521–530 of 670 posts
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That is great to hear. I am happy for you. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of tech consulting do you do?
Mostly web dev currently but I've worked in a few different domains.
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This is why all non-trivial applications need to have a code review process and a CI/CD pipeline that ensures that no application goes into production except via that pipeline, and that all code is reviewed prior to deployment. It’s not a guarantee, of course, but it’s a start.
How do you hotfix production? Do you have a special "go fast" flag in the pipeline?
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On paper, I'd be a felon for serious offences on at least 4 episodes. If the law was followed to the letter, and if somebody nosy had enough access and time to inspect the past 15 years of my life, I'd be serving at least two life sentences. The smallest offence is carrying a hunter's knife in my car: that's a 3rd degree felony as I'd discovered recently. In practice, though, if the law was followed to the letter, 90…
Where do you live that it is a felony to have a hunting knife in your car, and also where felony's have degrees?
I do wonder why people are so motivated to help the perpetrators of violent crimes. You could take that same energy and help the victims instead. I doubt whoever suffered whatever violence it was that merited 13 years has forgotten the whole thing by now. I doubt they're stoked to see their attacker off to start a cushy new job. You don't get 13 years for something trivial.* If after that time you find it to get a jo…
Do you imagine the victim of a violent crime wants to see the offender crushed by society to such an extent that they offend again? Do you imagine the victim wants the offender's children to suffer as well? How many generations of pain and suffering should be imposed? How many more victims will that spawn? How much misery should we be willing to impose and on how many people?
On this subject, I was blown away by this a week ago: https://mkorostoff.github.io/incarceration-in-real-numbers/
Wow:
- "The United States holds more people in jails and prisons than any other country by far, both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of population."
The numbers are stunning. Around a quarter of all Americans have a criminal record.
- "Almost no one gets a trial"
- "The blue icons are the portion of incarcerated people who got trials, around 2%"
My mind boggles at this. Conviction is without trial in 98% of cases? People avoid trial when they don't think they'll get a fair one or they can't afford a decent lawyer? No wonder it's a hotbed of racism.
No, wait, I was assuming conviction:
- "Unconvicted Americans are the 4th largest incarcerated population in the world"
Now my mind boggles even more. There are more unconvicted Americans incarcerated than convicted people incarcerated in almost all other countries.
- "What if you've spent your whole life believing that you live in the freest country on earth, when the reality is precisely the opposite?"
Good question...
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Have you tried doing freelancer stuff? When no one will give you a chance, giving yourself one is probably your best bet. I have no idea how well that would work, but it seems like the only variable you can control.
I have been able to do just a handful of freelance-gigs outside of my desired field but between bad experiences (payment was 6 months late once) and life kicking me while I'm down, I've just been seeking some stability.
This never gets enough visibility among freelancers / contractors / consultants - it can be really hard to get paid and for smaller amounts of money it often would take too much in legal fees to actually get paid.
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In the USA, background checks are often just part of the process. There's an entire industry built around providing the service.
Readers from other countries, what is it like there? I remember when I lived in Australia, my friends told me that many crimes do not show up on background checks after 5 years. Also in Australia, the sex offender registry is confidential, and can only be checked for very specific things (jobs involving children, certain types of housing, etc.) In the US, there are ways of getting records expunged for some crimes, bu…
obviously I don't pursue jobs that require a clearance level. I once got in an exchange with a recruiter:
"do you have [clearance]?"
"I wouldn't want to work anywhere that requires it"
"Oh, you wouldn't be able to work here without it"
"No, I wouldn't want to work with you if you require it"
"No, you wouldn't be able to work here without it"
...
- I guess we were both rite.
Hey, posting anonymously here since this hits close to home; as I'm also a felon. I learned to program _after_ all my legal troubles started, and my sentence wasn't _nearly_ as long as this (6 months, drug crime). I 100% honestly feel like tech saved my life. My first job immediately gave me hope that I'm not defined by my past. Went from working in a factory making $7/hr (about 10 yrs ago), to now grossing well over…
Bottom line is people are absolutely horrible to each other if they're given even the slightest pretense. It's just a disgusting facet of our psyche, I guess. Those convicted of a crime are condemned to continued punishment by anybody who cares to look at their record, long after they've repaid any debts. I remember asking a police officer when I was in my early 20's why every time I handed my Id to an officer I was searched, arrested, or charged with something. She replied simply, "Because you have a yellow stripe painted down your back."
The fact I had an outstanding warrant for a speeding ticket in another state and doing stupid and illegal things aside, once you have a record it is very hard to escape it. Most are relegated to menial minimum wage jobs. I was lucky, I have a social safety net, confidence, I knew I could get around it. Decided to focus my studies on something so specialized an employer wouldn't try looking for reasons not to hire me. I don't think anybody has actually checked my record since I graduated. The only applications I've been handed were basically a token for HR and I simply mark, "No" under the, "Have you ever been convicted of a crime?" question. Because it doesn't matter. It should be illegal for anybody to access resolved criminal records if they don't have a direct reason pertaining to the safety or security of others. It's not your job as an employer or hiring manager to judge someone's mistakes, only their aptitude to perform a job.
In Germany I was asked to provide my criminal record while working at a payment processing startup that had to obtain certain certificates. They were probably looking for crimes of a fiscal nature however, which is understandable. Second chances are second chances but security is mostly about trust. Another job at a startup in Germany that worked in less tightly controlled spaces has never asked me to produce my crim…
What crimes are applicable to software engineers, then? I don't think there are any laws punishing you from writing bad code, nor are there laws addressing data theft or security misconfigurations. GDPR applies against companies and not individual people, as far as I can tell. Would the only valid crimes be related to computer hacking?
Ever see office Space? ;-)
Hey, posting anonymously here since this hits close to home; as I'm also a felon. I learned to program _after_ all my legal troubles started, and my sentence wasn't _nearly_ as long as this (6 months, drug crime). I 100% honestly feel like tech saved my life. My first job immediately gave me hope that I'm not defined by my past. Went from working in a factory making $7/hr (about 10 yrs ago), to now grossing well over…
How? I read so many felon success stories but I'm a non-violent felon and I can't even get an entry-level interview in IT. I'm multiskilled with a huge focus on security but despite the demand, I've had so much trouble. In fact, in one very sad case, I showed up to my first day of work as a sys admin and was walked out after 2 hours because the HR department neglected to go over my application and see the felony chec…