Slashdot Mirror
Which Computer Books For Prisoners?
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?'"
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 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.
Colin Dean Go a year without DRM
How about a book that won't become obsolete like repair books would be. Perhaps a book on algorithms or the fundamentals of electronics.
...nothing about tunneling protocols!
~Philly
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.
On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
I know of at least one prison who will appreciate such a book.
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...
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 away freedoms, why stop with just prisoners?
---sheath
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.
Send them A+ certification books if they request something on computer repair. Maybe network+ as well. I would recomend All-in-One CompTIA A+ Certification Exam Guide, 6th Ed., by Michael Meyers I got my A+ cert using the 5th edition, and it was very well written (never too dry, and highly educational). I wouldn't go much beyond A+ or Net+, because A+ and net+ would be usefull books even if you had no computer to practice with. You could learn by rote and apply a lot of it when you had a computer later. Further exams such as MCSE would require, IMO, hands on while you are reading, as the concepts become more abstract.
that they're already proficient in filesystem design? :P
I mod down anyone who says "I will be modded down for this", regardless of the rest of their comment
I suggest books on how the internet actually works. Maybe while he is behind a series of bars he can see the folly in his series of tubes comment.
Monstar L
It's fairly up-to-date:Patterson and Hennessy 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.
Stick Men
something on jailbreaking iphones? Or maybe FreeBSD jails?
I typed "etymology props" into Google and came away with "shorthand for 'proper respect'."
Decay! Decay! Decay! -Helium
The Cuckoo's Egg?
"The cost of freedom is eternal vigilance." -Thomas Jefferson
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 to believe that enriching people while they are in prison would be a worthwhile endeavor. I don't see that happening. While growing up through high school, my family taught equality and acceptance. Once I started living my own life, I've seen that this might not be the best approach. Some sub-cultures in America have placed a mark of honor on those that have been incarcerated. They have not availed themselves to the oppurtunities that their "jaunt/bid" in prison provided to them. They are just 'goofing off' until their time is up. There is no deterrent to keep them from coming back.
Maybe there should be a tiered system. 1st time offenders are provided w/ the means to better themselves. Subsequent visitors have to earn their return to society.
I would be thrilled to see all prisoners learn a trade and once they were released, they could be a productive citizen. In its current form, prison sentences aren't doing this. This is why I advocate making prison harder.
One other issue I have is that once your sentence is complete, it should be forgiven. It should not hinder you. As a felon, you shouldn't have to appeal your right to vote or buy a gun.
I'm interested in hearing your stance. As I said, I have a mal^h^h^h flexible mind.
Yep, I never spell check.
More incorrect spellings can be found he
I've worked at a prison for a couple of years now, and have tried to help encourage the inmates to read - it keeps them from being "bored" and getting into trouble, provides them with some knowledge, and gives them something more to talk about with other people than "thug life". The books wear out quickly for two reasons: 1) they're used, donated books to begin with. 2) they're read and shared A LOT. Especially when there is very little else to do.
:) )
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."
"What do you think?" "I think 'What, do you think?!'"
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I feel better about donating books to prisoners now.
my opportunity to freely express myself with the potential persecution and hangings and such
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 unless you have presented yourself as an imminent threat. The entire TSP wiretaps and the FISA changes are related to foreigners and only enter into Americans when they are talking to suspected terrorist or known terrorist. The government never has and never claimed to have the ability to pick up on the line and listen to your Aunt Jane's cookie recipe or how your daddy never hugged you enough.
The election is over, lets quit inflating things beyond what they are to incite people. If you really and truly believe in what you said, then you need to look around a little more.
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); there is a general sense of resentment. By putting people in "hard" prisons, we make it so that they tend to be more likely to recidivate.
Most crime is caused by poverty; poverty is caused by a failure of society. By rectifying these failures, we can eliminate most crime.
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 while carrying out a robbery is obviously not likely to respond to rehabilitation, but a kid who lashes out with a knife through fear may well be ready to be a productive member of society after ten years or so of prison, given the correct guidance.
Those for whom hope is slim or none should at least be given something meaningful to do for their life term - not the worst jobs, but something according to their capabilities.
Some murderers are best dealt with in secure psychiatric units - Broadmoor (the most notorious unit in Britain) is just a few miles from me, and I have had the privilege to know some of the staff there, and their job is scary to say the least.
Your example of a prostitute is more difficult for me - I am in favour of criminalising the client rather than the prostitute, as I see the prostitute as the victim rather than the criminal.
Free education for prostitutes is a good idea, but naming and shaming the clients in their local community would be my preferred option.
As to reading - I read almost anything, though my preferred genres are crime (Iain Banks' Inspector Rebus novels are superb) and old sci-fi - Stanislaw Lem is the master.
Thanks for the discussion - and by the way, Quakers didn't just make porrige, they started Cadbury's, Fry's, Rowntree's, Lloyd's and Barclay's banks, and the Stockton and Darlington railway (the first steam railway in the world).
Truly a good religion, if ever there was one - I'm a non-practising Methodist myself.
One swallow does not a fellatrix make
Typical - an inmate convicted of a non-crime (ooh! he had scary pictures!). So the authorities treat him like shit, and he finds a way to strike back. Bully for him! Best of luck in the future!
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 them from keeping up with what is going on in the world is an unnecessarily cruel punishment in a world in which we all have to keep updated just to keep from being overwhelmed.
Of course, a bigger problem is all the people in prison who shouldn't be there. America keeps 1% of adults in prison, and still pretends to be a "free" country. Most of the people in prison are there because of non-crimes like possession of drugs or pornography. Aren't we past that kind of moralistic bullshit? When will America grow up?
regarding which books they will accept. as a former 'guest' of the state of texas, i had books sent in from family... html reference books, networking, linux, etc. this was in the late '90s, and i read these books for several months before i was finally able to get into a business computer information systems class, which was mostly just learning windows office apps. the stuff i learned from the books, however, i was able to apply in free time in class. i ended up talking the teacher into letting me teach a series of lessons on html, it was kind of cool. the guidelines on the books aren't really consistent, as long as it's not 'black hat' flavored or have the word hacking in the title, it will probably make it through. the prison folks don't want to teach hacking to their charges, however... can you say identity theft? 2600 is probably out, as well... kudos to you for the book sharing, though. i received books from a program out of california, can't recall the name right now, and gave the address to several people i knew in there that didn't have family to send them things. you'd be surprised at the number of people in there that genuinely want to learn and better themselves.
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 the punishment into.
Oh, and harder punishments also give criminals more incentive to kill the witnesses.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
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 himself, regardless of the victim(s).
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
"Books on how to repair computers" sounds like "A+ certification texts" to me. A good entry-level trade, and not too controversial.
Paleotechnologist and connoisseur of pretty shiny things.
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...
...in bed
I don't think the issue was his analogy ... it was the fact that he didn't know what the F he was talking about.
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 tubes was just the easiest part to make fun of.
If you can read this... 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100111 01100101 01100101 01101011
Without a doubt, I would recommend "The Art of Computer Programming." Being ardently theoretical, one could read and grasp and even love the entire thing without ever using a computer.