Microsoft's Paul Allen Funds ET Search

Chris Gondek writes "Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, one of the richest men on Earth, today pledged to donate $US13.5 million ($17.99 million) for research into extra-terrestrial life. With the contribution, Allen will have given $US25 million ($33.32 million) for construction of the Allen Telescope Array (ATA), a network of 350 radio telescopes being built to find signs of life in space, said Thomas Pierson, director of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute."

Comments

In spite of...

[robslimo]

The negative thoughts that many /.ers have for Microsoft in general and their top men in specific, Both Gates and Allen have long been active philanthropists. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation benefits "global health and learning" (directed by Bill Gates' father).

As mentioned in the story, Paul Allen has been a SETI supportor and funded the ATA.

I like to think that if I commanded that sort of wealth I would be as generous (as long as I'm dreaming, I'd be *more* generous).

Re:In spite of...

[nathanh]

The negative thoughts that many /.ers have for Microsoft in general and their top men in specific, Both Gates and Allen have long been active philanthropists. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation [gatesfoundation.org] benefits "global health and learning" (directed by Bill Gates' father).

Bill never donated a dime to any charity until he married Melinda. What does that tell you? It tells me that Bill is still the stingy bastard he always was but Melinda is a much better person.

Of course, being generous with your ill-gotten gains isn't exactly a saintly act. It's like the godfather of the mafia donating to an orphanage. All well and good for the orphanage. Not so good for all the victims of the mafia.

And in case anybody thinks I'm going over the top with my comparison of Bill to the godfather of the mafia, let's not forget that Microsoft has been sued twice by the US DOJ and once by the EU for anticompetitive abuse of their monopoly. They settled once with the US (the terms of which they subsequently broke) and was found guilty by the EU and the US on the two other occasions. This is a company that lies to the court, destroys those companies they can't compete with, and they have been found guilty on more than one occasion of code theft, patent abuse, industrial espionage, and deceptive business practises.

Microsoft is a very abusive company which has been harming the industry for decades. Imagine how far computing could have progressed by now if Microsoft wasn't in such a position of power. We had ubiquitous GUIs in 1984 (AmigaOS, MacOS, GEM, GeOS) but it wasn't until *1995* that a similar level of GUI quality reached the market, thanks to Microsoft. That's 11 years of progress, lost, thanks to the power hungry ambitions of the talentless half of the original Microsoft duo (Paul Allen is a god, but Bill was always second-rate).

Bill doesn't get to wipe his slate clean just because he's spreading around less than *half* of his ill-gotten loot. He needs to give it all away and apologise for screwing this industry over for nearly 2 decades. And he also needs to apologise for that self-serving book he wrote, in which he managed to totally dismiss the importance of the Internet, leading to an unannounced *rewrite* of the book (2nd edition) so he wouldn't look like such a myopic moron to future generations. He's a bad person. Screwing Netscape I can live with. But rewriting history is just... disgusting.

Re:and meanwhile....

[koreth]

Damn straight. And while we're at it, shut down that stupid Carnegie Endowment for the Arts -- how dare those arrogant rich blowhards pay someone to sit around doodling when there are hungry kids on the street? I mean, who cares if it's their money; what right do they have to say what it's spent on when there are obviously higher priorities out there?

So you'd like us to .... what?

[purduephotog]

I wish I could recall the reference, but you'd like to pour all of that money into the poor, the downtrodden, the unlucky? Spend it as fast as it's made?

Where do you think that money will end up? Is he handing them dollar bills that are then burned to generate power to scan the sky? Nope, it's paid.

My neighbor is a teacher at an inner city school. The kids talk about getting old enough to stay home so they 'can get their check' from the government. That's their sole purpose in life- to get a government welfare check.

We've already got enough broken goods in this world. Lets search for solutions and reach for problems that might just lift us and build a new foundation, and just not try to shore up an already crumbled one.

Contrary to StarTrek, you will not feed, clothe, and educate every single person in the world. No matter how much I, and you, wish it might be possible :(

There are ways to kill a person, but killing the dreams and hopes are the most cruel.

Re:So you'd like us to .... what?

[Anonymous Coward]

I wish I could recall the reference, but you'd like to pour all of that money into the poor, the downtrodden, the unlucky? Spend it as fast as it's made?

No kidding. How many more trillions of dollars do we have to give those people before the whole Great Society thing actually happens?

Insanity isn't looking for aliens. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome. The welfare state is insanity.

Re:So you'd like us to .... what?

[cain]

I wish I could recall the reference, but you'd like to pour all of that money into the poor, the downtrodden, the unlucky? Spend it as fast as it's made?

What reference are you talking about?

My neighbor is a teacher at an inner city school. The kids talk about getting old enough to stay home so they 'can get their check' from the government. That's their sole purpose in life- to get a government welfare check.

I call shenanigans. This is second-hand hearsay - and I very much doubt this is true. I live in the "inner city", my sister teaches at an inner-city school and sees and hears no such thing. The poor are just that - poor. They are not lazy, greedy, or looking for hand-outs.

We've already got enough broken goods in this world. Lets search for solutions and reach for problems that might just lift us and build a new foundation, and just not try to shore up an already crumbled one.

OK - you go first. Let's hear some real ideas rather than these hand-waving platitudes.

Contrary to StarTrek, you will not feed, clothe, and educate every single person in the world. No matter how much I, and you, wish it might be possible :(

Again - platitudes. Cites? Why can't we feed everyone? How does this second-grade tripe get modded up as insightful on Slashdot?

Re:So you'd like us to .... what?

[An Onerous Coward]

So you have one neighbor who claims that the poor people she meets have no higher aspirations in life than to get themselves a fat, cushy welfare check. Therefore, it is time to write them all off; every dollar spent trying to feed, clothe, and educate the poor may as well be flushed down the toilet.

Okay, I'm certainly exaggerating your actual position. I apologize for that. But it doesn't sound like you have sufficient evidence to make such general pronouncements.

I don't mind the fact that Mr. Allen pumped a few million into SETI. I think a positive result is a bit of a longshot, but it's nevertheless valuable scientific research. It's the fact that one person can have that kind of money to throw at nifty little side projects. Sure, a precisely equal distribution of wealth retards a lot of the motivation needed to keep the economy running. On the other hand, I don't see how someone like Bill Gates or Paul Allen would say, "Screw it, I'm just going on welfare" if they were legally barred from attaining more than two billion in aggregate wealth (just to pick a number out of thin air). Capitalism doesn't need to provide infinite incentive in order for the incentive to be effective.

I know that Mr. Allen didn't just donate the money on a lark. He's a savvy businessman, and probably did a good deal of research into the project and its chances of success. But in the end, it was his money, and if he'd wanted to donate it towards buying gourmet doggie treats for every dog in the world, nobody but Mrs. Allen could stop him. I'm having trouble with the idea that one person should be able to amass that kind of power.

Personally, I think it would be possible to feed, clothe, and educate every person in the world. Not in fifty years, when nanotech takes off. Not in twenty years when robotic labor becomes more efficient than most human labor. Right now. You could even throw in medical care, environmental protection, and a whole load of scientific research.

The catch is, there is a lot we would have to give up; a lot of lifestyle changes that we would have to make. We're not willing to make them. We won't even entertain the idea of giving up our cars, or our suburbs, or changing our diets. So let's just console ourselves by saying it was never really possible in the first place.

nothing changes

[jdkane]

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen ... 350 radio telescopes being built to find signs of life in space

This is living proof that no matter how popular, powerful or rich a computer geek becomes, he never leaves his roots. The difference is instead of running SETI@home like the rest of the masses, instead he's funding such projects because he can -- plus it would be nice to have your name attached to an array of radio telescopes. Maybe he has to pay for each letter of his last name -- the latest being 13.5 mil to get the 'N' -- good thing he doesn't have a Russian last name.

Re:and meanwhile....

[jabberjaw]

Well it is his money. If he feels like donating some to help fund SETI, so be it. If he feels like donating it to the educational system, so be it. If he feels like throwing it on his bed and rolling around naked on it , then so be it.

Re:Finiding Alien life

[Zathras26]

First of all, "sending a signal to different galaxies" won't work. Among other things, it would take several hundred thousand years for a signal to reach even the closest galaxies to us (the Magellanic Clouds, IIRC). If the signal even got there in the first place, which it probably wouldn't because it would weaken and degrade before it got even a fraction of the distance.

On the more far out and paranoid side, it would probably not be a good idea for us to be advertising our existence. What if the first civilization we found was far more technologically advanced that we are -- and also highly aggressive and hostile? It would be a better idea for us, if we find any other alien civilizations, to study them quietly for a while to see whether we even want them to know about us.

Re:They should explore

[Aardpig]

Slashdot, you used to be great. What happened?

All of the liberal arts majors who became certified <insert buzz word here> engineers during the Dot-Com boom, are now unemployed. They spend their days posting to Slashdot; and since they really don't know their arse from their elbow when it comes to science or technology, the sophistication of posts now parallels that of fart jokes.

I wonder....

[purduephotog]

... how many people currently bashing the donation would say the same thing if "Linus" gave it instead.

Paul is also the sponsor of Space Ship One.

If it helps the Microsoft bashing crowd, think of it as a 'tax' on those that don't know Linux is a better solution.... :)

Re:I wonder....

[DigiShaman]

For Joe Sixpack and the diehard gamers, Linux is NOT a better solution. If Windows is not an option, then I'll take Mac please.

Remember, the amount of destros of Linux is equally it's downfall. Untill Linux becomes more standardized, I don't think your average PC users is going to invest into an OS with an uncertain future (regarding change and adaptation). Though I for one hope Linux dethrones Windows. I get angry everytime I hear about consumers having to pay the M$ tax. Grrrrrrrrrr

Re:and meanwhile....

[DF5JT]

While I usually ignore postings that have more ad hominem attacks in them than substance, this one triggers a couple of questions I'd like to have answered by someone who obviously thinks that we haven't spent enough money on this declared war:

- With the Billions of Dollars spent since 2001, has the world become a safer place?

- How would you value the loss of privacy and restrictions in personal life as compared to the achieved level of felling a lot more secure?

- How much money would you want to spend on the war and when would you declare it over?

- Who actually benefits from the spending spree on this war? Are YOU safer?

Call me a heretic, but spending these Billions of Dollars on education, healthcare, enhancement of international relations sounds like something that children might actually benefir a lot more from, as opposed to having them trained that every unknown person they encounter is a potential terrorists.

I know your mileage varies, but I fail to see any relation between the war on terror and children dying in the streets. Last time I checked it was the war itself that left children dying in the streets.

And I haven't even talked about the hen/egg problem...

Re:Skeptical

[donutello]

I am not too excited about this for two reasons. Firstly, its seen as a good philantropic action, which the other MS founder Gates is famous for.

What are you, a frigging idiot? You're not excited about this because it is seen as a good philanthropic action? What do you get excited about then? Actions that are seen as pure evil.

He donates the most cash in the world to the poor. Except its not cash, a lot of it is in the form of software, CDs of Office and XP for the poor that cost nothing to make, and have a huge tax back cost for Microsoft. And its a nice way to get the poor locked into windows and not free OS like Linux.

You are confusing Microsoft's charitable contributions with Bill Gates' charitable contributions. They are two separate entities. Actually, there's a third entity: The Bill & Melinda Gates foundation - funded almost entirely by Bill and Melinda Gates. Bill Gates gives cash & stock to the B&M foundation, which in turn funds various charitable activities around the world. You've read one story about Microsoft donating software somewhere and have the whole thing confused up in your muddled head. Maybe you should educate yourself about the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation and exactly what it has donated before you spout about it because otherwise you sound like an idiot. Microsoft does not get a tax benefit from Bill Gates or the B&M foundations donations. BG or the B&M foundation don't get software for free.

Secondly, This much money can buy a lot of equipment to help find life on other planets. Meanwhile on Earth we still have millions of preventable deaths every year. And by preventable I mean deaths of children or the very poor from malnourishment or lack of clean water supplies. If this much money was given to the poor in developing countries, it could save insane amounts of lives. To give so much cash to look for aliens that might not even exist, While members of our own species die in vast numbers for want of clean water, is disgusting. (sorry if that is a bit "High Horse"-like, but its SO MUCH MONEY!

Let me guess, if you had your way, we would stop all research that wasn't going to immediately benefit humanity in some foreseeable way. The only problem would be that it would have to be foreseeable by a short-sighted fool like you. The whole point of research is to investigate avenues that have the potential to provide a multi-fold benefit to humanity in the future - although some of those might not pan out.

Re:If we only had real progressive taxation, we co

[NineNine]

Godd idea. Then lazy fucks such as yourself can sit on your collective asses while people like Paul Allen pay your way with their hard work while not being properly compensated fot it. Read "Atlas Shrugged", you ignoramus.