Sysadmin of the Year nominations open

It's time again for Sysadmin of the Year nominations:

The SysAdmin of the Year Award shines a spotlight on the IT superheroes behind the scenes working tirelessly to troubleshoot, problem solve and fight fires to keep the world running smoothly. They save the day on a daily basis and we think it’s time they got the recognition they deserve.
It's easy - grab your video camera, web cam, or cell phone and bust out a short 1-2 minute video about how you saved the day for your organization or client. Make us laugh or make us cry, and you could win fabulous prizes including an Apple Laptop, a Wii, xBox or PS3. First 500 entries get a heroic SysAdmin of the Year t-shirt.

Link

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Wooster

I hope you all got cupcakes on Friday for SysAdminDay? I took my IT crew chocolate ones with chocolate ganache frosting.
Anonymous

Aw, c’mon! Any self-respecting sysadmin will wait for others to nominate *them*. I like the idea of giving recognition to sysadmins, but you shouldn’t have to toot your own horn; it should be the convincing hosannas from those you’ve helped that sways the opinion of those in a position to choose the SAotY.
Ryanwoofs

I didn’t get squat, but someone usually drops off “thank you” baked goods once a month or so. I did get to interview 2 of my potential replacements though, since I’m moving to a different state next month.
Anonymous

Without a doubt, Chuck Goolsbee!
CB

I nominate that guy from the City of San Francisco IT Dept…
rasz

damn, I was just about to say the same thing, that SF dude was right all along. As soon as he gave up and morons took over passwords appeared in public records :/
querent

I just want the tshirt.
ClassicGamesStoreDOTcom

I’d definately vote for MediaTemple’s sysadmins. So many problems with their GridServer service, yet they rectify them within a few hours..

Alex
Anonymous

Okay, he’s got the cape, but where are the blog-goggles?
DiscipleN2k

Heh. Thirding the recommendation for the SF IT guy. They should can the rest of his department and hire him back ASAP!
jwb

Am I the only one tired of the iconic sysadmin being a fatass with no fashion sense?
hotpants

Admins are the truck drivers of the 21st century.
tomic

The irony of ‘sysadmin of the year’ this will be lost on us when, in the near future, sysadmins are the front line of Homeland Defense, Stasi style.

In the mean time, yeah, the SF guy was class. I used to sysadmin, manage BGP4 border routers, and all that, it was grueling fun and I didn’t mind that it was thankless.
holtt

If you work in any kind of cutting edge space where you are using or trying out new stuff, the sys admin can be your biggest barrier or your biggest asset.

Once I was working on a collaborative environment for scientists and engineers, and needed a unix command line IRC client. I installed “BitchX” and left it running in an active channel so I could get a sense of how it was to use. The sys admin “champions” saw this “anomalous” traffic going in and out of my system, rooted in and saw this “clearly suspicious and questionable application” named “BitchX”. Next thing I know I’m getting called into the bosses office for a lecture about inappropriate behavior, the computer/internet usage rules, and my insistence on always breaking rules and flaunting the fact.

Same group later. We were using networked webcams in a lab, and I was curious if they had web based admin tools. They did, and nobody had ever set the password. I notified the right people, and got the riot act for clearly messing with something that only the sys admins should mess with and that they’d take care of it. Swearing on a pile of O’Reilly books, I said I wouldn’t do it again. But 6 months later, I snuck a peek – and they hadn’t ever set the password.

This and other experiences over 25 years make me think that for every one good sys admin, there are probably 4 frustrated, power hungry rule pushers who impede actions in the organization they supposedly serve.
chrisweuve

How ’bout an “award” for Worst Sysadmin of the year? I have a couple of nominations…