I have received a few private requests for more info on what the
whole SETI thing is about.  I assume there are others with similar
thoughts; I apologize for not providing this info as part of my
original post.

In brief, SETI refers to the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence.
The SETI@home project uses computers around the world to analyze data
from a radio telescope.  But of course they do not presume to "take over"
your computer; rather, the intent is to take advantage of your otherwise
unused cycles.  Instead of using cycles to show some "flying logo" on
your screen, a more "productive" use is to analyze data.

There's even an HP connection.  From

   < http://www.seti-inst.edu/history.html >

   "At the beginning of the 1970's, NASA's Ames Research Center in
    Mountain View, California began to consider the technology required
    for an effective search. A team of outside experts, under the direction
    of Bernard Oliver, on leave from the Hewlett-Packard Corporation,
    produced a comprehensive study for NASA known as Project Cyclops.
    The Cyclops report provided an analysis of SETI science and technology
    issues that is the foundation upon which much subsequent work is based."

Wirt wrote in late May:

   "The chance that this process will discover life other than our own is
    vanishingly small. And the chance that if we did that you'd be the one
    to process the chunk that indicates that life is similarly tiny. But,
    if nothing else, this project is a form of computational process that
    wasn't even possible a few years ago -- and it costs almost nothing
    for everyone involved."

and Gavin:

   "So for SETI@Home to succeed, they either need to get lucky and spot
    a civilization that is at a similar level of development to ours, or
    (more likely) to see signals that are explicitly intended for detection.

   "On the other other hand (This is SETI after all) there's a good chance
    that the program will discover a number of new interesting astronomical
    phenomenon, even if none of them are trying to phone home."

There's a fairly extensive FAQ that covers the SETI@home client software
and the science behind it:

   < http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/faq.html >

With apologies for the length of this post,

--Glenn