| Personal background |
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I'm an agronomist turned computer enthusiast by GNU/Linux, and now a Network Admin. A friend of mine told me about seti@home back when the project was taking off and I found the idea fascinating. He also mentioned somethig called Linux, and I was hooked (back in the Windows 95 days, when your Windows PC borked at least a couple of times a day if you taxed it). Today? GNU/Linux is safer, graphically more impressive, easier to install, easier to maintain, and a whole lot more flexible (not to mention free, and as an added bonus, completely legal; no BSA audits) than anything Microsoft has to offer (No, I'm not a Free Software Zealot, nor do I "Hate" Microsoft... I'm just not that interested or excited by what MS has to offer).
Age: 37
Occupation: Translator / Computer Network Administrator (never mind agronomy)
Hobbies: Computers, convincing people to switch to GNU/Linux, Science Fiction Books, RPG's (any one will do... Except Skyrealms of Jorune, in which I've been way too unlucky).
I have worked with most of the major GNU/Linux distributions, with the exception of Slackware and Gentoo (and their dependant distros). I currently run Ubuntu 8.04 (mostly because I don't have the time to set up everything and keepit running smoothly on Debian). |
| Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home |
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Why do I run seti@home? For several reasons (in no particular order of importance):
- I can tell my friends that I'm looking for aliens (the look on their faces is priceless)
- The whole issue of extraterrestrial life is very interesting for me... Particularly since I read "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan, and in the book he explained Drake's equation... Carl's Sagan's rough estimate of "10" really stuck in my mind
- Seti@home is a science project that isn't likely to directly benefit any corporations or private interest groups, and in which I can help without having a profound knowledge of astronomy, computer science, or by virtue of being able to fund such research.
- It makes me feel better that I'm not "wasting" my PC's resources while I work.
The whole seti@home idea that morphed into BOINC, is one of the smarter ideas that have come from the computer science area. All in the Carl Sagan spirit... The common person is far smarter than he or she is credited for; and has far wider ranging subjects of interest. |
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