| Personal background |
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Hey everyone, my name is Alexander O'Dowd. I have been working on computers since I was old enough to reach the keyboard. I started with MS-DOS on a Tandy computer, moving from there to a Power Mac, and then almost exclusively PC computers. I have used Windows for a long time, and several linux distrobutions, although they were mainly Debian based.
I am 25 years old, and have had many jobs, ranging from pharmacy work, to loading cargo planes, to working in a mail room, to a testing center, to installing cable, to working technical support for members of Sams Club. I am always looking for new and exciting things to fill my time with.
I have always believed that there is life on other planets, and one day I believe we WILL find evidence. The only questions are, if we find life that is still around (given the vastness of space), or if that form of evidence will be through the current spectrum of frequencies we can monitor. Thinking of Star Trek, their communications technology may be so far ahead of ours that we may not be able to detect their signals, even if we know where to look. On the flip side, they may be newer to the galaxy than we are and, assuming they have even developed radio technology yet, they are too far away for the signals to have reached us yet.
I have used the following Windows OSs (Unless stated, personal copy):
-DOS (unknown version to 6.22)
-Windows 3.11
-Windows 98
-Windows 2000 Pro and Advanced Server (Technical School)
-Windows ME
-Windows XP Home and Pro (Personal and MSDNAA)
-Windows Vista Home Premium x64 and Ultimate x32
-Windows 7 Home Premium x64 and Ultimate x32/64
-Windows 8 x64 and Pro x64
-Windows Server 2003 Standard and Enterprise (MSDNAA)
-Windows Server 2007 Standard and Enterprise (MSDNAA)
-Windows Server 2012 Standard and DataCenter (DreamSpark (Formerly MSDNAA))
I have used the following Linux Distros:
-Ubuntu (every version since release except 13.04)
-Fedora
-Linspire (formerly Lindows, now defunct)
I have used the following Mac OSs:
-Mac OS 7
-Mac OS 8
-Mac OS X |
| Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home |
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1. I run SETI@home in the hopes that the efforts of myself and others around the world may one day find evidence of other intelligent life out in the cosmos.
2. I believe that the project has a great goal, although given that we do not know how life may have evolved on other worlds, I don't know if they use a type of signal we can't detect, or if they have even developed technology. For all we know, as far as intelligent life is concerned, aliens on another world may live in harmony with their planet like the Native Americans did before explorers from other continents came over.
3. For SETI@home itself, I have no suggestions from my end to improve it. I do have a suggestion as far as BOINC goes. Although the program can prioritize tasks itself, I have noticed it doesn't necessarily go by deadline, I also have issues when it downloads more than 1 task at a time with the connection dropping. I think the program would work better if I could tell BOINC to focus on a certain task, or change the number of active download slots. |
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