So I own a government server with information on it...

[rep]

This computer I have was owned by the State of Texas Office of the Governor's Multimedia Program from 1992 to 1996. It is a Hewlett Packard 9000 model 822s. From the limited knowledge on the Internet about this beast, I know that it runs proprietarily on HP-UX, the Unix operating system licensed by HP. I also know from the original purchase order that the tax payers gave up $52,000 for it, not including it's workstations. It is my understanding that this computer can only be accessed via means of the proper terminal unit for this series (800). I've seen the terminal/workstation combinations on eBay for more than I would bother risking, since it would work only by chance. I would also have to buy a special power cable for it, because HP thought it'd be cute to use some crazy ass foreign looking plug. It's like a standard power plug, but it utilizes an extra prong for some oddball reason... Probably an extra ground wire or some bullshit to keep it safe from lightning, but that's pure speculation.

There are a lot of ports on the back for some sort of pseudo-SCSI optional external HDD array, as well as many ports which I surmise are for networking. Five years ago, when I acquired it in Amarillo, I didn't know what I was buying. I just liked the case, and since it was so huge I figured that it would be a perfect housing for a 4 or 8-way CPU system, because at the time AMD was shouting to no end that in just a few years everyone would have quad-CPU Hammer PCs that would be able to solve pi in ten seconds and be at that always low 2000 AMD price, when CPUs were still $100 for the next to best one available.

It was in a warehouse of sorts, unprotected from dust and varmints. To my surprise, when I opened the server (much akin to opening the hood of a car, actually), I immediately noticed the pristine condition it was in. The metal was nearly polished, and there was absolutely no dust to be seen. It was almost a shock, because I've opened computers that were clean just a month previously, but then were full of dust bunnies.

There are giant fans inside, and it's really a marvel of engineering that they could fit all of this into the space it's in. There is so much shit compressed in such a small space that there are cards going in all directions, not inches apart from one another (due to the fact that this, like many older computers, has many boards for different functions, and not just one motherboard.) There are hard drives in there too, quite a few actually. I'm guessing from the price tag and the era in which this was purchased (also factoring in eventual upgrades through the years) that the drives are each 100-400MB in capacity. For storing text records and various digital transactions, this would be an incredible amount of space.

Due to the rugged aspects of Unix, I'm betting that there is still some life left in the machine, but unfortunately, as previously stated, I can't do much without the rare terminal/workstation.

In 1996, do you think they would have wiped the drives clean? Do you think that there is any possibility of the drives still being magnetically and mechanically sound enough to handle any jarring? I suppose the proper people to ask are the friendly data recovery experts... They're friendly because they often charge $200 for every 1GB they restore. Who knows what they'd charge for such an old and no doubt difficult to work with system.

Shit... I wonder if Bush and Rove could have played some ancient solitaire on this? "Karl, let me play!" "It's solitaire, George." "I want to play. Let's team up, n' show'em who's boss... Just like we did to that liberal bitch Ann Richards." "Governor, this is a game for just one pl---- Nevermind."

Right now I'm using the 400 pound computer as a stand for one of my monitors, and my scanner. Talk about creative (lazy) recycling, haha!

[The HavoX]

:icon29:

[farad]

...jesus rep do you really think anyone gives a fuck besides you...

[rep]

I'll post pictures sometime. I'm ashamed to say that there is an unsightly wire running right in front of the machine, across my bedroom floor, because I was too lazy to properly install the wiring under my carpet.

[Massive Quasars]

Have you tried sending this behemoth computer to moveon.org?

[rep]

You mean the PAC who is funded by the conservatives in Washington by the means of moneys distributed through companies like GM?

[FlamingTP]

lol I don't know why I bothered reading that entire first post.

umm good for you rep I guess. Good Luck with it.

[rep]

I didn't mean it as a, "OOH! LOOK WHAT I GOT!" Post, I meant it as, "Eh... Can anything productive come of this computer?"

I'm not saying it'll reveal who was involved in Watergate (Cough GHWB) or anything, but there could be some obscure document on there that someone might find interesting.

LOL... Proof of GWB actually serving as a secret spy in Vietnam. That would suck.

[FlamingTP]

Yeah, they'd kill you and destroy the evidence.

[Scourge]

It'll contain the great secrets of the research performed on the Governor's ingrown butt hairs.

[FlamingTP]

sick :lol:

[Scourge]

Wait till you see the pics.

[FlamingTP]

:lol: Jesus

[glossy]

hey almost an interesting rep thread, i reckon :icon14:

try contacting one of the people selling the combos? or, with enough searching and research and talking to people etc. you may be able to find out/discover/download the syntax to connect to one of the terminal ports, then put together your own wire (not that hard) and TELNET to the port.

depends on how dedicated you are. i'd suggest looking into it a bit though, could be interesting.

[rep]

Or just let you do it and we'll share the first news blurbs, but I get the book deals, and you get assassinated.

I just thought that even me posting the original thread was probably the dumbest thing I could ever have done, because if there is a remote chance of some vital information being on there, I'll probably wake up to some U.S. Ninjas owning me with my own pillow. Edit: Then again, it could have been used as something so simple as being a giant address book.

Don't they usually discredit and defame the people they go after first? I wonder what they could make up about me? Tax evasion? Terrorist ties? What fags the government is full of, that we normal citizens even have to fear this sort of shit.

[glossy]

your government is fucked. move to australia.

[Geebs]

Don't they usually discredit and defame the people they go after first? I wonder what they could make up about me? Tax evasion? Terrorist ties? What fags the government is full of, that we normal citizens even have to fear this sort of shit.

They'll just put up a big billboard across from the house with the words "SLASHDOTTED INTO BANDWIDTH HELL" on it.

[U4EA]

Governmental type organizations in Australia have processes in place to run multiple wipes on disks of machines which are auctioned or given away. I don't see why similar precautions wouldn't be taken in the US.

[rep]

your government is fucked. move to australia.

:lol: Then I'd be the number one Aussie stud posting in Generdal Virgussion, mate. :lol:

We wouldn't want that sort of war. Those scenarios are called "end games" for a reason.

[rep]

Governmental type organizations in Australia have processes in place to run multiple wipes on disks of machines which are auctioned or given away. I don't see why similar precautions wouldn't be taken in the US.

Where were you in 1996?



Quote from The Site: "Did you know that one day a robot arm will do our typing for us? Cool beans, huh Soledad? You look smokin' in that VR headset." "Thanks, Dev. It's the new VirtuNewsGroup Pro. It lets you grok the latest news in a virtual world."

The government at that time? "Yeah, we have to figure out a way to make a blowjob seem like murder. Get our remote viewing thinktank on it."

[Massive Quasars]

rep posts

[Eraser]

They're friendly because they often charge $200 for every 1GB they restore. Who knows what they'd charge for such an old and no doubt difficult to work with system.

Eh, as long as there's no structural damage to the harddrive it's a piece of cake for them.
Seriously, these data recovery people can still get data from completely burned down harddrives so whatever system it's for, it's easy

[MKJ]

It's like a standard power plug, but it utilizes an extra prong for some oddball reason... Probably an extra ground wire or some bullshit to keep it safe from lightning, but that's pure speculation.

yea. my beamer got one of those as well. very handy in case you lost it or need another one for some reason!

[glossy]

It's like a standard power plug, but it utilizes an extra prong for some oddball reason... Probably an extra ground wire or some bullshit to keep it safe from lightning, but that's pure speculation.

yea. my beamer got one of those as well. very handy in case you lost it or need another one for some reason!

makes sense to me, i don't see why it doesn't to you guys:

positive/active, negative/neutral, earth, and marshmallows.

MARSHMALLOWS AND DREAMS

[Geebs]

They're friendly because they often charge $200 for every 1GB they restore. Who knows what they'd charge for such an old and no doubt difficult to work with system.

Eh, as long as there's no structural damage to the harddrive it's a piece of cake for them.
Seriously, these data recovery people can still get data from completely burned down harddrives so whatever system it's for, it's easy

Surely if you think you've got sensitive government/financial information on a harddrive, taking it to a data recovery service is a little like taking your kiddie snuff porn photos to get developed in Boots. So go for it, rep