yup. Freeman Dyson. Lick that man!

Well, Viagra won't cut it for alien organisms but currency could. So how about:

"Salutations. Forgive me for not introducing myself. I am the daughter of the brother of the finance minister of the galatic empire who died tragic before clocking 140. I have just found an account will 400 million (FOUR HUNDERED MILLION) squidgics that was penned to my name. I require your assistance.[...]"

I wonder why she assumes that any signal detected on earth is a) intended for earth, or b) intended for the entirety of earth. Considering (b), would an alien civilization capable of directing a signal intended for a specific species X light years away not also be able to direct it at a specific subset of that species? Would they care one way or another? Seems a bit arrogant to assume how they would think about it.

As for transmitting back to them - I think Sagan already answered that question. We're already doing it. We're broadcasting loudly all over the place (spectrum).

some insight from Calvin and Hobbes:

"sometimes i feel like the surest sign of alien life is that none of it has tried to contact us."

(in a seperate strip) hobbes: [gazing into the cosmos] "kinda makes you wonder why man considers himself such a big screaming deal."

So, SETI is a few blocks away from me and I stopped by there a couple years ago. Walked in and Ms. Tartar was sitting there in the empty lobby, waiting for people to arrive. Turns out the Jodie Foster character in the movie Contact was loosely based on her and her work. Interesting to talk with her -- even though I don't think we're receiving any extraterrestrial communication any time soon.