Which Computer Books For Prisoners? 257
Brian D. writes "I've recently begun working with a group that sends books to prisoners in federal and state prisons. We try to match their requests as well as we can. One request that we consistently have trouble filling is for computer books. This is not for lack of books, but because the prisoners' requests tend to be vague and their computer resources are obviously severely limited. Keep in mind that we send prisoners all types of books — from gardening and landscaping to cooking and sailing — about topics they don't have the resources to experiment with. With basically one shelf devoted to books on computing, what types of books should I tell them we should keep? What are the best types of books to send a prisoner who requests a book on 'computer repair?'"
Well... (Score:2, Funny)
...they say that prison is nothing but a graduate school to make better criminals. So anything from Microsoft Press, I suppose.
Certification (Score:5, Informative)
Send them certification books, i.e. Network+, A+, Security+ study books, as well as theoretical computer science books. These materials rarely require access to an actual computer.
If it's "computer repair" books that they really want, Mueller's Upgrading and Repairing PCs [amazon.com] is one of the best books. I've not used it in a long while, but I think it's not as much hands-on stuff. I know it covers a ton.
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I'll second that recommendation. "Upgrading and Repairing PCs" is inexpensive, thick, and full of useful information.
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I'd say that most of the computer books should be basic things like how to use Office and send e-mail; or books introducing HTML.
Due to the drug exception to the 4th amendment and my adventures in self medicating my social anxiety and Aspergers, I unfortunately had the opportunity to meet these people one month. It was quite clear that I was the only person in that facility (county, not prison) who knew how to do anything more advanced than
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Stop looking for sympathy, and get a life. Asshole. Douche.
Honestly, I don't think there are words enough to describe how much of an asshole you are.
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First, prove that I can't possibly have 3 of these items (diagnosis requires 2)
(1) marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction
(2) failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level
(3) a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g., by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointin
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Stop pretending to have aspergers to get attention.
Way to judge someone you've never met. How the fuck do you claim to know the poster is pretending, having never met them?
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Way to judge someone you've never met. How the fuck do you claim to know the poster is pretending, having never met them?
It might have to do with my post-doctoral research into autistic spectrum disorders. Maybe. Not everyone that reads slashdot works in IT.
If the OP actually had any sort of autistic tendencies, they wouldn't have said half the idiotic things they said.
An attention seeking, lazy, socially ackward but otherwise healthy man-child like him makes life difficult for people who are diagnosed with Aspergers( and Autism). You can't self-diagnose Aspergers any more than you can self diagnose a heart condition - yo
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Also, Assholes like you give them license to continue.
Assholes like me? I'm not the one judging the mental conditions of people I've never met, buddy. You're the asshole here.
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Idiots like the OP are making life difficult for people who have genuine difficulties. Like you. Except, you've probably been diagnosed as having a type of social disorder. Too bad that neither your mother, or your guidance teacher in high school are qualified to make that judgment.
The
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Actually, I have met them. They've posted on slashdot. I read their comment.
Yeah, if you think you can learn much that is meaningful about a person by reading their post on the internet, I have a bridge in Arizona to sell you.
Also, you're judging my mental condition at the same time I'm judging yours.
Actually, I'm judging whether you're an asshole (or, at the very least, an asshole while on /.), not your mental condition. You could be mentally sound for all I know, or bat-shit insane... you're still an asshole though.
Idiots like the OP are making life difficult for people who have genuine difficulties. Like you. Except, you've probably been diagnosed as having a type of social disorder. Too bad that neither your mother, or your guidance teacher in high school are qualified to make that judgment.
Heh, wow. Is that your idea of trying to get under my skin? Tell me I have social problems? Better still, insist that I'm trying to garner sy
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Heh, wow. Is that your idea of trying to get under my skin? Tell me I have social problems? Better still, insist that I'm trying to garner sympathy or some shit by claiming I have social problems, when I've never made such a claim? That's great, where do you come up with this shit?
I come up with this shit because it is my area of study. At an institution of research and learning, which ALSO happens to be both University, and ALSO happens to NOT be a community college.
Because you're defending someone someone who is pretending to have a real problem, and making those who truly have real problems look bad.
You wouldn't be so defensive (and upset) if you didn't feel threatened in some way - either you're also pretending to have serious issues, or you're a human rights crusader who can't
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or you're a human rights crusader who can't stand intolerance, but is woefully uninformed.
Now there's the first sensible thing you've said in the whole damn thread. My, what is the world coming to? You're right, I can't stand intolerance, but this is more than that... I can't stand idiots who think they can tell whether someone is faking a mental illness over the internet. If you had met this person in real life, and then told me this, I'd be prepared to give your words some weight. As it is, though, you're just full of hot air, because you just can't tell much about people in real life based on
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Or maybe not. You go on to bash self-diagnosis (which you are incorrect on) but you can make a confirmed diagnosis based on... what exactly? The fact I said I got arrested for drugs? Yeah, nobody with any part of the autism spectrum ever gets arrested. Or maybe the fact I used them at all? Last I checked, drugs that increase dopamine were part of the approved treatment
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I was hoping someone would do this. Certification is something that is useful and rehabilitating. A+ is an awesome suggestion. There is not much chance for a prisoner to become a certified Honda mechanic inside, but they can become A+ certified. Fuck, the number of times I've had to fend off IT staff that didn't know that the connector on the end of a monitor cable is NOT a female 9-pin D-type is scary in the extreme. I'm certain that a prisoner who wants to learn can learn much more than some of the IT sta
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Certifications, however, are not.
Something timeless (Score:3, Insightful)
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In all seriousness though, I happened to pick up an older edition of this book [amazon.com] at the book store for like 7 bucks. It was current to the Pentium Pro, which was pretty good at the time. But regardless it had information there that was timeless and I'm really glad I had a chance to read and learn from it. So I wouldn'
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I particularly think things on the history of tech companies would be good or some things about game design or things not specifically related to programming or a version of an operating system.
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I agree. A book on programming the latest version of java or something will get out dated. It would be better to have other types of books.
Too true. A few months ago I was given a 10-year-old C++ programming book. I thought I needed some files from the missing CD because the examples wouldn't compile. $100 later (bought C++ Primer Plus), I find out that the syntax has changed in the past decade, and #include <iostream.h> is no longer valid.
Re:Something timeless (Score:4, Insightful)
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Oh God, I have that book. Does that make me a hardened nerd with no chance for parole?
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I would go even more fundamental than that. There is nothing that's applicable to computers that is as timeless as math. Books on statistics, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus and boolean algebra and subjects like that will never become outdated and will make any book on specific computer technologies easier to understand. And the knowledge is applicable outside of the computer industry as well.
Statistics could even be applicable prior
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Logic is more integral to programming then raw mathematics. Most of the scut-work in programming is "dull" and not really algorithmic.
Obviously... (Score:5, Funny)
...nothing about tunneling protocols!
~Philly
Re:Obviously... (Score:4, Funny)
I recently read this excellent book called "The Art of Deception" by some guy called Mitnick. You might want to try it out.
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Does that include "The Count of Monte Cristo"?
(Only prisoners have time to actually read the entire thing without skipping a few entire chapters.)
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Well, making all the prisoners read a book about how someone who's imprisoned on false charges gets revenge might help weed out and discourage the corruption in the police...
Linux File Systems (Score:5, Funny)
I know of at least one prison who will appreciate such a book.
Punishment or rehabilitation? (Score:4, Funny)
It depends on if you think prisoners are in prison to be punished or rehabilitated.
I think it's the former, so I recommend Miranda: The Craft Of Functional Programming by S. Thompson, which I encountered in my undergraduate course.
Heh, you can't do the time...
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You may jest, but some of my colleagues were Ada programmers and have a lot of praise for that language, and Modula-2.
If you wanted to inflict cruel and unusual punishment, I recommend FORTRAN-77, compiled on a VAX with source edited in emacs on a VT320 terminal.
Re:Punishment or rehabilitation? (Score:4, Interesting)
I've used Ada a fair bit, but the biggest joke in that particular line when I used the language tended to be that none of the compilers complied with all aspects of the specification because it was just too complex. Ada is powerful and I do like many aspects of Ada (including the fact that many common programming errors are impossible in the language) but it is... clunky in some respects and the runtime components tend to be heavy. Modula-2 I don't like at all - it has a tighter structure than Pascal but I've not seen any way in which it does so that is actually useful.
When it comes to programming languages, I am not satisfied with any of the languages currently out there and feel they tend to either be over-engineered or over-reliant on evolution to fix a lack of engineering. There are some that seem to have a better balance, but they tend to be obscure and therefore insufficiently exercised to be sure that this appearance reflects reality. If they were better, it would seem they'd be used more.
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I've used Ada a fair bit, but the biggest joke in that particular line when I used the language tended to be that none of the compilers complied with all aspects of the specification because it was just too complex.
Ada is hardly unique in this respect. Try finding a 100% compliant C99 or C++ compiler. Heck, most likely the only languages with 100% compliant implementations are the ones who don't have a spec and are defined by their implementations, such as Perl.
Computer books... (Score:2)
With a metal file in them??
How about the Crayola books? (Score:2)
You know...
- International Unix Environments
- Computer security criteria, DOD standards
- The Pink Shirt Book, Guide to IBM PCs
- The Devil book a.k.a. The Unix Bible
- The Dragon book, a.k.a. Compiler design
- The Red Book a.k.a. NSA Trusted Networks
Hacking for Dummies stupid (Score:2)
A question (Score:2)
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I dunno - books describing how to analyze problems, produce flow charts, abstract data types and abstract state machines, common patterns, useful algorithms, jackson structured programming, and the like, could be applied to many situations and give a good grounding that could be used to then take a computer course or any other course that is based on the organization of processes. They are also techniques that require not a whole lot more than a pencil and paper to practice.
The same would be true of books c
Definately certification books (Score:5, Insightful)
Yep I'll second the A+ thing (Score:2)
I got mine back in 1999 but I don't imagine it has gotten any harder. It was a very easy, very introductory computer test. However, for all that it is a useful one. For one, the A+ is one of the oldest certifications, so it has recognition. One thing you find with some certs is that not a lot of people, especially PHBs, have heard of them so they aren't so useful for finding a job. Well the A+ is pretty well known. It isn't high level, but then that's not what we are talking about here. It is the kind of th
Can we assume... (Score:5, Funny)
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Since Ted Stevens may very well end up there soon (Score:4, Funny)
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If a professor (or I guess a first grade teacher, really) was referring to the method by which data got from one place to another via "electronic tubes", yadda, yadda, yadda... ok. But Ted Stevens' "Internets" tubes were clogged because of online gaming - and someone sent "an Internet" to him and he couldn't get it because of online gaming (quoting from memory here, so I may off a bit). The
Ummmm.... (Score:2)
I'd send them some books about the individuals and companies that make-up the industry. Also, you might consider books about starting businesses in the IT field.
An Excellent Introduction - Patterson and Hennessy (Score:3, Insightful)
It's fairly up-to-date:Patterson and Hennessy [google.co.uk] Computer Organization and Design.
It starts of really simply explaining the absolute basics, gradually going into technical details. Plenty of historical context, examples, lucid diagrams and a companion CD.
Also cures insomnia.
A Pictoral History of Internet Porn.... (Score:2)
...would probably be well received.
How about... (Score:3, Funny)
something on jailbreaking iphones? Or maybe FreeBSD jails?
Clifford Stoll's (Score:4, Insightful)
The Cuckoo's Egg?
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That's the best recommendation I could think of, and you beat me to it.
Educational novels may be in some respects a better fit than actual technical references and how-to books, since prisoners can't really try out anything they learn. (My own experience contradicts this, though, as I read about half of a phonebook-sized tome on C++ programming before I ever compiled "hello world", thanks to the book shipping with a broken compiler.) I don't know of many novels that are as informative as Cuckoo's Egg, t
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Nowhere near as educational, but you bring up another good point. The work of Cory Doctorow would introduce a number of technical concepts, and without requiring the reader to grok quite as much on the first pass as the Cryptonomicon - and would do it on the cheap. If you've got the capability to print his CC-licensed novels for gratis distribution to the prisoners it might very well be cheaper than some of the above.
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Cuckoo's Nest [sfy.ru]
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Cuckoo's Egg [wikipedia.org]
General computers (Score:2)
Probably be a good thing to pick general computer books, as probably some of them are looking for a more legal interest to keep them from returning.
Something like the encyclopedia of computing (was a time-life set about a decade or two back) each volume covered a subject in reasonable detail (input/output, graphics, ai, robotics, software, hardware, transportation, etc.) Very good to get an idea of what forms of computing there is out there and to find your niche in the world of computers. Probably a good
Tag this backdoor & penetration? (Score:2)
(Nate Dogg is about to make some bodies turn cold.)
Rosch's Hardware Bible (Score:2)
Don't know if it's still in print but Rosch's Hardware Bible used to be a pretty good stand-alone resource.
Books On Security (Score:2)
Because the last thing you want, in prison, is someone sniffing your ports, looking for an unguarded backdoor.
Well, you know, unless you're the kind who's in to setting up "honeypots."
Stevens' TCP/IP books. (Score:2)
They could practice passing packets using jungle telegraph or the toilets.
states have guidelines... (Score:2, Informative)
Easy... (Score:2)
One on hacking and system penetraion. Or "How to commit identity fraud".
The bigger question is... (Score:2)
How much use will they be? (the following is based on my loose understanding of Canadian law and may not apply to American law)
A lot of entry level PC jobs are in retail shops (mom & pops, best buy, etc)
Generally to work in a retail place you have to handle money and therefore be bondable
if you have a criminal record you're not bondable
About the only chance they'd have is to open a shop of their own, but with what money?
Working at anything above a retail shop would generally require a degree and an expl
Computer Books for Brains only (Score:2)
Well I could think of some algorithm books for which you need a good math background and no computer, "The Art of Computer Programming" comes to mind.
If you find some sufficiently educated prisoners this could be something to pass their time with.
But face it, about 20% of all Americans have a bachelors degree or higher. Academics tend to be underrepresented in prison so there is little reason to believe that you will find many takers for this kind of literature in prison.
The degree percentage per person can
Stick to Unix Basic (Score:2)
Start them off with network protocols, in particular, The Story of Ping
http://www.amazon.com/Story-About-Ping-Marjorie-Flack/dp/0140502416 [amazon.com]
Books that promote rational thinking (Score:2)
I just attended a lecture from a space scientist, who was explaining the importance of basic science in the society, that is, it helps promote rational thinking. I could not agree more.
Computer has a "Science" in it. Try to get them easy, readable and popular computer books which not only teaches computers but also explains logical and rational way of doing things.
- Fundamentals of Computers, whichever you find, written ideally for school students (10th grade)
- Historical books on advancement in Computer F
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Re:Send them... (Score:5, Informative)
At random:
Offline Outlaw In Texas
is looking for any books Unix/Linux I can get my hands on. Also very interested in privacy in all areas. If you can point me in the right direction or feel like teaching an old dog some new tricks, drop me a line. I'll answer all letters. Props to those who already have, you know who you are. William Lindley 822934, 1300 FM 655, Rosharon, TX 77583-8604.
Re:Send them... (Score:4, Informative)
I typed "etymology props" into Google and came away with "shorthand for 'proper respect'."
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In the modern age, shouldn't access to the internet be a right of every prisoner? It is just too important to modern life to cut off access. Some restrictions may be in order, but cutting off access entirely is just going too far. Let's not forget that most prisoners will be leaving prison some day. Preventing
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i absolutely agree with you. what disturbs me even more is the growing trend of "supermax" prisons where most inmates are put into solitary confinement devoid of any social contact or other mental stimuli. sensory deprivation is beyond cruel; it's a form of torture that can leave permanent mental/psychological trauma. often inmates report hearing voices and other symptoms of psychological degeneration within a few weeks of being put into solitary confinement.
i can understand that with some trouble inmates,
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but if we want to call ourselves a civilized society, we need to observe basic humanitarian standards.
with a simple thin client and internet access, inmates can be given free access to great quantities of information and also provided with a healthy level of mental stimuli. it'd be both cost effective/practical and humane. plus, giving inmates internet access would ensure that they had contact with the outside world (friends, family, legal counsel, etc.) without the risk of contraband being smuggled through.
this way we could ensure that the poor underprivileged minorities are subjected to a Kafkaesque nightmare where the prison system is just locking people up and throwing away the key, giving people no recourse for wrongful imprisonment or abuse by prison officials.
ÂFriends, family,..Â, as well as victims, outside gang-members et cetera. I think that putting the prisoner per default in the victim role is not going to go well in a society that has known some prisoner-pampering, and the response from the well-behaving citizen. The reference to Kafka is a nice one, but a very small minority of those references are correct. Most of the times the punishment is a deserved one. Most of the times the prisoner is a selfish person that only thought of bettering himsel
Re:Send them... (Score:4, Interesting)
Well there's 2 sides to this coin, on the one hand you have inmates who are remorseful for what they did and eager to re-enter society. These people indeed I have no problem spending my taxpayer dollars on to fund computers and other devices to let them stay in tuned with the world.
But most of your types in State Prison? The hardcore, those who have no intention of leaving or functioning normally in society. Whom would view a computer and say "what kind of improvised weapon can I make to better make someone's life hell and/or kill them?" They're a$$holes pure in simple.
The trick is to separate one from the other here and fund accordingly...
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His third time caught with verified child porn. That's not just "scary pictures", but illegal materials. That he was a repeat offender speaks of him as well.
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Cruel and Unusual? Sure. But so is child porn.
That depends on how literal you're being with the term "child" there. Other countries (yes, I know, not the US) feel that someone is mature enough to choose their sexual partners at 16 or 17. If they're mature enough to do that, surely they're mature enough to choose whether or not they want to be photographed in the act?
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I wholeheartedly agree - anything to make the U.S. even *more* like China is fine by me!
Let's see - the government already has the right to hold you indefinitely without charging you if they think you're a terrorist; listen to any phone call you make, anywhere, whenever, with the help of the phone companies; and executes more people than any other country on earth - except China.
Hey - why not install a firewall that prevents access to 'illegal content', like Australia is trying? As long as you're taking awa
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I don't know why someone modded this insightful. I should have been modded ignorant and inflammatory.
First of all, the government does not have the right to hold you indefinitely if they think you're a suspected terrorist. They never had the right to hold American citizens in that way even though they attempted to. However, a couple of Supreme Court cases showed the government the error of their ways and they give trials now.
Second, the government doesn't have the right to listen to any phone call you make
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Still, There *are* some things that are wrong AND illegal. And because the system is broken and doesn't put away the real criminals, the cops have to take measures to put them away on their own. Honestly, don't you learn anything from american movies?
Re:Well...How about (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah because the prison rapes, shitty food, violence, and overcrowding isn't punishment enough. Not to mention the fact that when these people get back out into society depending on the state, they will be second class citizens and will have a hard time finding work and keeping honest. You sound like one of those just-world assholes who think everyone in prison deserved to be there or that hell isn't punishment enough for breaking a law. Murder is one thing, theft and drug possession is something entirely different.
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On the other hand, drug possession (or use, for that matter), affects nobody else.
you're trolling..
and I'll bite: possession doesn't hurt anyone. Unless someone else wants what you've got. Or you want to get possession and have way of buying it.
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FWIW, cable isn't available. If it were, I still don't think I'd subscribe. Possibly, but I doubt it.
Yes, no worries, we've got hulu!
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First, let me say that this repsonse made me laugh. Not in the "Oh hey, look at the moron" sense, but I like the humor in your post. It's shows the intellect behind your opinion.
I don't think the point is moot. I have a malleable mind (drat, there's that alliteration again) and am open to hear others' ideas.
What little religious faith I have is in the Quaker mindset. They had something to do w/ the 'modernization' of the prisons (in Philly?). They believed the conditions were too harsh. As a human, I'd love
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they could be a productive citizen
Some fraction will never be. Some other fraction will not be given a chance to be. I suspect that adjusting the "prison harshness" slider will not change either number.
There are good reasons to limit prisoner coddling to "enough to prevent riots" though.
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This will simply make the "mark of honour" more valuable, as well as produce hardened criminals. It won't deter crime, thought; the Romans, with their habit of crucifying criminals or feeding them to lions in their softer moments, couldn't do it, so neither can you, no matter what you make
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Actually, most studies have shown that, for every dollar spent on rehabilitation (drug rehab; job training; religious training (yeah, I know, it's stupid)) that saves between 2 and 5 dollars in future incarceration costs, to say nothing of the benefit to society.
Not only that, those who go into generally 'hard' prisons tend to come out hardened criminals. There is a strict social order in prison, which doesn't exists in the real world; there is a strong incentive to become 'hard' in prison (self protection
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Instead of them coming out stronger criminals, let's give them a reason to not come back.
Yes, let us start a 3-strikes-and-you're-castrated system. That'll provide incentive, considering the number of men in the penal system.
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It's difficult to make hard and fast rules about these things, but murder is one of the crimes I had in mind when saying that some combinations of crime and criminal require a long period of incarceration.
Even then, there are circumstances in which I would prefer to see the offender rehabilitated - as an example, where the perpetrator is young, and the crime is motivated by something other than greed (I'm thinking vengeance, fear, or other circumstances here).
Someone who is prepared to take a human life whi
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I'm a non-practising Methodist myself
then you're not really a methodist are you.
Hey look, I'm a non-practicing weight lifter, a non-driving bus-driver, and a non-smoking smoker.
Honestly - if you're not religious, stop claiming to be religious and making all the real religious nutjobs look bad!
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Re:books are for reading? (Score:5, Insightful)
They do get thrown about from time to time (by officers searching their cells, or as emergency "body armor" if things are about to jump off), but generally books are respected as they can be. Sure, some hide contraband in them (usually ineffective, at least in the cell searches I've seen - the officers have seen the same bad movies about prison you have). People are most likely asking for computer books because they're legitimately interested in the subject area. If they're looking for generic, thick books, they could easily have access to a Bible or other classic book of literature. (I suddenly have the image of an inmate saying, "Sure, I'll read 'War and Peace' it's not like I don't have the time anymore."
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Do we really repair computers anymore? It's not like in the bad ol' days when computers cost $5k, and the components were unreliable. Today, we pull out the daughter cards, maybe wipe off the connectors, re-install, smoke-check. When the industry started, we had a magazine called "boot", because getting the first PC's to boot was a major obstacle. Now it's all plug and play. Look at the instruction manual that comes with a mother-board, just a few pictures of how to plug-in the USB wires. Look at what
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Do we? Maybe not. But the folks who are learning computer repair in prison are probably going to poor areas when they get out, where someone who can repair a tossed-out machine and make it usable could make a tidy sum.
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If they're looking for generic, thick books, they could easily have access to a Bible or other classic book of literature. (I suddenly have the image of an inmate saying, "Sure, I'll read 'War and Peace' it's not like I don't have the time anymore." :) )
I actually read "War and Peace" while I was in. I also read the "Official Soviet Air History of World War II" so I definitely had the time.
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Drifting a little away from the topic, I'd like to ask you a question. Here in Brazil, where we use a Roman-like law system, after someone has served his time, all his records are cleared, and he's considered a law-abbiding citizen; of course there is prejudice, if you say you spent time on jail, but that's not generally a problem. In the U.S.it seems to me that if someone had to spend some time in jail, he's screwed for the rest of his life, when trying to find a new job or keeping the one he had. My quest
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It's a bit pricey, but Donald Knuth's series "The Art of Computer Programming" doesn't require a computer. Kind of dense, but very useful.
A lighter choice might be any of Clive Maxfield's offerings. Unfortunately these have the nasty habit of going out of print. Luckily, "Bebop to the Boolean Boogie" is getting rereleased in a third edition in January. It's an enjoyable read and quite accessible.
Didn't mean to post that anonymously. Please read parent. Gah.