Ben McMahan
@benmcmahan.bsky.social
Creative software engineer. At Glean, previously Puppetry, Google (Doodles), Amazon, mcmahan.games. He/him
The opening of Wicked really gets to me. People dancing and celebrating someone's death. "No one mourns the Wicked." Something so jarring but true.
November 17, 2025 at 3:06 AM
The opening of Wicked really gets to me. People dancing and celebrating someone's death. "No one mourns the Wicked." Something so jarring but true.
Reposted by Ben McMahan
This may be the best thing ive read yet on AI in higher ed, and its written by a Yale undergrad. Highly recommend.
Inside Yale’s Quiet Reckoning with AI | The New Journal
Amid ChatGPT's rising popularity and a computer science cheating scandal, Yale students, professors, and administrators wrestle privately with the proper role of AI in education. What happens when eve...
thenewjournalatyale.com
November 16, 2025 at 5:56 PM
This may be the best thing ive read yet on AI in higher ed, and its written by a Yale undergrad. Highly recommend.
You really should be following Anna Bower.
EXCLUSIVE: One Saturday afternoon in October, my phone lit up with a notification.
I glanced down at the message.
“Anna, Lindsey Halligan here,” it began.
So began my text exchange with the woman who is prosecuting the president's perceived political enemies.
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
I glanced down at the message.
“Anna, Lindsey Halligan here,” it began.
So began my text exchange with the woman who is prosecuting the president's perceived political enemies.
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
October 21, 2025 at 2:32 AM
You really should be following Anna Bower.
Reposted by Ben McMahan
Here’s a Halloween treat from 1963, featuring Rowlf on THE JIMMY DEAN SHOW. Rowlf was Jim Henson’s first breakout character on a national scale, & it’s a joy to see how much fun Jimmy Dean seemed to always have in any of their interactions - most often just downright tickled…
October 20, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Here’s a Halloween treat from 1963, featuring Rowlf on THE JIMMY DEAN SHOW. Rowlf was Jim Henson’s first breakout character on a national scale, & it’s a joy to see how much fun Jimmy Dean seemed to always have in any of their interactions - most often just downright tickled…
I spent the last couple of hours hitting my cap on Sora. That was a lot of fun. The cameo feature asks you to say 3 numbers and from it could make me sing.
sora.chatgpt.com/p/s_68e49998...
sora.chatgpt.com/p/s_68e49998...
ben.mc on Sora
@ben.mc singing a song about love in film noir nightclub
sora.chatgpt.com
October 7, 2025 at 5:17 AM
I spent the last couple of hours hitting my cap on Sora. That was a lot of fun. The cameo feature asks you to say 3 numbers and from it could make me sing.
sora.chatgpt.com/p/s_68e49998...
sora.chatgpt.com/p/s_68e49998...
Lots of posts are trying to tell me what I'm supposed to be feelings right now.
I'm not sure how I feel about that.
I'm not sure how I feel about that.
September 11, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Lots of posts are trying to tell me what I'm supposed to be feelings right now.
I'm not sure how I feel about that.
I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Breaking News: Lying liar who lies lied.
May 20, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Breaking News: Lying liar who lies lied.
Reposted by Ben McMahan
TIL: When the Original Star Wars Trilogy finally aired on Chilean TV in 2003, the network spliced custom beer commercials into the films themselves to avoid cutting to commercial breaks.
these additional scenes turn Obi-Wan & Luke into raging space alcoholics who are constantly shotgunning booze.
these additional scenes turn Obi-Wan & Luke into raging space alcoholics who are constantly shotgunning booze.
May 20, 2025 at 9:24 PM
TIL: When the Original Star Wars Trilogy finally aired on Chilean TV in 2003, the network spliced custom beer commercials into the films themselves to avoid cutting to commercial breaks.
these additional scenes turn Obi-Wan & Luke into raging space alcoholics who are constantly shotgunning booze.
these additional scenes turn Obi-Wan & Luke into raging space alcoholics who are constantly shotgunning booze.
Reposted by Ben McMahan
ICE pretended to arrest a 21 yo in order to force her to call her undocumented mother to come leave the house (where she was safe from ICE arrest) to care for her baby. When the mother came, she was abducted and the daughter was suddenly of no interest to ICE.
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
May 14, 2025 at 2:54 PM
ICE pretended to arrest a 21 yo in order to force her to call her undocumented mother to come leave the house (where she was safe from ICE arrest) to care for her baby. When the mother came, she was abducted and the daughter was suddenly of no interest to ICE.
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Greatest line in cinema?
May 13, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Greatest line in cinema?
The Blues Brothers is gonna hit a bit harder next time I watch it.
May 8, 2025 at 8:46 PM
The Blues Brothers is gonna hit a bit harder next time I watch it.
Reposted by Ben McMahan
it's really not fun to be living through a future undergrad's homework assignment
May 7, 2025 at 5:20 AM
it's really not fun to be living through a future undergrad's homework assignment
I really enjoyed Thunderbolts*. Just an entertaining movie the entire time.
May 4, 2025 at 4:48 AM
I really enjoyed Thunderbolts*. Just an entertaining movie the entire time.
Reposted by Ben McMahan
They are all just so... awkward.
April 30, 2025 at 1:52 PM
They are all just so... awkward.
Reposted by Ben McMahan
The Canadian election result shows that the 2024 US election might have gone very differently if American voters could somehow have known in advance what it would be like to have Donald Trump as president
April 29, 2025 at 11:20 AM
The Canadian election result shows that the 2024 US election might have gone very differently if American voters could somehow have known in advance what it would be like to have Donald Trump as president
Reposted by Ben McMahan
If you want to create completely free software for other people to use, the absolute best delivery mechanism right now is static HTML and JavaScript served from a free web host with an established reputation.
Here's why think that in more detail: simonwillison.net/2025/Apr/28/...
Here's why think that in more detail: simonwillison.net/2025/Apr/28/...
Note on 28th April 2025
If you want to create completely <strong>free software</strong> for other people to use, the absolute best delivery mechanism right now is static HTML and JavaScript served from a free web …
simonwillison.net
April 28, 2025 at 4:14 PM
If you want to create completely free software for other people to use, the absolute best delivery mechanism right now is static HTML and JavaScript served from a free web host with an established reputation.
Here's why think that in more detail: simonwillison.net/2025/Apr/28/...
Here's why think that in more detail: simonwillison.net/2025/Apr/28/...
It's been a bit but I still can't believe the A1 (instead of AI) fiasco. It's not quite Four Season Landscaping level of humiliation but it is keep me up multiple nights in horror level of humiliation.
Too bad sociopaths can't feel shame the same way.
Too bad sociopaths can't feel shame the same way.
April 26, 2025 at 11:00 PM
It's been a bit but I still can't believe the A1 (instead of AI) fiasco. It's not quite Four Season Landscaping level of humiliation but it is keep me up multiple nights in horror level of humiliation.
Too bad sociopaths can't feel shame the same way.
Too bad sociopaths can't feel shame the same way.
Wow, I hadn't played the game so was unprepared for tonight's Last of Us episode.
Maybe I'll watch something relaxing now like the Exorcist to help calm down.
Maybe I'll watch something relaxing now like the Exorcist to help calm down.
April 21, 2025 at 5:59 AM
Wow, I hadn't played the game so was unprepared for tonight's Last of Us episode.
Maybe I'll watch something relaxing now like the Exorcist to help calm down.
Maybe I'll watch something relaxing now like the Exorcist to help calm down.
Just realized that between the success of the Super Mario Bros, Minecraft, and Sonic movies, all of my childhood games are gonna become movies.
April 16, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Just realized that between the success of the Super Mario Bros, Minecraft, and Sonic movies, all of my childhood games are gonna become movies.
We are all electronically less safe now:
www.csoonline.com/article/3963...
www.csoonline.com/article/3963...
CVE program faces swift end after DHS fails to renew contract, leaving security flaw tracking in limbo
MITRE’s 25-year-old Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) program will end April 16 after DHS did not renew its funding contract for reasons unspecified. Experts say ending the program, which ser...
www.csoonline.com
April 16, 2025 at 7:14 AM
We are all electronically less safe now:
www.csoonline.com/article/3963...
www.csoonline.com/article/3963...
4chan got hacked, turned out nothing was private, and the alleged Elon Musk posts are really, really bad.
April 15, 2025 at 4:04 PM
4chan got hacked, turned out nothing was private, and the alleged Elon Musk posts are really, really bad.
April 12, 2025 at 2:55 PM