Profile: Robyn L. Brown

Personal background
From: Upstate New York (near Albany).
Age: I'm a girl. Don't ask. I'll lie. :)
Hobbies: Building and modding computers, drumming, photography, occultism and magick.

What I love: birds, especially parrots, of which I have 3 right now. Growing orchids, the more exotic the better. Star Trek (except the original series). Sci-fi books and movies. Vampire fiction... well, and fact, if I could find any. Music. Summer storms. Electronic/digital gadgets!

What I don't love: movies that rely too much on digital (the new Star Wars movies were like Toy Story on meth). People who litter and pollute. George Bush. Hypocrites. Religious fanatics. Ice storms.
Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home
1. Why do you run SETI@home?

Well, I'm not sure I will anymore, since BOINC. I'm waiting on something better, perhaps.... But until that came along, I ran SETI because I wanted to be part of the greatest super computer that ever was (i.e., the combined power of all participants' computers). I thought it was really beautiful that so many people joined together in a common vision and project. And yes, for the purpose of finding Life Out There. It also seemed like a wonderful possibility that SETI@home might find other celestial phenomena, planets and so forth.

2. What are your views about the project?

I protest the new software as of December 2005. It's not as user-friendly or "slick" as the Classic version, thereby missing the point of being all-inclusive for member participation. If a project wants as many volunteers as possible, up to and including my 80-year-old grandmother, for instance, then my 80-year-old grandmother should be able to run the program. But alas, humans are not logical.

The project itself - the search for other life - I have always supported. But I question whether or not any alien life we might come into contact with would be "friendly". If you look around yourself at Nature, life tends to almost always be either predatory or parasitic. Humans are both in their relation to the environment and other life. We consider ourselves "advanced" even while we kill other lifeforms here and wreck the ecosystem. Then we hope to find "other advanced life" out there? The possibilities make me shudder.

Any suggestions?

Simplify that cursed software! This should be fun again!
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