Mac Researchers Screwed in $22 billion Grants.gov

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
This is PATHETIC. Imagine what that $22 billion could have done if used for research instead of feeding Northrop Grumman at the Federal trough??



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...021200942.html



Twenty-two billion dollars to Grumman for a website to type your grant application into??????



Quote:

The new "Grants.gov" system, under development at a cost of tens of billions of dollars, aims to replace paper applications with electronic forms. It is being phased in at the National Institutes of Health, Department of Housing and Urban Development and other federal agencies. All 26 grant-giving agencies are supposed to have their application processes fully online by 2007.



The problem: Although many U.S. scientists and others depend on graphics-friendly Macintosh computers, the software selected by the government is not Mac-compatible. And it is expected to remain so for at least a year.



Last week, faced with evidence that the system will not be fully accessible to Mac users by this fall as promised, NIH quietly dropped its plan to switch to electronic applications for October's $600 million round of major "R01" grants.



But NIH and other agencies already have been asking for electronic applications for smaller grants, triggering hair loss among frustrated Mac users.



"It's been hell on wheels," said Mark Tumeo, vice provost for research and dean of the college of graduate studies at Cleveland State University, one of many smaller institutions that have been hit especially hard by the new requirement.



Although most observers believe that the move to electronic granting will eventually pay off, concerns about fairness during the transition have prompted angry humor on Mac-related listservs.



"Uh, this would be the same government that spent a lot of time and money pursuing Microsoft for its anti-competitive behavior?" one blogger wrote. "And they now offer a government site that mandates monopoly?"



Charles Havekost, chief information officer at the Health and Human Services Department, which helps manage Grants.gov, acknowledged that the system is "not perfect" but encouraged applicants to look at the positive side: They can go to one site and see every grant being offered by every federal agency, and use a standardized electronic form to start the process for most grants.



The overall Grants.gov system, under construction by Northrop Grumman under a $22 billion federal contract, attracts more than 1 million hits every day, Havekost said. The system accepted more than 16,000 applications for about 20 agencies last year. And it took in even more than that last month alone, with 45,000 expected by the end of this year.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 21
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    Why don´t just make it in HTML?
  • Reply 2 of 21
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Anders

    Why don´t just make it in HTML?



    Maybe it is. Wouldn't all the developers here like to land a $22 billion contract to make a web site?



    Hell, I'd do it for $10 billion. I'd have to cut my margins, but it would be worth it to get the contract.
  • Reply 3 of 21
    Good thing the current Administration is getting rid of wasteful spending.







    That money would have been better spent building tools to blow up some 11 year old iraqi into a million small bits.
  • Reply 4 of 21
    Grumman probably hosts it also, which at 1 million hits per day can be costly.



    But in general, follow the 16x price increase for public sector work. There are a lot of government contractors down here thatnks to the space program, and there are definitely a lot of heads buried in asses.



    So the website probably should be a ~1.5 billion dollar contract. If it's a long-term contract, I guess that's fair.
  • Reply 5 of 21
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    now now Johny...



    You got some learnin to do bout the American Guvment.



    They have $22 billion dollar toilet seats at the Pentagon.



    Man, imagine what it must feel like to take a shit on a 22 billion dollar toilet seat. Must be nice. Really nice. Nice and comfortable! A newspaper holder, no wait, a laptop holder, with power, wireless and wired Internet access, a cupholder, a small flatscreen TV with all channels, and a little robotic arm that wipes your ass for you.
  • Reply 6 of 21
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Some one needs to sue them for economin and social descrimination.
  • Reply 7 of 21
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    That much money would buy a year's private health insurance for 3.6 million families.



    It's over $400,000 per grant awarded. That's more than most of the grants are for.
  • Reply 8 of 21
    andersanders Posts: 6,523member
    The rest of the West have used the last 20 years to up their public bureaucracy into something just as, or even smoother, than the private bureaucracy. Now its time to up yours.



    I cannot understand how stuff like this is acceptable for you...
  • Reply 9 of 21
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Anders

    The rest of the West have used the last 20 years to up their public bureaucracy into something just as, or even smoother, than the private bureaucracy. Now its time to up yours.



    I cannot understand how stuff like this is acceptable for you...




    We piss-ons dont have a say...Bush or Kerry?!?!? like it matters either way, when it comes to beurocracy and ogvernment power, these guys are all the same, the election is a technicality.
  • Reply 10 of 21
    It is annoying. We all had to scramble and borrow PCs.
  • Reply 11 of 21
    Doesn't sound like it should be all doom and gloom if you look at the grants.gov website: http://grants.gov/MacSupport



    I haven't personally tried it, but the Citrix thing at least looks like a temporary workaround.
  • Reply 12 of 21
    aries 1baries 1b Posts: 1,009member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Aquatic

    now now Johny...



    You got some learnin to do bout the American Guvment.



    They have $22 billion dollar toilet seats at the Pentagon.



    Man, imagine what it must feel like to take a shit on a 22 billion dollar toilet seat. Must be nice. Really nice. Nice and comfortable! A newspaper holder, no wait, a laptop holder, with power, wireless and wired Internet access, a cupholder, a small flatscreen TV with all channels, and a little robotic arm that wipes your ass for you.




    If you're going to slam something, slam it with some gravitas. But how?



    Quote some federal standards!



    A toilet seat that is Mil-Std-810 compliant for environmental durability as well as Mil-Std-461 compliant for EMI/EMC certifcation.



    Now *that's* gravitas.



    The A-12 Avenger F/A for the Navy. All those requirements drawn up and *somehow* connectivity to the people who do the work of the grants just doesn't make it into the spec? Where's Senator McCain when you really need him? This contract should be halted and even terminated right now.



    V/R,



    Aries 1B
  • Reply 13 of 21
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    "Graphics-friendly Macs"





    GOD, WE'RE STILL FREAKING STUCK ON THAT SHIT? STILL? JESUS CHRIST!
  • Reply 14 of 21
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Aries 1B

    If you're going to slam something, slam it with some gravitas. But how?



    Quote some federal standards!



    A toilet seat that is Mil-Std-810 compliant for environmental durability as well as Mil-Std-461 compliant for EMI/EMC certifcation.



    Now *that's* gravitas.



    The A-12 Avenger F/A for the Navy. All those requirements drawn up and *somehow* connectivity to the people who do the work of the grants just doesn't make it into the spec? Where's Senator McCain when you really need him? This contract should be halted and even terminated right now.



    V/R,



    Aries 1B




    Yeah, the A-12 didn't go to fruition, but at least someone realized that before the rabid guys in the pentagon ordered a couple hundred. . . . (I was going to make a comment about overall tax distribution here, but I'm holding my tongue).
  • Reply 15 of 21
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Placebo

    "Graphics-friendly Macs"





    GOD, WE'RE STILL FREAKING STUCK ON THAT SHIT? STILL? JESUS CHRIST!




    Not only that... here is the "Mac solution":



    Quote:

    PureEdge Support for the Mac



    PureEdge recognizes that Macintosh is a popular operating system and that support for the Mac is often required by our customers.



    In most cases, this means offering support for the PureEdge Viewer on the MacIntosh platform. With this in mind, PureEdge is offering support to MacIntosh users by embracing recent developments in Microsoft?s direction. With the release of Office 10 Professional, Microsoft has begun bundling Virtual PC for Mac with their office software as well as providing it as a separate product. Virtual PC is a Windows emulator that allows users to run PC software on a MacIntosh platform. By bundling Virtual PC with it's Office software, Microsoft has ensured broad distribution of the Virtual PC emulator, since most users rely on Microsoft Office to meet their day to day needs. Furthermore, it is clear that Microsoft will continue to support and update this product as needed. Given this large install base and on-going development by Microsoft, PureEdge has decided to adopt the Virtual PC emulator as it's primary means of providing support for MacIntosh computers.




    $22 billion, no Mac support, "graphics-friendly", whatever the hell that means, and now VPC. Written by a dumbass who can't spell the word "its" properly.
  • Reply 16 of 21
    placeboplacebo Posts: 5,767member
    But jesus christ, I thought that by 2006 the stereotype of Macs being "for graphics lol" would have faded.
  • Reply 17 of 21
    Quote:

    Originally posted by lundy

    Not only that... here is the "Mac solution":







    $22 billion, no Mac support, "graphics-friendly", whatever the hell that means, and now VPC. Written by a dumbass who can't spell the word "its" properly.




    Where's that quote from? It seems like their solution is with the Citrix software, not VPC. http://apple.doit.wisc.edu/grants.gov/
  • Reply 18 of 21
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by psychboy

    Where's that quote from? It seems like their solution is with the Citrix software, not VPC. http://apple.doit.wisc.edu/grants.gov/



    http://www.grants.gov/GrantsGov_UST_...orPureEdge.pdf
  • Reply 19 of 21


    Ah, I guess it's just an old document...I'm guessing Citrix was brought into the picture somewhere between Sep. 23, 2003 and now.
  • Reply 20 of 21
    They corrected the article... it was $22 MILLION, not billion.
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