Hi
My name is Will and I live in Cambridge, England. I've been using SETI for quite a while now, since about 1998 I think. I'm currently running SETI on a couple of machines; a PIII 1GHz Laptop, a Dual PIII 980MHz workstation, a PIII 800MHz Server, a P4 1.8GHz and P4 2GHz (1.8GHz overclocked) computer. Although I first ran SETI on a single Apple Powermac 8100 when I started!
I'm 26 years old (born December 2nd, 1975) - I studied BSc MediaLab Arts[/b] at Plymouth University for 4years, and I'm now Studying MSc in Digital Futures[/b] part time also at Plymouth University (England), whilst working in London.
I'm not just a student though, I'm a full-time web designer and developer. After University I worked for Icon Medialab, a Swedish Digital Communications Consultantancy for 2 years. Whilst at Icon I spent 2months in Dublin, a short while in Germany and 3 months in New York. After I left Icon in December 2000 and travelled to Australia and Singapore for 2months.
I'm now back in the UK contracting for a Japanese Investment Bank called Nomura working on corporate intranets.
For more information check out my website: willster.net. |
1. Yes of course
there's life out there, if there's life on this little blue-green planet why shouldn't
there be life on others? Perhaps they won't have skateboards or walkmans, but
there is life out there for sure.
Who knows when we'll discover it, today, tomorrow, next week... never! The Universe
is a big place, 'mind bogglingly big' as someone once said.
The only dangers I could foresee of life other than our own is our reaction
to it. We have trouble getting along just by ourselves, who knows what would
happen if we discovered alien life from another planet.
2. Absolutely we
should transmit data, but what exactly we transmitt doesn't really matter (the key is to make contact surely?). I think imagery is always
the best method. Look at the Egyptians, we're still able to decipher their language
4000 years later, I don't think we should try to transmit binary or written
word. I mean, I can't read or understand much french - but show me a picture
of the Eiffel Tower and I'll instantly recognise it. Similarly I think imagery is more expressive of the human race, we're a very 'visual' species.
3.I started to use SETI@Home because it was something that really interested me - alien life, networked computers forming a mind-hive, cooperation and advancement etc.
Nowadays I don't really think about SETI - it's just my screensaver because it looks nice! Although What I like about the SETI screensaver above all others is that whilst it's on my computer it's doing something interesting, and I think more than anything else this makes it worthwhile. |
