it takes.

I am up and running 1 rig in Rose's name now and after tzc can add 2 servers.
Sorry about that, Tanner2. If I could do anything to expidite the process, I would. The mod for the folding forum probably hasn't checked in to OK the posts from first-timers. That process was put in place after a rash of spam posts earlier this year. Once your first post is approved, subsequent ones shouldn't need to go through moderation.

BTW, I think the quote from the rules pages is regarding access to the team-only sections of our forum, not the public part where the Rose post is.

*edit* the mod has OK'd your posts. They are showing now. :)
 
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yodap

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It certainly is heart warming to see what's happening over there. A 570,000 point update at noon. Fantastic job from all.:beer:
 
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I like how folding breaks the barrier between some teams and we become one in a cause.( not implieing anything )
We even received help from a person from slickdeals. A small team but all nice people.
Folding for Rose for me makes me feel that I'm helping more for some reason.
 
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We are probably less than a day away from getting Rose to 10 million.

I just want to say thanks to everyone who folded for Rose or left a kind word.

Your generosity is wonderful!
 

yodap

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Great stuff! :top::top::top::top:

I was able to contribute 33 to 35k ppd for the first 10 days or so. I am going to continue to donate about 7k ppd for the foreseeable future.

God bless the Smitheman family.
 
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Thanks for helping spread the news of Gordon's passing.

I am inspired by what Gordon once did. At MaximumPC I occasionally make posts taking notice of fellow teammate's accomplishments, something Gordon initiated years ago, only he did so on a much grander scale. A number of our folders have said he was the reason they began folding to begin with after stumbling into our forum, or he was the reason they continued after trying it and getting a warm welcome when Gordon noticed a new member in the EOC stats.

His contributions to folding far exceed the points he generated with his computers. He is missed greatly.
 
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A final word, so please pardon my interruption (TL/DR version at the bottom of the post):

We at MaximumPC are still mourning the losses of our teammate, Gordon Smitheman, and his wife, Rose.
For those who did not know him, Gordon spent countless hours drumming up enthusiasm about folding.
He did so not only in our forum, but also visiting other teams to congratulate them on their achievements.
The folding he encouraged out of others far exceeded that which he was capable of himself.

Our representative on the Donor Advisory Board, Michael McCord MD, has proposed a memorial
to Gordon and Rose as Global Ambassadors of the F@H project.
Dr. Vijay Pande has given his full approval.

This memorial is a fund established to purchase a server for Stanford University's Folding@home project.
Donations from US taxpayers will be tax deductible, since Stanford is a 501c3 non-profit organization.
The server, which will have an address similar to gordonandrosesmitheman.stanford.edu, will assign WUs to donors.
We believe Gordon would be pleased we are paying tribute to him with something that benefits all folders.

This is a means for our team to pay respect to someone who gave so much of his self to our team and folding.
We are not asking anyone from other teams to donate, but merely extending the opportunity to those that wish to.
This is ENTIRELY voluntary.

According to Dr. Pande:
Generally, [servers cost] about $10K, but I'm happy to pitch in funds here to bring us
up to that level in case it doesn't get there. The generosity and meaning of
this is important to me too.

Dr. Pande provided details on how to donate to this fund:
As with all donations to FAH, here are a few reminders:

1) They must go through Stanford (please do not send me personal checks, etc).
For credit cards, one could go to this link
https://pgnet.stanford.edu/give/hom...75&stp=86&gdso=5&tgso=6&cturl=close&olc=10266

2) Please designate that this is for the "Folding@Home Computing Project Gift Fund".
If one uses the link above, that should happen automatically (but it never hurts to be clear).

3) If one does the above, the gift should be tax deductible (at least in the US),
since Stanford is a 501c3 non-profit.

Here is the Q+A for giving to Stanford:

http://giving.stanford.edu/get/layout/g2s/GenQDetails#HowCanIGive

REMEMBER to put "Folding@Home Computing Project Gift Fund" on the memo line
or note it online if giving by credit card.
If anyone has further questions, they may contact Dr. McCord at MaximumPC
http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=26849
or Dr. Pande at Stanford University. Please be aware Dr. Pande is dealing with
a family illness at this time and the preference would be to contact Dr. McCord.


TL/DR Version
What: Memorial fund in Gordon & Rose Smitheman's name to purchase a server for Stanford University
Participation: ENTIRELY voluntary
Benefit for you: Tax deductible donation to non-profit organization
Benefit for folding: Another server to assign WUs to F@H donors
Donate by check: Send to Stanford University with "Folding@Home Computing Project Gift Fund" on the memo line
Donate by credit card: https://pgnet.stanford.edu/give/hom...75&stp=86&gdso=5&tgso=6&cturl=close&olc=10266
Stanford Donation FAQ: http://giving.stanford.edu/get/layout/g2s/GenQDetails#HowCanIGive
 
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DONATION STATUS UPDATE
Maximum PC's Donor Advisory Board member posted this in our forum late this afternoon:
Michael McCord MD said:
Received word from Dr. Pande today that as of the last 5 weeks we have globally raised a Grand Total of $33,302.89!!!!!

THIS IS INCREDIBLE

THANKS TO EVERYONE

G WOULD BE PLEASED AND HUMBLED
We don't know how much was MaxPC's donations and how much was from other teams, nor does it matter. It was all from one big folding team.
AWESOME! From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!
 
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yodap

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That's fantastic news about the fund. Thanks for the update.
 
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The polls are open!
Thanks to the very generous donations to the F@H server fund in Gordon Smitheman's memory, Dr. Pande is purchasing 2 servers for the project.
As mentioned before, they will be dedicated to issuing and receiving work units for folders everywhere.
Dr. Pande is allowing us to name the server addresses.
We at MaximumPC held nominations for server name options, but would like to extend an invitation to the final voting for the server addresses.
One will be named in honor of Gordon, the second will be named in honor of his beloved wife, Rose, who preceded him in death by only a couple of months.
There are two poll threads and both will be open until noon on April 20th. Links (or URLs) are below.

The Gordon Poll: http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=137918
The Rose Poll: http://www.maximumpc.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=137919
 

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