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Investigation finds inmates built computers and hid them in prison ceiling

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Re: Investigation finds inmates built computers and hid them in prison ceiling

#61

Post by rusk »

jorblumesea wrote: post #16

That's crazy, how was security so lax that a physical connection was enough to access state systems? Surely you'd require some kind of staff login.

I wonder were they using WISPr [0] ... this is notorious for its security issues and is in widespread use. It's the "Captive Portal" [1] thing you see when you're logging in to public hotspots. All authentication activities happen in the clear - very easy to sniff with a NIC in promiscuous mode.

  [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WISPr

  [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captive_portal

Re: Investigation finds inmates built computers and hid them in prison ceiling

#62

Post by qb45 »

cooper12 wrote: post #45
qb45 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need a program allowing prisoners to serve their sentence as home arrest at foster homes of volunteers to isolate them from their pathological upbringing and socialize them with law-abiding citizenry. To eliminate possibility of unjust moral judgments and discrimination, obviously the inmates would get to choose their hosts and not the other way around. I'm sure you would be happy to participate. Problem solved.

Ah the good ol' tired "why don't you take refugees into your own home" argument. Why would I need to host them when I don't need to host a jail? The same thing with orphans and refugees. The government provides space for them paid for with my taxes. I don't invite every homeless person I see into my home permanently, doesn't mean I don't care about them or believe the government should combat the issue or open more s…

I don't think I have ever been more obviously sarcastic than here. Of course I knew very well that, despite painting prisoners as victims of moral judgments and suggesting that moral judgments are something wrong altogether, you wouldn't want this crowd anywhere near your house.

With my comment, I only wanted to point out this exact hypocrisy. So thank you for confirming that my cynicism is justified. I feel better about myself now :)

Re: Investigation finds inmates built computers and hid them in prison ceiling

#63

Post by tonyedgecombe »

metafunctor wrote: post #59
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you not read the Electron thread?

Hmm? Electron? What is that? Are all comment threads on HN now supposed to be correlated? I pick and choose. I read maybe 10% of what's on here.

Well it was meant to be humour, I guess it's wasted here.

Re: Investigation finds inmates built computers and hid them in prison ceiling

#64

Post by lawless123 »

qb45 wrote: post #15
Overtonwindow wrote: post #3

I'm not sure whether or be alarmed or proud.

It's quite neat that they managed to access the Internet using some staff member's credentials. Probably not a reason to be proud of him .

I think it's the clandestine computer building and network setup people are impressed by.

Re: Investigation finds inmates built computers and hid them in prison ceiling

#66

Post by Tepix »

rl3 wrote: post #46
stephengillie wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The prison transportation infrastructure vastly subsidizes Arduino Minis for this reason.

I'd say the Pi Zero is a far superior option. Vastly more computing power with only minimal additional pain. Bonus points if you hook it up to a battery and SSH into it during transit. Probably not the best idea to have something inside of you that occasionally catches fire, though. https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/pi-zero/

The new Pi Zero W with Wifi and Bluetooth would be even better...

https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/pi-zero-w/

Re: Investigation finds inmates built computers and hid them in prison ceiling

#67

Post by sametmax »

metafunctor wrote: post #59
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you not read the Electron thread?

Hmm? Electron? What is that? Are all comment threads on HN now supposed to be correlated? I pick and choose. I read maybe 10% of what's on here.

It's a joke because we argued a lot in that thread about electron success despite the quality of it.

Re: Investigation finds inmates built computers and hid them in prison ceiling

#68

Post by sametmax »

adrianN wrote: post #44
paulajohnson wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. You can learn a lot of Javascript by breaking up old computers. This isn't an "education", its just slave labour.

What's a more likely job for a former inmate: Computer repair technician (rip out broken parts, put new parts in) or Javascript frontend engineer?

Anything dev.

People in computing don't care that much about your background if you are skilled. You can even work remotely for/from companies in another country.

And the good news is, good devs are rare, but the demand for them keep increasing. So if you become productive and reliable with a pinch of people skills, you are pretty much guarantied to have a job in the next 20 years. And probably a good one.

Re: Investigation finds inmates built computers and hid them in prison ceiling

#69

Post by Cthulhu_ »

CalRobert wrote: post #48
paulajohnson wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. You can learn a lot of Javascript by breaking up old computers. This isn't an "education", its just slave labour.

Which, indeed, is legal in the US. " Amendment XIII Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted , shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. "

Legal and pushed for by the "prison industry", which has lobbyists in place to keep punishments high, tolerance low, and their low/no-wage workforce in place - whilst also getting paid by the government for housing inmates (and they send fines to government if the government doesn't meet their inmate quotas)

Re: Investigation finds inmates built computers and hid them in prison ceiling

#70

Post by Cthulhu_ »

antman wrote: post #65

They should be immediately released and then hired. Apparently the prison system needs their skills.

I'd go for a life of crime if it meant building a computer could get me out that easily.

I mean come on, it's not rocket science to build a computer out of parts, and nobody should be pardoned for that kinda skill without considering why they were put in jail in the first place.

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