setiQuest has been a great two-year journey, with many of you lending a hand along the way. It is now time for me to step back, and participate as a community member, rather than be the driver.

What started as Jill Tarter's 2009 TED Prize Wish -  "I wish that you would empower Earthlings everywhere to become active participants in the ultimate search for cosmic company" - is now a recognized project. Many people had a hand in its success; here are some, listed in a rough chronological order of their appearence in the project.

Frank Drake shared some of his views on ophan planets at a SETI Institute colloquium yesterday. This was in response to an audience question to the panel he was on.

We think of planets being in orbits around stars like our Sun. There has been speculation and now apparently evidence of the existence of planets not attached to any star - they are called orphan planets.

Here is a small note from my colleage at the SETI Insitute, Frank Marchis.

http://www.kqed.org/quest/television/searching-for-life-on-mars

A colleague forward this YouTube Video from Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan: Darkness [Carl Sagan Trubute Series, Part 9]

I don't know the person who has prepared and posted this video. But I am thankful they did. This is probably the best explanation of SETI I have seen.

It is heartening to see the outpouring of support for the cause of SETI and the Allen Telescope Array. Thank you to those who have donated funds.

While we work on funding alternatives, we should take a few minutes to celebrate other aspects of the project. Here are a few things that you may or may not have been aware of.

We have talked about the future of ATA for a while. Tom Pierson, in a letter last week formalized it. Here is additional information from the letter.

Doug Vakoch, a senior researcher at the SETI Institute recently edited a book on Commincating with Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.

Here is an idea he and I have been discussing. Tell us what you think of the idea.

Thanks to O'Reilly Media for making it possible for us to be at Web 2.0 expo.  Without their contribution, we would not be talking to the hundreds of people there. Thanks O'Reilly. Thanks Kaitlin Pike, O'Reilly's Community Manager.

Google Summer of Code is a Google Program that offers student developers stipends to write code for various open source software projects. This year, Google has chosen SETI Institute's setiQuest as one of the GSoC projects. By being part of GSoC this summer, you and your friends can earn both, prestige and $5,000 while working on fun open source projects. Help us spread the word. Student applications will be accepted starting Monday, March 28, and will be accepted until Friday, April 8 (please confirm dates on Google's project website).

Many of you may have read my blog last week on setiQuest Explorer, developed by The Hathersage Group, with sponsorship from Adobe Systems, and the nice article that Elinor Mills of CBS News wrote.