Join the mIRC SETI Team
We invite you to join the mIRC SETI Team to participate in a world-wide
effort to find E.T.! You, me and all fellow mIRCers can really mean a difference
in this project supported by the SETI Institute. The SETI Institute serves as
the home for scientific research in the general field of Life in the Universe
with an emphasis on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Their research
is designed to answer the question: Are we alone in the Universe?
We hope you like this project as much as we do,
Khaled and Tjerk.
What is SETI@home?
SETI@home is a scientific
experiment that harnesses the power of hundreds of thousands of Internet-connected
computers in the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence or SETI
as part of project Serendip.
You can participate by running a program that automagically downloads and
analyzes radio telescope data from Puerto Rico's Arecibo Radio Telescope.
An excellent explanation
about the radio signal we are listening for is found at the SETI@home website. As you will see,
there is a small but captivating possibility that your computer will detect the faint murmur
of a civilization beyond Earth. And the next step is to chat with them, through mIRC
of course ;-)
How does it work?
The idea behind SETI@home is to take advantage of the unused processing
cycles of personal computers. The way this would work is as follows: an
interested computer owner will download free software from SETI@home. Then,
when their computer is idle (for example, when you leave your home office to go
out for a burger), this software will download a chunk of data for
analysis. The software will start crunching data and display the results on the
screens of the users. The results of the analysis are ultimately sent back to
SETI@home, combined with the crunched data from the thousands of other SETI@home
participants, and used to help in the search for extraterrestrial signals.
The tremendous advantage of this scheme is that it permits looking for a variety of
signal types that the current processing cannot yet uncover, and tens
of thousands of interested folks will become active participants in SETI.
Where do you get the software?
The best way to get the software is to
download it directly
from Berkeley University, where the SETI@home project is developed and based.
This guarantees the most up-to-date version of the software.
Installing the software is a blaze. Just like installing mIRC start the
installer program you downloaded from the BOINC website and you can not go wrong.
The program will ask for your nickname and email address. Both can be kept a secret
to others if you want. Your work for the SETI@home project is identified by your email
address. Make sure it is valid, your project password will be send to that address.
When prompted, select SETI@home from the list of projects.
How to join mIRC's SETI Team?
Just participating in the SETI@home project is great fun already, but working with
looots of fellow mIRCers on a combined result is even better! After you have installed and
started the SETI@home program (don't you like to see your PC doing some work!) you
have to log in to the SETI@home website.
Afterwards, you can head on over to the
mIRC SETI Team statistics page and click the "Join Team" link located there.
After this procedure you are an mIRC SETI Team member.
Welcome to our Team!
Where do we meet?
On IRC of course! On channel #mIRC and there is an IRC channel called #SETI@home on EsperNet,
EFnet and other networks.
All implications of finding E.T. and his friends are discussed there. You can also share
eventual problems with the BOINC program and any questions regarding the SETI@home project there with other data crunchers!
There is an Official SETI Forum on the Web as well.
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