I am a typical middle age engineer. My favorite "toys" are computers and hi-end stereo equipment.
Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home
I think that the chance of finding intelligent life out there in my lifetime is very small. The chance of finding it if we don't look is zero. If we actually find anything, it will be the biggest discovery ever.
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.