SETI@home needs help

**Skeptical** · Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 8:48 am Post subject: SETI@home needs help

Just thought I would pass along this e-mail from SETI@home. I used to have this as my screensaver but a lot of businesses don't allow you to use their resources for such purposes anymore.

The SETI@home team has achieved much progress in the past year. We
have
successfully started the next phase of SETI@home by distributing data
recorded
with the new seven beam data recorder. This data is being analyzed
with a new
"Multi-beam" version of SETI@home, which was released in July. With
the new
data recorder, we are looking at seven places in the sky simultaneously
while
recording fourteen times as much data as before. This means we need
more
volunteers like you to help us process this data. So please, tell a
friend
about SETI@home.

But there is still far more to be done. Although we are pleased with
the
success of last winter's funding drive, and grateful for the generosity
of our
donors, we are still operating with minimal funds. These budget
constraints
have forced us down to less than 3 full time employees. With more
funds we
hope to hire an additional person to maintain the servers and web site.
This
would free our existing employees to work on a method of sifting
through the
results returned by your computers in order to identify candidates more
rapidly so we can re-observe them. This rapid response validation
system would
also give you the ability to see the results your computers have
returned in
more detail.

To keep SETI@home operating for the next year, and to provide these new
capabilities, we will need to raise approximately $476,000. Currently
SETI@home is entirely funded by donations from people like you.

We hope that you will consider making a donation to SETI@home at this
time.
You can make a secure donation by credit card by clicking on the link
at the
top of this e-mail. Instructions for donation by check or money order
are
there as well. Unless you specify otherwise, your donation will be
noted by a
star icon next to your username on the SETI@home pages and your
username will
appear on our list of donors. If you do not wish to have this
recognition you
may indicate that as well. Please be assured that regardless of whether
or not
you choose to have your donation be anonymous, SETI@home will not share
your
address with other organizations.

You can check on our fundraising progress by visiting our main site at
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu.

Thank You,

Charles H. Townes
(Nobel Laureate, Inventor of the Laser and Optical SETI Pioneer)
Dan Werthimer
(Chief Scientist, SETI@home)

For more information about how to donate see:
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/sah_donate.php
_________________
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." -- Thomas Jefferson

graylien · Joined: 01 Oct 2007 Posts: 174 Location: UK

Yeah, I got one of those in my inbox recently as well. SETI are always sending out begging letters. I was thinking of re-installing SETI @ Home but I went for The World Community Grid instead, as I think the need to find a cure for cancer and Aids is far more pressing than the need to listen for aliens.

(Yeah, I know - if we establish contact with aliens they'll probably hand us the cures for cancer and Aids on a plate along with the secret of free energy and the elixir of life. Hell, they'll probably even throw in a free lollipop too. Meanwhile, back in the real world...)
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Gef - the Eighth Wonder of the World

**Carol Nistri** · Joined: 16 Jun 2007 Posts: 3352

I dont believe aliens are here for any other reason except there own,there not here to help,except help themselves,there not here out of compassion for the human race there just here.

**dr wu23** · Joined: 24 Jun 2007 Posts: 2297 Location: Indiana

Will Sheephogan · Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Posts: 624 Location: Pahrump Nevada

Carol, can you tell me which "Aliens" you are talking about specifically? (So I can stay away from them)
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SOMNIUM MENS est IANUA ut INFINITIO

**TheScamDetective** · Joined: 15 Jun 2007 Posts: 1351 Location: California

Carol
On the other hand, if they mean us any harm, they have had plenty of time to wreak havoc on us.
We are more in harms way from our politicians than from any ET's!!!
Do you personally feel threatened by ET's???
_________________
"It's our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
Dumbledore
to Harry Potter

**Carol Nistri** · Joined: 16 Jun 2007 Posts: 3352

no I dont feel the least bit threatend,but we have seen ufos,Im certain of that.That means theres something in our skies that no one claims as there own.Not the U.S. not Russia,nor any other country.Those ufos are either probes or there intelligently controlled. Those intelligently controlled craft have found us,I dont know how long theve known of our existance but they have now found planet Earth. They have come here,they may very well still be here.For what purpose? If theres any planet that could be studied from afar its earth.You dont have to zero in on a given area and start digging in hopes of finding water,this is the water planet,you dont have to scan the earth for signs of life its teeming with life. So much life ,so many fasinating things to study and so much potential if potential is the objective of the exercise,it is with us when we go exploring.So why not set er down on the white house lawn,because they have an objective alright,but the earths inhabitants wouldnt like what they have in mind so they go about doing what they do messing with the mind of the persons chosen to the point that that person can barely function,so deft are they that the person chosen seeks all avenues for relief at what he truly believes is happening to him or her.Even coming forward and admitting who they are hasnt helped we still dont or wont believe them.I do.

**Skeptical** · Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:52 am Post subject:

These guys have been at this for years and, not only have they found no verifiable hits, I don't believe they've even found anything suspicious. This would seem to clearly indicate that, if there are indeed space-faring species, they do not communicate by broadcasting radio-waves. First, it's dog-slow and second, we have no clue how distance and radiations of various types might degrade or distort a signal. The "I Love Lucy"s broadcast in the 1950s, may have been garbled beyond comprehension before they got to Alpha Centauri.

Frankly, I don't hold a lot of hope for the long-term survival of this effort. It was a cool idea 10 years ago but, it seems to me, people have moved on.

S
_________________
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." -- Thomas Jefferson