***Introduction to SETI@home***

There has been some welcomed, renewed interest in the ATS SETI@home board recently and it has been suggested by others that I produce an Introduction to WHAT SETI@home is, WHAT it does and something about HOW to get involved in this programme.

As visitors to this board all appear to have an interest in UFO's � and by definition ET � why not get involved in reseach that *could* provide proof of ET yourself?

Hopefully, the following may help you reach a decision about doing this!! We all look forward to seeing you join!

First, WHAT is SETI@home? The web site download page says:

"The SETI@home program is a special kind of screensaver. Like other screensavers it starts up when you leave your computer unattended, and it shuts down as soon as you return to work. What it does in the interim is unique. While you are getting coffee, or having lunch or sleeping, your computer will be helping the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence by analyzing data specially captured by the world's largest radio telescope."

However, you can also configure SETI@home to run constantly, rather than as a screensaver only. This will produce more WU's (work units) over time. The time it takes to complete one WU depends on your machine's spec: for example, when I *first* joined SETI@home, I had a P3 233Mhz machine with 128Mb RAM, which took about 35 hours to process one WU when it ran constantly. Presently I use two machines, P4 2Ghz and 2.6Ghz with 256 and 512 MbRAM respectively, which means I complete about 10+ WU's per day (I also have cable modem, so downloading the next WU is "automatic"). IF all this appeals, then:

You need to download SETI@home

Then, chose your OS: Windows, Mac, UNIX are supported. File size is around 800kB, so shouldn't take too long to download, even with a 56K modem DUN.

Configure SETI@home - very simple options, such as when SETI can run ie as screensaver or continuously, how your machine connects ("Always on" or "Ask" (for DUN)) etc. There is provision to set a proxy server too.

START cracking those WU's!!

Then you can contribute, if you wish to, to
ATS SETI@home team

or simply "click" on the signature below...

and submit those WU's to help *your* team � the ATS SETI@home team - discover ET!!

Currently, the team is showing 208 members, although some of these appear to be inactive. Obviously, more people joining would enable our statistics to grow more rapidly. As I write, we've managed to �number-crunch� nearly 55 500 WU's between us already, although more would be welcomed!!

I know from some discussions on the team board that some people are concerned that SETI@home might contain some elements that �report� back on our surfing activities and therefore chose not to install and run it. Obviously, we all respect that decison. However, all I can say to this, is that I've run SETI@home since July 2001 and can honestly say that I've not suffered any sort of �open� surveillance from MIB's, black helicopters, �greys� or the like. Spyware software doesn't report anything sinister either so I'm as confident as I can be that there is nothing to fear from SETI@home.

I hope this helps answer some of your questions - please ask if you'd like more information and I'm sure somebody on the ATS SETI@home team board will know the answer!!

Thank you all for your time in reading this rather large post.

G ;^))

[Edited on 8-1-2004 by Genya]