Comments on: What is it like to be exposed to new technology after 20+ years in prison?

By: Buddy Bradley

Buddy Bradley — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 23:17:00 +0000

I’m not sure I completely buy his supposed ignorance of modern technology.

Check out this story he wrote – which apparently was written around 2003 - where he mentions helping “inmates learn to read, write, type, and understand such computer programs as Word Perfect, Page Maker, Lotus, Excel, and Dbase IV.” So he certainly had computer access while inside. He was even teaching it.

Otherwise, it’s a fascinating read and I found myself agreeing with a lot of what he wrote.

http://www.november.org/thewall/cases/santos-m/santos-m.html

By: Sagodjur

Sagodjur — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 21:29:00 +0000

VPNs, proxies, throwaway accounts, TOR, bugmenot logins, etc…are your friend.

By: Helljin

Helljin — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:45:00 +0000

I went to High School with that guy.

By: Tynam

Tynam — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 13:46:00 +0000

…or fight it. Which can be done, if you’re thorough and patient.

By: Paul Renault

Paul Renault — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 13:19:00 +0000

Yes is was/is. I came here to mention that show – it’s a hoot watching Charlie Crews trying to interact with automatic public washroom sinks. There are so few Zen-themed shows around.

I missed a few episodes the first time around. I’m rewatching it on Netflix.

/While I’m at it: A thumbs up for The Grey Fox. What a beautiful, civilized film.

By: foobar

foobar — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 08:11:00 +0000

I just adblocked the overlay.

By: cfuse

cfuse — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 07:44:00 +0000

Privacy’s dead. Get used to that.

By: cfuse

cfuse — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 07:42:00 +0000

In an environment of strident prohibition (which the late 80′s most certainly were) that is unlikely.

Besides, without knowing the particulars of the case (and I don’t trust a guy pimping himself out this hard as a trustworthy primary source *about* himself) we don’t know if the sentence was particularly harsh or not. We do know that the DEA was involved, and he was convicted of a federal crime – so I think it’s safe to say he wasn’t standing on a corner handing out baggies.

By: Gibbon1

Gibbon1 — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 07:36:00 +0000

I dislike cocaine, but I dislike the drug war and the corrosion of our civil liberties more. I also dislike site where you have to register so you can be easily tracked as well.

By: cfuse

cfuse — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 07:35:00 +0000

The past already happened. Nancy Reagan getting a prohibition boner happened. DARE happened. Why are people expecting a slap on the wrist to have happened in that environment?

By: Sagodjur

Sagodjur — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 05:45:00 +0000

Unless there’s direct proof of negligent homicide relating to the drug dealing, less than the minimum amount of time that a convicted murderer gets sentenced for.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 05:29:00 +0000

There is no appropriate sentence. Drugs should be legal.

By: cfuse

cfuse — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 05:27:00 +0000

Why, what do you consider to be an appropriate sentence for being a major coke dealer in the late 80′s?

By: Sagodjur

Sagodjur — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 05:13:00 +0000

I haven’t clicked the link, but I assume there’s a part in there about how he bludgeoned a police dog to death or something like that to get the greater chunk of the 45 years tacked onto his sentences…right?

By: cfuse

cfuse — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 03:14:00 +0000

In case anyone else is interested: he was sentenced to 45 years for leading a scheme to traffic in cocaine (from http://michaelsantos.com/what-if-i-didnt-go-to-prison/

By: eldritch

eldritch — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 01:43:00 +0000

“Dear fellas, I can’t believe how fast things move on the outside. I saw an automobile once when I was a kid, but now they’re everywhere. The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry.” – Brooks Hatlen, Shawshank Redemption

By: TimRowledge

TimRowledge — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 01:43:00 +0000

And also ‘Life’, the TV cop show starring Damien Lewis. A jolly good show it was, too.

By: Jay Converse

Jay Converse — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 23:08:00 +0000

It’s arithmetically, not exponentially layered.

By: EH

EH — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 23:02:00 +0000

Quora was founded by ex-Facebook’ers, naturally.

By: EH

EH — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 23:01:00 +0000

The movie “The Grey Fox” should probably also be mentioned here.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085622/

By: KvH

KvH — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:54:00 +0000

Spider Robinson wrote a short story about this called The Time Traveler. It’s in the first Callahan’s collection.

By: James Kimbell

James Kimbell — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:54:00 +0000

The “You must sign in to read past the first answer” thing is the kind of annoying that will probably lead me to avoid clicking any Quora link in the future.

As for Santos, he kinda just sounds like a stereotypical parent. He can use the popular devices, but he doesn’t know what is going on when he does, and he doesn’t know how to correctly apply the vocabulary. I remember a survey about a year ago, where people were asked about ISPs, browsers, and search engines and had no idea about the distinctions. I know I’m no different a lot of the time.