Jonathan Kamens 86 47

he/his
Director of Information Security at 4DMedical.
I work primarily in #infosec, #IT, and #SaaS infrastructure.
ex #USDS (fired by #DOGE)
Dad, old-school hacker, Righteous Indignation Man. Opinions are my own. Follow my blog at jik (npub1kjr…9mdq).
#COVID #CovidIsNotOver #USPol #MAPol #BosPoli #Boston #MA #politics #linux #FOSS #OpenSource #ConsumerActivism #privacy #programmer #hacker #fedi22 #resist Jonathan Kamens 86 47 (npub1znh…e3n6)">https://justmytoots.com/Jonathan Kamens 86 47 (npub1znh…e3n6)

Blog: https://blog.kamens.us/
Github: https://github.com/jikamens
Vintage home page: https://stuff.mit.edu/~jik/
Comics aggregator: https://comics.kamens.us/

Public Key

npub1znher05nmmrkrwpw5v4vnk0z7uvc5m0yh60jgzmktu7ue7l03dzsr7e3n6

NIP-05 Address

jik_at_federate.social@momostr.pink

Profile Code

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Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

Author Public Key

npub1znher05nmmrkrwpw5v4vnk0z7uvc5m0yh60jgzmktu7ue7l03dzsr7e3n6

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Published at

2026-05-03T11:59:47Z

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Last Notes

2026-03-12 14:50:31 UTC

- reply

I should be able to tell them, "Whenever this CD matures, roll it over into the best available rate you are currently offering." In fact, that should be the default.
It should be 100% illegal for the default to be, "We'll pay you almost zero interest on your retirement savings unless you explicitly tell us, 'Actually, I would prefer for you to keep paying me interest, thank you.'" (2/2)

2026-03-12 14:50:31 UTC

For the sake of diversifying risk, my wife and I have much of our retirement savings in IRA CDs at three different banks.
They all do the same slimy thing, so I suspect this is something that most banks do: whenever one of our IRA CDs matures, we have to call the bank and explicitly tell them to roll it over into a new CD with a decent interest rate. One of our banks even makes us do it in person. If we don't call or visit, it gets converted into a 0.05% CD. Ridiculous.
#personalFinance (1/2)

2025-09-06 16:55:31 UTC

A founder whom I was closely involved with at one of their previous startups recently emailed and asked if there was anyone I could recommend for their new AI startup.
I replied: "Sorry, I am not recommending people for AI jobs. The AI hype bubble is destroying the tech industry, needlessly damaging the environment, and making life worse for people, and when the bubble pops it's going to take the American economy with it. I want nothing to do with that."
I'm not messing around here.
#GenAI

2025-07-29 23:12:46 UTC

- reply

I'm so tired

2025-07-27 15:02:19 UTC

Every once in a while I'm just flabbergasted by how bad #Perl error-handling is, or at least old-style error-handling before Perl's version of exceptions started to catch on.
Like, the "messages" method of a "Mail::IMAPClient" object returns an empty list if there are no messages to fetch, but it returns undef (a scalar, not a list) if there was an error, so you can't just do "!@msgs" to check for an error, you have to do "@msgs==1&&!defined($msgs[0])". Ridiculous.
#programming

2025-07-15 18:45:50 UTC

⇒ Please help me find #GenAI truth-telling sites! ⇐
In the past I've come across several websites that effectively debunk #GenerativeAI hype.
However, now that I actually need them, to help me make the case at work for strong oversight of the company's GenAI use, I can't find any of them.
It seems like no matter what search terms and search engine I use, I get garbage search results (hype, indeed!).
What are your go-to websites for debunking #AI hype?
:boostRequest: #tech #LLM

2025-05-28 18:39:51 UTC

Question for #infosec, #compliance, #HIPAA wonks…
My mandatory annual HIPAA training claims that an "unintentional disclosure as a result of a permitted reason" is not a HIPAA violation. They even include the text shown below in one of the training videos.
I've never heard this before. My understanding is that an unintentional disclosure is still a violation, albeit perhaps a less severe one.
Do you agree with the training, and if so, can you point to a source for this?
https://cdn.masto.host/federatesocial/media_attachments/files/114/586/899/988/491/390/original/b9881e4618a5ee43.png

2024-11-29 20:17:53 UTC

I would support medical assistance in dying (#MAID) in a functional society where quality healthcare is accessible to everyone regardless of how much money they have.
I cannot support MAID in our current society, where it is 100% inevitable that some people will choose MAID (with the encouragement of the establishment) because they cannot afford the alternative or they don't want to burden their loved ones with the cost of their ongoing care.
This isn't theoretical, it's already happening.

2024-11-23 22:55:01 UTC

- reply

I should mention that the original request for assistance explicitly mentioned that the org was concerned about subpoenas and had already switched to using Signal for all comms. So the person running the org clearly has a better understanding of the threat model than the people who responded by implying all they need to do is tweak the security settings on their SaaS apps.

2024-11-23 21:32:41 UTC

- reply

I wrote back: "If I were running a trans support org right now, I'd be moving all non-public info and internal org infra onto a NAS in my basement with encrypted drives that require a long passphrase to be entered on boot, with offsite backups syncing to a similar NAS in the basement of another leader of the org. I would not rely on any cloud service to protect my data and my members from harm. The only thing I would put on cloud infra is a public web site that doesn't store any sensitive data."

2024-11-23 21:29:10 UTC

On a list I'm on, someone asks for advice protecting a small trans support org worried about e.g. keeping their membership list safe.
Several people respond, "Talk to company <x>, they help non-profits secure infra."
I look at <x>. Its flagship product automates managing security controls in apps like Google Workspace and Slack.
I'm like, this isn't going to help when the subpoenas start flying. Y'all need to change your threat model.
#smdh #infosec #threatModeling #politics #USPol

2024-10-11 15:25:39 UTC

What do those of you who think the U.S. can end the #Gaza and #Lebanon wars by withholding arms from #Israel think will happen if the U.S. does that?
Will the narcissistic sociopath #BibiNetanyahu shrug and stop the wars?
Or will he go elsewhere—like #China or #NorthKorea—to get his weapons?
Do you think any of those countries wouldn't be delighted to enable such a realignment?
Would it be good for world order? Would fewer people be harmed?
Seriously, play it out.
#politics #realpolitik

2024-06-28 16:06:45 UTC

- reply

Also: https://runforsomething.net/

2024-06-28 14:34:27 UTC

#SCOTUS just ended Chevron deference.
If you don't understand what that means or how it completely eviscerates federal regulatory power, you should spend some time reading up on it.
This is a catastrophic decision for functional, working government. It's a huge step backwards.
Yes, it's kind of wonky, No, it's not as obvious, clear-cut, and easy to understand as "abortion should be legal and accessible to everyone." But it's nearly as important.
#politics #USPol