Ben Aiken
@bengaiken.bsky.social
Dad, Dude, Public Administrator. Rider of bikes. Proud to be a generalist. Working for smarter government.
benaiken.com
benaiken.com
Is everyone else's current social media experience like a constant, "no, I will not engage in this..." self-talk throttling? Maintaining internal composure is a real active thing. Yikes.
September 11, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Is everyone else's current social media experience like a constant, "no, I will not engage in this..." self-talk throttling? Maintaining internal composure is a real active thing. Yikes.
Reposted by Ben Aiken
AI-generated Strava Description is a feature I would be willing to pay to get rid of. Thanks for the subscription "preview" to know that I will never buy it as long as it's spewing this slop.
August 17, 2025 at 3:27 PM
AI-generated Strava Description is a feature I would be willing to pay to get rid of. Thanks for the subscription "preview" to know that I will never buy it as long as it's spewing this slop.
Had a 7 year old birthday party yesterday and now my youngest (3.5) is calling me, "bro." Call me simple but I consider this a win.
a little girl from despicable me is sitting on the floor with her eyes closed and a bow in her hair .
ALT: a little girl from despicable me is sitting on the floor with her eyes closed and a bow in her hair .
media.tenor.com
August 10, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Had a 7 year old birthday party yesterday and now my youngest (3.5) is calling me, "bro." Call me simple but I consider this a win.
Mom can we get this responsible centrist? No we have a responsible centrist at home...
they had to go with “america party” over the more natural sounding “american party” because the american party already existed and they ran george wallace for president in 1968
July 6, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Mom can we get this responsible centrist? No we have a responsible centrist at home...
It's too bad that so few of the near- and current voting age public can't or won't ever read this. We are on the slope. We regress toward this. Curated mania and sycophancy, individualized and delivered instantaneously, and we wonder "how could this ever happen?"
The neo-reactionary blogger Curtis Yarvin wants to destroy American democracy. With the Trumpian right embracing strongman rule, his ideas have found mainstream purchase.
Curtis Yarvin’s Plot Against America
The reactionary blogger’s call for a monarch to rule the country once seemed like a joke. Now the right is ready to bend the knee.
nyer.cm
July 4, 2025 at 12:52 PM
It's too bad that so few of the near- and current voting age public can't or won't ever read this. We are on the slope. We regress toward this. Curated mania and sycophancy, individualized and delivered instantaneously, and we wonder "how could this ever happen?"
Just back from 10 days traveling Montana, Idaho, and Washington. I'm now devoting all of my political will toward building the nth leg of the Abundance Agenda stool - coffee huts in underutilized parking lots. The East Coast demands coffee huts!
June 26, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Just back from 10 days traveling Montana, Idaho, and Washington. I'm now devoting all of my political will toward building the nth leg of the Abundance Agenda stool - coffee huts in underutilized parking lots. The East Coast demands coffee huts!
This was a person with good intentions. Any vitriol toward someone who wanted to help government solve problems with technology is misplaced. Savvy and passion can be used for growth or it can be used to tear things down. I see the story of someone who wanted growth but was punished for it.
May 30, 2025 at 2:19 AM
This was a person with good intentions. Any vitriol toward someone who wanted to help government solve problems with technology is misplaced. Savvy and passion can be used for growth or it can be used to tear things down. I see the story of someone who wanted growth but was punished for it.
I guess it's cool to hate on vibe coding but nothing is convincing me that AI isn't the future of quick build and POC. Spent a trivial amount of time this weekend putting an HTML front end on a broken ass SharePoint list so my team can can find things easier. Simple, fast and impossible 2 years ago.
May 5, 2025 at 12:27 AM
I guess it's cool to hate on vibe coding but nothing is convincing me that AI isn't the future of quick build and POC. Spent a trivial amount of time this weekend putting an HTML front end on a broken ass SharePoint list so my team can can find things easier. Simple, fast and impossible 2 years ago.
Anyone else feel like April Fool's is pretty much impossible to pull off in this media environment?
two men in suits and ties are standing next to each other in a room .
Alt: two men in suits and ties are standing next to each other in a room . One says none of this is real. This is all a scam.
media.tenor.com
April 1, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Anyone else feel like April Fool's is pretty much impossible to pull off in this media environment?
Woke-iest book I've consumed in while happens to tell me I've Never Been Woke...hmmm. Strong recommend for We Have Never Been Woke by @musaalgharbi.bsky.social which does the loveliest job of cutting through hypocritical elitism.
March 31, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Woke-iest book I've consumed in while happens to tell me I've Never Been Woke...hmmm. Strong recommend for We Have Never Been Woke by @musaalgharbi.bsky.social which does the loveliest job of cutting through hypocritical elitism.
Boats are really cool when they are just floating in water. They become much less cool parked in your neighbor's front yard.
a yellow boat on a trailer with a license plate that says gn 982 l.
Alt: a yellow boat on a trailer with a license plate that says gn 982 l.
media.tenor.com
March 10, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Boats are really cool when they are just floating in water. They become much less cool parked in your neighbor's front yard.
Reposted by Ben Aiken
New Fox chyron is excellent.
Team names: huge.
Score: huge.
Logos: none. Colors say enough.
Needless chrome: none.
Timeouts remaining: prominent but not distracting.
Down and yards to go indicator: conveys which team has the ball.
Typography: classic, legible, bold, timeless.
Outstanding design.
Team names: huge.
Score: huge.
Logos: none. Colors say enough.
Needless chrome: none.
Timeouts remaining: prominent but not distracting.
Down and yards to go indicator: conveys which team has the ball.
Typography: classic, legible, bold, timeless.
Outstanding design.
February 10, 2025 at 12:32 AM
New Fox chyron is excellent.
Team names: huge.
Score: huge.
Logos: none. Colors say enough.
Needless chrome: none.
Timeouts remaining: prominent but not distracting.
Down and yards to go indicator: conveys which team has the ball.
Typography: classic, legible, bold, timeless.
Outstanding design.
Team names: huge.
Score: huge.
Logos: none. Colors say enough.
Needless chrome: none.
Timeouts remaining: prominent but not distracting.
Down and yards to go indicator: conveys which team has the ball.
Typography: classic, legible, bold, timeless.
Outstanding design.
Fascinating piece of military cycling history.
The U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps was an all-Black unit of soldiers created to see if bicycles could effectively transport troops. In 1896, the Corps did a test run from Missoula, Montana to Yellowstone National Park, where this photo was taken.
#BlackHistoryMonth
#BlackHistoryMonth
February 9, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Fascinating piece of military cycling history.
technology trying to evaluate what to spread hate toward:
January 29, 2025 at 7:48 PM
technology trying to evaluate what to spread hate toward:
every ai criticism on social: "it's literally just a random character generator, always wrong, and has no redeeming utility whatsoever."
meanwhile, engineers and developers responsible for our digital world: "i use it constantly and it's going to reshape the entire technological economy."
hmm.
meanwhile, engineers and developers responsible for our digital world: "i use it constantly and it's going to reshape the entire technological economy."
hmm.
January 26, 2025 at 10:38 PM
every ai criticism on social: "it's literally just a random character generator, always wrong, and has no redeeming utility whatsoever."
meanwhile, engineers and developers responsible for our digital world: "i use it constantly and it's going to reshape the entire technological economy."
hmm.
meanwhile, engineers and developers responsible for our digital world: "i use it constantly and it's going to reshape the entire technological economy."
hmm.
How many clicks does it take to get to the center of the tootsie-pop?
Here's a story about why it is vital to ensure that basic services work for *everybody*.
shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/01...
shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/01...
The unreasonable effectiveness of simple HTML
I've told this story at conferences - but due to the general situation I thought I'd retell it here. A few years ago I was doing policy research in a housing benefits office in London. They are singul...
shkspr.mobi
January 26, 2025 at 5:57 PM
How many clicks does it take to get to the center of the tootsie-pop?
Painstaking process to manage any settings on Meta feels so intentional because it is. Human centered design weaponized against the human. t.ly/Hc9WS freeourfeeds.com
January 18, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Painstaking process to manage any settings on Meta feels so intentional because it is. Human centered design weaponized against the human. t.ly/Hc9WS freeourfeeds.com
How long before we're marrying off our Bluey generation? Hoping I can be one of the dads who gets a father-daughter "dance mode" in ~2045.
two cartoon dogs are standing next to each other and one has a serious look on his face
ALT: two cartoon dogs are standing next to each other and one has a serious look on his face
media.tenor.com
January 12, 2025 at 1:18 AM
How long before we're marrying off our Bluey generation? Hoping I can be one of the dads who gets a father-daughter "dance mode" in ~2045.
Fairfax County VA contributes a domestic product of $160ish billion dollars annually to the economy and 6 inches of snow closes schools for 4 days. What does that school closure actually cost? Not to mention the fact that any non motor transport is rendered entirely unusable. Make it make sense.
January 8, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Fairfax County VA contributes a domestic product of $160ish billion dollars annually to the economy and 6 inches of snow closes schools for 4 days. What does that school closure actually cost? Not to mention the fact that any non motor transport is rendered entirely unusable. Make it make sense.
Dogs don't need winter coats. That is all.
January 7, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Dogs don't need winter coats. That is all.
Using an electric leaf blower to clear the cars this morning was so satisfying.
a cartoon of spongebob sitting on a stool in front of a machine that says ' i ' on it
Alt: a cartoon of spongebob blowing sand off of Squidward
media.tenor.com
January 6, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Using an electric leaf blower to clear the cars this morning was so satisfying.
Just learned the 2024 word of the year was "brain rot," and ignoring for the moment that it is two words, I can't help but feel like the social zeitgeist has shifted away from the worst sort of doomscroll content. At least that's my optimistic 2025 outlook. Or maybe 2025's WOTY will be apocalypse.
January 1, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Just learned the 2024 word of the year was "brain rot," and ignoring for the moment that it is two words, I can't help but feel like the social zeitgeist has shifted away from the worst sort of doomscroll content. At least that's my optimistic 2025 outlook. Or maybe 2025's WOTY will be apocalypse.
I feel like the lawyers will never let us have iot-enabled clam sensors and it saddens me.
Eight Clams Control This Polish City’s Water Supply. “If the waters are clean, these [cyborg] mussels stay open and happy. But when water quality drops too low, they close off and shut the water supply of millions of people with them.” [kottke.org]
Eight Clams Control This Polish City’s Water Supply
In the city of Poznań, Poland, a group of eight clams controls the local water supply through a clever bio-monitoring system:
These biological systems are comprised of eight mussels with sensors hot-glued to their she
kottke.org
December 31, 2024 at 5:07 PM
I feel like the lawyers will never let us have iot-enabled clam sensors and it saddens me.
