Obama staffers stunned by antiquated computers at White House

[ecstatic]

President Obama might be keeping his BlackBerry, but his tech-savvy staffers are reportedly stunned by the West Wing's painfully antiquated gear, not to mention a constricting, Web 2.0-stifling catalog of security and record-keeping regulations.
As this funny/sad story in the Washington Post reports, Obama's team arrived at the White House Tuesday to find only a handful of laptops, old PCs running outdated software, disconnected phone lines, and a series of rules and regulations that essentially forbid anything resembling Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, or AIM.

Indeed, as the Post points out, Obama's sleek new White House Web site is looking pretty weak right now, with only five posts (as of Thursday morning) on the official White House blog (including a "Hello World" post and a video of Obama's inaugural address, minus comments), a couple of executive orders, no pool reports, old bios and agenda items from the campaign, and a standard "Contact Us" Web form.

My favorite: The list of Cabinet appointments, all displayed in a basic HTML table circa 1996.

I'm sure the sketchy gear in the West Wing came as a rude shock to Obama's staff, which dazzled the nation during the campaign with its technical prowess and social-networking wizardry. But then again, government is probably one of the most tech-adverse institutions around, right up there with schools (pretty sad) and the legal community (oh, come on, Counselor—don't deny it).

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/34463

[EraOfResponsibility]

1. they're going to change that. They have to

there's no way they're gonna put up with that.

[rurallib]

2. Probably set up by the admin who does freerepublic

they seem to be stuck @1985 or so.

[Xipe Totec]

3. Welcome to the 1950's

Do not fold, spindle, or mutilate your punch cards...

[Deja Q]

43. I thought you meant economy, not technological level...

A 1950s economy** would be a real boon, to be sure.



** on its own, not mixed with the strife the 1950s otherwise offered -- just in case the trolls want to hijack the discussion into something it damn well is not...

[HysteryDiagnosis]

4. I feel safe knowing this, don't you feel safe? n/t

[PBS Poll-435]

5. Pretty scary

Monochrome screens for all!

[DainBramaged]

16. I SO remember those days

and trying to get the config.sys right, then autoexec.bat once Windows 3.0 hit. Dos 6.1 was the pinnacle of green screen computing. (IBM Dos was OK, but it just didn't take off).

[sohndrsmith]

6. Didn't they report that the Windows OS versions on computers were like

six years old? Is that pre-XP? Guess not... but I wouldn't be surprised. Wow. And they were stunned there were no Macs for the media team/s to use, so they're getting Macs for that department post haste.

They really shouldn't be surprised, though... I mean, think about it...

: )

[Sebastian Doyle]

12. XP was released in 2002

So it's now a 7 year old Operating System. Although most people who run it probably either use Windows Update, or install the Service Packs periodically. If they're running SP3, which was released in 2008, then technically they're running a newer OS than the original build of Vista.

[DainBramaged]

17. They could be running Windows 2000 for all we know!

It was still viable in 2002.

[Hippo_Tron]

50. Windows 2000 was actually the most stable version of Windows I've ever used

I kind of wish I still had it around.

[Sebastian Doyle]

53. If you strip all the crap you don't need out of XP

Then you really have Windows 2K.

Windows 2K = NT 5.0

Windows XP = NT 5.1

Vista = NT 6.0

[PBS Poll-435]

58. Was 2K MPS?

I don't remember.

[nolabels]

59. ?

Vista = crap :puke:

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

55. Same here

I ran it on my ancient PC until I went Mac last year. I could count the number of times it crashed in eight years on one hand.

[sohndrsmith]

21. given the other variables, do you think they really did the updates,

much less knew about them?

Perhaps so, but it's not as funny to think about. I think I read that there weren't any laptops at all... as a very in-expert techno-addict, (I love it, I just don't "get" much of it) it would be fun to know more specifics.

And I wasn't knocking XP - I loved it myself. I finally learned what things meant and how they worked simply by exploring and looking things up when I had to switch to Vista (I was not happy at first - it took me so long to finally get comfortable with XP... I'm basically ignoring doing that with Vista, but I know that isn't very smart). I'm still mad that Search got so messed up - the features I used daily are gone (or I can't find them). sigh...

The first real job I ever had was listed in the newspaper, years ago, that said: "Artist needed, no experience required." I walked in for the interview and froze - all I saw was computers filling the room. Got the job, though! They were IIfx's - I fell in love and have remained smitten ever since. : )

[Sebastian Doyle]

38. Actually I doubt they did the updates

Considering that many Federal Agency websites didn't look like they had been updated since the 80's, odds are the PC's on the federal networks weren't either.

Either that, or the Bush Crime Family took all the new computers (and the incriminating data) with them, and left the old ones in their places.

Would that really surprise anyone?

[sohndrsmith]

52. Nope. Only doing the right, practical, non-greedy thing would

surprise me regarding this crew. I don't mean all Republicans when I say "crew" I mean Bush, et al and those who perpetuated such destructive self-serving horror on this country and others...

Damn them.

[sentelle]

26. 6 year old software

This is 2009. 6 year old software means 2003. So yes, windows XP counts. Somehow, I am more thinking NT 4. And probably because nothing MS has put out since is secure enough for top secret work.

[HEyHEY]

7. Wow, it really WAS a series of tubes! I guess we can cut stevens some slack

[Liberalboy]

8. He's now the President of the United States!

Can't he make an Executive Order updating the equipment???? Give everyone MacBook Pros, set up some secured Wi-Fi....for gods' sake we can put a man on the moon don't tell me they can't update the equipment!

[hlthe2b]

9. It is a problem throughout much of US government...

State and even small county governments typically upgrade their hardware (and software) more often than do many Federal agencies.

[av8rdave]

10. Do you suppose the keyboards were all missing the "O" keys?

:sarcasm:

I think progressives are above making up stories for propaganda purposes.

[PBS Poll-435]

13. Nah.... This happened

[LiberalFighter]

25. Yep! They put all the B's and O's on backward.

[Hippo_Tron]

51. Didn't know she got a job in the lame duck Bush Administration

[vinylsolution]

11. The antiquated West Wing PC's are a huuuuge red herring.

The really harmful stuff was done well away from Washington.

I read somewhere that computers in Chattanooga TN, were used to rig the 2004 election.

Maybe those thousands of 'missing' e-mails are being stored there, too.

It would be worth searching that building.... before it's destroyed by a mysterious fire.

[poverlay]

15. I'll second that...n/t

[Divine Discontent]

18. they stole 2004 from John Kerry, who would have easily been re-elected as he would have ended Iraq

and there's so much evidence from all over Ohio and IT officials, and the Chattanooga place you mentioned. They rigged Ohio knowing it could 'flipped' if it was close, and since it was, they took the chance, and goodness, got AWAY with it. Then that IT guy goes down in his airplane... too convenient... much too...

[nc4bo]

14. Science and Technology - always the first to stagnate under the Pukes..

unless it's for spying space satellites, military weaponry and defense shields erected in other countries, huge spying tentacles lurking in our telecom/cable companies and giant storage areas to save all that mined data and so on and so forth.)

:eyes:

[Robeson]

19. Well, Repugs always want to go back to the 50's. I'm surprised they didn't....

...reinstall a UNIVAC.

[Sebastian Doyle]

60. Maybe it was down in Cheney's bunker?

Which would explain his alleged back injury, if he tried to move it.

[kestrel91316]

20. Never fear, Might Mouse is here! They're gonna fix that mess BUT QUICK.

Just watch.

[Fire1]

22. I know they had a good time laughing at that shit!

[since72]

23. What? No stupid revenge pranks?

I am just surprised that all the O's on the keyboards are still there.

[PBS Poll-435]

24. See #13

:D

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

27. Please- they probably all used personal laptops and email in violation

of all security protocols. Or, if they had newer stuff, they took it all and replaced it with the old junk moldering in the closets that hasn't been used for 8 years. Anyone could look at the hard drives and figure out if they had actually been used or if they are just Potemkin village type props.

[ecstatic]

31. Yeah. That's what I'm thinking too nt

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

33. And if they do in fact find out that these "prop" computers have little

to no use, it would be worth an internal investigation by the GAO (the same folks who had to waste time investigating the missing w canard) to ask the very relevant question about where the real work product and communications originated.

[donco6]

28. If the hardware is antiquated, the software probably is, too.

Maybe they keep these old machines to run the positively ancient software.

Our Dept. of Education here would NOT update their DOS-based special education reporting software until just a few years ago. We had to keep an old machine under a desk and pull it out every year just to run that software. Provided on a 5 1/4" floppy, no less.

[BootinUp]

29. C:\ copy a:tasklist.txt c:\obama\tasklist.txt

Somebody get them some new computers fer crise sakes.

[PBS Poll-435]

30. deltree C:\Bush

[BootinUp]

36. deltree was a great advance for DOS, lol. nt

[mariawr]

32. I remember those commands!

Had to get them just right to copy, could only do 1 thing at a time...

[BootinUp]

35. file not found

dammit! now I gotta type it again@!. Can't load doskey into upper memory, need QEMM memory manager but they don't seel it anymore! ARRRRRGH!

[treestar]

34. But Chimpy kept us safe!

He didn't need no modern internets.

[Deja Q]

44. I doubt he could count to 2 unless he had a topless waitress in front of him.

[zulchzulu]

37. Working government jobs can be VERY suffocating...

I worked as a freelancer for a government job and the IT department really clamped down on a lot of stuff. Lots of old crappy code, lots of pages and sites blocked, a very minimal install of apps and draconian security rules...and yes, old computers running old software and lots of paranoid rules from people who were from the mainframe computer days...

If I were there at the White House, I'd start working on a very secure open source-based intranet that has secure tools with Web 2.0 compliance... RUNNING LINUX!

[Deja Q]

45. Now I'm tempted to study Linux...

Whether the future is that nonsensical cloud computing or Linux, there are undoubtedly opportunities...

[Muttocracy]

39. I remember really frigtening stories years ago about the Defense Dept computers

anyone know about that?

[BlooInBloo]

40. hahahahaah!!!!

I dunno why precisely, but I find this hilarious.

[gauguin57]

41. Dubya probably complained that he wouldn't be able to play Pong if the computers were updated!

*boop* *blip* *ba-blip* Dammit, Turd Blossom! You cheated!

[DeschutesRiver]

42. The WH was so delusional, they probably thought that McCain really was going to pull it off

and he wouldn't have needed anything modern. Heck, even had his kids read his emails aloud to him.

And the dim lightbulb he picked for his vp wasn't much more advanced than him; sure she knew how to use email, but promptly did it on a nonsecure ip as governor which promptly got hacked for its goodies. Would have been good to have a few disconnected phones with her in residence. At the least she wouldn't have to worry about getting punked during fake interviews with fake heads of state.

Gawd - this could have been our reality for 4 years. Still makes me shudder.

[Life Long Dem]

46. He keeps his BlackBerry !!!

:woohoo: Hey Pres, how's it going?

[alcibiades_mystery]

47. Yet More Evidence against the Idea of the Bush Regime as Evil Mastermind

They're not masterminds. They're imbeciles. That's the problem. Something for the conspiracy theorists to consider, in any case.

[BootinUp]

48. You are speakin heresy round these parts!

stop thinkin so hard dammit. ;)

[Raine]

49. Funny though how they

apparently had all the latest for what they needed it for ... cheating in elections. :argh:

[greyl]

54. "government is probably one of the most tech-adverse institutions"?

Not if the tech can kill people.

[complain jane]

56. So sending teenagers to shoot people is good,

but Facebook or Twitter = bad

Got it.

[PBS Poll-435]

57. Social Networking web sites have no place in government

But I get your point.

I guess.