Well, I'm working with SETI@home for a few reasons...
1) It has more pre-existing support in the building. (Easier to get the team rolling.)
2) Call it personal bias, but F@H's client for OS X annoys me.
3) Preston has some (very distant, but still valid) links to SETI.
As for supply of computers, we'll be sourcing them from USC's inventory department. If you know how universities work, you know they buy (and also tend to get rid of) a lot of one computer at a time. I mean, if I can get a few dual-processor G5, then great. But I'm expecting a group of half-decent standard Dells.
The joke's already circulating in the building that we're going to add a plaque to this thing..."Searching for communications from intelligent life in the universe, since we can't seem to find any here." (It's a joke, trust me. I know
communications from intelligent life happen around here.