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  • Someone Fired For Running SETI@Home… Again

    Once again, someone has been fired for running SETI@Home.

    Man Said He Used Computer During Off Hours

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — The search for extraterrestrial life has ended at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

    The department on Thursday fired a computer programmer who admitted to using a state-owned computer server to process data for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence project, run by the University of California at Berkeley.

    Charles E. Smith, 63, told administrators he didn’t think loading the SETI software on the server was much of a problem because he ran the program only on weekends and on weekdays between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., when the server wasn’t being used, according to a disciplinary report.

    Department director Tom Hayes disagreed.

    “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.” [newsnet5.com] [via AP]

    I’m not sure if I posted about this kind of thing the last time it happened, but without knowing more background I’m not sure how to react. At most places I’ve worked there has been an official policy that you aren’t supposed to install unauthorized software. This was mostly to try and stop people from installing every little thing they download from the net, and to be able to scold them when something they’ve downloaded broke their computer. In the case of something like this though, I almost have to wonder if the application was actually cutting into computer resources. But, the article doesn’t give us any information about that (though I’d be curious to know more). The other issue is that I think the department director’s comments are a bit unprofessional and unnecessarily insulting.

    Hmm, maybe I should give SETI@Home a download and start it running on one of the machines I have floating around.

  • Looking for a Date? Try a Wingwoman

    There’s an article in the New York Times today about Wingwomen.com. It’s a service where you rent a woman to help you meet other women.

    Are You With Him? Why Yes, Want to Date Him?

    10Wing.1842
    … When he expressed no interest in the next woman she pointed to, a brunette in a preppy sweater, Ms. Frenkel shrugged. “He’s the man, whatever he wants,” she said. “It is not about me.” Then Mr. Blumberg gestured toward the bar area. “What about that Kylie Minogue look-alike over there?” A moment later the couple headed over.

    Ms. Frenkel was not on a date with Mr. Blumberg, in pursuit of a kinky threesome; she was on the clock. A 29-year-old graduate student, she is one of a dozen women who work for a New York-based Web site called Wingwomen.com, earning up to $30 an hour to accompany single men to bars and help them chat up other women. The Web site’s founder, Shane Forbes, a computer programmer, started it in December after realizing he had more success with women when he went to clubs with female friends. “Every time I was with them, I would meet women,” he said.

    The wingwoman is the latest twist on the wingman, that devoted male sidekick who helps a buddy pick up women at bars and clubs. Originally a “Top Gun” kind of term that referred to a pilot flying protectively behind his squadron leader, its more recent meaning entered popular culture around 1996 through the movie “Swingers,” about two men road-tripping to Las Vegas, serving as each other’s wingmen in attempted conquests. [more] [nytimes.com]

  • More Pulmonary Fibrosis News

    Here’s an interesting article from a few days ago:

    Adult Stem Cells Migrate to Lung, Contribute to Pulmonary Fibrosis

    09 Aug 2004

    UCLA researchers for the first time identified and then stopped a type of adult stem cell from migrating to the lung and contributing to pulmonary fibrosis in an animal model. Pulmonary fibrosis (i.e, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis) in humans is a devastating terminal disorder that causes an overabundance of scar tissue to form in the lung.

    IMPACT: The new study may offer novel therapies to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis– currently there are no effective treatments and the mortality rate is approximately 70 percent within five years of diagnosis. Over 80,000 individuals in the United States suffer from the disease. [medicalnewstoday.com]

  • More People Gasping For Breath

    Given my issues with my own lungs, I’m always keeping my ears out for news stories about them. The scary part is that I can see this leading to more people getting things like IPF earlier in life. Not something I’d wish on anyone.

    Pollution’s Long-Term Effects on Pre-Teens’ Lungs

    A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week indicates that current levels of air pollution have chronic adverse effects on lung development in children aged 10 to 18. The large study’s authors conclude that the exposure leads to clinically significant deficits in adult lung function. NPR’s Richard Harris reports. [via NPR News: Health & Science]