SETI News: Overclockers.com Takes 7th Place

In a move not seen since the fall of 2005 the Overclockers.com SETI Team has taken 7th Place in the World!!!

The World positions in total points for SETI today is a relatively sedate race with positions of the top 10 or so teams changing every few months at best. But back in 2005 the SETI world was awash with changes. In January 2005, Overclockers.com was in 10th Place and over the next few months we would continue taking positions until May 2005 when we made 6th Place. Unfortunately, this was to be a short-lived victory.

In October 2005, the Overclockers.com Team was left behind by L’Alliance Francophone and BOINC Synergy falling from 6th Place to 8th Place. Over the following year we were to give up three more positions ending up in 11th Place in October 2006 back where we had started in January 2005. For the next two years we would hang onto 11th Place winning through The Storm of ’06 when SETI.USA came crashing through the Top 10 to eventually land in 1st Place, a position they still hold.

By October 2007 our membership was still small, but our RAC was quickly climbing. From October to November of 2007 we retook the 10th and 9th Place positions. We would hold our ground at 9th Place for almost two years until August of 2009 when Team Starfire, a team who had been ahead of us for over five years, finally succumbed. In 8th Place and looking ahead, BOINC Synergy, another long-time SETI leader, was our next target. BOINC Synergy has been lagging in RAC for quite awhile so it was only a matter of time until we caught them as well. This week, after over a year of leading BOINC Synergy in RAC, we retook 7th Place!

But now is not the time to sit on our laurels. As we have increased our RAC over the past five years, other new teams have also been adding to their membership and dominance, their RAC going up week by week. Team 2ch of Japan and Team China, both trailing by many points, have finally matched or slightly exceeded our RAC. We managed to catch and surpass some of our oldest adversaries in the past couple of years because our RAC has kept ahead of them, growing while theirs flagged or held steady. But as our own history shows, the SETI World Race is a long-term one and slowing down is always, in the long run, disastrous.

For a short while the Overclockers.com SETI Team can enjoy our hard work. It’s really paid off and soon we’ll reap another harvest by taking 6th Place from the Czech National Team. The short-range future is bright but lets not be caught napping.

–QuietIce