'The Playstation Job' Heisters Arrested 59

Posted by simoniker on Friday July 11, 2003 @04:22PM from the do-17,000-playstations-fit-in-a-mini? dept.

Thanks to the New Jersey Star-Ledger for their news that a gang who stole $5 million worth of PlayStation consoles in a high-tech train heist have been arrested and indicted. According to the article, the theft ring, known as the 'Conrail Boyz', stole more than $20 million of merchandise from freight trains, and their "..largest single take was 17,496 Sony PlayStation electronic game systems worth more than $5 million and involved members driving off with a cargo container, authorities charged." Seriously, what would you do with 17,000 PlayStations?

'The Playstation Job' Heisters Arrested

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easy (Score:5, Funny)

by sporty ( 27564 ) writes: on Friday July 11, 2003 @04:24PM (#6418855) Homepage

Seriously, what would you do with 17,000 PlayStations?

Ok guys.. you are making this too easy.

/beowulf

- Re:easy (Score:4, Funny)
  
  by Henry V .009 ( 518000 ) writes: on Friday July 11, 2003 @04:32PM (#6418957) Journal
  
  Okay, since this is obviously going to turn into one big beowulf love fest, can anybody do the back of the envelope calculation to find out just how powerful a beowulf cluster of 17,000 PlayStations would be?
  
  For extra credit you can express the answer in terms of Lord of the Rings:Fellowship of the Ring movies rendered per week.
  
  - Re:easy (Score:4, Interesting)
    
    by MoOsEb0y ( 2177 ) writes: on Friday July 11, 2003 @05:48PM (#6419866)
    
    Well, quoted from here [retrofaction.com], a ps2 has 6.2 gflops of CPU power in its FPU. There are 17,496 of these units. So that is roughly 108475 gflops of CPU power.
    
    Quoted from a slashdot article here [slashdot.org], there are "over 2000" Xeon 2.8 GHz in the render farm for ROTK. Pulled from google cache as intel's website is crap, here [216.239.37.104], I learned that a pair of 2.8 ghz xeons has 5.6 gflops of FPU power. Thus, 5.6 * 2000 is 11200 gflops of power for the render farm of ROTK.
    
    Thus, take 108475 and divide by 11200 and those playstations equal roughly 9.68 ROTK rendering farms.
    
    - Re:easy (Score:1, Redundant)
      
      by IIRCAFAIKIANAL ( 572786 ) writes:
      
      And how many libraries of congress is that? ;)
- What would saddam do? (Score:3, Funny)
  
  by metalhed77 ( 250273 ) writes:
  
  Combine many at once into a grid computing target system for scud warheads!
  
  what?
eBay for the next 3 years (Score:3, Informative)

by BoomerSooner ( 308737 ) writes: on Friday July 11, 2003 @04:25PM (#6418860) Homepage Journal

or something like that.

Oh wait, eBay wouldn't sell [usatoday.com] stolen [business2.com] items [ellsworthamerican.com]?

You can (Score:2, Interesting)

by Metroid72 ( 654017 ) writes:

Sell them in 3rd world countries. I've personally seen consoles being sold for 3x times their retail price, just because of the shipping and custom overhead.
If you manage to take them abroad and find a partner that can help you out with the customs burden, you can make all the profit just on the console cost (which was Free as in Beer)
I am not Tony Soprano, but... (Score:1)

by Micro$will ( 592938 ) writes:

Seriously, what would you do with 17,000 PlayStations?

Duh, sell them, or give them to your family, friends, or "business associates". Just like those coolers Tony was giving away during the bust out at the sporting goods store.
- Re:I am not Tony Soprano, but... (Score:1)
  
  by Brother Grifter ( 16318 ) writes:
  
  Exactly. Remember good fella's. It doesn't matter what you do with them, it's all pure profit.
Easy. (Score:3, Funny)

by dasunt ( 249686 ) writes: on Friday July 11, 2003 @04:28PM (#6418905)

I'd take all the playstations and use them to develope Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq.

- Re:Easy. (Score:1)
  
  by RealityMogul ( 663835 ) writes:
  
  You need playstation 2's to develop missle guidence systems.
Take over the world! (Score:1)

by HeroicAutobot ( 171588 ) * writes:

Seriously, what would you do with 17,000 PlayStations?
With 17,000 PlayStations, I could take over the world [worldnetdaily.com]!
What are we going to do tomorrow Brain? - Pinky
A supercomputer... (Score:1)

by Lyrrad ( 219543 ) writes:

You load Linux on them, and make a supercomputer [slashdot.org] out of them.
- Re:A supercomputer... (Score:1)
  
  by Lyrrad ( 219543 ) writes:
  
  Oops, messed up the link.
  Here it is in plain text:
  
  http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-1010037.html
The obvious one..... (Score:4, Informative)

by hawkstone ( 233083 ) writes: on Friday July 11, 2003 @04:31PM (#6418932)

This would be redundant as others have suggested it, but I've got a link:

Build a beowulf cluster of PS2 machines [uiuc.edu].

I would so... (Score:1)

by m00by ( 605070 ) writes:

build my own renderfarm!!!!! then I could lease it to crappy studios to make crappier movies, and feel horrible, but make tons of money. =D or perhaps they would render photorealistic games in real time =D
Saddam's Connection... (Score:2)

by mrpull ( 112590 ) writes:

[Playstation 2s can be used to] design and control long-range missiles or even nuclear devices [ananova.com]
Only in New Jersey (Score:1, Troll)

by Rares Marian ( 83629 ) writes:

The ultimate in useless acts of irrelevance.
Worth *how* much? (Score:1)

by yandros ( 38911 ) writes:

That's about $285 each, for the PlayStation? Did it ever retail for that price in the US? Maybe 10 years ago...
Games...? (Score:1, Offtopic)

by sabNetwork ( 416076 ) writes:

Why is this in games?
It Friday "Dont Read Carefully" day (Score:2, Interesting)

by Mike Hawk ( 687615 ) writes:

These were Playstations. Remember, the little grey box that didn't do anything special except play games that appeal to the lowest common denominator and software copyright violators?

You guys are all talking about Playstation 2's. The slightly larger black box that is pretty much the same except it can also stand on its end.

Though link up all 17,000 Playstations if you want. You could do some serious text editing with all that power.
- Re:It Friday "Dont Read Carefully" day (Score:2)
  
  by morcheeba ( 260908 ) writes:
  
  $5 million / 17,000 = $294 each.
  
  The prices of the various playstation models are (source1) [ebgames.com] (source2) [psreporter.com]:
  
  PS1: $50
  PS1+LCD: $150
  PS2 (may2003) $179
  (may2002) $199
  (pre-may2002) $299
  
  Sounds like they are using the older PS2 price even though the article didn't mention the exact model. The price could be valid; the date of that heist wasn't given. I don't think the original playstations ever sold for that much, but I could be wrong.
  - Re:It Friday "Dont Read Carefully" day (Score:2)
    
    by MBCook ( 132727 ) writes:
    
    The origional PS was $300 when it first came out. Just so you know.
    - Re:It Friday "Dont Read Carefully" day (Score:1)
      
      by morcheeba ( 260908 ) writes:
      
      Wow, thanks. I'm not a big gamer & hadn't realized that.
Duh (Score:1)

by DoubleD ( 29726 ) writes:

Seriously, what would you do with 17,000 PlayStations?

Well like any other thief I would probably sell them and buy .....

Among the items being sought for forfeiture are a residence, two Mercedes, three Lexus vehicles and a Cadillac, in addition to $142,500 in cash seized during execution of search warrants.

I hear with $142,500 you can build a pretty mean beowulf cluster ;).
what about eBay? (Score:3, Funny)

by Numeric ( 22250 ) * writes: on Friday July 11, 2003 @04:47PM (#6419110) Homepage Journal

i think they got caught when they tried to sell the PS2s with a quantity of 17000.

I would modify them (Score:1)

by ihatesco ( 682485 ) writes:

So that I could use them as a sort of big blenders, so that I can stirr some large VATS full of hot grits (which I will then pour on my pants), but I'm afraid that the cd-rom reader is not strong enough to act like that.
Convert them in a magical petrify device maybe?
Safety in numbers... (Score:3, Funny)

by NanoGator ( 522640 ) writes: on Friday July 11, 2003 @05:19PM (#6419569) Homepage Journal

"Seriously, what would you do with 17,000 PlayStations?"

I'd take comfort in knowing that the odds were in my favor that one of them doesn't skip.

I don't know about the playstations (Score:4, Funny)

by rw2 ( 17419 ) writes: on Friday July 11, 2003 @05:20PM (#6419575) Homepage

I don't know what I'd do with the playstations, but I learned yesterday that I could use the shipping container as a way to transport about 30EB of data more quickly than over the internet.

So I might just keep the container and use it to backup all the, er, images in the Chicago area.

Bad luck, Saddam Hussein is gone! (Score:1)

by Fu Ling-Yu ( 688545 ) writes:

Back in late ninetys, Saddam use thousands of Playstations 2 to develop missle detection system.. but he gone now. Homer Simpsun "Doh" to the thiefs!
Forklift? Another train? what... (Score:1)

by ElectronOfAtom ( 685701 ) writes:

The ring's largest single take was 17,496 Sony PlayStation electronic game systems worth more than $5 million

Largest single take? hmm.. that would imply that they took 17,496 in one night from one train.. what happened.. was the engineer sleeping and they drove up with a bus or a couple hundred forklifts or something?

LOL.. just a funny thought to see people using forklifts to steal playstations off a freight train in the dead of night...
$75 - NEW PS2 IN BOX - No Reserve! (Score:3, Funny)

by TheLASTjay ( 562758 ) writes: on Friday July 11, 2003 @05:43PM (#6419807)

Can you say eBay?

=) jay

Forget beowulf.... (Score:2)

by dacarr ( 562277 ) writes:

Forget your beowulf cluster, can you imagine what kind of processing power you now have in your hands for SETI [berkeley.edu]? Imagine 17,000 PS2s grinding SETI packets for you, and you never have to worry about heating your building again!
Granted, the power bill is gonna be a little high, and granted there has to be a SETI client for PS2 first....
Iraq! (Score:1)

by bluephone ( 200451 ) writes:

You see, they were going to send all these to Saddam so he could beowulf them for use with the gas centrifuge he hid inder the rose bush and the imaginary urankum he bought from Africa (the country, not the continent).
Bloated costs (Score:2)

by neostorm ( 462848 ) writes:

PS2s retail for $179.99. Rounded up to $180 for 17496 units, comes to $3,149,280.00

This sounds like standard gaming/recording industry logic (i.e. One pirated unit = $50 billion in losses over the next 3 years!)

They may as well have just calculated the number of potential game sales for each PS2, added that to the cost of system repair after warranty, and profits from extra peripheral sales, and maybe we could reach $5mil. ;)
Must be modeling themselves after a game... (Score:4, Funny)

by KU_Fletch ( 678324 ) writes: <bthomas1 AT ku DOT edu> on Friday July 11, 2003 @06:15PM (#6420114)

Kids today with their robberies and such. Must of been too much of that Grand Theft Train or Railroad Tycoon.

Beowulf Cluster (Score:2)

by TheSHAD0W ( 258774 ) writes:

The calendar says it's July 11th... Why does it feel like it's April 1st?
What to do w/ 17K PS2s? (Score:3, Funny)

by gamgee5273 ( 410326 ) writes: on Friday July 11, 2003 @07:28PM (#6420674) Journal

Okay, of course the obvious answer is "Beowulf cluster." But, the next thing said should be a question:
Where would they find 17,000 Network Adaptors?

2+2=5 (million) (Score:3, Insightful)

by nick_davison ( 217681 ) writes: on Friday July 11, 2003 @08:12PM (#6420993)

"..largest single take was 17,496 Sony PlayStation electronic game systems worth more than $5 million..." Seriously, what would you do with 17,000 PlayStations?

I'd probably build them in to a massive beowulf cluster so I could run a massively parallel calculator program.

17,500 PS2s * $200 (assuming they're the ones with network adapters) comes out to $3.5million. Not $5 million.

Add to that the fact they're not $200 sales units yet, they're more like $100 wholesale units about to gain a large mark up as they go through distributors, transportation costs and retail. Even sold second hand, assuming you could find 17,500 guys at the pub who all wanted one, you'd be lucky to clear $100 each. So, all in, maybe $1-1.5 million - on a good day. Of course that doesn't make such a good headline.

- Re:2+2=5 (million) (Score:2)
  
  by pauldy ( 100083 ) writes:
  
  Calm down there math man. Sometimes the press is full of shit so please reserve the righteous indignation for when they are actually full of shit. 17,496 * $299.99 = $5,248,625.04 over 5 million dollars. I didn't see that date of the heist only that they have been doing this for over a decade. So I can only assume that the information they give is somewhat accurate even though they very well could be misleading.
like it's really a question (Score:2)

by Enrico Pulatzo ( 536675 ) writes:

cluster [uiuc.edu]
Well, you wouldn't have to worry.... (Score:2)

by Hamster Lover ( 558288 ) writes:

I know that with 17,000 PS2s I would not have to worry about replacing the DVD drive for about two years.

I would get a little nervous when I hit machine 16,999 around the end of year two.

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easy (Score:5, Funny)

Re:easy (Score:4, Funny)

Re:easy (Score:4, Interesting)

Re:easy (Score:1, Redundant)

What would saddam do? (Score:3, Funny)

eBay for the next 3 years (Score:3, Informative)

You can (Score:2, Interesting)

I am not Tony Soprano, but... (Score:1)

Re:I am not Tony Soprano, but... (Score:1)

Easy. (Score:3, Funny)

Re:Easy. (Score:1)

Take over the world! (Score:1)

A supercomputer... (Score:1)

Re:A supercomputer... (Score:1)

The obvious one..... (Score:4, Informative)

I would so... (Score:1)

Saddam's Connection... (Score:2)

Only in New Jersey (Score:1, Troll)

Worth *how* much? (Score:1)

Games...? (Score:1, Offtopic)

It Friday "Dont Read Carefully" day (Score:2, Interesting)

Re:It Friday "Dont Read Carefully" day (Score:2)

Re:It Friday "Dont Read Carefully" day (Score:2)

Re:It Friday "Dont Read Carefully" day (Score:1)

Duh (Score:1)

what about eBay? (Score:3, Funny)

I would modify them (Score:1)

Safety in numbers... (Score:3, Funny)

I don't know about the playstations (Score:4, Funny)

Bad luck, Saddam Hussein is gone! (Score:1)

Forklift? Another train? what... (Score:1)

$75 - NEW PS2 IN BOX - No Reserve! (Score:3, Funny)

Forget beowulf.... (Score:2)

Iraq! (Score:1)

Bloated costs (Score:2)

Must be modeling themselves after a game... (Score:4, Funny)

Beowulf Cluster (Score:2)

What to do w/ 17K PS2s? (Score:3, Funny)

2+2=5 (million) (Score:3, Insightful)

Re:2+2=5 (million) (Score:2)

like it's really a question (Score:2)

Well, you wouldn't have to worry.... (Score:2)

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Worth how much? (Score:1)