I'm from Long Island and have been interested in space travel for most of my life. I'm sure they are "out there", but "out there" is a very big place... I hope that in my lifetime we finally receive a clear signal that we are not alone.
Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home
I feel certain that extraterristal life must exist. It just doesn't make sense that it would happen only once in this big universe. Eventually, we will receive evidence and it probably will be by the SETI group.
I have read all the ideas about how contact with an advanced culture would stifle our individualism and don't believe it. I think contact can only provide benefit to us by showing us that a culture can become mature -- something that's desparately needed here on Earth. I also think setting up a beacon is a great idea. It would announce to the universe that "we are here" and that we want someone out there to know it and contact us. I think the act of setting up a beacon is an act of optimisim. It shows that we believe in the future of our race, that we will solve our problems and that eventually we will take our place in the universe as the natural explorers we have always been.
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.