Cool stuff: Apple just released the Octacore Mac (dual quad-core). As expected, the performance numbers are outstanding: On an eight-core Mac Pro, you can expect your PyMOL images and movies to render about 7X faster than on an equivalent a single core machine. But if you also consider how much more powerful each one of those cores is compared to an old G4, G5, or Pentium, then you could easily see a 10X or greater improvement in rendering speed versus your existing setup. This is the computer I have been waiting for! Every PyMOL-oriented lab or company should consider investing in one of these systems as a "workhorse" rendering station, especially since eight cores looks like it is going to be a sweet spot in terms of price, performance, convenience, and power-consumption. By the way, in case you haven't heard the news: there is no need to choose operating systems anymore! Thanks to Parallels Desktop, you can also simultaneously run Windows or Linux as a guest OS on a Mac Pro with native performance and 100% compatibility with Window-based Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, Internet Explorer, Windows Media, and so forth. Nowadays, it is all about the hardware. My current laptop has Windows, Mac OS X, Linux/FC6, and X11 all running together simultaneously on one screen. Wow. Recent enhancements to (Mac)PyMOL for multicore systems include parallel geometry builds for scenes with multiple objects and for objects with multiple states. Those tweaks can really help with those complex structure morphing movies! By the way, If you are proximal to the NIH Campus in Bethesda, MD: One week from today, Apple is hosting an event at which I will be giving a short high-level overview of PyMOL. Details below, and a PDF invitiation can be found at http://delsci.com/misc/mol_mod_inv.pdf Non-NIH-affiliated outsiders are quite welcome, but please register ahead of time! I hope to see you there. Cheers, Warren L. DeLano, Ph.D. DeLano Scientific LLC
Molecular Modeling, Computational Chemistry, and Pathway Analysis on a Mac You're invited to a series of presentations highlighting applications in Molecular Modeling, Computational Chemistry and Biological System Modeling and Pathway Analysis which make the best use of Apple technologies. Agenda: - Introduction to Apple solutions for scientific visualization. - Viewing and sharing molecular structures using PyMol. Topics include: generating publication-quality molecular images, rendering photo-realistic animations, and delivering interactive presentations. - Visualization and analysis of protein active sites with molecular surfaces, contact statistics and electrostatic maps using MOE by Chemical Computing Group. - Case studies in molecular biology, toxicology, and biomarker research using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. Presenters: - Elizabeth Kerr, Ph.D., Director of Science and Technology Marketing, Apple Inc. - Warren Delano, Ph.D., Delano Scientific - Suzanne Schreyer, Ph.D., Chemical Computing Group - Deborah Riley, Ph.D, Ingenuity Systems Date/Location: - April 12, 10:00 - 12:00 - NIH Campus, Natcher Conference Center (Bldg. 45), Balcony B - NIH Campus map: http://dtts.ors.od.nih.gov/visitor_access_map.htm Guests from NIH, please register here: http://training.cit.nih.gov/coursepicfull.asp?cnumber=939 <BLOCKED::http://training.cit.nih.gov/coursepicfull.asp?cnumber=939&term=07G > &term=07G Other guests, please email sciencer...@apple.com <BLOCKED::mailto:sciencer...@apple.com> with the following information: Subject: NIH Seminar, April 12 Name of attendee: Title: Institution/Company: Email address:
