Higley firing tied to alien-search software
Higley firing tied to alien-search software; a school district network administrator was fired for (among other things) running SETI@home on every school district computer without permission/// 下面是详细报导
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/11/30/20091130searchforaliens1202.html
by Emily Gersema - Nov. 30, 2009 05:58 PM
The Arizona Republic
Thesearch for intelligent life apparently has stopped for BradNiesluchowski, the network systems administrator who led Higley UnifiedSchool District's technology department.
Higley Unified School District records obtained by The Arizona Republicshow that Niesluchowski, of Gilbert, resigned in October after aninvestigation into suspicious activity, including the use of a programthat searches radio signals collected by a giant radio dish looking forextraterrestrial life.
According to the documents, district officials said they foundNiesluchowski had abused his authority in purchasing and oversight ofdistrict technology and equipment, downloaded pornography, and added toevery district computer a University of California-Berkeley programthat searches high-frequency radio signals for signs of intelligentlife in outer space.
Higley officials so far estimate the damages, energy usage andequipment losses linked to Niesluchowski at $1.2 million to $1.6million.
Niesluchowski and his attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
District administrators hand-delivered a notice of termination ofcontract for cause to Niesluchowski on Oct. 7, which he refused tosign. He instead consulted an attorney, and then resigned at theattorney's advice.
According to the termination letter, Niesluchowski faces severalallegations that he violated the terms and responsibilities of hiscontract and ethics policies - and is the focus of a criminalinvestigation. Documents show:
•During a warranted search of his home earlier this fall, Gilbertpolice found 18 computers and other equipment stolen from the district.
•District officials said they learned Niesluchowski neverinstalled firewalls that would protect students' and staff members'personal information from hackers, exposing district computer and datato potential tampering or damage.
•District officials also say he failed to train and supervise other tech staff.
•Officials allege he downloaded to every district computer aUniversity of California-Berkeley program known as "SETI@home." SETI isshort for the "Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence."
According to the SETI Web site, the software SETI@home was releasedin 1999 by UC Berkeley space laboratory scientists so that individualsaround the globe could volunteer their home computers to scan datacollected by a telescope in Puerto Rico, effectively working like asuper-computer. SETI software kicks on whenever a volunteer's computeris idle.
District officials said they never agreed to its use, and, accordingto documents, told police that they had asked Niesluchowski to removethe program.
SETI Web statistics show Niesluchowski became a participant in February 2000, a month after he was hired at Higley.
Higley officials said the SETI program requires wattage to run, andtherefore was an extra burden on computer processors and power usage.They allege several computer processors would burn out sooner thanexpected, and the SETI program's operation raised utility costs.
HUSD officials also found the program interfered with classroom lessons.
Superintendent Denise Birdwell said teachers who use a SMART Board -a large electronic screen connected to the computer that acts as awipe-off board or blackboard at the front of the classroom - would findthat in a middle of a lesson, the SMART Board had turned off.
Birdwell declined to speak about several specifics about the case,including the ongoing criminal probe. Gilbert police have not respondedto requests for information about their inquiry.
Web discussions between SETI participants show Niesluchowski made aname for himself among members of the alien-searching community.
He was known by the alias "NEZ" and was SETI's most active volunteerexplorers for intelligent life, scoring more than 575 million "credits"- hours of data searching in nine years of participation.
Admirers often pondered in their Internet chats about SETI@home in2007: "What is NEZ? Who is NEZ?" Some even offered the theory that he"is a god."
The criminal probe has led investigators to other school districts that have hired former Higley employees.
Nieschulowski once worked as a consultant for Globe Unified SchoolDistrict, where investigators have found hundreds of computers thereequipped with SETI@home software.
Globe's superintendent was not immediately available to comment.
Higley records show Nieschulowski earned more than $81,000 a year,and had been warned in a 2005-2006 review by then-Superintendent JoyceLutrey and then-Business Manager Fred Stone of shortcomings in his jobperformance. Among the comments were:
•"Purchasing decisions are made with no consultation or input from others."
•"Budget perimeters are not defined or scoped."
•"Decisions are made in isolation with no input or communication with stakeholders."
Niesluchowski signed the review, agreeing to make improvements. 真是这位排行no.1的仁兄。。。？
1 NEZ 117,914 579,023,314 United States 5 Feb 2000 6:22:19 UTC
2 MikeC 187,808 154,507,261 United States 24 May 1999 18:28:41 UTC
3 Bog 240,653 146,764,770 United States 17 Jan 2000 19:13:33 UTC
4 Chimichango 739 93,605,004 United States 7 Nov 2002 14:05:44 UTC
5 Octavian 111,469 82,872,454 Romania 23 May 1999 11:50:26 UTC OH! shit。。这家伙被击毙了。。
未获得同意使用他人设备资源真不应该。。无论你做的事情有多高尚。。 at $1.2 million to $1.6million损失这么多~起初以为是什么牛研究协助组织！ 看不动 美国电费很贵的。 谷歌翻译了下，大致的意思看懂了。 想不到us還有這麼眼淺的u,鄙視短視u管中
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