231–240 of 567 posts
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they take an (actually very reasonable) cut, but he is free to take his salary.
No cut is reasonable.
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If you're going to extend kindness to Preston then perhaps a little kindness towards others wouldn't go a miss either. Preston isn't rare, the prison system is filled with normal kind hearted people who were unfortunate in life and things went awry. Everyone deserves a chance, not just someone who can provide economic value to you.
You seem like a very bitter person trying to find issues where there are none.
"I am the one who hired Preston. Whatever he has done in the past, I have all the evidence in the world in front of me to assure me that he has a transformed heart."
Instead, you had to drag down others, the people who you haven't blessed with your benevolence.
"It is not a common thing to see."
You are being praised for showing kindness to one of us (a nerd, a programmer) while disparaging the others. You can show kindness to Preston without condemning the others. Ask ChatGPT to explain exceptionalism to you if you still do not understand. Every person in prison is a person who can change given the opportunity.
Preston isn't uncommon, Preston isn't rare or exceptional, Preston is the average prisoner: someone who, when given an opportunity, has been able to reform. You can celebrate Preston without disparaging his less fortunate cellmates.
The only rare thing here is that he was given an opportunity (and for that you should be praised).
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Those are not the only options, those are the two extremes of a spectrum. Most people fall in the middle with something like "assume people are innocent unless you see convincing evidence of guilt". This is a reasonable philosophy unless you have power over someone, in which case proof is much more important.
> "assume people are innocent unless you see convincing evidence of guilt". So... base assumption is innocent. That's all I was saying.
Locked up, locked in! On a serious note, I think inmates should have 24/7 laptop computer access with (at least) limited sessions of internet connectivity.
The place I was at you weren't even allowed a book about computers, lest you might gain enough knowledge to somehow access a facility computer and hack your way to freedom. They had a computer lab, but it was only for Mavis Beacon. I found the C# compiler that's hidden away in the Windows directory and started teaching programming on the sly. Luckily one of the nuns at the facility took pity on me and bought C# Weeke…
In California they teach inmates coding, while in other states all computer-related technical books are banned as security risks. Same with basic electrical work — Promising People has an interesting VR program for teaching electrical helper skills, but in some correctional systems that would be considered unacceptably risky. Tablet and similar system operators/vendors have to shape the material available to the inmates to suit the local restrictions.
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They need money to pay for oversight. Any time prisoners talk to someone on the outside, it's a potential conduit for contraband or organized crime.
The exact same is true of people working outside of prison.
List of prohibited items: https://www.law.cornell.edu/definitions/uscode.php?width=840...
How does the compensation work? The US prison system has a bit of a nasty reputation when it comes to exploiting prison labor, so I hope those practices aren’t carrying over into these more forward-looking types of initiative… but at the same time, surely Turso isn’t paying full SWE salary?
> The US prison system has a bit of a nasty reputation when it comes to exploiting prison labor Do you mean for private interest? If so, I would agree that prison labor should only be used for public benefit. And this labor should be part of the sentence.
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Do participants get paid a real wage?
Preston was free to negotiate his pay with us, and we pay him a full salary. Just no health care benefits.
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If you're not dating anyway and don't own your house outright prison with computer access honestly doesn't sound bad at all. No need to worry about rent, no need to worry about healthcare, no need deal with all this social crap.
When I had a Just the thought of maybe being able to peacefully read a book for 30 minutes, at times I almost wished to be imprisoned...
what if prison ends up becoming the most distraction-free dev environment. no meetings, no slack pings, no linkedin recruiters, just you, a terminal, and 10 years of uninterrupted focus. kinda terrifying how productive that sounds
What are disadvantages of living in prison?
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Your doing the Lord's work. Even if you just paid him the state minimum wage, it would stop him from having a giant employment gap. The next step would be background check reform. A DUI record isn't relevant to anything not involving driving. Excluding a very small handful of SVU level crimes everything should be wiped clean after 5 years or so. I had an experience with a co worker who would brag about robbing people…
The Lord is doing His work, in Preston's heart. I am very humbled to given a chance to be a part of this.