Who the hell died and made you king?

[Politically Incorrect]

"Fox": You mention that SETI can't act as a server and can only go in and get data and then return it.

What data?
And how do you know that is all that is happening? Because they tell you so?

I don't understand what "data" anyones home computer (or office) can contain that can possibly help in trying to reach ET life
The same with any program that will do the same too find a cure for cancer
I guess I just don't understand enough yet about these type programs, but they don't sound to safe too me!

[SilverFox441]

I you read about SETI@HOME, http://setiathome.berkeley.edu , you will find that the files SETI works on are sent for analysis from the service to your client software. The SETI crew have been very transparent about what is sent, where it is, and what it does. There is also a large community of peeps that has looked at SETI to help optimize the client or to make it more interesting...one add-on shows you the portion of the sky that your current workunit is from.

As for SETI not acting as a server...it lacks permission to do so from my firewall...and has never complained about it or malfunctioned because of it.

How all these "distributed" computing agents work is by sending data to your computer (and thousands of others) and having your computer analyse it. In the case of SETI that data is radio frequency signals picked up by the Aracibo Radio Telescope. The agents help to filter out those signals that don't show proper (siderial) motion or are explained by terrestrial sources. This work is very CPU intensive...my P4 1.7 GHz machine takes about 6.5 hours to sort through only a few minutes recorded data. SETI can also be manually controlled using add-ons...you download only when you want to (including multiple work units if you want) and can monitor the process as it happens. There's lots of interesting reading at the SETI website...even if you aren't interested in SETI intself.

[Politically Incorrect]

This is what I found at the SETI website that should make anyone a little weary of thier intentions:

"SETI@home connects only when transferring data. This occurs once every few days and lasts for about 5 minutes. All of the processing is done off-line."

What does it process off line that can be of any use in the search for ET. Spyware does this, keeps track of key strokes etc.
Are they searching for ET's that live on earth using home computers by recording thier keystrokes?

As for the "firewall" thing, this program too also tells you how to set up a proxy that allows it through your firewall if you have troubles running the program:

"SETI@home uses the HTTP protocol, and work through any semi-transparent firewall that allows outgoing Web traffic. The latest versions of SETI@home should work through more restrictive firewalls and proxies.

If you are having problems connecting from Windows through a SOCKS proxy, you could also look into SocksCap by NEC at http://www.socks.nec.com/sockscap.html and Hummingbird Socks at http://www.hummingbird.com/products/nc/socks/index.html Both let you use software as if it were "directly connected to the Internet".

If you're STILL having trouble connecting through an HTTP proxy server and you are running SETI@home on an older version of Windows 95, Microsoft has an updated Winsock 2 driver which corrects the problem, and lets the SETI@home client connect. Search for "Windows Socket 2" in the Product Information section of the Microsoft web site. The file is about 986 kbytes, and post-dates Windows 95 Service Pack 1. "

Another thing that I find odd is that unlike other downloadable programs I can't seem to find anything on thier privacy policy, I typed it in the search under FAQ's and came up with a list of "this page cannot be displayed"?
I don't know but if you read through this stuff it all seems a bit fishy too me

P.S. I might belive some of this about the telescope but a home computer isn't a radio transmitter/reciever so that still doesn't explain what data it is collecting?
And you say it doesn't have permisson to act as server, it doesn't have too now you gave it permission when you installed the program, you allow it to gather information, and you allow it to retrive it, YOU are the server!

[IcedFoxtrotter]

Looks suspicious in my book.

[Politically Incorrect]

Let me see if i understand, This SETI thing collects radio transmissions, sends it too your computer, your computer looks it over and then sends it back? It isn't your computer being the radio, correct? That was the part that confused me knowing that a home computer isn't a radio.

Either way I don't want anything put into my computer especially when the people sending the data won't tell you what it is because of security reasons.

You know now that I think of it, maybe SETI are the ET's and they are gathering data about humans!  ;)

[SilverFox441]

What does it process off line that can be of any use in the search for ET. Spyware does this, keeps track of key strokes etc.  
Are they searching for ET's that live on earth using home computers by recording thier keystrokes?


They are processing the radio signals that you downloaded, radio signals received at the Arecibo Radio Telescope....the client isn't collecting information. The client ony receives information already collected by Arecibo and works on that. I've checked SETI's incoming and outgoing traffic...incoming is about 350K, outgoing about 10K. Now 10K is enough for a keylogger...except that the file getting transmitted is full of coordinates and signal strengths. If you copy/paste an old results file the system fails the result saying result already received...a keylogger wouldn't do this...it is possible that the exact same keystrokes had been made.

You should also note that SETI has been in operation for almost 5 years without even a suggestion of impropriety.

As for firewalls...most games also tell you how to get around a quirky firewall...doesn't mean they are doing anything other than what they say it does.

As for me being the server...I don't understand TCP/IP or HTTP protocols...all I would generate would be HTTP 500 Errors "Internal Server Problem). I allow SETI to retrieve data files from Berkeley and to return results to Berkeley. SETI does not have permission to send or receive files from other locations...ie, to act as a server.

I've posted on the SETI forums about the privacy policy...you're right that this seems hinky...I'm sure it will get corrected very soon.

[Politically Incorrect]

OK I think I'm starting too understand how it works.
Don't get me wrong I'm not saying that SETI is crooked or anything but it all seems a little odd to me.
It is probably because I have a hard time trusting anything
Maybe it is because of the fact that I have always allowed myself too be taken advantage of?
I have always had a weird way of thinking, I always expect the worst to happen, and this is actually a good thing.
If you expect things to go bad, when they don't it makes your day just a little better, and when they do happen then it gives you reason to give yourself hell because you DID know better

[IcedFoxtrotter]

I always expect the worst to happen, and this is actually a good thing.
If you expect things to go bad, when they don't it makes your day just a little better, and when they do happen then it gives you reason to give yourself hell because you DID know better

That's how all of us real pilots think fret.

[SilverFox441]

Always prepare for the worst, but don't forget to plan for the best as well. If you've covered both ends of the spectrum you have a better chance of handling anything in between.

[Politically Incorrect]

TRUE!

The "quote for the day"

[BFMF]

[quote]You know now that I think of it, maybe SETI are the ET's and they are gathering data about humans!