SETI and SETI@home

[Edward64]

Thought I would start contributing to the cause. Downloaded the BOINC application and started a project for seti@home.
SETI@home (http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/index.php)

I've got 2 tasks running, approx 7% progress. I guess I feel good about contributing my cpu power.

Anyone else helping out and is this all there is? Do I get to see a eureka moment if my cpu helps to identify an anomaly? Are there any fancy star charts that tells me from which star my cpu is helping process radio waves from? I guess my real question is what the heck is my cpu power being used, does it really make a difference or is this all a gimmick?

[JediKooter]

I remember back in the late 90s (maybe mid 90s) when this thing kicked off and if I remember correctly, if your machine found something, it would get some kind of credit. Of course, computers have much faster processors now and they probably don't need as many people doing, but I could be wrong. Good luck, can't wait to hear about your 'WOW' moment. ;)

[Pumpy Tudors]

I ran this for a while about 12 years ago. I was wondering if this was still around, but I never bothered to look it up.

[sterlingice]

I used to do this for a pretty long time. However, I dropped it a year or two after they switched to BOINC. It seems to just chew away resources in the background, even when the screen saver wasn't on.

SI

[DanGarion]

If you want your computer to make money for you, do what I do and just run Gomez Peer.

Gomez Peer (https://www.gomezpeerzone.com/Apply.aspx?Referrer=DanGarion)

I make about 3-8 bucks a month, $54 total, not bad considering I keep my computer on all the time anyway, might as well let it try to pay for the power it's using...

[Edward64]

Its chunking on tasks #3 and #4 now. I think they need to create something to provide more of a meaningful feedback somehow.

Reading through the forums and I understand my computation is just one piece of a bigger whole but any meaningful results that can be communicated back is better than a bunch of meaningless numbers/barcharts.

[CraigSca]

If you want your computer to make money for you, do what I do and just run Gomez Peer.

Gomez Peer (https://www.gomezpeerzone.com/Apply.aspx?Referrer=DanGarion)

I make about 3-8 bucks a month, $54 total, not bad considering I keep my computer on all the time anyway, might as well let it try to pay for the power it's using...

Yeah, but don't PCs go into sleep mode and therefore use less power when not being utilized?

I have always found this juxtaposition amusing - use the compute power for something "good" (but burn fossil fuels and spend $$$) vs. putting your PC in sleep mode and going green.

[CrimsonFox]

About ten years ago I was a computer consultant and heard a story of a guy that installed SETI on their work servers. Then the bosses started wondering why everything was so slow...and of course, he was fired :)

[DanGarion]

Yeah, but don't PCs go into sleep mode and therefore use less power when not being utilized?

I have always found this juxtaposition amusing - use the compute power for something "good" (but burn fossil fuels and spend $$$) vs. putting your PC in sleep mode and going green.

They can if you want them too, but I've found too many issues with sleep mode in the past, and if you are already running a server or need to leave your computer on for remote access, etc, might as well let it do something.