The PS3's distributed computing program Folding@home has been adding some major muscle to Stanford University's research capability, and that makes it the first game system to actually do some good in the world. Things tend to get a bit boring with all of that number crunching, so Sony has added a musical feature in the latest FAH client version.

Packed within the new PS3 version 2.1 update is this new client, which adds a background music player. There are now musical "channels" that are automatically populated with music from your hard disk. Just select one (Dramatic, Energetic, Calm, and so on) and music begins playing.

A few other non-musical features have been added in the update, including auto-shutdown timers and settings.

Did you know that there's a Destructoid Folding group? Join #55789 do your part.

[Via PlayStation.Blog] 

Legacy Comments (will be imported soon)

ShadowXOR

Unicorn

i'm still unclear about what FAH is exactly. can someone inform me?

shipero

So do people actually sit there and watch folding@home? I just turn it on and go do something else.

Cheeburga

Finally! I CAN LISTEN TO DRAGONFORCE WHILE I CURE CANCER.

THROUGH THE FIRE AND THE AIDS WE CARRY ONNNNNN

TurboHyperFighting

Cheeburga wins. We go home now.

Leathersoup

I wonder what sort of warranty Sony provides for PS3s that get cooked out from using FAH?

Bricfa

@ leathersoup

a One year limited warranty?

Dodgyc

The title made me wonder: where does Superman put his iPod when he's flying around?

Samit Sarkar

Hm...this is pretty useless for me — I run F@H all the time (that is, when I’m not using my PS3 for gaming, listening to music, etc.), and I just kinda open the client, shut off my TV, and go do something else.

And for those of you who aren’t sure what Folding@home is or how it works (Unicorn, Leathersoup), check out blog entry from a few weeks back explaining the whole deal. By the way, here’s an update...in less than ten minutes, I will have completed my 657th work unit!

Taicho

@Leathersoup: They don't break. In fact, they will kill other consoles to survive.

Bob Muir

Wow, this update is essential.

Fading Star

Sweet. We must save the world so that we can conquer it!

BigStu

@Dodgyc
"The title made me wonder: where does Superman put his iPod when he's flying around?"

Your comment got me to sign up this site. Wow.