It has been a week since the team returned from TED 2010 in Long Beach, California. We are still giddy from the enthusiasm and excitement that we saw for setiQuest at TED and subsequent to it.

We launched a new version of the website, with an animation video done by Nigel Holmes based on a script by Gever Tulley. It explains some of what setiQuest is attempting to do in very simple terms.

2/7/10

Last night I got to say some thank you’s. At the InfoSys reception I had a chance to chat with Kris Gopalakrishnan the CEO and to thank him for the pro bono work that InfoSys did with our software team to help clean up our code in preparation for publishing it. This was the result of TED making a request through Nandan Nilekani to support my wish. When I said that we still had a lot of software to wr

Davos is beginning to feel a bit more familiar today – I’ve rediscovered the hole-in-the-wall shortcuts that make it possible to get around efficiently. I just saw President Clinton in his most charming ‘ladies man’ mode. He was holding a press conference (perhaps was trapped by the press) near the VIP exit, which also happens to be along side the bar where sandwiches and drinks are available. As he broke free from the press and he and his security detail headed towards the door, a very bold young barmaid rushed up and handed him a diet coke. She got

Davos is bright and COLD, and heavily policed, and crowded.  It’s also quite beautiful – just like the postcards.  There are over 2000 attendees at the World Economic Forum, but that’s less than the number of astronomers attending the annual AAS meeting two weeks ago, and yet it’s a lot more crammed.  And then there’s the cloakroom and the need to shed and re-dress in heavy coats and winter foot gear!  I guess there’s a reason that they are building an extension to the Congress Centre.  In the meantime a GPS receiver and lots of prac

January 27, 2010, Sao Paulo, Brasil

Its been a little less than a year since I first received a request from my friend Tim O'Reilly to lend some time to the SETI Institute .  They had just won a TED Wish and were dreaming of releasing their famous source code under an Open Source License, and building a community of "Citizen Scientists".

The origin of setiQuest is Jill Tarter's winning the 2009 TED Prize for her wish to change the world: