High School Cybersecurity teacher; amateur mathematician; find me on Mastadon @bendougherty@infosec.exchange ; lover of science and music

Cincinnati, Ohio
Joined April 2009
Life is too short: Get the tattoo. Buy books. Get the iced coffee. Eat the pastries. Take the vacation. Learn witchcraft. Cast spells. Curse your enemies bloodline. Summon demons. Make friends with the crows.
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Benjamin Dougherty retweeted
#APday on the Hill Can't wait to share the amazing impact of AP courses like my very own #APCybersecurity alongside these bright young students from #McKinleyTech in DC!
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Shout it from the rooftops! 😂 👇
not every AI sandbox escape is evidence of an emerging superintelligence. sometimes you just have a shitty sandbox and bad security practices.
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Benjamin Dougherty retweeted
“We had to find a way and we did. Looking back, we were the luckiest people in the world; there was no choice but to be pioneers.” —Margaret Hamilton Rest in peace, Margaret. Your trailblazing work leading the development of the on-board flight software for the Apollo spacecraft will forever be remembered. 🫡
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We’ve lost an icon. Margaret Hamilton, a computer science pioneer best known for her work at MIT leading development of the flight software for the Apollo missions to the moon, has died at 90. Read about her legacy via MIT News: news.mit.edu/2026/margaret-h…
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Benjamin Dougherty retweeted
Now available for the 2026-27 school year: AP Cybersecurity. 💻🛡️ Explore our newest AP course, shaped by leading companies. Students who enroll will get hands-on experience in a growing tech field, plus a chance to earn college credit and an employer-endorsed credential. Sign up for updates: spr.ly/6010BGFezG #AP #Cybersecurity #APCareerKickstart
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Happy Cybersecurity Awareness Month! Celebrate all month long with free activities and resources for kids and teens from over a dozen organizations committed to a safer digital world. Visit getcybersmart.org  #GetCyberSmart2026. #take9 #cybercivildefense
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Benjamin Dougherty retweeted
Indiana students are building the skills to help protect the systems and institutions their communities rely on every day. At Bloomfield Middle and High School, students recently demonstrated what they’re learning through the Indiana Cybersecurity Partnership. The visit brought the partnership to life. The first-in-the-nation initiative connects high schools, colleges and universities, the @NationalGuardIN, and employers to create clearer pathways to college, high-demand careers, and military service. Schools can build the pathway through AP Cybersecurity, PLTW, dual credit, or a combination that works for their students, staff, and schedules. We’re proud to work alongside partners across Indiana to expand access to rigorous, career-connected cybersecurity education—and inspired by the Bloomfield students and educators helping lead the way.
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They know we’re only 1/4 of the way through the 21st century… right?
The NY Times has released a list of the Top 100 Best TV shows of the 21st Century. They polled over 500 major stars, showrunners & other notable names. (Source: nytimes.com/interactive/2026…)
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Benjamin Dougherty retweeted
My favorite AI joke: Current models are getting close to PhD-level intelligence. After that, they're expected to achieve the intelligence of someone who decided not to do a PhD.
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Benjamin Dougherty retweeted
I need to make a very PUBLIC announcement on behalf of younger GenXers and older Millennials. If you see someone in their 40s or 50s who seems a little boring now, I need you to understand something... We already got it in. Like...GOT. IT. IN. We are not sitting home on a Friday night because we never knew how to have fun. We are sitting home on a Friday night because we have seen enough. We went to parties in houses that should have been condemned and were almost certainly owned by the local drug dealer. We saw police lights and RAN and not across a nice, flat field. INTO THE WOODS. Do you understand the athleticism required to hurdle uprooted tree roots in platform shoes while simultaneously trying to keep your low-rise jeans from sliding completely off your ass? And somehow...we never spilled the Zima. We never spilled the Boone’s Farm. That was TALENT. We slept on floors in strange houses because the designated driver either never showed up or, in a shocking turn of events, was drunker than everybody else. There was no Uber, Life360 or Find My Friends. There was just somebody named Mike saying, “I know a shortcut.” And we FOLLOWED MIKE. We closed down bars and then decided the night was still young, so we drove to Atlantic City, where we somehow managed to get drunk, sober up, get drunk again, sober up again and then get drunk a THIRD TIME before breakfast. And according to our parents? We were at Michelle’s house. Eating pizza and watching movies. Michelle’s mother unknowingly covered for approximately 17 people every weekend. If there even was a Michelle. We drank things called Purple Passion, Mad Dog 20/20 and whatever somebody mixed inside a giant plastic garbage can. Nobody asked what was in it. You grabbed a red Solo cup and trusted the process. We went to clubs until the lights came on. Do you know the psychological damage of seeing a nightclub with the LIGHTS ON? Nothing good happens after those lights come on. We danced for four straight hours in shoes that permanently altered the structure of our feet. We made entire plans without cell phones...no texts, dropped pins or group chats...just an extremely questionable sense of direction. We rode in cars with 11 people when the vehicle legally seated five. Someone was always sitting on someone. Someone was always in the hatchback. And there was always one friend yelling, “DUCK!” when we passed a cop. So yes...now we like being home. We like sweatpants. We like cancelling plans. We like saying, “That sounds fun!” with absolutely no intention of attending. We like restaurants at 5:30 because we can get a good table. We like being home by 8:17. And if someone texts at 9:30 PM and says, “What are you doing?” Sleeping...we are sleeping. Because this is not boring my friends...this is retirement. We already played, partied and danced on the bar. We already ran from the cops through a wooded area dressed like a Spice Girl. We have stories that cannot be posted because there are still people with careers, marriages and reputations to protect. And thank GOD there were no camera phones. So kids, when you look at your Gen X and older Millennial parents sitting peacefully on the couch watching Dateline at 8 PM and think: “God, you guys are boring.” Sweetheart...oh sweetheart. You are looking at retired legends. Put some respect on our names. We're probably the reason Life360 was invented. xoxoxo (posted from someone else on FakeBook) 🤣 #genx #oldandtired
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Benjamin Dougherty retweeted
Actually a pretty good demonstration of how the Catholic Church is an ancient institution that has conveyed principles across centuries through ritual as opposed to modern storefront Protestantism that is based on brain-dead recitation of words translated half a dozen times. -OS
This quoted post is unavailable.
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Nota al pie de página = perfección Notas al final del capítulo = molesto Notas al final del libro = satanista
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Benjamin Dougherty retweeted
The last days of August
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As a black coffee drinker, this 100% checks out. No lies detected!
Know anyone that takes their coffee black? 🤔☕ Study says those who like to drink coffee black often have psychopathic, sadistic traits: bit.ly/4wIuYyY
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Benjamin Dougherty retweeted
I strongly commend @UChicago on this decision to ban in-class tech and AI-assisted writing and grading in core social science classes. AI can be deeply empowering for and supplementary to those who know how to think critically and write clearly, but it threatens to undermine the intensely human process of learning how to learn. AI is a remarkable tool in the hands of an expert; used without caution and to shortcut core skills it will, over time, annihilate the future expert class. Giving up foundational education to undergrads at a critical stage in their development will enable gradual (or perhaps rapid) disempowerment. I think UChicago should move similarly for other core writing-based classes. And it should think seriously about how to ensure students learn some of the most important critical thinking skills taught in the natural sciences and math. Just because AI is solving PhD-level math doesn't mean that students won't need to learn how to think logically, formulate hypothesis, and understand the foundational fields that underpin all worldly knowledge.
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That’s one way to cut off access! 🤣
JUST IN: T-Mobile cyber staff reveals it physically "chopped" a network cable after discovering Chinese hackers attempting to infiltrate its systems.
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Oof…some humans throughout history have truly had a gift
An absolute masterpiece piece of writing from Søren Kierkegaard
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