Always looking at the night sky and finally bought a telescope. Just starting to learn how to use the darn thing. I am thinking about getting into astrophotography since looking at things through the eyepiece is cool, but I keep waiting for Hubble like pictures. Do you think my expectations are too high? ;-)
I am a Computer "Craftsman" (aka programmer). I don't like to use the programmer moniker though since what I provide to my clients is much more than that. To me working is code is an art and there is always something of beauty hidden in the problem you are tyring to solve. I have started two of my own companies and did a 5 year stint at Microsoft. Currrently I am working at a local (Hartford, CT) Fortune 50 starting up what we affectionately call the Strategic Development team.
I like riding my bicycle and being outdoors in general. I took a stint away from camping while I was married because my wife (now ex) wasn't wild about dirt and bugs. I am trying to figure out how to use my GPS in place of my map and compass - which is a good problem to have.
Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home
I run the SETI software because the default Windows screen saver seems like a terrible waste of electrons. I mean hear I am with a couple of idle dual proc servers which are absolutely idle. So I figured what the heck.
I was turned onto SETI by the book COSMOS by Carl Sagan. I read the book back in 1992 after seeing a couple of his television shows by the same name. Then the movie COSMOS was released which really got me excited. I re-read the book before seeing the movie (a common habit of mine - not sure if its a good one). The line "...if there's not then it seems like an awefull big waste of space" really struck me. So I started poking around the SETI site and one link led to another which eventually led me to the SETI@home site.
This interest in SETI coincided with my relatively recent interest astronomy and the eventual purchase of my own telescope - see my personal info.
I think SETI is a worthwhile endevor mainly because, how can you learn
anything if you aren't listening. Something which I live by everyday.
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.
