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"Sysadmin of the Year" Winners Announced
lisah writes "Ten winners of this year's 'Sysadmin of the Year' contest have been announced and, while Robin 'Roblimo' Miller says it's not quite like winning the Miss America contest, being selected from approximately 2,500 entrants is nothing to sneeze at. This year's first place winner battled an office fire to save a RAID backup server, while another IT manager won an honorable mention for his dedicated work at a yarn store. From the article, '[The nominating entry said:] Any man who would take on a position at a yarn store, much less a technological position while surrounded by a dozen women, ages 55+ deserves some kind of reward...'" Linux.com and Slashdot are both owned by OSTG.
So does the winner recieve all of the Xena and Star Trek: Voyager season DVDs, as well as a lifetime supply of Hot Pockets and Pop Tarts?
This is my signature. There are many like it but this one is mine.
Linux.com and Slashdot are both owned by OSTG.
I dunno who OSTG is, but they must be pretty awesome. They pwned Slashdot and Linux.com!
Oh, c'mon. I think we all know what his "Cocoon-like" reward was.
... that there's a place in the universe for dorky looking white guys.
" From the article, '[The nominating entry said:] Any man who would take on a position at a yarn store, much less a technological position while surrounded by a dozen women, ages 55+ deserves some kind of reward...'""
It could have been worse. The yarn store could have burst into flames.
The medieval equivalent of a stable boy
no bathing suit contest segment, PLEASE!
They could have hired a real photographer to shoot the winners, the winner's picture looks like it's been taken at a party a saturday night around 3:30am with a point-and-shoot digital camera.
You just got troll'd!
Pat McGovern, who organized this contest for sponsor Splunk, says, "no one talks to sysadmins unless something breaks."
Perhaps that's because so many of them are BOHF, power freaks who treat "their" users like crap.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Definitely wasn't in this post: "while surrounded by a dozen women, ages 55+ deserves some kind of reward...'"
2. Effort expended/income ratio adjusts favourably
3. PROFIT!
biopowered.co.uk - catalytically cracking triglycerides for home automotive use since 2008. Just say no to big oil!
What do you want me to do, clap? I'd say ALL sysadmins are heros because they need to put up with a stupid userbase and inept managers that see their bottom line only.
... battled an office fire to save a RAID backup server ...
Of course, the sysadmin did have a complete backup set of tapes stored offsite? I would think that company could afford to let the hardware go up in smoke instead of facing a possible lawsuit if the sysadmin died on the job.
Speaking of video games, anyone who thinks knitting is all girly flowers and things hasn't seen the cool retro-gaming knits at Bits 2 Die 4.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
The winner got "Washington DC"? The whole thing? Man, I knew OSTG had major league pull, but that's amazing! ;-)
Note to Michael Beck - Now that you own Washington DC, please replace Congress, the Supreme Court and the President with a few Beowulf clusters. We should see a marked improvement in performance.
It's a thin line between winner and (ultimate) loser:
Scenario 1:
Man risks life to save RAID server, and lives.
Reward: System admin of year, free t-shirt, maybe a free watch from company at holiday party.
Scenario 2:
Man risks life to save RAID server, dies in process.
Reward: Gets mentioned in every system admin journal of something you should not do.
Scenario 3:
Man backs up RAID server to remote location and evacuates building before it collapses.
Reward: Lives fruitful life with wife and kids.
I know that Hindsight is 20/20, but it had to be said.
How many of the companies these men work for would backstab them in a second if it meant higher profits?
That's awesome on the rescuing RAID backup from a fire, but am I the only one thinking that I would just leave the building, let insurance pay to get new hardware and recover from the offsite backup?
What you don't know is that was what happened to him applying for the job too...
Are you trying to say that sysadmins aren't judged by their looks, or that they aren't good looking? Oh... both. OK, well, back to the cave!
stuff |
I read the winners and you have to kiss a lot of asses to get recommendations like that.
Where's the old BOFH spirit, people?
The profession is doomed.
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
Why, I take very good care of my users. In fact, I wouldn't have a job without them, right? I mean, I support the computers they use, and without them the computers wouldn't NEED any support. In fact, I just had a brand new backup system installed in our halon-protected server room. It's there to ensure that any data they find valuable will always be available. Go ahead, step in and take a look for yourself. It's right there in the back row, about halfway down.
No, really, I insist. Have a look.
Fill in your four or five-letter word of wisdom here _ _ _ _ _.
Man has several minutes to evacuate the building as the fire is in another unit. Man casually grabs RAID server because off-site backups are a week old. (We really have no idea if there were off-site backups or not).
It's easy to imagine the panic scenario where the guy is risking his life for some dumb data, but the article doesn't really make it sound like that at all.
AccountKiller
I read through the entire blurb and half the comments until I realize the guy works at a "yarn" store and not a "yam" store. I was trying to wrap my mind around the business logic of selling nothing but yams.
I got nothin'
"Grandprize: Washington DC".
I thought DC was owned by the lobbyists? How did they negotiate that?!?
-- Trinity in high heels carrying a whip: The donimatrix - there is no spoonerism
Any man who would take on a position at a yarn store, much less a technological position while surrounded by a dozen women, ages 55+ deserves some kind of reward...'"
This is the most hateful, priggish, bigoted, self-limiting, sexist thing I've read in a week. And I read a lot.
Tom Geller
That's not so hard. Try being doing the same at a modeling agency or such, and actually be able to concentrate on your work while surrounded by a dozen hot babes.
OTOH, that would be its own reward.
Either way, it probably doesn't change the social scene much.
yarn yam yarn yam yam yarn
FONT that!
You never expect irony, do you?
Want to be a professional wrestler? Visit www.iyfwrestling.com
@iyfwrestling
How fantastically sexist. I'm disgusted that such opinions are casually treated as acceptable in this day and age.
It's sexist BOTH in that it implies there's anything wrong with a man who has something to do with knitting, AND that it implies that there's some reason why someone shouldn't want to work around a dozen women.
... okay, posted anonymous since this post appears to be pro-granny loving!
Selfless sysadmin braves burning office to save the RAID backup?
You only have 1 life until cloning manages to get us to at least Human-RAID Level 1. One bad failure mode, and your flesh and blood hardware is at best non-functional (3rd degree burns) to a non-recoverable (dead).
Unless the industry in question is health-care, the military, nuclear power plant where actual lives are at stake, screw, screw, SCREW the RAID backup, or tape library, or whatever. In the aforementioned industries, you damn well better have disaster recovery planning, current offsite backups, and a whole host of other risk mitigation, management and recovery strategies.
The company goes out of business? Too bad, so sad, but your life is more precious than that. I can always get another job. My wife and kids will not be able to replace me as easily.
Really. This sounds more like a nominee for a Darwin award, rather than a Sysadmin award.
Tell your dinner date you just won geek of the year.
Count the microseconds before she excuses herself to go to the ladies room.
The one sysadmin said: "Asked if he had any advice for aspiring sysadmins, Thomas said, "Back up, back up, back up -- and plan for the absolute worst."" Shouldn't he have had a off-site backup if was really following good admin practices? Why run into a burning building...
...every single person on this list was outsourced to India. The money saved will go toward the executive compensation funds of their respective companies.
Thanks for all your hard work, guys!
Perhaps that's because so many of them are BOHF, power freaks who treat "their" users like crap.
Bastard Operator Hell From? Is that like the non-union Second-world equivalent of a Bastard Operator From Hell?
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
The word "no" and phrase "I can't" are not in his vocabulary.
:)
But the word "no" and phrase "I won't" are in his vocabulary.
--fatboy
I was wondering what all this yakking about a yam store and 55+ year old women was about, until I used the + key. It's still kinda mysterious, but I'm glad no sweet potatos were harmed in the competition.
It just so happens that that place for them is in a back room, away from all customers.
let's give ourselves a clap on the back! almost limitless earning potential, a work rate a sloth would be jealous of, AND we get our hands on the latest kit.
SYSADMIN FOR TEH WIN
being selected from approximately 2,500 entrants is nothing to sneeze at.
Sysadmin of the Year: Hey Mr. Judge man, pick a winner.
Judge: Huh, choose?
Sysadmin of the Year: You have a cold?
Judge: I am not old!
Sysadmin of the Year: That's what the guy in the yarn store said.
Judge: What story are trying to spin?
Sysadmin of the Year: Great, now we know who will win.
Judge: What?
Sysadmin of the Year: Thanx so much.
Have you read my journal today?
...is people going into rooms with fires to rescue equipment or backups. People just don't realize how poisonous/noxious the fumes are from burning electronics; they think they can hold their breath, except they get a small whiff of the fumes up their nose, or need to take another breath because of exertion (that box of tapes wasn't as easy to find as they thought)- cough, suck in a nice big breath of poisonous smoke, and collapse a few seconds later. Poisonous fumes stick around even after a fire is out. Wait for the fire department to come and declare the room and building SAFE. If you need something specific, ask the dude with the SCBA pack to go and get it for you; if there's no serious danger to them, they'll probably oblige.
The infamous Blue Book warns clearly and repeatedly that backups should NEVER be stored in the same room because of these dangers. Employees/managers feel too tempted to do shit exactly like what "Sean Thomas" did.
If there is a fire, GET THE FUCK OUT. Period. Companies have insurance and should have off-site backups for this kind of stuff, and it's not your fault if they don't. It's also much better to be alive and living off unemployment or looking for a new job, than in the ER with no job...or dead.
Side note: is it just me, or was this "competition" just a stupid submitting of resumes with "nominations", and "be a good little worker bee" crap? "Michael Beck is a young go getter. The word "no" and phrase "I can't" are not in his vocabulary." Gimme a break...
Please help metamoderate.
If I had mod points, you would have them...
He has been responsible for the complete build out of 2 of our office spaces that exceeded 100+ workstations, all related network infrastructure, security features, and general business furniture and office equipment required to establish the "walk in and go to work" office spaces required.
"...general business furniture..."
I have done a lot of questionably-job-related stuff over my time as an admin, but you won't catch me taking on office furniture. At least not twice. That's not being an admin, that's being a pushover. I hope the guy enjoys his grand prize, if his employers let him out of the dunge...er his office, that is.
Well said!
Religion and politics, without the flame. godgab.org
this was gonna be the sysadmin for country junction
I haven't gone insane and killed anyone yet, so where is MY damn award?
Never even got nominated. Next year I'll demand the users nominate me, or I'll erase their files.
I offer a congrats to the IT manager of the yarn store, but take off your geek hat for a moment, dear reader, and comtemplate this: how pathetic is it that a YARN STORE needs an IT manager?
Somebody get those women some Macs, for feck's sake. That they need an EMPLOYEE whose job is to keep the computers running makes me incredibly sad.
is anyone else tired of being bombarded with advertising for splunk's proprietary software?
splunk people, if you read this, stop bashing everyone over the head with advertising. free your software and you won't have to spend so much time trying to convince folks that it's ok to use your proprietary software.
Scenario 3:
Man backs up RAID server to remote location and evacuates building before it collapses.
Reward: Lives fruitful life with wife and kids IN TOTAL ANONYMITY.
C'mon, even sysadmins like to be heroes. Imagine the BABES!
So basically the company doesn't have the budget for a $200 off-site USB drive (on the cheap, this can be housed at the sysadmin's home, even), but would be willing to pay out on a lawsuit brought by the family of the victim who was dedicated enough to risk his own life to make up for the complete and total short-sightedness of his managers? Excellent precedent. Now we know why management is so stupid sometimes. There's always a technical stud who is willing to risk his life to cover up the fuckups of his higherups.
So who else here is disappointed that the "Tall, thin, strawberry blonde" geekgrrl didn't have a picture?
:)
More importantly, who's currently stalking her on Google Maps? I'm stuck at work and don't have time, but boy am I curious if the rumours are true... somebody rustle me up a link!
If I knew the wedgies I gave you back in 6th grade would have resulted in this . . . I might have taken a moments pause.
And don't laugh, he's got the inside track on their daughters. And I'll bet some of them are babes who would be happy to handle his tool.
You know, the thing you have extinguishers around the office to deal with? And that you train with once a year to deal with? You call the fire department if the building is going to go up or if there is a danger to human life. If some idiot drops his cigarette on a plush seat causing a minor blaze you freaking deal with it yourself. I know, I know, the typical sysadmin is at risk from dying from the physical activity. Find the copy girl then, she's man enough to handle the job.
Help poke pirates in the eyepatch, arr.
Looking forward to the worldwide version. At least this one isn't called the International Sysadmin contest.
(I have an excellent sysadmin I'd love to nominate)
Me, UK.
Now GET BACK TO WORK!
So there's a woman who garners special attention because she's "model gorgeous", and a man who garners sympathy because his coworkers are yarn saleswomen who, one would assume, are not model gorgeous.
This really doesn't seem to do anything to dispel the stereotype that sysadmins have difficulty relating to the fairer sex, does it?
Women over 50 talk. A LOT. As coworkers, 100% of women over 50 have talked to me 500% more than ANY other person of ANY other age group, man or woman. And by "talked to me" I mean "shared minute details about their life that I don't really care about until I would rather have my ears bleed."
-Clio
Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
If you have ever done a fire alarm drill, you should know you are not suppossed to take anything with you.
Depending on the situation the stuff you are taking with you may become an obstruction and endanger the lives of people trying to evacuate the area...
IANAL but write like a drunk one.