For $500 Million, Can We At Least Expect The New FBI Computers To Work?
from the just-wondering dept
It's been nearly two years since the FBI admitted that the new computer system they'd spent hundreds of millions of dollars and three years building wasn't just late and over-budget, but also useless at fighting terrorism. Of course, like any good bureaucracy, the FBI then sat around for seven months before deciding that maybe it should scrap the system and start again from scratch. Sounds like a plan, right? Well, it's been well over a year since then, and the FBI has just now gotten around to picking a vendor for the new system, while admitting that this time, it should cost about $500 million and take another four years to fully implement. Given the fact that it's taken nearly two years to go from recognizing the last system was useless to finally agreeing on plans for this new system (and given the history of the old system), you would have to imagine the odds aren't that great on this new system showing up on time, within the budget or actually being useful in fighting whatever threat is most important to the FBI by the time it's completed.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Heh.
My supposedly educated coworkers have some pretty funny ideas of what computers can or cannot do.
I can think of atleast one instance in another company where an entire inventory system was scrapped because upper management didn't know how to use it.
I can only imagine something similar is being played out here.
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Re: Heh.
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Isn't it obvious what it needs to do?
All I can say is good luck with the system(s). I bet the vendor is quite happy.
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intelligence?
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Vendor?
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Re: Vendor?
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Save your hard earned bones. The system you build yourself for that amount will surely dust any box for the same price.
...then again, maybe they'll include the speakers & desk mics too!
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FBI - For Bad Intelligence
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We need what CTU has!
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Re: We need what CTU has!
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Re: We need what CTU has!
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A computer that catches criminals and terrorists..
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Heh
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Re: Heh
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HA!
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Ya the new list of terrorists...
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Chloe
You would thinmk that any industrious vendor could find a way to reformat all that semi new hardware and put Linux on it like we do when a system doesn't work, or is to obsolete to run window$
I'll start burning Knoppix disks right now and i will do it for 200 million.......cash
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WOW
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HAL: I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
(ala, 2001 A Space Odyssey)
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24
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500 million dollars!!! (in best Dr. No voice)
What's sad about the news? 500 million for a new computer system for the FBI and kids in school don't know who fought in the Civil War.
I'm not saying the answer is in money, but 500 million in the hands of the states could go a long way in helping out across the board. I mean, it's not like the "new" 500 million system is going to work when it's completed.
What a waste.
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Re: 500 million dollars!!! (in best Dr. No voice)
Great country, huh? 8 million illegal immigrants, broken borders and no way to fix that. Lousy, non-existant health care system, hundreds of thousands of jobs lost to outsourcing, GM filed for chapter 11 and thousands more jobs gone. No way to stimulate the economy, but blow hundreds of millions of cash on obsolete 'puters. :)
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come on now that is just silly.
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Just a moment...Just a moment...
Quite honestly, I wouldn't worry myself about that.
It is nothing serious. There is no question about it.
Everything is going extremely well. I feel much better now, I really do.
Daisy, Daisy...
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A Barren Wasteland
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Planning
Can you imagine the uproar if half of all big construction projects were abandoned half finished (power plants, bridges, skyscrapers, dams).
We need better, more systematic ways, to specify and construct large scale software. A 50% failure rate is not acceptable.
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This is a Good thing
The last thing the country needs is more invasion of privacy, under the guise of "fighting terrorism", Carnivore, the patriot act, digital rights management, digital millenium copyright act enforcement, warrantless wiretaps, or whaterver phony excuse is fashionable this week.
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I have no respect for the damn US governmetn, spending our money that we work really hard for for nothing. i think it wouldnt be spent on a new drug that there making...since they were the ones who inventted Crack or was that the CIA, well there both smart like that.
- JJ
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.....
bring on the comments
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