Ben Buchanan
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200ok.bsky.social
Ben Buchanan
@200ok.bsky.social
I make some bits of the web

Elsewhere:
http://200ok.blog/
https://mastodon.social/@200ok
https://www.instagram.com/200ok/

Melbourne, Australia. he/him
I almost envy people who haven't seen Dmitry speak before ;) Strap yourselves in... #WebDirections
November 19, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Web Directions, fuck yeah!

#webdirections
November 19, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Watching Jono Alderson's opening talk at #WebDirections and having to stop myself actually cheering.

I will however wryly tap the sign: noti.st/benbuchanan/...
Less, but better by Ben Buchanan (200ok)
After an era of complexity, perhaps it’s time the web had an era of simplicity.
noti.st
November 18, 2025 at 10:49 PM
For anyone in Sydney for Web Directions dev summit, if you are at a loose end I'm meeting some friends at the Glebe Hotel (www.theglebehotel.com.au) from about 6:30 and you are welcome to join us.
Glebe Hotel
Neighourhood watering hole, The Glebe Hotel has been Glebe's favourite local since 1862. Formerly known as the Australian Youth Hotel, the heritage listed public bar & dining destination is full of qu...
www.theglebehotel.com.au
November 18, 2025 at 5:53 AM
LLMs absolutely do not replace cognition, and humans absolutely do not learn from history.
The plow, the steam engine, electricity — all replaced muscle. AI replaces cognition. If you spend your day “reading lots of stuff and turning it into straight English,” well… so does the machine. The goal now is to learn from history and cushion the blow better than last time.
November 17, 2025 at 1:56 AM
November 11, 2025 at 6:57 AM
We dreamed this, right? It can't possibly have been real.
HAPPY FOUR SEASONS TOTAL LANDSCAPING DAY TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE
November 8, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Without instructions on how to pretend to be human, your despot will go into standby mode. You can reactivate your despot by offering it fried chicken.
November 7, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Periodic temperature check -

Mastodon feels like early Twitter
(has its issues but probably good for a while yet)

Bluesky feels like late Twitter
(shorter half-life, is that smoke?)

X feels like a post-Twitter dumpster fire
(no change expected)
November 6, 2025 at 3:17 AM
For the record and I'm sure to nobody's surprise: #NupToTheCup

We should replace the whole thing with Canapes For Critters day. Everyone can still dress up and get munted in a marquee, and the "bookies" will be representatives of animal-related causes taking donations.
November 4, 2025 at 5:26 AM
Reposted by Ben Buchanan
INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE

SECOND INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE OVER ZOOM TO MEET MORE OF THE TEAM

UNFORTUNATELY, YOU HAVE NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL ON THIS OCCASION, BUT WE HOPE YOU'LL APPLY FOR FUTURE POSITIONS WITH THE VAMPIRE
November 1, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Reposted by Ben Buchanan
We have progressed from data collection to data analysis.
November 1, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Reposted by Ben Buchanan
Found on LinkedIn #a11y #a11yween
October 31, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Reposted by Ben Buchanan
📘 Debugging CSS book is $19.99. Get your copy and level up your CSS debugging skills, or tell a friend about it.

debuggingcss.com
Master the Skill of Debugging CSS
An ebook with lots of tips and techniques on how to debug CSS the right way with easy and studied methods.
debuggingcss.com
October 31, 2025 at 7:55 AM
That thing where you shipped a feature in your own product that you really wanted *as a user* and using it is SO SATISFYING
October 31, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Who's going to Web Directions Summit this year? I'm going, but for the first time in 20 years won't be a local...! Feels weird, NGL...
October 29, 2025 at 2:31 AM
A tale of the old internet and a spark of light that *unshittification* can still be possible. At least enough to bring a dog home.

www.patreon.com/posts/142111...
Tiny Adds Up: Unshittification and The Pawshank Redemption | Catherynne M. Valente
Get more from Catherynne M. Valente on Patreon
www.patreon.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Reposted by Ben Buchanan
uh, that’s not “reimagining” the novel. that’s…the novel.
npr.org NPR @npr.org · 26d
Del Toro's new Frankenstein adaption reimagines Mary Shelley's 1818 Gothic novel. Frankenstein was like a tech bro: "creating something without considering the consequences," he explains. n.pr/3L5exuu
Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro says 'I'd rather die' than use generative AI
Del Toro's new Frankenstein adaption reimagines Mary Shelley's 1818 Gothic novel. Frankenstein was like a tech bro: "creating something without considering the consequences," he explains.
n.pr
October 26, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Of course the word "imagine" appears in that memo.
NEW: an internal Meta message we obtained tells employees on its metaverse team that they should be using AI to “go 5x faster”. That's 5 times faster, not 5 percent more www.404media.co/meta-tells-w...
Meta Tells Workers Building Metaverse to Use AI to ‘Go 5x Faster’
Meta says that its coders should be working five times faster and that it expects "a 5x leap in productivity."
www.404media.co
October 26, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Reposted by Ben Buchanan
End all funding every single private employment services provider.

Salt the earth so those in change of them never get any public money ever again - run them out of the country.

Get rid of mutual obligations

Bring back the CES

Raise the fricken rate

Ain’t hard.
October 25, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Reposted by Ben Buchanan
Things that not every product needs:

- push notifications
- chat
- a perky AI assistant

Jus’ sayin
October 25, 2025 at 9:41 PM
I'd love to see an actual surgeon comment on this one.

www.geoffreylitt.com/2025/10/24/c...
Code like a surgeon
www.geoffreylitt.com
October 26, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Reposted by Ben Buchanan
I'll cautiously say I've noticed more skepticism about AI in the corporate world and it's mostly because people's coworkers are creating extra work for them. They don't have the vocabulary to describe it yet but it's basically the "Why should I read what you couldn't be bothered to write" thing
October 23, 2025 at 2:54 AM
OpenAI releases a new browser, adding to the evergreen category "stories that reveal the average person has no clue just how many alternative browsers exist, or how many people thought they were going to 're-imagine' web browsers".

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
List of web browsers - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
October 22, 2025 at 8:21 AM