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NEZ - The truth behind the credits... finally revealed.
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Carlos Send message Joined: 9 Jun 99 Posts: 30658 Credit: 57,275,487 RAC: 157 |
One comment about a possible law suit. Nez was working for a school district. School districts have three classes of employees. Contract, tenured, or classified. Regardless of the state, “at will†or not, if he was not under contract then he is covered by civil service rules. Civil service rules came about as a result of several US Supreme Court cases. All states had to adopt them. I sat as a commissioner hearing employee cases for the last five years. Based on what I have read, he has a case, and there is a good potential for damages. He may not get his job back, but he may well get all lost wages and a hefty severance. The hiring of a relative of the Superintendent to replace him was a really dumb idea. This sounds totally political to me. I a similar case I heard the employee had done something wrong, but the response was totally inappropriate. She got nearly a quarter million. County even appealed my decision and lost. |
skildude Send message Joined: 4 Oct 00 Posts: 9541 Credit: 50,759,529 RAC: 60 |
Heck the computers may generate more heat but when you consider that they are in schools that point means that they are mini space heaters. Heck he's probably reduced the schools heating cost by a small some. I have 2 rigs in my bedroom and they keep it quite comfortable in the winter without additional heat being pumped into the bedroom In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face. Diogenes Of Sinope |
j mercer Send message Joined: 3 Jun 99 Posts: 2422 Credit: 12,323,733 RAC: 1 |
If they ran 24/7 through the summer in Arizona heat with the air conditioning required the power bill could be significant. ... |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 31006 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
One comment about a possible law suit. Nez was working for a school district. School districts have three classes of employees. Contract, tenured, or classified. Regardless of the state, “at will†or not, if he was not under contract then he is covered by civil service rules. Civil service rules came about as a result of several US Supreme Court cases. All states had to adopt them. I sat as a commissioner hearing employee cases for the last five years. Based on what I have read, he has a case, and there is a good potential for damages. He may not get his job back, but he may well get all lost wages and a hefty severance. If the facts are getting through the media and other filters ... Nez was contract. In this case you need cause to terminate. However Nez resigned. Ignoring that, Nez apparently was told no more SETI at some point. Somehow after that point SETI ended up on an image load that went to all (most all) of the computers in the district, 5000 IIRC. One must consider that a contract benchmark that wasn't met. Cause for termination. School district property was apparently found at Nez's house without authorization. Employee theft is always a reason for termination. The rest of it really doesn't matter. Job is gone and no unemployment. |
Misfit Send message Joined: 21 Jun 01 Posts: 21804 Credit: 2,815,091 RAC: 0 |
Is Misfit still around? The only one to make contact.... Sorry... I've been hardcore gaming. Looks like I missed out on the fireworks. I'll have to read more about it later. As for the truth being revealed... I've known for years but was told by DA himself to respect Nez's privacy and not reveal what I knew. But this is why I used to laugh when people would try to guess how he had so many computers. They would say A school, or A college. Nobody ever guessed a school district. :P me@rescam.org |
The_bestest Send message Joined: 7 Oct 06 Posts: 36 Credit: 82,706,887 RAC: 79 |
Just saw this news article posted, working to verify if it is accurate: MESA, Ariz. — A former Arizona school district employee is accused of using school computers in an experiment to find space aliens, costing the worker his job and the district more than $1 million. Schools officials say Brad Niesluchowski, who was Higley Unified School District's information technology director, downloaded free software on district computers in 2000. The program, known as SETI(at)home, uses Internet-connected computers worldwide to analyze radio telescope data in an experiment to find extraterrestrial intelligence. But Superintendent Denise Birdwell told the East Valley Tribune that the program also bogged down the district's system and interfered with technology use in classrooms. Birdwell said it will take more than $1 million to fix the problem, including removal of the SETI software. She says police are conducting a broader investigation. Niesluchowski resigned from the district Oct. 22. His lawyer did not return calls for comment. Now, if they claim it's going to cost $1M to remove the BOINC/SETI, how many machines did the man install the software on? And even it it's a 'ton', their IT department must be either (A) incompetent, (B) Lazy, or (C) in the stone age, since it's shouldn't be hard to use any modern network management tool to find what machines are'infected' and then run an advertisement to remove the software. I could do that easy in an hour or two, and I'm a slow worker Finaly, I'm calling BS on the 'the program also bogged down the district's system and interfered with technology use in classroom' statement IDIOTS. |
Allie in Vancouver Send message Joined: 16 Mar 07 Posts: 3949 Credit: 1,604,668 RAC: 0 |
Kinda sad, really. Disappointing to realize that, if the story is true, then NEZ is just a thief. Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas. Albert Einstein |
hiamps Send message Joined: 23 May 99 Posts: 4292 Credit: 72,971,319 RAC: 0 |
Kinda sad, really. Better and wait for the full story, so far it seems mostly like Tabloid reporting. Official Abuser of Boinc Buttons... And no good credit hound! |
zoom3+1=4 Send message Joined: 30 Nov 03 Posts: 66334 Credit: 55,293,173 RAC: 49 |
Is Misfit still around? The only one to make contact.... Yer right Misfit and welcome back. Savoir-Faire is everywhere! The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST |
zoom3+1=4 Send message Joined: 30 Nov 03 Posts: 66334 Credit: 55,293,173 RAC: 49 |
Kinda sad, really. Pretty much hiamps, I'll wait, I'm sure someone may speak on this and CNN might even pick It up. Savoir-Faire is everywhere! The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST |
Allie in Vancouver Send message Joined: 16 Mar 07 Posts: 3949 Credit: 1,604,668 RAC: 0 |
Kinda sad, really. I agree. As I said 'if the story is true' Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas. Albert Einstein |
52 Aces Send message Joined: 7 Jan 02 Posts: 497 Credit: 14,261,068 RAC: 67 |
working to verify if it is accurate Did any of your research involve reading the 300 or so posts here on S@H bridging numerous forums that pre-date your ?? :-) |
Dave Mickey Send message Joined: 19 Oct 99 Posts: 178 Credit: 11,122,965 RAC: 0 |
Ah, well, what ever the real facts are, there's one fact that can be affirmed - the media's proclivity for distorting things, and spreading incorrect impressions - latest video clip, apparently from our local Phoenix station KPNX, as posted on msnbc.com, is titled: 5,000 computers hijacked to search for UFOs Of course, we know, they weren't hijacked - they had seti/boinc installed by someone who possessed (at least technical) authorization to do so. And UFO's ?? sheeesh. In the body of the video, the reporter does refer to UFOs. The casual observer (who only reads the headline and then scrolls on) could well think that this seti thing is probably a worm/virus thing that might attack their computer too (at the behest of some UFO, no less!). and so it goes. [edit] almost forgot - the thumbnail image attached to the video link is even a grainy flying saucer photo, just to make it all real authentic!! Dave |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 31006 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
I've known for years but was told by DA himself to respect Nez's privacy and not reveal what I knew. I would hope you didn't need to be reminded by anyone to respect privacy and confidences! Even today. |
Misfit Send message Joined: 21 Jun 01 Posts: 21804 Credit: 2,815,091 RAC: 0 |
Admirers often pondered in their Internet chats about SETI@home in 2007: "What is NEZ? Who is NEZ?" Some even offered the theory that he "is a god." WTF?! Was that some sort of lame google search to get a post from 2007? Perhaps they could have heard from Brad himself, once, oops thanks mod Misfit - your BOTD thread could've been world famous. Looks like I ended up saving myself a lot of BS email interview requests. ;) OK, as for the rest. He was the I/T Director. That means the top dog in the districts computer dept. Unless specified in his contract it would be up to HIM to ultimately decide what hardware gets used/upgraded/bought. Adding SETI or any other software project is an after-the-fact issue that is unrelated to any purchasing allegations. After reading the news article and comments from his fellow/former employees I cannot believe that he had SETI installed all these many years without anybody else in the district ever knowing about it. That blows away all common sense. Most likely his prior boss did give him permission to originally run the software. Most likely his prior boss gave him permission to have/use district property at his home. How much was his pay cut for budget reasons? 20%. Not a furlough, just a straight cut. It's like working a day a week for free. If you do your own googling on his name you'll find district meeting minutes with Brad's name all over them dating back years. He was very involved in the tech aspect of the district. If he was replaced by the replacer's wife tells me this was all done to gain his ouster. You don't hire family in the public sector. It's a huge conflict-of-interest issue. I agree with the comments that Brad may come out of this a very wealthy man. I would hope you didn't need to be reminded by anyone to respect privacy and confidences! Even today. And acting like a condescending bastard doesn't help your plea. me@rescam.org |
1mp0£173 Send message Joined: 3 Apr 99 Posts: 8423 Credit: 356,897 RAC: 0 |
Doesn't matter if it's a sleeve bearing or a ball bearing -- it's the seals that count. Sleeve bearings have two smooth surfaces with a film of oil or grease. It is even more important to have the friction-reducing lubrication, compared to a ball bearing. If there is no seal, what keeps the lubrication in place for months or years? |
1mp0£173 Send message Joined: 3 Apr 99 Posts: 8423 Credit: 356,897 RAC: 0 |
Finaly, I'm calling BS on the 'the program also bogged down the district's system and interfered with technology use in classroom' statement The question is, is this article:
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kittyman Send message Joined: 9 Jul 00 Posts: 51478 Credit: 1,018,363,574 RAC: 1,004 |
Doesn't matter if it's a sleeve bearing or a ball bearing -- it's the seals that count. The bearing sleeve that the fan shaft is supported by is usually made of sintered bronze or a similar material....which is somewhat porous and holds the lubricant like a sponge, releasing it to the load bearing surface over time. "Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once." |
Rudy Send message Joined: 23 Jun 99 Posts: 189 Credit: 794,998 RAC: 0 |
none of the above, Unfortunetly the misinformation about Boinc/Seti is being spread far and wide by AP http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hQEEZ1hg7uNolSi46p83k1GIVXJQD9CBAQ901 based on the original article: http://epaper.aztrib.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Search&Source=Find&Key=EVT/2009/12/02/63/Ar06304.xml&CollName=EVT_APD&DOCID=37594&Keyword=%28Brad~+and+Niesluchowski~%29&skin=EVTribune&AppName=1&PageLabel=GNA3&ViewMode=HTML If you decide to comment, you may find this link helpful: http://www.husd.org/DistrictOffice/GoverningBoard.aspx |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 31006 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
Doesn't matter if it's a sleeve bearing or a ball bearing -- it's the seals that count. Yes. The thing that keeps it in place is surface tension. |
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