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IT Cutbacks For 2012 London Olympics

Slatterz writes "The IT backbone for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is to be cut. According to the Games' chief integrator, Michele Hyron of Atos Origin, each section of the computing infrastructure will be made more efficient in order to minimise redundant equipment and hopefully reduce energy consumption. Unlike the Beijing Games, the results will be relayed via the public wireless network which will be available in the Olympic Park — this means cutting out the 2,500 results terminals. The team of workers will deliver more than 1,000 servers, 10,000 PCs and 4,000 printers."

32 of 190 comments (clear)

  1. Good by SchizoStatic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Maybe this time we won't see a giant BSOD on the ceiling of the event.

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    https://www.speakservers.com/
  2. In other news...Recession cuts back Olympics Games by syousef · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now instead of an International sporting competition in London, 3 guys from Yorkshire will come down and play rock, paper, scissors. To save face 1000 rounds of RPS will be played, and for each one a different combination of paper hats with different national flags printed on them will be worn by the 3 guys. The IOC is requesting donations as paper hats and printing costs money, as does travel to and from Yorkshire.

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    These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
  3. Of course! by B5_geek · · Score: 4, Funny

    According to Monty Python (Meaning of Life); Yorkshire is "The Third World", so this only makes sence that they would make cutbacks.

    Personally I think it's courageous of the IOC to grant these impoverished and lower class of civilized existence a chance to exist within the glorious umbrella that the IOC bequeaths.

    --
    "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
  4. Unfortunate wording by Y-Crate · · Score: 4, Funny

    "The IT backbone for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is to be cut"

    Ouch.

    1. Re:Unfortunate wording by taff^2 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It's probably quite accurate wording. Unfortunately the government have failed to realise (yet again) that when you cut the backbone of anything you leave it paralysed.

      Wankers, the lot of them!

      --
      Karma: Bad. (As in Good?)
    2. Re:Unfortunate wording by peragrin · · Score: 2, Funny

      well most government employees don't have a backbone so they have no personal experience to draw from when you cut it.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
  5. This won't reduce fat intake. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    "But unless humans get their wifi implants before 2012 this will just move the cost of the energy consumption to different parties."

    Like cellphones?

  6. As an East Londoner... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    May I apologise in advance for the state of the London 2012 Olympics? I have absolutely no faith in the Government bringing this in on time, or on budget.

    1. Re:As an East Londoner... by jandersen · · Score: 4, Informative

      May I apologise in advance for the state of the London 2012 Olympics? I have absolutely no faith in the Government bringing this in on time, or on budget.

      You certainly may - apology accepted.

      In other new, one of the first Olympic venues for 2012 games opens today, ahead of schedule and under budget:

      http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/7753734.stm

    2. Re:As an East Londoner... by Aceticon · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The costs for the London 2012 Olympics have already spiraled to 2 or 3 time the original budget. Actually this was the case already 6 months ago BEFORE the credit crunch started to bit.

      That said, they might open most venues in time ... just WAY over budget.

  7. Craplympics by Roland+Piquepaille · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The team of workers will deliver more than 1,000 servers, 10,000 PCs and 4,000 printers.

    It always makes my blood boil to see how much money is funneled into sporting events such as the olympics without flinching, while at the same time public research, schools, etc..., people of real value to society, have to cry and beg for resources...

    1. Re:Craplympics by Leebert · · Score: 2, Funny

      the asshole who took some BS social studies degree

      That would be "some BA social studies degree". :)

    2. Re:Craplympics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      In the UK it doesn't really work like that. Universities don't make money off of sports and don't really give out scholarships based on sporting ability. In other words, the government don't like giving out money to *anybody*, no matter what you're good at.

      The UK government has a terrible record for IT projects. I imagine that this one will have some problems and yes, without a backup it's going to be fun to watch.

    3. Re:Craplympics by IRGlover · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The olympics encourage people to take up sports and get fit

      Anything to back up that claim, it seems very unlikely. If it is true, what about the strain that sports related injuries would place on the NHS?

      They promote tourism

      Agreed, they promote tourism - to London, the place where most tourists go and only a small proportion actually get out and look at the rest of the country.

      It's developing an area of London that has been run down for decade

      Fine, but I suspect that what this run down area really needs isn't unused stadia. Other cities have used the Olympics as a way of improving infrastructure (e.g. Athens built a new cross-city public transport system), what comparable projects are going on in London? And this Northerner (living on the edge of the M25) agrees that London gets too much money spent on it, the fact that it is unfairly distributed is beside the point.

      Finally, you can pump as much money as you want into schools and research and it tends to dissapear into a black hole

      Part of the reason why the NHS introduced a new layer of middle managers was that this is what was recommended by the 'Management Consultants' who were brought in to look at it. I can't see any hint of vested interest there, can you? Using the NHS as an example for not funding public services isn't a good idea, it was the reduction in investment during the 80's and 90's that allowed it get into the state it is in. A constantly fully-funded NHS would likely have been cheaper in the long-term than allowing it to run down and then build it back up again.

    4. Re:Craplympics by Leebert · · Score: 2, Funny

      Whoosh! :)

    5. Re:Craplympics by theaveng · · Score: 5, Insightful

      >>>The olympics encourage people to take up sports and get fit.

      Since the Olympics were installed people are MORE fat than ever, not less. The Olympics have done nothing of what you claim.

      >>>They promote tourism.

      Not really. Most of the cities that sponsored the Olympics are still deep in debt. There are a few exceptions like Atlanta which was mostly paid by corporations, but then there are others like Toronto who, even thirty years later, are still in debt. Tourism does not make-up for the huge expense of throwing this "huge sports party" known as the Olympics.

      >>>you can pump as much money as you want into schools and research and it tends to dissapear into a black hole.

      The fact that we are both sitting here with college degrees, and now contributing back to society with our respective design expertise, belies that claim. Schools contribute for the simple reason that people walk into kindergarten going "duh" and they come out with the ability to read, write, and do basic math (or go onto college).

      That's better than what sponsorship of Olympic-level sport produces (a broken worn-out body in most cases & a way to sell Fruit Loops in national advertising).

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    6. Re:Craplympics by JediTrainer · · Score: 2, Informative

      Not really. Most of the cities that sponsored the Olympics are still deep in debt. There are a few exceptions like Atlanta which was mostly paid by corporations, but then there are others like Toronto who, even thirty years later, are still in debt. Tourism does not make-up for the huge expense of throwing this "huge sports party" known as the Olympics.

      Toronto might be in debt, but when did we have the Olympics here and how did I manage to miss it?

      --

      You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
    7. Re:Craplympics by MrNaz · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yes, enjoyment is a part of life, but as always, the balance is the key.

      When a country spends around $20 billion (with a "b") on a single sporting event, one has to question whether the balance is right, or whether, somewhere along the way, we've lost the ability to prioritize social goals appropriately.

      Just to put that sum into perspective, it is roughly two hundred times greater than the highest estimated amount of money required to immunize every child in Africa against malaria, which kills one child about every 16 seconds. So we can't take 0.5% of that budget for such a cause?

      The increase in technological capacity of the so called "first world" in the last 100 years or so is surpassed only by the increase in callous disregard for others, and I think this is the OP's point.

      --
      I hate printers.
    8. Re:Craplympics by aoni782 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Since the Olympics were installed people are MORE fat than ever, not less. The Olympics have done nothing of what you claim.

      We could blame people being fat on cars, radio, telephones, or really anything invented around the turn of the century. Picking one factor and attributing all of the effect to it is disingenuous.

      there are others like Toronto who, even thirty years later, are still in debt.

      As a Torontonian, I can assure you we have never hosted the Olympics. Perhaps you meant Montreal?

  8. Rant by Kupfernigk · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The London Olympics is pure pork barrel. It was intended to allow Government to divert funds to one of the more undeveloped parts of London while allowing an unsavoury collection of washed up politicians to enjoy lots of jollies. It is distorting the infrastructure of South-East England and spending still more money in an area that already gets more than its fair share.

    Londoners go on about how London subsidises the rest of the country, but this has actually always translated as "controls the banking system and so rips off your profit and claims it as its own". This has just gone massively pear shaped...so now the Government wants the rest of the country to pay for the Olympics through general taxes.

    Don't get me wrong, I am an expat Londoner. But the mismanagement of London, where some of the most deprived areas of the country are next to some of the richest, and people earning £1 million a year try to avoid paying their cleaners even minimum wages, is truly horrible. I'm glad to live in a much more egalitarian part of the country where we don't have the resulting crime and drug problems.

    GB cannot really afford the Olympics, which has become completely bloated owing to the ludicrous over promotion of the IOC. We should either tell the IOC to go deflate itself and run a Games that London can afford, or let Beijing have it a second time, thus helping them to pay for all those facilities. I favour the first option...in which case this should only be the start and there should be rigorous pruning of excess. Beginning with replacing Tessa Jowell and Sebastian Coe with Second Life avatars who won't be able to spend lots of public money on entertaining corrupt functionaries.

    --
    From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
  9. Re:Sick of trying to report a problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Exactly!

  10. Sorry. You just don't understand money or politics by Colin+Smith · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It always makes my blood boil to see how much money is funneled into sporting events such as the olympics without flinching, while at the same time public research, schools, etc..., people of real value to society, have to cry and beg for resources...

    You see, money is created from nothing. There is an infinite supply of money, it however doesn't grow on trees, someone has to go to the laborious task of typing the numbers into a computer. Or writing them into a book.

    Bankers can get as much money as they like, they just pay the politicians a little bit up front and the politicians pay them back... Well, we're well into the trillions now.
     

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    Deleted
  11. Re:This won't reduce energy consumption one Wh by abigsmurf · · Score: 3, Interesting

    a large screened terminal is still looking at around 125-150W and have the added disadvantage of being incredibly hard to sell off after the olympics.

  12. 4000 printers for 10000 pcs?! by sqldr · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That's nearly 1 printer for every 2 people. Here we have a team of 25 sharing a printer, and there's rarely a queue. How many trees are they intending to cut down?

    --
    I wrote my first program at the age of six, and I still can't work out how this website works.
  13. Re:Sorry. You just don't understand money or polit by dontmakemethink · · Score: 5, Interesting

    No, money is created from something. What bankers do that makes money insubstantial is called leverage. A typical leverage structure in a functional economy is 10:1, where there is 10 times as much money issued on loan as there is in actual existence. Sounds crazy, but it works.

    The current economic fiasco is due largely to excessive leverage, just like the crash of 1929. Currently, American banks that have either collapsed or are begging for bail-outs were leveraged over 100:1.

    The shit hasn't quite hit the fan in Europe yet. Most major European banks are leveraged far more than 100:1, most notably German banks that exceed 400:1. So when European banks start to go tits up (and they will), keep in mind there is no treasury for the Euro. The only bailout funds are from individual countries, who are no doubt going to care more about themselves than an economic union that failed to protect them. So imagine changing currencies in the middle of the greatest economic crisis in 80 years. Think that's a good thing, or bad?

    --

    War as we knew it was obsolete
    Nothing could beat complete denial
    - Emily Haines
  14. Venue Ready. The Roads are not by andyh3930 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The Venue may be ready, but the transport links are no-where near ready. So they've got a venue but no-one will be able to get there. The Motorway (Freeway) ends 40miles from the Venue. Where the motorway ends there is a steep hill that has two lanes. HGV (Semi Trucks) crawl up at about 30mph. Even now in summer it take 10 - 15 minutes to travel 3 miles.
    From about 30 Miles area from the venue is a mixture of narrow twisty single carriageway road with roundabouts (traffic circles) and dual carriageway. They are spending 83Million GBP sorting out the last 3 miles. But nothing is planned for the rest of the single carriageway road. Its total joke

  15. Re:This won't reduce energy consumption one Wh by jlarocco · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm no expert on the Olympics, but don't they occur every 4 years?

    Maybe they could solve their efficiency problems by not buying new shit every time? Hard to imagine it sees very much wear and tear when it's being used 2 weeks every 4 years.

  16. in other news by smoker2 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Boris (don't look at the hands, look at the eyes) Johnson, has scrapped the western extension to the London Congestion charge. He asked a survey of 28000 what they wanted and apparently between 67 % and 86% of businesses wanted it scrapped. Sounds democratic, but I think that mob rule better fits the bill. Since the extension was introduced, roughly 30,000 fewer vehicles a day have passed through that zone. That's a line of cars over 55 miles (90km) long that haven't been clogging the streets on their way somewhere else. If you take into account the reduction caused by the original zone (70,000 vehicles), and you can add 131 miles (210km) to that figure. 186 miles of traffic NOT entering an area roughly 10 miles in diameter every day. I would have thought that was a good thing, but apparently not. What about the other 250,000 vehicles who still enter the area daily ?

    Still, as long as he's popular ...

    I worked the distances out using 1 car = 3 metres long. If some of those were trucks, then the line gets longer, and most cars are longer than 3m anyway.
    Yes this is relevant to the Olympics. Efficient transportation is kind of essential at large events.

  17. Re:It is the nature of sports reporting. by drspliff · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Then why is it being printed?

    So they can courier it across the city... post it in the mail... send it via carrier pidgeon etc.

    Doesn't hold water, sorry.

  18. Bad, yet good also by AaronLawrence · · Score: 2, Interesting

    While cutting back is probably a bad idea, because the Olympics are hard enough to pull off even without cutbacks, part of me cheers because the Olympics is SO WASTEFUL and its good to see a little less waste. Billions of dollars to build a bunch of temporary facilities and showpieces that will have to be maintained at vast expense and eventually destroyed or converted to something else. And then it happens again in 4 years.

    Though it would suck for everyone else, I sort of think the Olympics should just go around the same few venues and actually MAKE USE of the already built facilities.

    --
    For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert. - Arthur C. Clarke
  19. Re:In other news...Recession cuts back Olympics Ga by bob.appleyard · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The post you're replying to said they were from Yorkshire, not Islington.

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    How dare you be so modest!! You conceited bastard!!
  20. Re:In other news...Recession cuts back Olympics Ga by Zwicky · · Score: 2, Funny

    Rough translation:

    - Nah then. t'rock, mate!
    - Nay, a dun reck'n so. Tharr'd be paper, yer muppet.
    - Oh, dunt be daft, pass me t'sciss'rs will ye.
    - Duz eny a'thee kno were t'joke 's goin'?
    - Nay, dunt kno.
    - Nope; s'reyt innit. By gum, tis goin' up fer four, let's go t'pub fer ale?

    And if these are true Yorkshiremen*:

    (in unison)
    - Yer turn t'ger rahnd in!
    - Yer rahnd!
    - Reyt. Yer payin'!

    * for those who don't know what I mean, the Yorkshireman's battlecry is something not entirely unlike "'ow much?!" (followed by a swift retreat) ;)

    --
    "Three eyes are better than one" -- Lieutenant Columbo