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| What is SETI@Home? |
| SETI@home is a scientific experiment that uses Internet-connected computers in
the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). You can participate by running
a free program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data. |
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| Here at UGN Security we help you do your part by creating our SETI@home Group to
combine the efforts of like-minded individuals. Helpware for the Cybercommunity joins
in the spirit of discovery. Where will you be on the day we make contact? |
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| Most of the SETI programs in existence today, including those at the University of
California-Berkeley build large computers that analyze electronic data from the telescope
at Arecibo in real time. None of these computers look very deeply at the data for weak
signals nor do they look for a large class of signal types. The reason for this is because
they are limited by the amount of computer power available for data analysis. To tease out
the weakest signals, a great amount of computer power is necessary. It would take a
monstrous supercomputer to get the job done. |
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| SETI programs could never afford to build or buy that computing power. There is a trade-off
that they can make. Rather than a huge computer to do the job, they could use a smaller computer
but just take longer to do it. But then there would be lots of data piling up. What if they used
LOTS of small computers, all working simultaneously on different parts of the analysis? Where can
the SETI team possibly find thousands of computers they'd need to analyze the data continuously
streaming from Arecibo? |
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| The UC Berkeley SETI team has discovered that there are already thousands of computers that
might be available for use. Most of these computers sit around most of the time with toasters
flying across their screens accomplishing absolutely nothing and wasting electricity to boot. This
is where SETI@home (and you!) come into the picture. The SETI@home project hopes to convince you
to allow them to borrow your computer when you aren't using it and to help them "...search out new
life and new civilizations." They do this with a screen saver that can go get a chunk of data over
the internet, analyze that data, and then report the results back to them. When you need your
computer back, their screen saver instantly gets out of the way and only continues it's analysis
when you are finished with your work. |
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| Join the UGN Security SETI@Home team! |
| Start by creating a BOINC account
and then download, install, and run the BOINC software
from Berkeley. This is a small and fast download and is a well-behaved program; not to mention it makes a
decent screen-saver application |
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| On startup of the BOINC software you will recieve a popup that asks what project you would like to join;
upon signing up for your account you will recieve an email which includes the SETI Project ID and your account
ID; you will enter the URL to SETI into the "Project" box and your user ID will be what is supplied in the email
(all information needed will be in your email from SETI). |
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| How to Join |
| Once you're set up and have completed at least one unit of processing, you can
join the UGN Security SETI@home Group and
track your statistics on demand at the
UGN Security SETI@home Group stats page. Just click on the links at the top of this page. Statistics are updated daily. |
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| Welcome to UGN Security @SETI |
| We would like to welcome you to the UGN Security SETI@home Group, and hope
you enjoy this unique participation in scientific discovery. If you have any questions, or need any help, please don't
hesitate to send us email, or use our comments page. |
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| System Requirements |
| For Windows systems (95/98/NT) you'll need a computer with at least 32 MB of RAM, the ability to display 8-bit
graphics in 800x600 resolution, 10 MB of disk space, and an Internet connection (dialup is AOK). For Macintosh systems
you'll need the above, as well as a PowerPC processor and Mac OS 7.5.5 or later. You can use SETI@home on a PC or
laptop that is connected only sporadically or used occasionally... the software will just pick up quietly wherever it
left off last, working in the background. |
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