NEZ fired for running Seti!

[muddocktor]

I just ran across this link at HardOCP that says that the person going by NEZ was fired for his actions in installing S@H on the district computers. There is also this thread on the Seti forums that also imply that there is more going on here than what is covered by that news story.

I just hope that this doesn't give the project a bad black eye when this is all said and done with.

 

[freakdiablo]

Looks to me like they are singling out SETI. Yeah, it uses a lot of power, but in that first link it says he was also downloading porn onto the computers, actually stealing equipment, and didn't do his job (installing and managing security measures, training staff, etc) which IMO is worse than running a science program.

 

[eaglescouter]

Ouch. Please only run SETI on computers where you have the authority or permission to do so. (Written permission is much harder to deny)

 

[Careface]

Mm. Bad publicity indeed. Having said that, 1.2-1.6mill in damages? Come on. Take 1mill off those figures and you -might- be coming close, but I guess it really depends how you define "damages"

iirc, they were saying that running SAH decreases CPU's lifetime by running 100% all the time - this is just plain false. A stock CPU with adequate cooling isn't going to have its lifespan reduced by being run Forgive the language, but what a load of ********.

I just hope theres no backlash for SETI. They seriously don't need a legal/political battle..

 

[muddocktor]

Yeah, that's my thoughts on it too, Careface. The part about Seti reducing the lifespan on the machines is total BS and it actually might make them last longer, since the machines aren't being cycled but kept powered up. But the power usage part would certainly add up. And it's also sounding like there is some other crap going on with this district super also, if you read the thread I linked on the Seti forums. It sounds like this super is getting some relatives in to do NEZ's job; nothing like a little nepotism in public service I guess. And we don't know if NEZ had permission from the previous district superintendent to install it either and this one is trying to show his butt.

 

[deadlysyn]

We had something similar happen to a Folding Team member a while back. He had verbal permission from his supervisor to fold on the office machines. From what I remember, the higher ups showed up and started poking around. When they found FAH running on the machines, and started asking questions, the supervisor had denied even knowing that it was even running on the computers. Our Folding Team member was fired on the spot. The moral of these stories is, if you want to run any Distributed Computing client on any office rigs, make sure you have permission in writing, so that if someone denies knowing, they will be proven the liar, instead of you.

Actually, I think mudd may have still been poking around the folding forums when this happened. I don't want to name the member that this had happened to, since I haven't seen him around much since it happened.

 

[VinnyTAMU]

Mm. Bad publicity indeed. Having said that, 1.2-1.6mill in damages? Come on. Take 1mill off those figures and you -might- be coming close, but I guess it really depends how you define "damages"

iirc, they were saying that running SAH decreases CPU's lifetime by running 100% all the time - this is just plain false. A stock CPU with adequate cooling isn't going to have its lifespan reduced by being run Forgive the language, but what a load of ********.

I just hope theres no backlash for SETI. They seriously don't need a legal/political battle..

There is also this link: http://www.abc15.com/content/news/s...alien-spy/VwSkBf4CuEiX8YVJaeq9sw.cspx?rss=704

Claims 5,000 computers over 9 years running 24x7. You do the math and you get very close to that figure in electricity used over that period. This is assuming those numbers are credible. I have nothing against the SETI DC Project, but if I was his supervisor I would fire him as well.

 

[QuietIce]

I agree you should always get permission to use someone else's equipment.


That being said, the guy had 8 personal machines at home as well - that's a lot of Cobblestones if they were modern rigs. Oh, I know it's not enough to make up a 200k RAC but think about it. My old Opty's run 1.1k RAC without video and some modern machines can crank that up to 5k each (without video). The article quoted $1.2-1.6M as the loss - poppycock! $120,000/year (that's $10,000/month at current rates) to power machines to run SETI??!?? Running enough rigs to use that much power (I calculated ~600!) would yield a LOT more than the 200k RAC he's reporting. From that information alone I find the whole thing very suspicious. More likely the people defending him are closer to the truth than the people accusing him.


From any perspective it's a bad deal that people in positions of power will use whatever means necessary to remain in power. Sadly, it seems to be the nature of the beast. I'm sure SETI will get a little bit of a black eye here - at least in AZ - but maybe the rest of the story will come clear and straighten things out in the long run. There are many that refute the reported "facts" - including the "fact" that he didn't have permission to run SETI. This story isn't over.


Edit: (cross-post)

Claims 5,000 computers over 9 years running 24x7. You do the math and you get very close to that figure in electricity used over that period. This is assuming those numbers are credible. I have nothing against the SETI DC Project, but if I was his supervisor I would fire him as well.

That much computing would yield numbers a lot higher than what S@H and BOINCStats are reporting. There's just no way those are right. The reporters and the school administration are obviously too ignorant (in the dictionary sense) to realize there is another secure and unbiased source of data to prove/disprove those "facts" ...

 

[nzaneb]

What shame. I always wondered how one individual could support that kind of production.
Seti@home/Boinc will only have to suffer through the repercussions of the bad publicity... legally they have nothing to worry about as it's purely voluntary.
On the bright side... with NEZ not crunching, there shouldn't be a work shortage

 

[Alexhk]

With the conspiracy theory threads about him on the seti boards a few years back its kind of a let down to find he worked for a school system.

 

[EarthDog]

Yep......

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=626497

 

[razorface]

Huh? SETI causes your computer to use more electricity?

 

[hokiealumnus]

Wow...this guy is a real piece of work. He didn't get fired for SETI, he got fired for misappropriation of funds, theft and porn as he well should have. SETI is waaaay overblown in that story.

 

[Roisen]

I agree you should always get permission to use someone else's equipment.


That being said, the guy had 8 personal machines at home as well - that's a lot of Cobblestones if they were modern rigs. Oh, I know it's not enough to make up a 200k RAC but think about it. My old Opty's run 1.1k RAC without video and some modern machines can crank that up to 5k each (without video). The article quoted $1.2-1.6M as the loss - poppycock! $120,000/year (that's $10,000/month at current rates) to power machines to run SETI??!?? Running enough rigs to use that much power (I calculated ~600!) would yield a LOT more than the 200k RAC he's reporting. From that information alone I find the whole thing very suspicious. More likely the people defending him are closer to the truth than the people accusing him.


From any perspective it's a bad deal that people in positions of power will use whatever means necessary to remain in power. Sadly, it seems to be the nature of the beast. I'm sure SETI will get a little bit of a black eye here - at least in AZ - but maybe the rest of the story will come clear and straighten things out in the long run. There are many that refute the reported "facts" - including the "fact" that he didn't have permission to run SETI. This story isn't over.


Edit: (cross-post)
That much computing would yield numbers a lot higher than what S@H and BOINCStats are reporting. There's just no way those are right. The reporters and the school administration are obviously too ignorant (in the dictionary sense) to realize there is another secure and unbiased source of data to prove/disprove those "facts" ...

You're assuming that they only count the electricity used by the computers as damages. There is also the fact that he appropriated funds toward buying computers with SETI in mind, meaning that he probably spent more than what is needed at a school (excess computers with excessive power) when purchasing computers for his department. Also the article indicates that he was doing his job poorly, meaning that he was probably being paid more than he was worth. Finally he "adopted" machines, and if that means stealing, then well that is obviously damage to the district.

If I was his employer I would have never given him permission, but the way that he has performed his job (from what the article says) was poor, and that is a reason to be fired.

Like other people have said though, we've only gotten one side of the story so far.

 

[Audioaficionado]

Power usage is a valid point, but it looks like they are adding on a lot of extra felony crap to build a case to prosecute. If they prove even some of the p0rn and any machines set aside for personal purposes, he might go to jail.

Too bad they are putting Seti in a bad light to use as a weapon against him.

 

[GrimX9]

I don't like the tone of the article, it really talks about the whole SETI project with a condescending tone.

 

[4GHZ_or_bust]

Yeah the article seems to imply that SETI is used for evil purposes and distract us from the real issue. Not doing his job and pron is a good reason for getting fired but those rarely leads to jail time unless there's kiddie pron or secret video camera in bathrooms or locker rooms.

At best is for electricity theft but they'd have to prove that having SETI on those computer did increase usage significantly. If no one bothered to turn off computers at night, that's the school's problem and not the person. But if he did disable power saving feature and did discourage people from turning it off or something, then he could be charged for that.

Unless they get retarded judge who doesn't understand computer at all, he could dismiss the theft charge on basis that the school should have thought to turn the computers off, and the school can't prove this one person siphoned electricity to elsewhere other than school use.

Either way, SETI is in a bad light based on that report alone.