LWD - Featured Cruncher - Friday, January 23, 2004

I can’t believe it’s Friday again! Moving on though, you guys asked about this lovely lady when she was the SETI Cruncher of the Day at the Berkeley site, so I managed to get in touch with her and had a heck of a great time interviewing her! What an interesting gal, yes a gal!!! Nice to have yet another one crunching some WU for the team! Now, sit back, relax, and learn (and there is a lot to learn) about your fellow teammate, CatMagnet!!

Nattiebo: So, CatMagnet… Give us some details about yourself… - Age, Sex, Student/Career?

CatMagnet: I’m 32 now (just haven’t been on the site to update it lately…sorry!), am a female, and as well as getting my accounting degree from the University at Albany (NY), I work part-time for a local bank.

(dont forget to click the "read more" button above for the rest of the interview)

Nattiebo: Do you have any hobbies or interests other than computers?

CatMagnet With what time? Seriously, I like to read, watch sports (University of Illinois basketball and Clarkson University hockey being my faves), and weight train. I also enjoy crocheting, spending time with my 3 cats, traveling, listening to music and watching all kinds of movies.

Nattiebo: How did you get the name CatMagnet?

CatMagnet: That’s actually an interesting story. I was on Prodigy about 5-10 years ago and after ending a terrible relationship, I had come to the conclusion that I was attracting a-holes, so for a while, I was AholeMagnet on Prodigy. When I switched to AOL (which I’ll be leaving in May when I graduate), I decided that I needed to be a kinder, gentler Magnet, and with the fact that I have cats, I decided that I was going to be CatMagnet. 

Nattiebo: Do you like the results of CatMagnet better than those of AholeMagnet? Are you going to change your “Magnet-tude” or keep “CatMagnet” when you leave AOL?

CatMagnet: I’m not sure what I’ll do with the screen name, especially since in the next couple of years, I hope to also be making some other changes in my life!

Nattiebo: Big changes?!?! Sounds exciting!! Could this be a possible change in name or something to that effect?

CatMagnet: One can always hope! We’re not picking out china patterns or anything, but we’re house hunting, so that’s definitely a step in the right direction. 

Nattiebo: How did you find LWD, or how did LWD find you?

CatMagnet:I had received an email from someone in the group and so I joined. I joined SETI when I heard about it from a friend of mine and I got hooked!

Nattiebo: Were you at all skeptical about Little White Dog, with it being primarily a big Dog place and you being a Feline Magnet? Any concerns?

CatMagnet: Not at all! I love dogs as well as cats! My boyfriend has a black lab whom I ADORE. I prefer cats, but I’ve always enjoyed dogs as well. 

Nattiebo: When did you start running SETI?

CatMagnet: I started running October 2002. However, I’ve been a little lax the past few months with school/work/life being the way it’s been!

Nattiebo: How long were you running SETI before you came to LWD then?

CatMagnet: I was running for maybe a month or two before I joined LWD.

Nattiebo: Where did you hear about SETI?

CatMagnet: From a friend of mine that runs it. He’s not in a group, but he still runs quite a bit.

Nattiebo: How many machines do you run now?

CatMagnet: Just my little SONY VAIO laptop. 

Nattiebo: Do you run it 24/7 or just when you’re using the laptop?

CatMagnet: Just when I’m using my laptop, though lately, I’ve been spending more time at my school website and irs.gov more than anything.  God bless April 15! It certainly helps keep us accounting types employed!

Nattiebo: Are you into overclocking on your machines?

CatMagnet: Not that I know of!

Nattiebo: Do you use SETI Queue or any other add-ons?

CatMagnet: No, I don’t.

Nattiebo: Do you prefer the Screensaver and graphical version of SETI or the command-line version?

CatMagnet: I definitely prefer the graphical version. It just seems a lot more user-friendly to me.

Nattiebo: What do you hope to accomplish by running SETI?

CatMagnet: I hope to be able to assist Cal-Berkley in their search for extraterrestrial life. I’d be silly if I didn’t think that it existed out there somewhere. Otherwise, there would be a LOT of empty space out there, and it just doesn’t seem to be an efficient use of it.

Nattiebo: If you had the opportunity to name the first extraterrestrial, what would you name it?

CatMagnet: Hmmmm…Ralph? No, seriously, being a HUGE Looney Tunes fan, I’d probably name him Marvin after the Martian with the Alludium Q-34 space modulator (God, I hope I got that right!!!).

Nattiebo: Have you been keeping a close watch on the news with what is going on since we have landed on Mars?

CatMagnet: Unfortunately, no. I’ve been busy with a lot of things in trying to prepare for the new semester, but what I did learn about has been fascinating! Rob’s been paying close attention to what’s been going on.

Nattiebo: What would your ultimate SETI Crunching machine be?

CatMagnet: To be honest, I never thought of that!

Nattiebo: In very the near future, possibly as early as later this month, SETI will be ported over to the BOINC Platform, with Astropulse and the Southern Hemisphere Projects coming online shortly thereafter. Can we count on you to switch to one of those when the ßeta test is over? Which?

CatMagnet: Sure! I’d have to look into this, but I’m always game for new experiences!

Nattiebo: What does your significant other or other family members and good friends think about SETI?

CatMagnet: My boyfriend Rob thinks that it’s pretty cool stuff; he’s totally into astronomy, so he finds it intriguing. Most people I know are positive about this.

Nattiebo: Does Rob crunch for SETI? Does he have a computer?

CatMagnet: He’s got a Mac G5 (1.8 GHz for all those Mac people who are interested), but he’s usually just using his computer to check out the new games for Mac, his Warhammer groups, chatting with me online when we’re at our respective homes (I’m in NY, he’s in MA) or doing his graphic design work. He’s more of a Photoshop and Quark guru than anything.

Nattiebo: Do you get to see him often with you two being in two different (and cold, I might add) cities?

CatMagnet:It’s only an hour and a half commute door-to-door, so we spend weekends together. It’s been tough, but we’ve been able to do it for over a year so far, so it’s not as bad as it could be.

Nattiebo: Have you had any success in recruiting people to LWD?

CatMagnet: To be honest, I haven’t really tried. I’ve been too busy trying to make Dean’s List every semester at school, which I’ve been successful at so far. 

Nattiebo: Likely story… No, I’m just kidding. Would you ever set up SETI on friends’ computers?

CatMagnet: LOL No problem.  Everyone has to have their priorities, after all! But to answer your question, absolutely I would! I talk about SETI, but I’m just not the kind of chick that’s into pushing things down people’s throat. Guess that’s why I don’t want to be in sales, despite the fact that I’m a people person.

Nattiebo: If you could improve anything about the SETI@Home Project, what would it be?

CatMagnet: I really am not sure.

Nattiebo: What do you think the best thing is about LWD?

CatMagnet: It’s terrific to have a community where we can all get together and see how everyone is doing on analyzing the data that we collect.

Nattiebo: Well, thanks letting us get to know you a little better. Do you have any final comments (free reign here)?

CatMagnet: Just that it’s nice to be featured. It’s cool that there are so many people from so many different places (I remember it wasn’t too long ago that someone from my old hometown of Champaign, IL was featured!) that are involved in this and working towards a common goal.


Telling it like it is...