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What is this. I was hoping to understand how this computer was deeply involved in the ponzi scheme but I basically learned that he "wrote reports at scale" and

What is this. I was hoping to understand how this computer was deeply involved in the ponzi scheme but I basically learned that he "wrote reports at scale" and no more details. The whole article reads like a weird, sideways attempt at saying "computers are bad, maybe we should regulate their use."

marcus0x62 5y ago
The original article[1] has a few more details, but to my reading doesn’t blame the AS/400 as helping facilitate the fraud in any special way. It mostly talks about a lack of oversight and culture of secrecy at Madoff’s company. [1] - https://web.archive.org/web/20100129061850/http://www.iddmagazine.com/issues/2009_42/the-technology-behind-the-scam-199529-1.html?partner=thestreet https://web.archive.org/web/20100129061850/http://www.iddmag...
chriscjcj 5y ago
Agreed. However, the "_________ are bad; maybe we should regulate their use" argument is an interesting one. Depending on what you put in the blank, reaction varies wildly. I think most reasonable people don't think AS/400s are inherently bad, but would blame the individual for their misuse. Plug in "guns," "cars," or "drugs," and see what happens. :-)
- perl4ever 5y ago
  Toyota pickup trucks are legendary for their use by insurgents; I don't see a lot of hand-wringing over that. Several years ago, I went looking for a digital caliper. I settled on one from a certain Japanese company. Later I read on Wikipedia that four of their executives were indicted in the 00's for fraudulently exporting measuring devices that were too accurate and indirectly may have ended up in sanctioned countries' nuclear programs. That seems like a good tagline - "So accurate, it's illegal!"
sokoloff 5y ago
Exactly. It was an electronic pencil in terms of the importance it had to the fraud.
dm319 5y ago
There's a weird link at the bottom which points to a paper by microsoft about how file systems with user permissions is a bit like having a centrally-planned economy. Doesn't help you, but it added to my confusion.

marcus0x62 5y ago

The original article[1] has a few more details, but to my reading doesn’t blame the AS/400 as helping facilitate the fraud in any special way. It mostly talks about a lack of oversight and culture of secrecy at Madoff’s company. [1] - https://web.archive.org/web/20100129061850/http://www.iddmagazine.com/issues/2009_42/the-technology-behind-the-scam-199529-1.html?partner=thestreet https://web.archive.org/web/20100129061850/http://www.iddmag...

chriscjcj 5y ago

Agreed. However, the "_________ are bad; maybe we should regulate their use" argument is an interesting one. Depending on what you put in the blank, reaction varies wildly. I think most reasonable people don't think AS/400s are inherently bad, but would blame the individual for their misuse. Plug in "guns," "cars," or "drugs," and see what happens. :-)

perl4ever 5y ago
Toyota pickup trucks are legendary for their use by insurgents; I don't see a lot of hand-wringing over that. Several years ago, I went looking for a digital caliper. I settled on one from a certain Japanese company. Later I read on Wikipedia that four of their executives were indicted in the 00's for fraudulently exporting measuring devices that were too accurate and indirectly may have ended up in sanctioned countries' nuclear programs. That seems like a good tagline - "So accurate, it's illegal!"

sokoloff 5y ago

Exactly. It was an electronic pencil in terms of the importance it had to the fraud.

dm319 5y ago

There's a weird link at the bottom which points to a paper by microsoft about how file systems with user permissions is a bit like having a centrally-planned economy. Doesn't help you, but it added to my confusion.