To avoid suspicion, I am running S@H on a couple of low-power laptops.

My earthly persona is as an analyst, working on the direction of 3G communications. Sigh, it used to be such a sexy job.
BTW: Real programmers can write assembler in powerpoint.

We are always on the verge of something on this planet - isn't that exciting?!

I like Frank Drake's Equation(http://www.ibiblio.org/astrobiology/index.php?page=origin09), which I first heard from one of the Aricebo scientists at an Australian Computer Society lecture in the 70's. I also like the "Awful waste of space" soundbyte of Uncle Carl's "Contact".

I decided at an early age that I was an agnostic. Maybe that's avoiding some issue, but it's a way of maintaining faith while excluding prescribed religion and still allowing room for a little science.

As a child I was fascinated by cosmology (via Time-Life books). I must have been 9 when I first thought of the paradox that I can't imagine anything being infinite, but I can't imagine a finite universe hanging in... what? I have long adored science fiction from both the nerdy techie side (e.g. Asimov) to the situational analysis side (e.g. Aldiss).

The internet is a wonderful thing. Of course it has its dangers - giving voice to crackpots and weirdos could light the fuse of global catastrophe, and I don't read books for research anywhere near the amount I used to - instead I just scan for relevant material within the public (and subscribed) internet. But as they say, travel broadens the mind, and the web is a way of travelling.

The concept of SETI is one of those gems, and is brilliantly implemented. Proud to be a part of it.

I wouldn't mind if someone found an alien (& told us), though!