Google.com and Stanford University

Google Compute
"Google would like to request your help with Google Compute, a new feature for the Google Toolbar. By turning on this feature, you enable your computer to work on complex problems when it would otherwise be idle. The work it does is automatically sent via the Internet to researchers who combine it with information sent by thousands of other users.

The first beneficiary of this effort is Folding@home, a non-profit research project at Stanford University that is trying to understand the structure of proteins so they can develop better treatments for a number of illnesses. In the future Google Compute may allow you to donate your computing time to other worthwhile endeavors, including projects to improve Google and its services.

The Google Compute feature of the Google Toolbar shouldn't affect your regular computing activities and you can easily disable it at any time for any reason. "

Google's Compute Program

If I was the NSA, I'd take advantage of this distributed computing and slip in a code-breaking application in the background. You never know what the software really does, because places like the Seti project refuse to publish the source code.