I'm a computer programmer (Java/C++) living outside of Boston. I've been interested in astronomy since I was a wee lad.
Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home
I think that it's more than likely that there's intelligence out there (not so sure about here though).
But, I'm skeptical that this current search will find anything - Though I really hope that it does. I'm dubious of this whole "Water Hole" stuff. I'm not confident that this is the best place to be looking (I'd be intereseted to know what the clearest part of the radio spectrum would be if we were using space-based receivers).
BUT, you can't win the lottery if you don't play! So I'm real glad so many people want to play.
I'm also curious what will happen when we do find a signal (it will happen some day). I'd really like to know how organized religions would deal with the news. Just have to wait and see I guess...
SETI@home and Astropulse are funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and donations from SETI@home volunteers. AstroPulse is funded in part by the NSF through grant AST-0307956.
