DA Charged For Building A Gaming Rig

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It seems the authorities in Rockwall County Texas are pretty serious about what they consider a backup server. The county threw the book at one of its own, the county’s District Attorney, for building a gaming rig instead of a “backup” server.

The computer – equipped with two hard drives, seven fans, high-end video and audio cards, a wireless Internet connection and cables that glow under ultraviolet light – is designed for playing video games, prosecutors say.
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I'm not sure which is worse, the first thing I though was "I wonder if I can buy that at a tax auction" or the second thing I thought "meh, by thet time the evidence will get to auction it will all be out of date."
 
LOL.

Why don't they go find something better to do. Seriously, it could easily be used as a server...lol
 
LMAO. I got a kick out of reading that especially "cables that glow under ultraviolet light". Maybe its just a pretty server.
 
offthehooktc0.jpg
 
I don't know what people are thinking when they build a company server with leds and uv products, lol
 
At the very least, he's probably not one to blame dangerous, scary video games for all of life's ails.
 
Holy crap!
The next time I catch heat for playing solitaire at work, I'm gonna hold this one up!

See? It could be worse!
 
Ockie said:
I don't know what people are thinking when they build a company server with leds and uv products, lol
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i'm thinking i want a cool looking rack, every fan i've replaced in our back room since i started here has been led, though i'm keeping it tasteful and just going with blue straight across the board.

to be honest if i built a backup server i would go high end too.
 
Most places still give 10 year old budgets for modern computers which cost 4x less today. So what's a guy to do with all that extra cash? Pimp out it like 15-year-old runaway!
 
Burning_Monk said:
Most places still give 10 year old budgets for modern computers which cost 4x less today. So what's a guy to do with all that extra cash? Pimp out it like 15-year-old runaway!
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agreed :) and that is one of the best article ive read in awhile! that made me rofl :p.
 
2 3870X2's in CrossfireX configuration is a must for all my backup file servers as well as the 30" HD Monitors!
 
he should plead igonorance: Say he wanted a great backup server and bought it thinking he did right.

Considering how stupid most people STILL are with PCs, he could get off the hook.

That said, the UV glowing is enough to get his ass in jail! He better hope he has a young jury and not some color-tv-is-the-devil-old-farts jury
 
ROFL @ the article. To his defense though, it could be used as a server despite all the pretty lights....:D
 
This is a problem?, but, our Prez handing out hundreds of billions $$$ hand over fist to his buddies at Haliburton and Blackwater is no big deal? (at least not media worthy?!?). WTF.
 
Sounds like an excuse to take him down. If it was full of brand-new components, then I could see them going after him..but he bought it used. If a gamer is hocking his old rig you can bet it's a year or two old at the least.
 
gibber said:
This is a problem?, but, our Prez handing out hundreds of billions $$$ hand over fist to his buddies at Haliburton and Blackwater is no big deal? (at least not media worthy?!?). WTF.
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QFT!

this is a non issue, my server at home and the one i am building for work could probably run crysis... on medium/high at home and medium/low at work... seriously...can we get back to reality
 
I now know what is wrong with my rig the cables don't glow thats the reason its slow.
 
I always thought actual server equipment was more expensive. All this guy needs to show is the price of a server from Dell and then what he spent and he should get off the hook. Could he have done it without uv cables? Sure, but maybe they were on sale.

Imagine if he went with raid 5 using scsi drives and dual processor board with registered memory? OUCH! Now that would be something to moan about. :rolleyes:
 
I may be a little out of the loop, and this may be a bit off topic, but did anyone notice This story that is linked on that page? WTF
 
The article says, "Alan Timberlake, assistant director of information technology for Rockwall County, called the computer "gimmicky" and more suited to a college dorm room than an office."

Clearly this guy had a different computer budget in college than I do right now. Also, I like to think my computer is less than gimmicky. It's got some real muscle! And it looks nice and plain, mostly. As I want it to. College students can have good taste. :)

And anyway, why was he building his own "backup server"? Wouldn't IT be in charge of that? This whole thing strikes me as rather odd.
 
There is one big problem being over looked by you guys. It wasn't JUST that it had UV cables and the specs. It is that 80% of the data on it was his own personal data and not company backups.

Yes a real server would have cost more, but he wasn't actually using it as a server. Had it looked like that and contained company data, nobody would have gave it a second though other than it looking kinda out of place. But when the server is missing backup data and has your personal ebay list on it, your emails and game guides amoung other personal data it is obvious that it isn't being used primary for backups but is being used as your personal machine.

They also stated in the article how he bought equipment then turned around and sold it only to keep the money for himself. He is actually being investigated on multiple fraud and improper use of money charges, not just this.

Mr. Sumrow paid for the parts with a check drawn on the district attorney's "fee fund," which contains fees collected from hot-check writers.

Under state law, the district attorney can spend the money on office expenses such as supplies, equipment and employee salaries.

Prosecutors allege that Mr. Sumrow used it as a "personal slush fund." He bought computer equipment for his own use and to resell for personal profit, among other illegal expenditures, they have said.

Mr. Wheeler has repeatedly stated that the district attorney has sole discretion over how to spend the fund.

Testimony will resume today and is expected to last through at least midweek.

Mr. Sumrow could face two more trials related to the alleged misuse of money dedicated to operating his office.
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Ferrariman60 said:
The article says, "Alan Timberlake, assistant director of information technology for Rockwall County, called the computer "gimmicky" and more suited to a college dorm room than an office."

Clearly this guy had a different computer budget in college than I do right now. Also, I like to think my computer is less than gimmicky. It's got some real muscle! And it looks nice and plain, mostly. As I want it to. College students can have good taste. :)

And anyway, why was he building his own "backup server"? Wouldn't IT be in charge of that? This whole thing strikes me as rather odd.
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wow, what a cock...i guess i'm gimmicky and more suited to a dorm room than an office too huh...since you know i have waist length hair, earrings, i dress like a bum and hate corporations...but when servers are in trouble i'm the guy they call because they know the job will be done...

who cares what it looks like, i think a server room full of glowing blue servers would look badass, like something right out of star trek.... seriously that would be awesome!
 
UV cables and LED fans aren't a problem - I've seen mobos that come with UV cables, and getting a lots-of-fans case for a server makes sense. It's the 'high end video and audio cards' that are hard to explain away in a server... and expensive. Although I'm sure the lawyers charged enough to buy a fleet of Battleship Mtrons.
 
prosecutors are idiots

"a wireless Internet connection and cables that glow under ultraviolet light – is designed for playing video games, prosecutors say."

no gamer in their right mind would play games over wireless :p "high-end" is subjective. going from how fast the government moves, they probably claim he put Voodoo cards in there.

we have people using their laptops for games (WoW), music, and personal surfing, as well as many of the desktops. many people use their corporate email for personal use also. it's against company policy, but people still do it.

he's an idiot for using UV cables, but some motherboards come with those (DFI). that is a cost savings because he doesn't need the lights on to do maintenance on it. ;) what does two hard drives and seven fans have anything to do with it? servers have that many and more.

and finally, did it in fact work as a backup server? if it did, then case closed. the computer works as intended! award him the money they are prosecuting him for.

he should be fired, but not prosecuted. that is lame. if he stole it, then prosecute him. i'm betting the computer he built is waaaay cheaper than a damn dedicated server.

if an employee bought a used car for their company that happened to have "flashy" wheels on it for the same model car without them for cheaper, should he be prosecuted?
 
This guy's only mistake was the video cards and his own data. Other than that, it sounds like he had the right idea: just implemented it the wrong way. Can you blame him? Here's $X amount of money, build a server. Yeah... I can do that. No problem. If fraud, waste, and abuse is problem, there should have been some checks/balances on tax payer money in before this guy could even have bought the parts. This dude should get at most a bitch slap or public humiliation. It's sad but someone like Spitzer who deserves to be beaten into a pulp (not for prostitution: for screwing with tax payer money and being a self-righteous cock) will probably be better off than this guy at the end of the day.
 
None of the hardware listed in the article really would lead me to conclude wrongdoing. There are plenty of general-computing uses for a gpu. UV cables purchased on sale don't seem like a big deal. I think the issue is the files stored on this 'server'. It's most likely holding half a terabyte of porn, music and movies.
 
LOL, and I thought I was bad when I used my work computer when I was in the military as a FTP server...
 
While he may be convicted, he's at least gained geek immortality via Penny Arcade. Totally worth it.
 
At least its more creative than the usual government whistleblower/pest removal tool... making a personal phone call on govt/company phone.

The best example was the cocksucker Luis Freeh who used this to get rid of his head of counterintelligence at the FBI, who wasn't getting along well with Freeh's butt-buddy the assistant Director..... seems this guy was making himself a real pest, insisting on pursuing Bin Laden after the Embassy's and USS Cole incidents, to the point of making waves in Yemen while the idiot ♥♥♥♥ ambassador Clinton appointed was trying to make trade deals. To the point where his work was embaracing the "damn-well should be embarrassed" FBI, so he had to go.

I forget his name, but his new job was head of security at the World Trade Center.... he died there. The world's foremost expert on Bin Laden, oust'd from the FBI for using his govt phone to make personal phone calls... to like his wife, etc. :mad:
 
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