What is it like to be a geek in a prison? • Hacker News Board

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#21

Post by Estragon » Thu, Dec 26, 2013, 5:11 PM UTC

I help teach a nonviolent communication program at a nearby prison, and the technological restrictions placed on the prisoners are pretty shocking to me. They are allowed an electric typewriter with 7K of memory (down from 16K.) The only audio media they are allowed are cassette tapes. DVDs are forbidden, apparently because a shard from one could conceivably be used as a weapon. A co-ordinator of a college program for the inmates told me that they have a CS course, but can't find anyone to teach it because the students will not be allowed to use computers. This despite the fact that there are multiple roomfuls of computers in the prison school. They get to choose between having a TV and receiving packages from the outside once a month (no, I don't see the point of this dichotomy, either, except maybe as a way to save money on inspecting the packages.)

Some of the guys I know in there are in for decades at least. I can't imagine them having the education for any kind of gainful employment when they get out.

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#22

Post by cbp » Thu, Dec 26, 2013, 5:13 PM UTC

mjolk wrote: post #8

"I learned that you should go straight to the person you're upset with rather than go to authorities." This is bullshit and dumb advice. If someone steals my bike and I find out who it is, I'm not going to go to his apartment and beat him to death in the middle of the day (smart money on confronting a scumbag not leading to a productive conversation). Fuck that. The reason we have "authorities" is because we have peo…

We have authorities to stop psychos who think the only way to solve that issue themselves is to beat the thief to death.

That aside I think your advice is cowardly and people should learn to solve their own problems. Sometimes that includes learning to communicate with others.

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#23

Post by ballard » Thu, Dec 26, 2013, 5:14 PM UTC

dasil003 wrote: post #17

mjolk wrote: post #8

"I learned that you should go straight to the person you're upset with rather than go to authorities." This is bullshit and dumb advice. If someone steals my bike and I find out who it is, I'm not going to go to his apartment and beat him to death in the middle of the day (smart money on confronting a scumbag not leading to a productive conversation). Fuck that. The reason we have "authorities" is because we have peo…

Sure that's the right choice when confronting a possibly desperate criminal, but realize this: you are hiding behind a system. If you are a white male then this is often the default choice because most systems in this country were designed by us for us. If you grew up as a black male in America then you will probably think twice about involving the authorities because past experience shows a lower base probability of…

Amen. Reality isn't as meritocratic or simplistic as the parent commenter believes. Authorities don't always care and sometimes enjoy tormenting people.

Also, dependence upon authorities is tantamount to learned helplessness. Handle most of your own shit, because creating work for other people won't win you any friends... It also would look weak. And if there's one constant of human nature , it's that weakness invites aggression. Further, I'd hazard a guess that behind bars, friends are the most important currency, whether they are guards or inmates... You want enough so you don't get fucked with.

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#24

Post by alex_sf » Thu, Dec 26, 2013, 5:17 PM UTC

Trufa wrote: post #20

I have a far off request. I remember reading a good long read quite some time ago. It was of a hacker that was sent to prison, I think federal prison. He goes into a lot of detail about how life is inside there and how you have to behave, I remember him advising to fight for your stuff even though you're going to lose since if not you'll become "their bitches" or something of the sort. If I remember correctly (might…

Agent Steal, maybe?

http://web.textfiles.com/hacking/agentsteal.txt

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#25

Post by mjolk » Thu, Dec 26, 2013, 5:18 PM UTC

cbp wrote: post #22

mjolk wrote: post #8

"I learned that you should go straight to the person you're upset with rather than go to authorities." This is bullshit and dumb advice. If someone steals my bike and I find out who it is, I'm not going to go to his apartment and beat him to death in the middle of the day (smart money on confronting a scumbag not leading to a productive conversation). Fuck that. The reason we have "authorities" is because we have peo…

We have authorities to stop psychos who think the only way to solve that issue themselves is to beat the thief to death. That aside I think your advice is cowardly and people should learn to solve their own problems. Sometimes that includes learning to communicate with others.

How do you think confronting people normally goes? Have you ever been in a fight? Even if you "win" a fight, you don't have anything to gain. Throwing punches can lead to infections and serious injuries (including death).

It's not cowardly to not respond to disrespect with formal means.

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#26

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Dec 26, 2013, 5:19 PM UTC

doktrin wrote: post #15

mjolk wrote: post #8

"I learned that you should go straight to the person you're upset with rather than go to authorities." This is bullshit and dumb advice. If someone steals my bike and I find out who it is, I'm not going to go to his apartment and beat him to death in the middle of the day (smart money on confronting a scumbag not leading to a productive conversation). Fuck that. The reason we have "authorities" is because we have peo…

I think you're being pedantic. To the surprise of absolutely no-one, this axiom (like all axioms) can't be applied universally. This advice was doled out in the context of earning "respect". As such, it's more applicable when working within a persistent social construct (schoolyard, office environment, family, etc) - and not random strangers who you will likely never meet again (bike thieves, DMV clerks, magazine sub…

[deleted]

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#27

Post by mjolk » Thu, Dec 26, 2013, 5:20 PM UTC

tudorconstantin wrote: post #13

mjolk wrote: post #8

"I learned that you should go straight to the person you're upset with rather than go to authorities." This is bullshit and dumb advice. If someone steals my bike and I find out who it is, I'm not going to go to his apartment and beat him to death in the middle of the day (smart money on confronting a scumbag not leading to a productive conversation). Fuck that. The reason we have "authorities" is because we have peo…

try and go to the guardian when you're in prison because a guy insulted you and you'll probably be seen as a snitch for the length of your sentence. Trust me, I've seen the whole Oz series ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118421/ )

Nice. At least one person can see the irony in people trying to disagree when all they have for research is "I read something about this on the popular user-content website Quora."

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#28

Post by mjolk » Thu, Dec 26, 2013, 5:23 PM UTC

ballard wrote: post #23

dasil003 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure that's the right choice when confronting a possibly desperate criminal, but realize this: you are hiding behind a system. If you are a white male then this is often the default choice because most systems in this country were designed by us for us. If you grew up as a black male in America then you will probably think twice about involving the authorities because past experience shows a lower base probability of…

Amen. Reality isn't as meritocratic or simplistic as the parent commenter believes. Authorities don't always care and sometimes enjoy tormenting people. Also, dependence upon authorities is tantamount to learned helplessness. Handle most of your own shit, because creating work for other people won't win you any friends... It also would look weak. And if there's one constant of human nature , it's that weakness invite…

Uh, you could also respond to me. I don't think that reality is a meritocracy or simplistic. Authorities often don't care, I get this (I live in New York).

It's not about dependence on authorities, it's knowing that if you're in a situation in which your options are "go to the police" or "take care of this myself," you're not really dealing with even minded people.

If you're in jail, sure, by all means, go try to resolve a personal issue yourself. But that's not the sort of things you could even go to authorities for.

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#29

Post by mjolk » Thu, Dec 26, 2013, 5:24 PM UTC

Arnor wrote: post #18

mjolk wrote: post #8

"I learned that you should go straight to the person you're upset with rather than go to authorities." This is bullshit and dumb advice. If someone steals my bike and I find out who it is, I'm not going to go to his apartment and beat him to death in the middle of the day (smart money on confronting a scumbag not leading to a productive conversation). Fuck that. The reason we have "authorities" is because we have peo…

You should try to broaden your arsenal of social interactions. Sure, tattling and beating people to death have their place, but there are one or two other methods for resolving conflicts as well.

Such as what? Also, hilarious that you call it "tattling." If I stole your wallet, I'm sure you'd "tattle" on me.

Re: What is it like to be a geek in a prison?

#30

Post by mjolk » Thu, Dec 26, 2013, 5:25 PM UTC

Forbo wrote: post #12

mjolk wrote: post #8

"I learned that you should go straight to the person you're upset with rather than go to authorities." This is bullshit and dumb advice. If someone steals my bike and I find out who it is, I'm not going to go to his apartment and beat him to death in the middle of the day (smart money on confronting a scumbag not leading to a productive conversation). Fuck that. The reason we have "authorities" is because we have peo…

That's a bit of an extreme example. Think about this in the context of an office environment. Often times it is better to work out issues with someone directly. It commands a lot more respect and often times helps to cut through red tape. A lot of the time if you go to your boss over a problem with someone that you work with, they view you as a "tattle-tale" or somebody that is too weak to stand up for yourself.

I hardly think that office disagreements are the sort of thing the advice is meant to deal with.

Also, be careful with taking your own advice on this one. If you keep working with someone personally instead of formally, you're giving him/her the chance to manipulate a situation against you.