People

Letter: Restricting network use is a disservice to our troops

A reader says DOD has the tools to protect sensitive data without sacrificing the sanity of deployed troops by taking away their access to the outside world.

People

Letter: Maybe DOD should ban Internet Explorer instead

A reader wonders how much of DOD’s security problem could be solved by using the Firefox browser rather than potentially blocking access to other agencies’ sites.

People

Letter: Bans don’t work

A reader argues that rather than creating an environment that discourages legitimate work, DOD should educate employees on the importance of adhering to a security policy and punish those who violate it.

People

Letter: How do you define non-official?

A reader says DOD’s proposed policy to ban personal use of networks would have to include a very clear -- and very detailed -- explanation of non-official traffic.

People

Letter: Network restrictions would stifle innovation

A reader argues that government employees need access to online information to do their jobs.

People

Letter: User education better than net restrictions

At a time when most corporations are realizing that the line between work and life is increasingly blurry, DOD seems to be considering a step back in time, writes one reader. Read the letter and post a comment.

People

Letter: Not all Web traffic is a threat

A reader points out that many service members use Web-based e-mail to stay in touch with loved ones.

People

Letter: FEMA front lines no place for novice acquisition workers

Getting someone straight out of college and putting them on the front line is not an answer to the shortage of acquisition workers, one reader writes.

People

FlipSide

A few minutes with...Steven Squyres

People

Letter: NSPS needs tweaking regarding pay raises

If the average salary increase for a person having a 3 [rating] is 5.4 percent then why are some agencies giving their employees a lot less.

People

Welles: The fed 4-hour work week?

A best-selling book by Timothy Ferriss is filled with ideas that could change your view of work.

People

Letter: Government employee dissatisfied with NSPS process, ready to leave

The NSPS folks will tell you it goes to a pay pool that will ensure the process is fair. But this did not happen, the pay pool automatically gave me a poor rating from his evaluation.

People

Time for a Schedule 70 makeover?

New director of GSA's schedules contracts sorts through ideas for updating the program.

People

A boom in the federal workforce

Partnership for Public Service and IBM initiate innovative retiree hiring program.

People

Some at DOD get big raises

The total payout in raises under NSPS was not higher than it would have been under the older General Schedule of pay grades, but the distribution is different.

People

Letter: Good performance rating may not even yield cost-of-living raise

Reader finds that "NSPS is a numbers game."

People

Stier's vision of good government

Leader of Partnership for Public Service is at the forefront of many reform efforts.

People

Editorial: Departing opportunities

Political appointees often leave their posts in the last year of an administration, but in recent months, we have seen many career employees leave — and there are others who are pondering their futures.

People

Letters

The trouble with NSPS lies with the raters; Contractors can't solve management problems; Smithsonian records readily searchable; What are the benefits of software as a service?; Feds should have nothing to hide

People

Web extra: Steven Squyres talks about roving on Mars

The mission of the Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, was supposed to last 90 days. However, the robots’ endurance — more than 1,442 days at the time of this interview — has surprised everyone.