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Worker Fired For Running SETI On State-Owned PCs
Formica writes "A programmer working for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services was fired for running SETI software on a state server. As quoted in this article,
department head Tom Hayes says, 'I think that people can be comfortable that security has beamed this man out of our building.' More articles from Google."
"I understand his desire to search for intelligent life in outer space, because obviously he doesn't find it in the mirror in the morning," Hayes said. "I think that people can be comfortable that security has beamed this man out of our building."
What an ass Tom Hayes is! Come on now, there is no need for personal attacks, especially because this statement was publicly released in a news interview and they have already fired this guy. I am half tempted to find Tom's email address and tell him just that.
So the issue is: Was there a policy that prohibited use of those systems for that purpose? Granted, since the machines were taxpayer funded, this should have raised some red-flags for Charles Smith (the fired employee), however...... immediate termination rather than a warning seems a bit harsh. Any time you are using publicly funded resources for personal use, there should be extreme caution, and my bias is to never, ever go there in the first place unless there is a prior agreement for reimbursement.
Of course we do not know all the circumstances, but Tom Hayes is still an ass for publicly attempting to humiliate this guy. Tom, whats wrong with you? I suspect you are a former high school football player turned college frat boy who has to put people down to make yourself feel better. Ass!
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"I understand his desire to search for intelligent life in outer space, because obviously he doesn't find it in the mirror in the morning," Hayes said.
However justified the firing of the employee, there was no reason to make such a denigrating comment about that employee. Smith should file a complaint and Hayes should publicly apologize. I hope that if Hayes ever makes a mistake he is treated a whole lot better than he chose to treat this man. I sent an email to them asking how this manager can behave in such an awful and slanderous manner. If you feel so inclined you can go here and do the same.
http://www.busyweather.com/
hayest@odjfs.state.oh.us
T: 614/466-6282
This qualifies as "Useless waste of government resources", just like browsing Slashdot. See ya, buddy.
Life in Orange County
Because SETI@Home is such a security risk.
My mother works for the County Gov't, and I've seen some of the spyware infested cesspools that they call computers, and they fire this guy for doing what? Wasting clock cycles?
"Unauthorized software" means just that. Just because he was in the IT department doesn't give him free reign to do what he wants to with a production server.
Remember: Those servers, routers, switches, and workstations aren't yours, they belong to your employer. You're paid to do what your employer wants to them, and not do what said employer doesn't want. Nothing more, nothing less.
If you're stupid (yes, STUPID) enough to flaunt the rules because you think they don't apply to you, you deserve what you get.
It's stupid to fire someone for running this on company/institutional computers (whatever happened to warnings?), but it's also stupid to just decide to run it on the assumption that your boss isn't stupid.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Finally we have the proof. The state is covering up the existence of ET's I can see "they" now - "One computer less for them to know the truth MUAHAHAHAHA"
I had it running on 5 servers at one time at a gov agency I worked for. Soon it got around that SETI was running on 'production' servers and I was told politely to quit running it for all of the common reasons,, misuse of public funds etc. Keep in mind the servers were only using a fraction of their capability doing what they were doing in the first place,, and what they were doing was pretty useless and just bureacratic pork programs on a small scale.
dude, there is far more fraud, waste, and abuse in government then this piddling little thing. In the scheme of things, it probably cost more in administration costs to fire the poor bastard and hire a new guy than any expense brought on by the SETI program.
Yeah? Well I think you're overrated too.
The chick in HR who's downloaded the "kitty-cat screen saver" spam zombie is doing just fine.
Well, mixed feelings...
On one hand what this guy did is clearly wrong - even according to SETI rules - you're warned not to run this shit on computer on which you're not allowed to do so.
SETI uses up a lot of CPU cycles and makes outgoing network connections on its own (well he could have set it up in different ways, I guess) so it's dumb to have it run on a government SERVER without getting explicit permission.
On the other hand - this sort of shit shouldn't get someone fired* - maybe some embarasing talking to followed by an office-wide memo reminding everyone that "in light of recent transgressions, PLEASE BE ADVISED not to do this kind of shit"
*The stories that I've seen do not indicate whether there's been any prior incidents. Perhaps in this workplace, the "don't install shit on the server" policy is so ingrained into the office culture that someone can't be unaware of the severity of the consequences, in which case the firing is in order.
But actually I hink the comments by Tom Hayes are truthful (but unprofessional). Someone who values his SETI workunit count to such an extent as to fuck around at work, isn't brilliant.
Ecce Europa - Web Design for Business
And then there's the small amount of bandwidth used ...
Running programs like Seti and RC5 is *not* free. Cheap, maybe, but not completely free.
We fired someone over the summer for running Folding@Home on multiple computers. It wasn't because of what he was doing, but because he had installed and run software that was not approved by the university, and therefore considered a security breach.
I don't necessarily agree with the firing, but if the rules state explicitly that you can't do it, then don't.
There are, in fact, lots of different kinds of "unauthorized sofware".
There is the kind that introduces viruses, the kind that is used for trading porn, the kind used for trading Windows source code, the kind for sharing MP3's with a million of your closest friends, and the kind that people use for running a side business.
And then there is the kind that people use to contribute to a not-for-profit scientific effort at a public university for no financial gain, software that only uses idle cycles and is known not to interfere with anybody's applications.
Unauthorized use of sofware of those different kinds demands different kinds of responses. The use of the latter kind of software use warrants at most a warning.
Dear Governor Taft,
I am writing regarding the despicable conduct of one of your appointees, namely, Tom Hayes of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. He recently fired an employee, a computer programmer named Charles Smith, for running a program called SETI@Home on the department machines. The program uses spare computer time (when the computer isn't being used, like when a screensaver is running, for example) to do mathematical analysis on data received via radio telescopes by the SETI Program.
The SETI@Home project is well-respected in the scientific and technology communities, and there was no need for Mr. Hayes to fire the programmer for installing the program on department computers. However, the issue goes much deeper than that.
Mr. Hayes demonstrates not only a lack of knowledge on the subject, but also an unwillingness to learn about things he doesn't already know about. A very small amount of poking about on the Internet would have revealed a wealth of information on the SETI@Home project, including its endorsement by a variety of educational organizations and industries.
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/
Instead, Hayes indicates his assumption of intellectual superiority with such witty repartee as this quote from the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
"I understand his desire to search for intelligent life in outer space, because obviously he doesn't find it in the mirror in the morning," Hayes said. "I think that people can be comfortable that security has beamed this man out of our building."
Hayes's complete lack of tact when dealing with the media over what is actually an unjust firing demonstrates that he is incapable of performing his duties in a way that reflects positively on the State of Ohio, and I hope you will take appropriate action in this situation.
Firing this guy is severe and unwarranted. A simple warning should have been enough.
Since he's a state employee, I hope his union takes up the case and files a grievance.
Interviewer: "So, why were you let go of your last position?"
TheGuy: "Well, I was fired for using company equipment to find space aliens."
Interviewer: "Space aliens?"
TheGuy: "Yip!"
Interviewer: "Um, okay, nice meeting you, we'll call you, don't call us."
Table-ized A.I.
I got my share of calls at 5am from system admins freaking out back in the distributed.net days because I was the DNS contact. We've had people get fired for running Folding@home too. This is actually not as rare as you would think.
We do everything we can to tell poeple NOT to do this, and they KNOW they are doing something wrong.
I feel bad for the guy, but only as bad as I feel for people that choose to live in Florida and then bitch about hurricanes.
- Adam L. Beberg - The Cosm Project - http://www.mithral.com/
Most state government employees can easily file a grievance to challenge any termination. No lawyers or representation is usually necessary, but just to be safe he might want some.
If this firing were challenged in my state, especially considering the derogatory and defamatory comments issued by this employees boss, a grievance committee would almost certainly give his job back.
I suspect this employee was given no warnings about the conduct for which he was fired. In addition, he probably wasn't violating any direct orders or specific policies. Sure, he was in violation of general policies regarding personal use of computers. But when his boss publically accused him of being crazy, he almost certainly overrode any minor policy violations by the employee.
In my state, the comments made by his boss would have violated any number of state regulations and policies regarding correct termination procedures. And considering that this employee could sue for defamation, I wouldn't be surprised to see his boss actually fired over this.
One might ask why he would want his job back? Certainly he wouldn't want to work for this jerk again. Because state governments are large, and he could immediately apply for a transfer to another agency. One where he would no longer have to work for the ignorant fool that is Tom Hayes.
Not if the employee handbook says that's the consequence.
That's just ridiculous. I've seen "employee handbooks" before and they're not the final word on anything. A book means nothing, it's all about what the people in charge are saying.
Not if Smith was doing other things deserving of termination. Not if his actions endangered adherence to security protocols, placed sensitive data at risk of disclosure, or caused a department to loose certification.
Sure, but we have no evidence of that whatsover. That only exists in your imagination to justify the harsh treatment of this guy. Please stick to the facts and not what you imagine to be the case.
And yes, I _am_ a sysadmin. He shouldn't have been running the program, but based on what we know firing him and making assholish statements about him in print is going way to far.
AccountKiller
Not in Columbus, Ohio. The village idiot is heading the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
On Saturday 09 October 2004 4:23 am, John Burrowy wrote:
>
s tinfo/colug1
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> http://www.newsnet5.com/news/3793629/detail.html
Actually, he wasn't a programmer. He was a database application specialist
(Oracle). And it wasn't just a server. It was a 4 processor LPAR running on
an IBM p690, with 6GB of RAM assigned. I've known about the SETI project,
but who would have guessed that they made an AIX version?
And contrary to his claim about the system not being used on the weekend, he
was discovered precisely because some of the other developers were
complaining about the reduced performance on the system.
_______________________________________________
colug1 mailing list colug1@colug.net
http://www.colug.net/mailman/li
Furthermore, and I have to point this out to users ALL the time- the computer they use is not theirs. It belongs to the company, as does the telephone, the power that PC uses, and its internet connection.
Bet you're a popular guy around the office
Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
With all due respect, thats BS. I have been running the client here for about 5.5 years, basicly since the project started, and I have yet, in all those years of running it on a 24/7/365 basis, had a problem that would cause me to point a finger at seti. FWIW, I rank at 99.27+% in the world in seti unit processing. Yes, it keeps the cpu well warmed up, it formerly ran on a old hungry 1400mhz athlon xp, and only if the room was extremely cold did it ever get below 70C. It ran that way for 4 years, finally dying when a video card failed and took the motherboard with it.
However, let me add my voice to the general sounds of outrage over the fireing of an elderly worker, in this case a programmer. If he was indeed a programmer, and I was very productive at writing code when I was his age but I've faded some in the 8 years of seniority I have on this gentleman, then he was obviously of above average intelligence, and to have the head of the dept make public statements in the manner in which he apparently made them is both very childish and immature on the part of the dept head, and IMO an actionable occurance that the state of Ohio may well have to pay for in the long run.
Talented people, generally speaking are, even if they are perceived as being a bit abrasive, are often well worth keeping around. They are doing it with me yet at 70 on a part time and emergency basis, more than willing to put up with a sometimes cantankerous old man for the simple reason that when things go to hell in a handbasket, or a lightning strike, having me available reduces the downtime more than enough to pay for the fringies I'm still getting, like health insurance etc.
Thats not saying that what he did was right. He should have asked for permission and abided by any ruleing TPTB made.
However, if I were in Toms shoes (and I'm glad I'm not ATM, I don't own any asbestos or nomex underwear) I think my 'punishment' would have been to issue a directive that a) seti be cleaned off the machines by the person who installed it, and b) the person who installed it would have lost the keys to the executive pisser for a week. Further action would have depended entirely on the results of that one. Obviously there may be more to the story that we aren't being told. But thats how I see it, and believe it or not, my employees, when I was full time, all respected me and my occasionally short temper, and do to this day.
They took that in stride in exchange for the times when I went into teacher mode trying to lessen the daily load on me by passing on the knowledge collected in 55+ years of chasing electrons for a living. I have tried to condense what to many looks like black magic, into the physical laws that govern how it does, or does not work. I've managed to succeed fairly well from observing the results. What more can a teacher do, but pass on what he knows?
Cheers, Gene
The organization that hired the meathead running the IT organization should be forced to pay out a multimillion dollar damage judgement. Unfortunately, this will come out ot the pockets of the taxpayers, not stockholders, but shit happens.
Tech Public Policy stuff
If installing SETI@Home is all he did wrong, I wouldn't have fired him either. I would most certainly have disciplined him and reviewed his permissions/other boxes he's touched. However, I would not have fired him for just that. He made a mistake; point it out to him, admonish him for it, and move on. If he did it again, then I'd send him packing.
Treat those who work for you with respect, especially when you're disciplining them, and yes - even when you're firing them. They're people, goddamn it - treat them like you'd like to be treated.