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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

#201

Post by _peeley »

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 remember my first job in tech support where I'd have to walk 40-50 year old white-collar workers through basic tasks like opening files in folders, connecting to WiFi, resetting passwords, etc. I have no problem whatsoever helping people with that sort of thing when they truly need it, but it would always irk me when they'd just giggle and say things like "Oh, I'm just not a computer person!" This would blow my mind, like, could you imagine a carpenter having to constantly be told how to use a cordless drill and justify it with "Oh, I'm just not really a power tools person!" It's one thing to grumble about technology these days, but refusing to learn the basics of the thing you use to do your job is ridiculous.

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

#202

Post by k__ »

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…

Popular opinion: I think governments should invest at least a mangitude more money into adult education and life long learning should be normalized.

Situations like the one mentioned here shouldn't happen.

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

#203

Post by koonsolo »

neurostimulant wrote: post #96
neartheplain wrote: post #3

My first thought is how the prison system failed him. Computer literacy is a fundamental job skill in the 21st century, one that's relatively easily and inexpensively taught. I'd expect computer literacy programs in any prison system built around rehabilitation.

If the goal for the prison system is to rehabilitate the inmates, then indeed it failed him. But if the goal of the prison system is to punish the inmates, then it has achieved its goal and even continue to punish him long after he served his time.

The problem is of course that you want both. First you want to punish them so they, and others, are not motivated to do such a crime again.

But at the same time, you want them to go out as a better person than they went in (else there is no point in releasing them).

Punishing people after their release is not benefitting anyone.

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

#204

Post by pessimizer »

psychlops wrote: post #110
ddtaylor wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the most part that's a product of lobbying to increase minimum sentences and overall increase the prison population, since that increases the number of correctional jobs and the sales of the various contracted companies that provide their products. I was in federal prison until just 3 months ago I can safely say this is exactly what I saw while there.

While I don't disagree (i was joking in my first comment :), I think that's a one dimensional point of view. The majority of people do not interact with the prison system at all and assume that everything is done correctly (if they consider it at all). I don't think there is a concerted conscious profiteering effort and it's just "Tuesday" business for municipalities and contracted corps. I'd contend more that the em…

> I'd contend more that the emotional appeals for tough on crime laws and media crime porn drive the mentality of imprisonment in the US.

But those are produced by people who profit from the system as it is. People didn't just arrive at the cruelty level they are at, they were whipped to it, and countervailing opinions are shut out of "serious" discourse.

Note that I'm not talking about private prisons here, I'm talking about vendors, contractors, and the funders of politicians that need to preserve local human warehousing jobs.

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

#206

Post by pessimizer »

soneil wrote: post #171
trymas wrote: post #18

Clearly wherever this is (US?) prisons are not about rehabilitation and inclusion back into society. Weren't there any classes? Books? Library? Computer rooms? It's complete failure of a justice system if person comes out of prison like from a time capsule. IMHO it may just increase recidivism - what can a person do in a "free" world if he/she were not let to know about the world outside prison walls?

I'm less convinced it's a failure of the system, but more an expectation of the system. Just look at the replies on the twitter post. They amount to "shouldn't have done the crime then". Get raped/attacked in prison? Whoops, shouldn't have done the crime then. Released unprepared and institutionalized after 3 decades in prison? Whoops, shouldn't have done the crime then. I strongly suspect there's a lot less interest…

> Get raped/attacked in prison? Whoops, shouldn't have done the crime then.

It's more than this - tough-on-crime rhetoric is largely explicitly built around interracial (black on white) homosexual rape and abuse fantasies.

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

#207

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

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

#208

Post by raunak »

nickysielicki wrote: post #176
jimmaswell wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was it not an option to go in person?

No, I could have gone in-person if I wanted. But who wants to take an hour out of their day to go to the DMV? What do I care if my government-issued ID is inaccurate? That's their problem.

It could also potentially be your problem.

What if an officer pulls you over and has to compare current you to your ID? Could be cause for trouble.

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

#209

Post by orblivion »

fuball63 wrote: post #80

I'm sure many people here have experienced frustration helping older relatives or friends use computers. Recently though, I realized, that computers are just way too hard to use. In our pursuit to avoid cryptic black screens with command prompts, a user must now understand that their computer has Windows with all of its menus and functions, a browser window with all of its menus and functions, running a webapp, with…

I feel like someone should try to start from scratch and design a phone interface that any elderly person would be perfectly comfortable using and understanding.

And then sell it to the rest of us as well.

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

#210

Post by grumple »

~17 years ago when I was in high school, my senior project was teaching old folks how to use computers.

It was much harder than I expected. Clicking a mouse was something they just didn't understand - they used their whole hand! Had to get them to use just a finger. Many other concepts were difficult to convey as well.

I think things have changed a lot since then (we have drastically better widespread tech literacy now), but it was an enlightening experience.

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