Slashdot Mirror
Is Distributed Computing Being Distributed Badly?
Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Distributed computing could help researchers studying climate change or Alzheimer's, but SETI@home's search for extra-terrestrial intelligence continues to dominate. Wall Street Journal columnist Lee Gomes says that's a big waste, especially because SETI doesn't seem likely to yield results: 'This continued fascination with living-room SETI comes as professional setiologists concede that early assumptions about the search for intelligent life -- notably those popularized by astronomer Carl Sagan -- have proven naively optimistic. For instance, it's now conceded there is little chance of detecting the "leaking" transmissions of another planet -- its version of "I Love Lucy" broadcasts. Those signals are too weak to stand out from the universe's background noise.' Gomes also traces the origins of SETI@home to Berkeley computer scientist David P. Anderson, and explains that users stuck with the ET search rather than medical investigations in part because of nationalistic competition. Yet Anderson no longer runs SETI@home. 'Instead, he donates his spare computer power to a global warming project. But he doesn't presume to tell others what they ought to be doing with their CPU cycles.'"
Fighting fire with fire?
You know what's a waste of time? Gardening. You spend all this time and energy just to raise a few tomatoes that could have been bought at the store for cheap.
People should stop gardening and focus their time and energy on solving global warming, but I don't presume to tell anyone what they should be doing with their time.
Instead, he donates his spare computer power to a global warming project.
Funny....I think that all the Slashdot gaming rigs out there are contributing quite a bit to global warming, but you don't hear us bragging about it... ^_^
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~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
With spending like this, exactly what are "conservatives" conserving?
Do you realize that Carl Sagan has been dead for nearly a decade?
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
I'm sure there are lots of people who would support using thier idle PCs for alzheimers research. They just forgot.
Bah! Anyone running on a P4 is contributing to a global warming project.
True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
Someone needs to set up a Yeti@HOME
-- www.globaltics.net
Political discussion for a new world
B. They can get more benefit by spending their money elsewhere
Hey, somebody has to pay people to climb to the tops of mountains and scream the name of their drug.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
When's the last time a dog gave you a blowjob? Wait, don't answer that.
Arbitrary sig
I'm not an expert in statistics, but I'm pretty sure that a sample size of 1 is not usually considered enough. Best to get 2 or 3 samples.