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

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

#151

Post by hermannj314 »

kybernetyk wrote: post #104
deftnerd wrote: post #57

I am a developer/hacker who spent 6 months in prison about a decade ago. They had a room of old broken computers that were donated and I offered to fix them up in exchange for increased library privileges. Normally inmates could only visit the library once a week and check out two books, but I read about 4 books a day during my time there. I fixed up the computers and supported them once they got a teacher, read my b…

> The obvious downside is that prison sticks to you for the rest of your life What don't you move to Europe? There your US criminal records don't interest anybody - only in security relevant jobs. So just don't apply for jobs with banks, etc.

When I applied for permission to work in Luxembourg from the government ministry there, they were very interested in a copy of my criminal background from the US. This information was required for me, my wife, and my daughter.

I am not sure what they did with that information or on what grounds they would deny residence / permission-to-work to a US citizen, but this was something they requested of anyone (and their family) seeking to live and work there regardless of the industry. In my case, I was working for a private company in the IT-sector (not related to security or banking).

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

#152

Post by jbeja »

onetimeonly wrote: post #103

I'm a hacker who served 4.5 months of a 9 month sentence 5 years ago. I was in two jails in that time, spending the majority of the time in the second, lower security place. The experience totally changed me, but in a positive way. First of all, I actually had a lot of fun in jail. My education made certain aspects of the prison system very easy for me to navigate, such as legal documentation and debating with guards…

Does anyone see the woman in the text of this comment?

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

#153

Post by mnbvcxza »

Estragon wrote: post #21

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 fo…

> 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.

Where is this?

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

#154

Post by nabnob »

jsmthrowaway wrote: post #117
deftnerd wrote: post #57

I am a developer/hacker who spent 6 months in prison about a decade ago. They had a room of old broken computers that were donated and I offered to fix them up in exchange for increased library privileges. Normally inmates could only visit the library once a week and check out two books, but I read about 4 books a day during my time there. I fixed up the computers and supported them once they got a teacher, read my b…

> Also, the stigma of having a criminal record sticks to you forever. Even now, in my middle 30's, it's nearly impossible for me to get a tech job even though my felonious history was from when I was a teenager. You pretty much have to resign yourself to the fact that you'll work at 50% of the salary as your peers or have to make your own future by starting your own companies and projects. You do not have to resign y…

Could I possibly email you for advice? I have a friend in a similar situation and I'm trying to help him find a job in Seattle.

Edit: My email is [my username] AT gmail.com

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

#155

Post by aspensmonster »

deftnerd wrote: post #113
swalkergibson wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is really terrifying. I apologize for all of the personal questions, but what were you facing if you went to trial? I am fascinated by this. Honestly, it sounds like you were the victim of one-size-fits-all justice...

I'm not a shy person about personal details. They were threatening to give me 99 years in prison for Aggravated Robbery, which is a Class 1 felony, merely because of my inadvertent involvement in the crime. That's on the same level as murder and all of those frightening things. The Jurisdiction was Williamson county, a neighboring county of Austin, TX. They are well-known for their no leniency attitudes.

Oh God Wilco. Why am I not surprised.

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

#156

Post by fragsworth »

jwoah12 wrote: post #147
fragsworth wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you want to do all the fun work, and pass off the grindy boring shit to someone else, most of which probably results from your "core" coding? I think I would hate working with you and you're bringing this on yourself. You might have an inflated idea of how good you are at this shit. If you are really good, you won't have much grindy boring work to do. If you're not taking a major part in the final tasks of a proje…

> You might have an inflated idea of how good you are at this shit. If you are really good, you won't have much grindy boring work to do. Anyone who has worked on any sort of sufficiently large and complex application knows that this isn't true. Programmers come and go, people have different styles, requirements change, deadlines are imposed, etc. There will always be grunt work, no matter how good a programmer is.

But he's talking about startups, not large, high-budget projects. If he was good at very large project management he would not be complaining about his problems finding work.

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

#157

Post by onetimeonly »

gngeal wrote: post #130
onetimeonly wrote: post #103

I'm a hacker who served 4.5 months of a 9 month sentence 5 years ago. I was in two jails in that time, spending the majority of the time in the second, lower security place. The experience totally changed me, but in a positive way. First of all, I actually had a lot of fun in jail. My education made certain aspects of the prison system very easy for me to navigate, such as legal documentation and debating with guards…

Many, many people in jail were severely mentally ill. There was no support for them. So UK is getting as bad as the US? Or has it never been good over there? Given how mental health conditions and incarcerations (for whatever reason) go hand in hand, I'd expect any sane society to tackle the former even more ferociously than the latter.

Ever since the mental health institutions were mostly shut down in the 1970s and 80s, and the focus for treatment of criminals with mental health problems became "care in the community", the UK prison system has become a dumping ground for mentally unwell people. See http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/themes/menalhe....

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

#158

Post by robflynn »

bennyg wrote: post #145
robflynn wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. I know someone who received a ticket for a broken tail light. He forgot to pay it and ended up going to jail for 8 months! 8 months! For a broken tail light! I would have expected an additional penalty or at most a week in jail, which even then I would consider that extreme.

Was that 8 month sentence with a lawyer?

No, it wans't. He (I suppose wrongly) assumed that he didn't need one since it was such a minor thing. No body expected that to happen.

As far as I can tell, has family name was kind of known in the area for being trouble makers. He, himself, had never been in trouble with the law, but he had the unfortunate last name of being associated with some family members that did.

I suspect it was a "teach you a lesson" sort of thing.

Not surprisingly, he did eventually become a trouble maker and is in jail again. When he was in jail for the taillight, he was quite upset about it. He's okay with the fact that he's in jail now because he knows he screwed up and he feels like he deserves it.

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

#159

Post by [deleted] »

clamprecht wrote: post #98
deftnerd wrote: post #57

I am a developer/hacker who spent 6 months in prison about a decade ago. They had a room of old broken computers that were donated and I offered to fix them up in exchange for increased library privileges. Normally inmates could only visit the library once a week and check out two books, but I read about 4 books a day during my time there. I fixed up the computers and supported them once they got a teacher, read my b…

> You pretty much have to resign yourself to the fact that you'll work at 50% of the salary as your peers or have to make your own future by starting your own companies and projects. Fuck that. If you're going to resign yourself to something, resign yourself to the fact that you will have to work 150% as hard as your peers to make as much money. I know this is saying almost the same thing, but it's saying it in a mor…

[deleted]

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

#160

Post by Raphmedia »

S4M wrote: post #118
Havoc wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mind explaining the part about hands behind your back?

I guess the rules of the prison impose the inmates to keep their hands behind their back in front of the wardens.

It's kind of weird, you would expect a requirement of having your hands in display at all time.
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