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| Personal background |
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I'm a physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) where I currently work in the Computing Division's Computing and Communications Fabric Department. I do new technology assements and support the computers and operating systems used to support network services (such as the DNS services). I'm responsible for the operating system system, another group handles the actual network operations (routers, switches, DNS, etc), so I am a support person for this group. In the past I have lead groups in the Computing Division that support the CDF and D0 experiments central computing systems, supported the VMS (later OpenVMS) systems and the Special Projects Group (way back when). I started at the laboratory, after getting my PhD from CalTech, in the (then) Accelerator Division Controls group where I had a large part in the design and implement of the ACNET control system for the accelerator complex. From there I went to the (then) Research Division and assisted in the design and construction of EPICURE, a new unified control system for the external beam lines.
I am a computing expert (past VMS Wizard) using Windows and Linux. I am an avid reader of science fiction, fantasy, techno-thrillers, non-fiction, etc. I am attempting to cause my apartment to collapse into the downstairs apartment due to the number of books I have. They also increase the R-value insulation of the walls quite handily. |
| Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home |
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The universe is so big and complex, I find it hard to believe other intelligent beings are not present. I believe that finding evidence of extraterrestrial life would profound change human civilization and (hopefully) improve our collective outlook upon the universe. The benefits will be mostly philosophical, or so I believe. As for the danger, well the small minds will panic...
I don't think we should transmit a beacon at this time. One problem with our current search method is our concentration on the "water hole" area of the radio spectrum. For instance, would another civilization using a similar technique be able to discover the Earth (via its un-intended emissions) even if nearby?
I run SETI@home on my home computer (Macintosh 7500 with 800 MHz G4 processor), my work desktop (IBM ThinkPad running Windows NT), future desktop (Dell GX150 running Windows 2000) and my office Linux system (old Micron dual CPU, 180 MHz processors).
I have a very positive view of the project and am looking forward to the Open Source toolkit being released and the technology incorporated into other distributed supercomputing projects (protein folding, climate modelling, etc). I hope to someday see the SETI@home technology used in my field of high energy physics as well. |
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