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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

#81

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

Mandatum wrote: post #47
adrianN wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

To be honest I think tech companies, startups especially will happily hire a good ex-con coder because they don't have to pay them as much.

Don't have to pay them as much???

If an ex-con manages to learn enough in prison to be a decent dev and land a job I hope they get paid the same as everyone else at their level.

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

#82

Post by jacquesm »

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. "

That is so terribly out-dated. The fact that a prisoner loses their freedom for a specified period of time should be the total of their debt to society.

Some reform on this front would be good but I think it will be many decades before the US is ready to confront these things, if it doesn't fall apart beforehand due to the ever increasing divide, both geographically and ideologically.

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

#83

Post by jacquesm »

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?

Well, given the fact that former inmates are just ordinary people again you'd think the likelihood of them attaining either job would be related to their skill level and aptitude. If you'd teach them javascript in prison their chances of landing a javascript front-end engineer would go up dramatically, if you only teach them how to rip up old computers then maybe they'll find a job in recycling at lower pay with a higher chance of recidivism.

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

#84

Post by jacquesm »

i336_ wrote: post #73
sametmax wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I disagree based on this interesting story of an incident that reportedly happened at Google approx 3 years ago. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6750805 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6245316 This is all the data I've got on the state of industry; genuinely interested to hear tidbits from anybody that things aren't this ugly nowadays. I'm not in the demographic of people dealing with problematic pasts (and…

Thanks for those links. I read them originally but had forgotten.

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

#85

Post by jacquesm »

Vexs wrote: post #56
vacri wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1% of Americans have been through the incarceration system. That's insane. That's not quite correct. 1% of American adults are currently incarcerated. There's nearly 2.5M current prisoners, and the US total population is about 310M, so once you remove kids from that 'total pop' count...

Wouldn't that make the number higher then, if you're counting people that have been through the system? Some rough numbers from the US justice website say more than 650000 people are released from prison each year, and two thirds are back within another three years, which seems to me that a lot more than 1% touch the system. Unfortunately, it's 4 in the morning, and I'd spend a good hour or so looking up better stats…

It's his point too, and yes it stands.

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

#86

Post by Chathamization »

djsumdog wrote: post #26
codezero wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Proud. The US prison system is oppressive garbage. Good for the inmates.

Exactly. Especially in Ohio. I remember years ago listening to the District Attorney of Cincinnati say he didn't believe in rehabilitation! WTF? 1% of Americans have been through the incarceration system. That's insane. These guys are probably just going to be reprimanded and be given more time in prison, when really they should encourage their education and effort to push them to legit computer work when they leave.…

Apparently 1 out of 3 of adults in the USA have an arrest record in the FBI database[1], which compiles the data from local records.

[1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-arrest-records-rise-american...

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

#87

Post by LeifCarrotson »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #69
CalRobert wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)

I was going to write that that amendment is from the Civil War, before the private prison complex could develop, lobby for, and become dependent on prison labor.

But a bit of research showed that prisons were not exactly bastions of human rights in the good old days.

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

#88

Post by TeMPOraL »

metafunctor wrote: post #74
sametmax wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I never figured HN is like Reddit, where inside jokes get you votes. I hope HN never goes there.

Inside jokes getting votes is not a "Reddit quality", it's a quality of communities. HN is a community too.

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

#89

Post by narag »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #49
narag wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

???? Computer skills are not only JavaScript.

Did you not read the Electron thread?

Did you not read the Electron thread?

No.

Now, you or someone else could had explained why it was relevant or... oh wonder! point to it, so we can learn on our own. Or even enlighten us with the reason why some half assed misterious joke is mixed with what appears to be a denounce on slave labour.

But don't worry, I absolutely love these flippant conversations if I'm allowed to bring my own non-sequiturs to the table. I just can't think of any right now :)

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

#90

Post by TeMPOraL »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #81
Mandatum wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be honest I think tech companies, startups especially will happily hire a good ex-con coder because they don't have to pay them as much.

Don't have to pay them as much??? If an ex-con manages to learn enough in prison to be a decent dev and land a job I hope they get paid the same as everyone else at their level.

I'd hope for that too, but unfortunately, having an "ex-con" tag in your papers means at least that an employer has a strong argument against you at the negotiating table.
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