Seti@Home Needs You

I was one of the first folks that jumped on the Seti@home bandwagon many years ago.  Since then, I've moved, changed computers (and operating systems) several times.  I even lost my original account and had to create a new one.  But I've always found time on my computer to throw them a few cycles.

Today, I cruised over to IUseThis to check my list of used apps.  I was horrified to see that 11,639 users are listed for Adium, a Macintosh-only chat program, and only 116 for BOINC, the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing, the core component of Seti@home.  With it, you can run more than Seti, you can contribute cycles to FightAIDS@home, Einstein@home, and other projects.  

Now, call me crazy ("OK, you're crazy!"), but it's ridiculous that we can all find the time to chat, but we can't volunteer a few processor cycles to a good cause.  And right now Seti needs all the support it can get, as Congress tries to cut the funding for the Arecibo telescope, the main source of raw data for the Seti project.

If that makes you feel a bit bad, then good.  Here's how you get rid of that feeling:  Hop on over to Berkeley's site and get started doing something that might change the world.  Like Steve Jobs once said to John Scully, "Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life or do you want to change the world?"  Your choice.