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Out of prison after 30 years and people telling him to find forms on the web

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Re: Out of prison after 30 years and people telling him to find forms on the web

#111

Post by pas »

Verdex wrote: post #74
ballenf wrote: post #48

Unpopular opinion: I think government services and offices should remain offline-first forever. They should offer online equivalents, but they should never assume or require digital adoption. I think this has two big benefits: - Minor point: Greater resilience to downtime, interruptions to service - Major point: a check on becoming a faceless entity with no exposure to the public. Think Google or FB if you get flagge…

I think it makes accountability easier as well. And this is actually the reason why I don't do online billing as much as possible. A stack of papers going back years showing that the corporate entity you're dealing with confirms that you payed them on time for years feels a lot better defense than: Me: your honor, I swear I paid them Corp: our computer thingy says you didn't. also it's a tangle of 50 different sql da…

I get digitally signed PDFs from service providers each month, similarly from various gov agencies.

Sure, there are still a lot of people who simply isn't comfortable handling this, and for them send them printed versions.

Auditors and reporters should audit the end-result, not look at paper baskets. We already know "oops liberty not found" happens in a lot of cases yet the powers that be does nothing. (Because it can't because it's a in a gridlock, because well, a lot of people are still just a xenophobic bigoted harmful dickhole waving their (single issue) flag.)

Re: Out of prison after 30 years and people telling him to find forms on the web

#112

Post by deepstack »

maxerickson wrote: post #58
deepstack wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glad another software guy saying this. Digital infrastructure as how it now has no integrity. I prefer going to bank if I have time. Even the largest bank like Feds can have 3 trillion dollars operation error. https://thespeakernewsjournal.com/us/bank-wires-worth-trilli... Knowing what I know and the kind of security that is in online banking does not bring any confidence in me.

Why do you think the in person operations are less likely to make errors? I mean, go ahead and do what you want, but if checking recent transactions makes sense for online banking, it probably makes sense for offline banking too.

You are right. Most security are really depending on banks whether they operate with integrity and your relationship with them. For security get to know your banker. And I wouldn't recommend any of large banks. Local credit union and small bank with good balance sheet are better bet.

Re: Out of prison after 30 years and people telling him to find forms on the web

#113

Post by kyooyk »

I really think the point is not how long it might take someone to learn how to use tools, but the impacts of prison. I work with these folks through my company to help them become employed upon release.

A few things, it is astounding but believable that when people are released they enter a world that is entirely unknown to them. Not only technology but their relationships and neighborhoods are completely different.

In addition,They have no reliable way of getting back on their feet. They usually have zero money, no housing and no job - and there is why you have high recidivism rates. Not only that, but no one wants to hire justice involved individuals, even though significant tax credits are available for doing so - Walmart for example, takes extreme advantage of these.

The training programs in prisons will train someone up to a certification, but fall short of letting them get that certification. People have completed their GED maybe 5 times inside serving sentences at different times because doing so can reduce their sentence, it doesn’t help them in any other way.

Without the ability to access training for in demand skills, many of these individuals get temp service jobs as flagged for construction for example. Doesn’t make sense to me that we want to rehab people yet minimal opportunities inside are provided to break the cycle.

Realize this. People serve a sent and then they are eligible for parole. Many people opt to serve their parole inside, rather than outside. I’ve been told they feel it is easier inside than out.

Re: Out of prison after 30 years and people telling him to find forms on the web

#114

Post by TrueGeek »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #64
ballenf wrote: post #48

Unpopular opinion: I think government services and offices should remain offline-first forever. They should offer online equivalents, but they should never assume or require digital adoption. I think this has two big benefits: - Minor point: Greater resilience to downtime, interruptions to service - Major point: a check on becoming a faceless entity with no exposure to the public. Think Google or FB if you get flagge…

Government services are available offline or via phone as well. The government has some of the strictest accessibility requirements for everything they do. It’s one of the reasons that it’s so expensive to roll out new government services. People are directed to the online versions first because it’s fastest for everyone involved. We should be pushing everyone toward efficient online self-service first, while leaving…

> Government services are available offline or via phone as well

The US Embassy FBU in London has recently switched to email only. They no longer accept postal mail. [1] The FBU handles social security related matters for those out of the country.

You can visit in person only for urgent visits with an appointment which they point out are limited. [2] They no longer list a phone number of their site so appointments must be made through email as well.

Their territory reaches very far from London so in person visits for Americans in South Africa means event urgent requests are email only.

[1]https://uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/federal-benefi...

[2] https://uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/federal-benefi...

Re: Out of prison after 30 years and people telling him to find forms on the web

#115

Post by genericstorage3 »

flohofwoe wrote: post #25
Farbklex wrote: post #7

In contrast, I am sure we all know some older people who were not in prisson for the past 30 years and still don't know how to write an email, what a zoom call is or when it's appropriate to double-click vs single click items on a computer. I know people in their 50s who pretend that "they don't need this technology" or "I can just go to the bank if I need something". Sure, if you're in your 80s you might want to dod…

I'm a software engineer yet I don't do online banking (I literally "just go to the bank if I need something"). I don't consider myself a "luddite", I just don't see the advantage over traditional "offline banking". Same with shopping and all the other little nuisances of daily life.

I also prefer to go to the bank. I got my issue solved just by giving my id and wait 10m.

On the phone they couldn't even understand what I'm talking, ton of a security questions... I gave up.

I tried online and had some issues. Some code didn't work even if I had it saved.

Physical much more efficient. I can just relax 10m and get my things done just by saying 1 sentence

Re: Out of prison after 30 years and people telling him to find forms on the web

#116

Post by Verdex »

mindcrime wrote: post #107
Verdex wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it makes accountability easier as well. And this is actually the reason why I don't do online billing as much as possible. A stack of papers going back years showing that the corporate entity you're dealing with confirms that you payed them on time for years feels a lot better defense than: Me: your honor, I swear I paid them Corp: our computer thingy says you didn't. also it's a tangle of 50 different sql da…

A stack of papers going back years showing that the corporate entity you're dealing with confirms that you payed them on time for years feels a lot better defense than: I do agree with this sentiment, but I would like to point out that one can achieve the same effect (or very nearly so) by saving the "receipt" page or confirmation page that you usually get with online transactions. You could either save a directory f…

Yeah, this is true.

But I personally like having paper that the corporation printed out versus something that I printed out. Like, technically, you can fake the "receipt" page because it's just some html etc. The only thing that proves that what you have is real is the confirmation number and suddenly you're back to hoping that the corporation that asserts you owe them money has and will provide all of their sql databases so that you can show that your confirmation number is genuine.

On the other hand, if I have years of documents they produced and the styles and layout, paper quality, postal records, etc all match what everyone else has in their homes, then, yeah, it could still be faked, but it's a much harder pill for a judge to swallow. Like, at some point people are going to decide that you're either telling the truth or you are a super genius with way too much time on your hands. Either way they're going to tend towards letting you off the hook.

Re: Out of prison after 30 years and people telling him to find forms on the web

#117

Post by ghaff »

matz1 wrote: post #73
flohofwoe wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I check the balance when I'm getting cash from an ATM. Transaction logs are sent by mail or I can print them at service machines. Really people, it's not that complicated, it worked before online banking was invented after all ;) I'm not sure if all those services (like the physical mail thing) are available to new customers though, I think those are nudged heavily to use an online account.

I only need cash for maybe once a month. Transaction logs sent by mail are way too slow. Yea that way much slower and much less convenient compared to online banking.

I haven't gotten cash in over a year and I'll only need to get some more at some point over the next month or so because I was in a store whose credit card system was down.

About the only thing I'd do with a bank in person (other than ATMs) would be either special transactions--much of which you can handle over the phone or on-line these days--or if I still had to deposit sheafs of checks like I did when I had a business years ago. (Though I assume these days most people would pay digitally in some manner.)

I've observed over the past year that even brokerages and the like that pretty much used to require going into a branch have discovered that's actually not necessary.

I don't care so much about the speed of transaction logs but that I can access my records, pay bills, transfer money, etc. with a few clicks.

Re: Out of prison after 30 years and people telling him to find forms on the web

#118

Post by hn8788 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #64
ballenf wrote: post #48

Unpopular opinion: I think government services and offices should remain offline-first forever. They should offer online equivalents, but they should never assume or require digital adoption. I think this has two big benefits: - Minor point: Greater resilience to downtime, interruptions to service - Major point: a check on becoming a faceless entity with no exposure to the public. Think Google or FB if you get flagge…

Government services are available offline or via phone as well. The government has some of the strictest accessibility requirements for everything they do. It’s one of the reasons that it’s so expensive to roll out new government services. People are directed to the online versions first because it’s fastest for everyone involved. We should be pushing everyone toward efficient online self-service first, while leaving…

I can vouch for how strict they are about their accessibility requirements. I was working for a contracting company that was making training materials and teaching a class for the government, and all the material had to have a voice recording for blind employees, even though that particular job we were teaching for couldn't be done by blind people. We also had to provide a script of everything that was covered and wasn't on the slides in case a deaf person was in the class. It made it difficult to teach the class because the instructor couldn't cover anything that wasn't in the written script, or else it would be considered discrimination against the deaf employees.

Re: Out of prison after 30 years and people telling him to find forms on the web

#119

Post by varispeed »

ballenf wrote: post #48

Unpopular opinion: I think government services and offices should remain offline-first forever. They should offer online equivalents, but they should never assume or require digital adoption. I think this has two big benefits: - Minor point: Greater resilience to downtime, interruptions to service - Major point: a check on becoming a faceless entity with no exposure to the public. Think Google or FB if you get flagge…

I feel the opposite - any contact should be online only and traceable - this will minimise surface area where the corruption could creep in as any conversation prior to the decisions could be audited. You know there will be no table to slide the money under.

Re: Out of prison after 30 years and people telling him to find forms on the web

#120

Post by alenmilk »

Verdex wrote: post #116
mindcrime wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A stack of papers going back years showing that the corporate entity you're dealing with confirms that you payed them on time for years feels a lot better defense than: I do agree with this sentiment, but I would like to point out that one can achieve the same effect (or very nearly so) by saving the "receipt" page or confirmation page that you usually get with online transactions. You could either save a directory f…

Yeah, this is true. But I personally like having paper that the corporation printed out versus something that I printed out. Like, technically, you can fake the "receipt" page because it's just some html etc. The only thing that proves that what you have is real is the confirmation number and suddenly you're back to hoping that the corporation that asserts you owe them money has and will provide all of their sql data…

One possibility is signed PDF's. You can verify that the corporation created the document, that it has not been changed. That is more security than a piece of paper. You can forge a document.
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