91–100 of 255 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
let me know what kind of developer you are. Can you PM me on Hacker News.
HN has no PM system. You'll have to give him an email.
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…
Is sealing your juvenile record not an option where you live?
I was charged as an adult, so it can't be sealed. Even if I managed to get the records expunged by donating enough money to $partyInPower, it wouldn't matter much because all the data brokers have already bought that information and are under no obligation to remove the information from their databases.
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
As a side note, Agent Steal (Justin Peterson) died somewhat mysteriously in his apartment a few years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Tanner_Petersen
Earlier quoted context omitted.
HN has no PM system. You'll have to give him an email.
Seems like they should add one. Might be a good reason to learn Scheme... https://github.com/wting/hackernews
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is sealing your juvenile record not an option where you live?
Basically, I gave a ride to a couch-surfer that ended up committing a robbery. Instead of turning them in when I found out, I just kicked them out... but the police said that made me an accomplice so I went to prison for 6 months and was on probation for 10 years. I was charged as an adult, so it can't be sealed. Even if I managed to get the records expunged by donating enough money to $partyInPower, it wouldn't matt…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
No need for the edit quip. Not everyone has the faith in the man that you do, and for good reason. This, among other reasons that others have covered already.
The edit quip was necessary. I thought that hackernews would be safe from the "internet tough guy" syndrome, but I guess not. I mean, I-get-it. The poor tend to go to jail at a higher rate than their more well-off counterparts for various reasons, but the "don't snitch" bullshit just keeps criminals safe to keep hurting their communities.
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…
> I can't imagine them having the education for any kind of gainful employment when they get out. Has this ever been the goal of the justice system in the United States? It seems to me that the primary function is purely punitive and expends very little effort to rehabilitate anyone.
Point is, I'm not that judgmental and still I say: Not trying to rehabilitate prisoners so they have good job skills is obviously insane. And totally immoral.
More of the prisoners will fail when released; do drugs, commit crimes and end up back in prison. This costs an insane lot of money (prison costs, people not working, health bills, etc). Even worse, it will also destroy the lives of innocent people -- e.g. crime victims and relatives of the prisoners.
I can only see two reasons for not putting an emphasis on rehabilitation for job skills: Pure incompetence -- or some economic interest in getting repeat offenders back into prison.
tl; dr: No rehabilitation of job skills hurts the economy and innocent people as much as the prisoners. Add extra time to the punishment if more punishment is merited, instead of shooting society in the foot.
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…
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 more positive way.
I do like your comment "or have to make your own future by starting your own companies and projects". They say success is the best revenge. If this motivates you (like it did me), milk it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Maybe you feel wronged because they said something in public that you wanted private. You cannot go to authorities with "he called me a butt." The issues here are a subclass of "crimes and wrongs that authorities would address." My example is not going to an extreme. Have you ever confronted a criminal? How did it go? Do you see where it could have gone worse?
> You cannot go to authorities with "he called me a butt." Depends on the country. You very much can in mine, for "public insult".
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I can't imagine them having the education for any kind of gainful employment when they get out. Has this ever been the goal of the justice system in the United States? It seems to me that the primary function is purely punitive and expends very little effort to rehabilitate anyone.
From a Scandinavian viewpoint, the US prison system looks like the 19th century in many ways. I have no problem with that, longer sentences for repeat offenders with many crimes would be better than rebates(!) on prison time, like in Sweden. Point is, I'm not that judgmental and still I say: Not trying to rehabilitate prisoners so they have good job skills is obviously insane. And totally immoral. More of the prisone…
Interestingly enough, this actually exists in the US. As crazy as it sounds, there are private prisons that are paid on a per-inmate basis. These corporations typically put their political donations behind candidates who are "tough on crime" to fill their jails and line their pockets. It would be terribly interesting to see what kind of impact these companies have had on the justice system in the US.