Author Archives: jik

City of Boston electronic poll books: they DO know what they’re doing!

Boston has robust plans in place to ensure that Poll Pad failures will not compromise an election, but I still have some concerns.

The Anti-Defamation League has always been trash

In 1988, B’nai B’rith told supporters, “The Arab presence on the college campus is poisoning the minds of our young people.” They meant it then, and they mean it now even more.

Why software product support is (sometimes) a terrible job

Software maintainers can’t help people who can’t or won’t read and answer straightforward questions, and some people who need help with software are incapable of reading and answering straightforward questions.

Boston Election Department switching over fully to electronic poll-books; I hope they know what they’re doing!

Using electronic poll-books at 275 precincts on election day is a much heavier lift than using them at ten early-voting locations. I hope they’ve covered all their bases!

Notes from migrating Linux to a new hard drive

Migrating a Linux install to a new drive can be easy (Clonezilla) or hard. I chose hard. It was a learning experience.

Prepared remarks: Center for American Progress panel on June 30, 2025

I am slated to appear tomorrow afternoon at a virtual panel hosted by the Center for American Progress entitled “Uniformed Disservice: How Trump’s Agenda Harms Veterans and Service Members“. Below is the outline of my prepared remarks. I encourage you to join me and the other panelists for an informative and challenging discussion.

Appearance on the Plutopia podcast

I recently sat down with the folks at Plutopia, Wendy Grossman, Jon Lebkowsky, and Scoop Sweeney, to talk about my past, our precarious present, and the dire future we seem to be careening toward. Watch or listen here. Enjoy!