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The iPod of Prison
- kqr2 13y agoThe closest consumer equivalent appears to be the Sony SRF-59 which retails for about $15. It uses the same CXA1129N chip and takes a single AA battery which should last 100-140 hours. http://ukradio.info/SRF-59/ http://ukradio.info/SRF-59/ http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SRF59SILVER-Walkman-Stereo-Radio/dp/B00006JQ06/ http://www.amazon.com/Sony-SRF59SILVER-Walkman-Stereo-Radio/...
- pohl 13y agoI've seen this headline for a few days but had been ignoring it. I'm glad I took the time to read it. I'm surprised how this activated a desire to collect transparent prison radios. Every child should have The Visible Man and an SRF-39FP. It's too bad the latter is so hard to obtain.
- BlackDeath3 13y ago>Puyallup, Washington Figures that I should see my first reference to Puyallup in an article about prison.
- rdl 13y agoDon't look up Enumclaw, then. (I actually met a nurse in the army reserve who introduced herself as no really a civilian nurse in a hospital in Enumclaw. I spent the rest of her deployment not asking.)
- bitmover 13y agoI don't understand how they can write an entire article about a radio and not include a picture. Anyway, for anyone interested: http://mmuseumm.com/pieces/srf-39fp http://mmuseumm.com/pieces/srf-39fp
- vacri 13y agoThat one's not loading for me, but I found this large image: http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/zz117/NewYorkCompany1/Electronics/Sony%20SRF-39FP%20Walkman/DSC04806_zpsf78e9012.jpg http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/zz117/NewYorkCompany1/Ele...
- RexRollman 13y agoTHANK YOU! Even the wikipedia page didn't have one.
- 001sky 13y agoalso alt url > http://museum.vaesite.net/__data/edeeddf9608c270fa23148b275a661e8.png http://museum.vaesite.net/__data/edeeddf9608c270fa23148b275a...
- acqq 13y agoYes, the the picture shows why it's allowed in prisons: it's transparent so the guards can see that there's nothing hidden in it.
- vacri 13y ago$30 for that radio is price-gouging. A couple of moments googling found the non-clear version for half the price, which is closer to what it should be worth.
- GarrettBeck 13y agoBut how cool is the non-clear version. I don't want to be 'that' guy in prison...
- nanidin 13y agoClear is probably a requirement so that the guards can see inside and be reasonably sure it hasn't been tampered with, for example, to communicate back to the outside world.
- jrockway 13y agoUnless they have a particularly good IF isolation amplifier, you can use it to communicate back to the outside world. Someone would have to be listening, of course, with a sensitive receiver and directional antenna. You can probably turn the dial and even get some FSK going on.
- aaronem 13y agoNo, clear is a requirement so that the guards can see it's not stuffed with marijuana or heroin or something.
- nanidin 13y agoThese are also examples of tampering with the radio, just more obvious (to me at least) than modifications to the actual functionality of the device.
- sanoli 13y agoThis. They do the same with typewirters: http://www.swintec.com/8-clear-typewriters http://www.swintec.com/8-clear-typewriters
- baddox 13y agoThe article says the radio is "under 30 dollars." I would expect something like that to cost less than 5 dollars.
- tylerlh 13y agoThe prison commissary system (largely run by Keefe Group) tends to overprice and gouge for the vast majority of items they offer. This is not uncommon. https://betweenthebars.org/posts/10910/the-prison-commissary https://betweenthebars.org/posts/10910/the-prison-commissary
- BlackDeath3 13y agoProfiting off of prison populations... unprecedented!
- eplanit 13y agoIronic, huh?
- DonGateley 13y agoIt's not actually bad at all: http://www.bop.gov/locations/institution/dub/DUB_CommList.pdf http://www.bop.gov/locations/institution/dub/DUB_CommList.pd...
- schrodinger 13y agoDead
- DonGateley 13y agoSorry, I dropped a letter. It's: http://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/dub/DUB_CommList.pdf http://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/dub/DUB_CommList.p...
- GuiA 13y agoIf it were sold at the commissary for $5, it'd be easier for inmates to afford (and keep in mind, as the article states, that inmates can only spend $320 a month on commissary goods). The goal of the prison system is to make prisoners as miserable as possible by our current societal standards (I strongly believe that 500 years from now, our present prison system will seem as barbaric as public place executions seem to us now), not to make sure they can have a pleasant time.
- tzs 13y agoI was curious what kind of things are for sale in prison commissaries. A little searching found some price lists (PDFs). Mississippi: http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/PDF%20Files/price%20list%202013_1.pdf http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/PDF%20Files/price%20list%202013_... Federal: http://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/dub/DUB_CommList.pdf http://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/dub/DUB_CommList.p... Washington County, Oregon: http://www.co.washington.or.us/Sheriff/Jail/HelpInmate/upload/Commissary-menu.pdf http://www.co.washington.or.us/Sheriff/Jail/HelpInmate/uploa... Texas: http://www.minutesbeforesix.com/MB6Files/2010/Commissary%20Price%20List.pdf http://www.minutesbeforesix.com/MB6Files/2010/Commissary%20P...
- makmanalp 13y ago> ______ IBM Typewriter Ribbon (2) 8.15 wow. like teletype stuff?
- jpatokal 13y agoNo, like typewriter stuff. Most prisoners are not given any access to computers.
- ableal 13y agoProbably this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Selectric_typewriter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Selectric_typewriter The golf-ball typing element has a lever at the top, which opens to unlock the ball in order to change fonts. Besides the carbon ribbon, there's also a small white-out ribbon, to correct mistakes.
- sanoli 13y agoCheck this out: http://www.swintec.com/8-clear-typewriters http://www.swintec.com/8-clear-typewriters These are typewriters specifically made for US prisons. They're that way so stuff can't be hidden so easily. Also note the state by state models which differ on amount of memory allowed.
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- DonGateley 13y agoBring ebooks to these and it will be revolutionary. Prison libraries range from limited to non-existent. The cost of ebooks is beyond ridiculous but one would hope that the content providers might be able to see digital contribution to the incarcerated as an investment in future readers (especially since we incarcerate such a mind boggling proportion of our population.)
- mschuster91 13y agoThis would be something for a modern correctional system, focused on making productive members of society of inmates (like it is the objective of e.g. German prison system), in contrast to the US system which seems to be more focused on (barbaric) punishment and filling the pockets of the private-prison industry.
- DonGateley 13y agoActually I meant audio books, not ebooks. ebooks are cheap enough but getting a portable device with a display into that situation is well nigh impossible. Specialized versions of devices comparable to Google Glass might could be designed to be acceptable though. Now there's something to think constructively about. (Sorry about the "might could be" but I just don't know any economical way to say that which actually exists within the language.)
- aestra 13y ago>Actually I meant audio books, not ebooks Interestingly enough, my public library has a HUGE collection of audiobooks in cassette form. I doubt anyone takes them out anymore. I wonder if they can be moved to prison libraries. Ever see how many are in your library?
- rdl 13y agoA kindle probably isn't a huge safety risk/weapons risk, especially with a new shell. Plastic vs glass screen, etc. some kind of kiosk to load books. I'd be ok with e readers sold nearly at cost, and books sold very in expensively as well.
- gojomo 13y agoRegarding the next-generation MP3 player and sales kiosks mentioned: finally, a population where DRM works! (The linked product page is actually quite interesting: http://jpay.com/pmusic.aspx http://jpay.com/pmusic.aspx It's a mini-tablet for $50, which also uploads emails when attached to the commissary kiosk.)
- gergles 13y agoEmails that you have to buy 'stamps' for: Email Postage Fees Stamps Fee 5 $2.00 15 $5.00 45 $10.00 Each typed page of text cost one stamp. Each attachment costs 1 stamp(s). How extortionate.
- Kerrick 13y agoHow else would you pay for the censors that comb through your emails before allowing them to be sent?
- vic-20 13y agoI work for the keefe group. I was told at a presentation recently that Keefe is actually the #3 or #4 seller of mp3s by bandwidth in the world.
- DonGateley 13y agoDo you have any influence on what Keefe can provide? Does Keefe have any influence on what is permitted?
- vic-20 13y agoNope. I don't work directly with commissary.
- arjie 13y agoAh, the captive audience model. Remarkably successful.
- 178 13y agoSo, has anyone found the circuit? Any interesting things one could build out of it? I mean, now that we know how widely deployed it is…
- nekopa 13y agoSlightly off topic, but I was disturbed by some of the phrases in there, particularly '30 months for starting a fire' and being proud to have 'managed to stay out of prison'. What has my home country become? You can make millions of dollars in fraud and walk free, yet have to somehow mange your life if you're an ordinary citizen to stay out of jail. I was considering moving back to the US with my family, but news from there over the last few years has been disturbing to say the least. I've been away for 9 years, and it looks like that time will stretch indefinitely.
- CalRobert 13y agoI've been out for a year, and it seems every time I begin to miss good carne asada and craft beer something like the Kelly Thomas story reminds me why I got the hell out.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- Mvandenbergh 13y agoI don't believe in long custodial sentences for non-violent crimes, especially if they're victim-less, but arson is not non-violent.
- aestra 13y ago11 kids on my mom's block died in a fire when she was growing up. The fire was arson. There was another guy recently who burned down his business to collect the insurance money. He endangered all his neighbors and the firefighers who responded, as well as committed insurance fraud. He wasted taxpayer money to investigate and prosecute his crime. Give him an extra 30 months.
- smackfu 13y agoThere are pretty stiff penalties for arson, since you have no control over the fire after you start it.
- ck2 13y agoNo wonder corporations love it when we throw so many people in prison. The profits are insane. Look at what the phone company makes on a call from a prison. By the way, where the hell are inmates getting $320 a month to spend?
- Shivetya 13y agoThe FCC did step in last year to fix the phone costs. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/fcc-approves-rules-to-reform-prison-phone-rates/2013/08/09/1f7ac512-010d-11e3-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/fcc-approv... Do note that the reason many of these costs were so high is because government agencies make money on them too.
- mikestew 13y ago> By the way, where the hell are inmates getting $320 a month to spend? People from the outside can add money to the account.
- aestra 13y ago>where the hell are inmates getting $320 a month to spend? Family. They probably don't send that much, I know someone who sends his brother in prison about $100 a month.
- stinos 13y agoSony has always been pretty good in the battery life department, shouldn't it be possible to get more than 40 hours out of a single battery for a simple analog radio? Or is it rahter due to it being simple that they can't do better? Might be comparing apples with oranges here, but my PCM-M10 easily lasts >60 hours on two of such batteries. And that includes reading from SD card, processing/converting mp3, DA conversion and an LCD display.
- mzs 13y agoFor these kinds of numbers they tend to use 1000mAh for AA cell, what used to be call 'heavy duty' and this radio is 20-25mA, so you are looking at easily at least 70 hours on alkaline cells. http://ukradio.info/SRF-59/ http://ukradio.info/SRF-59/
- elag 13y agoReally enjoyed this, cheers. Hunt seems to think mp3 players must inevitably displace radios but it's impossible to overstate the way that live radio can bring a sense of connection to a world bigger than yourself. I've used it myself - in better circumstances than any prisoner - to feel less isolated. "I headphone myself" can be as much about escaping outwards as in.
- balac 13y ago> Some inmates even had a term for using their radio to create a bubble of personal space: “I headphone myself,” one said. I work in a large open plan office and do this exact same thing most of the day..
- sanoli 13y agoSomewhat related, one guy began a startup that simplifies, through his website, the process for family members to shop and send stuff to inmates. All the products are within the prison's accepted stuff guidelines, as it seems this is a major PITA for people outside to figure out. He even made a deal with a major record label to start making hip-hop albums on cassette again. Here's the link: http://www.sendapackage.com http://www.sendapackage.com PS. There's was a discussion about this on HN some time ago. Couldn't find it on search.
- aaronem 13y agoWhy would CDs be banned in prisons? I suppose there's more internal void space in a CD case (between the CD holder and the back cover) than in a cassette case, but that seems like it could be addressed by using clear plastic CD holders, which already exist, and omitting the back cover insert.