SETI finds something

Here’s a reason to run SETI@Home on your laptop. Via JREF I learn that someone was able to retrieve a stolen laptop using the SETI software running on it. When the stolen laptop called into SETI, the IP address of the thief was recorded on SETI’s servers:

Melin monitored the SETI(at)home database to see if the stolen laptop would "talk" to the Berkeley servers. Indeed, the laptop checked in three times within a week, and Melin sent the IP addresses to the Minneapolis Police Department.

After a subpoena to a local Internet provider, police determined the real-world address where the stolen laptop was logging on. Within days, officers seized the computer and returned it.

Finally, proof there is intelligent life in Minnesota.

Comments

[lambic]

I'm surprised the police knew what to do with an IP address...

[Martín Pereyra]

"Finally, proof there is intelligent life in Minnesota."

What about PZ Myers? :)