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Unisys Gets DHS Contract Worth Up to $750 million
feamsr00 writes "In an affirmation of its business relationship with Unisys Corp., the Department of Homeland Security awarded the Blue Bell firm a "bridge" contract worth up to $750 million.
Some controversy erupted in the fall after it was reported that the government was auditing a Unisys contract because the company had possibly overbilled the Transportation Security Administration by as much as 171,000 hours of labor and overtime. TSA is a division of the Homeland Security department.
Unisys is also to upgrade the Department of Homeland Security's headquarters facility in Washington."
It's the only thing preventing our complete loss of freedoms.
Man I wish I was in security right now.
I just find it amazing how security experts are getting paid such big bucks yet according to recent audits show they arent really making things all that much safer.
It makes me feel much better, considering they cut the CyberSecurity budget to $16 million.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
who cares about getting the best people to do the job, just make your friends and family rich and fsk the peasants, its the neoconAmerican way !
http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pr o&ddlC=59
Does Unisys actually make any innovative products or provide useful services, or do they just drain money from corporations and governments run by foolish PHBs (Pointy Haired (Bosses || Bureaucrats))?
------ Take away the right to say fuck and you take away the right to say fuck the government.
Posting anonymously for obvious reasons.
:(
Reading a story about 'us' overbilling, generally being corrupt is a bit of a non event. Breaks my fucking heart to see some of the shit that goes on with middle and upper management, coming into the office every day means giving up a bit (read: a lot) of self respect, unfortunately I've got bills to pay
of course you are gonna over bill them by as much as you have the balls to do.
WMF patch rollout Tuesday.
You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.
It's nice to know Unisys's heart-warming corporate culture hasn't changed over the past few years. Ah yes, I remember well the days of the great GIF Patent Shakedown indeed! Bastards.
Santa baby, slip a sable under the tree, for me
I've been an awful good girl
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight
Santa baby, an out-of-space convertible too, light blue
I'll wait up for you dear
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight
Think of all the fun I've missed
Think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed
Next year I could be oh so good
If you'd check off my Christmas list
Boo doo bee doo
Santa honey, I wanna yacht and really that's
Not a lot
I've been an angel all year
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight
Santa cutie, there's one thing I really do need, the deed
To a platinum mine
Santa cutie, and hurry down the chimney tonight
Santa baby, I'm filling my stocking with a duplex, and checks
Sign your 'X' on the line
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight
Come and trim my Christmas tree
With some decorations bought at Tiffany's
I really do believe in you
Let's see if you believe in me
Boo doo bee doo
Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing, a ring
I don't mean a phone
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry down the chimney tonight [/singing]
"They don't have to make things much safer, they only have to make people feel that things are much safer now."
The Emperor has no clothes...and he just bought $750 Million of Viagra.
Does this "bridge" contract involve the sale of a bridge somewhere in New York City to someone?
EvilCON - Made Famous by
What is that, like 100000 per cent?
p ?txtName=unisys
http://www.opensecrets.org/softmoney/softcomp1.as
bun-fhuinneog agam!
When 3 people give up rights to 1 person, it is pretty easy control. When we have just 800 nationally elected officials handling the rights of 300 million, what do you expect? That is 375,000:1 ratio or so (counting underage too).
Here's the root of the problem: abuse of Constitutional authorized power combined with what is NOT voter apathy but citizen time value. A billion dollars is only $1 per day per citizen: you and I are not going to fight tooth and nail to get rid of a billion dollar contract. Yet a small group of 5 CxO's from Unisys will. Money is not the problem, the corrupt political structure of the federal government is.
Voting is not going to change the structure: those 5 CxO's will happily work with whoever is in power. We've already given UP those powers, there is no taken them back.
If you want to see changes, do it with your life as I did. Take your money out of the stock market and 401Ks and put it into your own business or local businesses you have control of (and actually profit from!). Take your money out of the bank and pay off all your debt -- whatever is left over is perfectly safe in gold or silver. Talk to your employer and see if you can become a contractor and find ways to write-off as much as possible under the tax code. Don't take loans, don't have a credit card, don't be concerned with social security and medicare. You can do it on your own, and you can stop supporting the monsters in office.
Unisys is not the bad guy here: they are taking advantage of the system the voters put in place.
[singing]
Uni baby, build some machines for the country; you see,
We've got some awful PCs
Uni baby, and deploy down the office tonight
Uni baby, an out-of-space USB drive too, light blue
I'll wait up for you dear
Uni baby, and...
--oh, fuck it... help?!? I don't even know (or care--they patented GIFs, so I don't like 'em so much) if Unisys does what my remix says they do, and it sounds like crap anyhow. I see why you stuck to the basics.
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
I don't want to know about the Verrazano-Unisys Bridge. Don't even think about the George Unisys Bridge either.
(I might think about the GIF Bronx Expressway though, if it reduces the traffic.)
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
Don't these people know how hard it is to boot Windows on an AN/UYK-7(v)?
We should be in awe of Unisys, not arguing over who billed who.
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
Unisys is one of the most unethical companies I have done business with. What can you expect though, our major contract is with Dell. So Dell is awarded a contract and then Unisys fullfills the service end of that agreement. So not only do I work for an awful company I get to deal with crappy Dell hardware, and a Dell Helpless desk (as the customers on my site have come to call them).
It is no surprise that Unisys overbilled the TSA. We are constantly told to put time on both our tickets and another accounting method. In effect this often double bills our customer or increases the time that we put on calls. In an eight hour day I have often done 15-20 hours worth of work. I often work reimaging one or two systems an complete other calls, but on a busy day a may really only perform 10-12 hours worth of work in 8 hours.
I am currently looking for a new job. I try to be as honest as I can and still follow this screwed up system. Although when a company chooses the lowest bidder they do get what they pay for. And the Dells and Unisyses of the industry are going to make the profit margin by cheating their customers. It's a good thing I like the company that I support.
If anyone has a desktop position open in Phoenix, AZ check out my resume
--
So who is hotter? Ali or Ali's Sister?
"Now be a good boy, take off your shoes, drop your pants and spread your checks, for your own safety."
Well OK big boy. I hope you have a long bank statement.
They come in two flavors, the OS2200 line (which is the descendant of the Sperry UNIVAC 1100-series), and the MCP line (which is the descendant of the Burroughs B-series and A-series). Nice boxes for those who need that kind of high-end legacy technology (airlines, banks, insurance companies, etc.).
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
n/t
Just for grins, I searched Google Groups for "Unisys". Here's the top-ranked post (angle brackets edited to correct html confusion, but otherwise verbatim):
1. Bill B
Nov 8 1996, 3:00 am hide options
Newsgroups: comp.sys.unisys
From: Bill B (b...@prolog.net) - Find messages by this author
Date: 1996/11/08
Subject: Unisys/Arete 1200 ???
Reply to Author | Forward | Print | Individual Message | Show original | Report Abuse
I have a Unisys / Arete 1200 and I'm not sure what I am going to do with
it. I connected a Wyse treminal and it seems to work, but I have no Info
about the machine, any help would be nice. Here is what is inside,
2) CPU32 boards.
2) 2/8 MB Mem Boards.
1) DMC Board.
2) HSDT/IOCP Boards.
1) GC/IOCP Board.
1) MAC Board.
2) Fujitsu HDs, 168mbs ea.
1) Tape drive.
If anyone has any info or would like any or all of this computer here is my
Email
b...@ptdprolog.net
Thanks, Bill
2. Thomas Wyckoff
Nov 11 1996, 3:00 am hide options
Newsgroups: comp.sys.unisys
From: Thomas Wyckoff - Find messages by this author
Date: 1996/11/11
Subject: Re: Unisys/Arete 1200 ???
Reply to Author | Forward | Print | Individual Message | Show original | Report Abuse
That's a pretty nice system from the late '80s. You have 2 CPU's with
68030's, some memory (you'll have to pop out the boards. If they're full
they're 8 megs each). The DMC is the memory controller, the HPIO is the
tape and disk controller. The GCPIO board(s) are the terminal
controllers, 8 terms per board. The MAC card is a frame that lets you
use multi-bus boards in the Arete (ARIX now) system. It might have an
ethernet or x.25 card in it. The 168 meg disks will cost more than a new
Buick to replace if they go. The Army still has a lot of these systems,
and I still get to work on one once in a while. Tom Wyckoff
- The Kessel run is for nerf herders. I can circumnavigate the entire Central Finite Curve in a lot less than 12 parse
Hey, what's
between friends?
Read my blog.
Interesting. Recommended reading.
"I am currently looking for a new job. I try to be as honest as I can and still follow this screwed up system."
A Business Tale: A Story of Ethics, Choices, Success and a Very Large Rabbit
---
"It's been 25 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment" And yet I can get around this Taco. You're slipping friend.
If you want to see changes, do it with your life as I did. Take your money out of the stock market and 401KsIf you are stupid enough to follow his advice you deserve what you get. While I agree that social security and medicare will not be there for me (I am 23) despite the fact I pay into these programs, not having investments for your future beyond retirement is idiotic. Gold is not the answer. If you don't trust stocks, invest your 401k's in bonds (and lose out on returns... but have the warm fuzzies knowing you didn't take a risk). I have my finances worked out such that I will be able to retire early and live off the interest, minus inflation - leaving an estate to donate as I see fit and money to pass on to my children when I feel they are ready upon my death.
(and actually profit from!).I profited well off of my 401k's and stocks. The lifetime trend of the stock market is about 9% a year. (8 years to double your money on an across-the-board distribution, better if you invest wisely.) You can't do much better than that. Small companies are hit and miss. Hit and do a lot better, miss and lose it all. (Not to mention harder to get your money out if an emergency comes up)
Talk to your employer and see if you can become a contractor and find ways to write-off as much as possible under the tax code.
Learn the tax code - there are a lot of things you can do to write off taxes without being a contractor if that isn't an option.
-everphilski-
"the company had possibly overbilled the Transportation Security Administration by as much as 171,000 hours of labor and overtime."
But they have the way out!
Slashcode bug # 497457 - unfixed since December 2001 - Go look it up [sourceforge.net]!
o/~ Join us now and share the software
But I'm not keen enough to log in and post on this story ;)
I work for one of their international offices, it's somewhat interesting to note that they're just as corrupt in the good old U-S-of-A as well.
"...the company had possibly overbilled the Transportation Security Administration by as much as 171,000 hours of labor and overtime."
Uh-oh.
Look, I don't really know how to tell you this, but those 171,000 hours? That's... uh, well, that'd be my fault. Back in '99, somebody asked me to get Windows ME running stable, and I haven't left my desk since.
Sorry. Should be done any day now.
Crumb's Corollary: Never bring a knife to a bun fight.
Shouldn't a company properly investigated and found to overbill the US federal government be prevented from all federal contracts for a reasonable period of time such as 10 years?
Everytime I've seen a clearpath, it's been running as a VM inside of Windows 2000 on rebranded Dell x86 servers.
And a hearty skull and bones set of secret handshakes all around. How about companies like DynCorps (Mercenaries R Us) who have been caught involved in human slavery, kidnapping and selling women? They still get lucrative government contracts. How about Haliburton doing business with Iran, while the US is officially boycotting them? Same old same old with revolving door government/corporation/government "officers" and "workers" and the "good ole boy" network. The only rules or laws that apply to them are "make money however you can" and "try not to get caught, and if you do, don't worry, if you are big enough, nothing happens anyway".
The only good thing about it is all corrupt empires eventually fall. History proves this, over and over. The bad thing is it sucks if you are there when it happens.
If they were to "ban" high level corporations who have been caught ripping off the tax payer and engaging in unethical and illegal behavior, they would have to ban virtually every big corporation that does business with the government, including all the big "Homeland Security" defense contractors. All of them, no exceptions that I am aware of. Take your pick, from lockheed to EDS, and etc, right down the list, all have been busted at one time or another. They get a fine that is basically nothing, that they recoup right back with the next big skim contract.
This is ment to be a parody, mods. Do I need to explain what a parody is?
Seems they fraud-riddled two have a pretty tight relationship...
Gold is a lousy investment. Don't let the receant upswing fool you, unless this defies history, it's only temporary. Gold has been right around $400 an ounce for over two decades. Well, $400 bought you a whole lot more in 1980 than it does now. It flucuates up and down, of course, it's been as low as $264 and as high as $900, but only temporarily. Actually, if you discount the peak in 1980 it's never gone for above $650 which was in 1981.
So while it's something you can make money on trading in the short term, like any commodity, holding it in the long terms seems to be a bust. Had you bought in 1985, your gold would be worth maybe $100 more per ounce in absolute terms, but in relitive dollars it'd be worth less due to inflation.
It's a fairly stable medium, in that it's unlikely to ever truly crash and devalue totally, but you can find things nearly as certian that will at least keep up with inflation.
I know of one major city department where Unisys had a vested interest. After tens of years a funny thing happened: the officials responsible for contracting to Unisys quit and were rehired by Unisys. Tens of millions of city $$ were passed to Unisys under these peoples' control; now thousands flow from Unisys back to their paychecks -a small price to pay for such service.
Unisys is shrewd - so shrewd that they shafted Microsoft - a rare pleasure indeed. E.g., Microsoft paid Unisys millions in the hopes that Unisys would hand over their multiprocessor technology. Unisys took the money and gave Microsoft the empty palm. I'm not sure that Microsoft even knows what happened today.
The DHS has been using UNISYS for some time now and, like may other possibly illegal lucrative operations recently, is NOT located in the United States. Instead, they are located on the Island of Bermuda, the Bahamas, They Cayman Islands, various other Carribean countries, even Mexico! Heck, I wonder if the Government is monitoring any phone calls coming from the 537 area code. (Hint: America blocks most websites from this CoUntry BecAuse of its free health care and education. To any of you slashdotters not in the United States, try mirroring some of that country's sites because I think at this point that country's government is way better than ours at this time.)
Sometimes I think that we, the United States, are the terrorists. And I don't mean because of the secret tourture camps, or the violations of the 4th and 8th ammendments, but because of the adminstration that has become corrupt. We have seen this many times last year and is inexcusable. I have a good feeling that we, the People of the United States, will be storming the castle this year. Alot of hands are going to get caught in the cookie jar and we are going to make darn sure that if anyone skips down, they won't get as far as the airport even if it is in another country!
KMFDM!
The Rapture is NOT an exit strategy.
At least if you're a big campaign donor with corporate conections.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Bonds are for suckers and Gold is "stable". Yo... idiot... look at the history of the price of an ounce of gold for christ's sake, esp. the last 30 years. And as far as commidity pricing being immune to corruption, look no further than the Bass' brothers play on the silver market in the early 80's.
Okay, yes, Unisys is a big company, but unless there is one person posting over and over, they've got the worst goddamn employee morale that I have *ever* seen.
I see something like twenty posts from Unisys and ex-Unisys employees here that are overwhelmingly negative about the company. I see only *one* that's remotely positive, and that's from a guy who says that he's so detached from Unisys that he barely knows who he's working for -- and *that's* what he considers good.
Any program relying on (nontrivial) preemptive multithreading will be buggy.
I've had firsthand exp. with Unisys. I used to work for a company that had a contract with them. From what i've expirenced they work with other contract companies to get people in the door. Those people do worse than half-ass work and then Unisys overcharges for it. Worse yet some dumbass exec signed a contract to keep them for 3 years. Sure there was a "try out" period, during which they sucked real bad too. But rather than Mgmt admiting this was a mistake they said that it would take time to make it work. That's like hiring a guy who's willing to do plumbing, but has never done it. Hope they aren't like that everywhere.. i lied yes i do.
These are Unisys Clearpath servers:
Picture #1
Picture #2
Clearpath Home Page
Clearpath Dorado OS2200 Home
Clearpath Dorado Specification Sheets
Sample Spec Sheet
Clearpath Libra MCP Home Page
Clearpath Libra Specification Sheets
Sample Spec Sheet
Not much relationship to Dell boxes, I'm afraid.
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
For the curious, the Clearpath Dorado (running a mixture of OS2200 and x86 processors) is 69" tall, 48" deep, 27" wide, and weighs 1200 lbs.
The largest Clearpath Libra on the first spec sheet (running a mixure of MCP and x86 processors) is 69" tall, 43" deep, 27" wide, and 1160 lbs.
Such CMOS mainframes are smaller than their predecesors, but they aren't desktop boxes.
I'm curious what you've seen? Some sort of MCP emulator?
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
Unisys has never invested enough in dubious attorneys and corrupt politicians to be any good at systematic overbilling and ethical abuses etc. Anyone who's been around the company long enough knows full well that it's usually Unisys that gets screwed.
As for the time entry comment, it's most probable that the multiple companies involved require entry into different systems - the disservice to Mormon boy is probably only lack of training.
Everyone has their own favorite worst job ever, but if anyone thinks that Unisys is the worst company they've worked for, they should count their lucky stars that they've never worked for a truly terrible company.
The word from my Unisys contacts is that there has recently been a push from on high that all technical staff should start "learning more about Open Source technologies." Yes, the directive really is that vague.
That being said, in many respects the company has committed itself hard to Microsoft technologies internally. Outlook/Exchange is the one and only email client and email server, Microsoft IM through Exchange is the only IM client, etc.
But the "we have the way out" campaign is quietly realized inside the company as a mistake, and you won't find anyone internally these days who admits to being associated with it.
current help desk employee at Unisys...
the level of competency of my fellow help desk agents is shocking. i'd be giving a liberal estimate if I said 25% were actually capable of doing the job. training is BS or non-existant. management is half full of people who aren't up to or capable of the task at hand. i don't even want to get into how messed up our documentation and information tools are.
DHS is getting ripped off. what do you expect? we all get paid $14/hr - if you're even Unisys employeed... that's right. a contracted company hires a lot of contractors to perform its contracted work! it's just plain ridiculous.
Follow your own link a bit further:/ lx__servers/index.htm
http://www.unisys.com/products/clearpath__servers
Interesting. MCP running in an emulator on a PC. I could see that being potentially useful for development. Wish they had something similar for the 2200 side.
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.