JUL 5, 2004 - SETI@Home BOINC is the new version of the SETI@Home project described in my August 25, 1997 WOW award and review. SETI, of course, refers to the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. BOINC sounds like a lot of fun, but in fact it too is an acronym: for Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing. The new BOINC version of SETI@Home does what the classic version does, in the sense that it allows individuals like you and me to put our unused PC power to work in analyzing radiotelescope data for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. But BOINC is designed to be more flexible, more secure and more powerful. I've been running the new BOINC version for a week or so now, trouble-free at my end. (The server is still squirrelly now and then, but it keeps bouncing back.) If 'Out There' appeals to you, then you can be a part of it with the new free download of SETI@Home BOINC.
