Ben Evans
@ogkittylyst.bsky.social
Cisqueer author / educator / software eng known for #architecture #performance #observability #Java #JVM
Chaos acc: #cats #antifascism #queer >> #tech
Cornishman in Barcelona.
More: @[email protected]
Chaos acc: #cats #antifascism #queer >> #tech
Cornishman in Barcelona.
More: @[email protected]
Pinned
Ben Evans
@ogkittylyst.bsky.social
· Jul 19
Hey folks - just a reminder that @kittylyst.bsky.social is not me.
They beat me to the name here (which is just the way it goes sometimes) & about half their followers seem to be people who are probably looking for me!
But, no, I'm here.
They beat me to the name here (which is just the way it goes sometimes) & about half their followers seem to be people who are probably looking for me!
But, no, I'm here.
Reposted by Ben Evans
Betty, you're supposed to take TURNS.
February 11, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Betty, you're supposed to take TURNS.
Reposted by Ben Evans
nice UK trade policy: maintaining anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made ironing boards, to protect the 300 people employed in the UK ironing-board industry
www.gov.uk/government/n...
www.gov.uk/government/n...
Anti-dumping measure on ironing boards from China maintained
The UK government has accepted the TRA’s recommendation to maintain an anti-dumping measure on ironing boards from China for a further five years.
www.gov.uk
February 12, 2026 at 1:14 PM
nice UK trade policy: maintaining anti-dumping duties on Chinese-made ironing boards, to protect the 300 people employed in the UK ironing-board industry
www.gov.uk/government/n...
www.gov.uk/government/n...
Reposted by Ben Evans
Hear me out, what if the people who sold us the inevitable mass adoption of crypto, the inevitable migration to the metaverse, and a Mars colony by 2018 aren't completely full of shit this time?
February 11, 2026 at 7:53 PM
Hear me out, what if the people who sold us the inevitable mass adoption of crypto, the inevitable migration to the metaverse, and a Mars colony by 2018 aren't completely full of shit this time?
The management genius that is responsible for this will be handsomely rewarded.
Two years from now, other geniuses at the various services will propose a "premium" service whereby some content is held back for subscribers to the dedicated service. They will be handsomely rewarded.
The wheel turns.
Two years from now, other geniuses at the various services will propose a "premium" service whereby some content is held back for subscribers to the dedicated service. They will be handsomely rewarded.
The wheel turns.
February 12, 2026 at 11:48 AM
The management genius that is responsible for this will be handsomely rewarded.
Two years from now, other geniuses at the various services will propose a "premium" service whereby some content is held back for subscribers to the dedicated service. They will be handsomely rewarded.
The wheel turns.
Two years from now, other geniuses at the various services will propose a "premium" service whereby some content is held back for subscribers to the dedicated service. They will be handsomely rewarded.
The wheel turns.
Reposted by Ben Evans
Due to a terrible misreading of a hashtag, we prepared something to post tomorrow, then realised it was wrong. So today, let's celebrate #GalenTines Day. Here's what Galen of Pergamon (c129BCE-216BCE) had to say about the gynaecological anatomy which influenced physicians for over a millennium...
February 12, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Due to a terrible misreading of a hashtag, we prepared something to post tomorrow, then realised it was wrong. So today, let's celebrate #GalenTines Day. Here's what Galen of Pergamon (c129BCE-216BCE) had to say about the gynaecological anatomy which influenced physicians for over a millennium...
Reposted by Ben Evans
I am in yr LEEDS signing yr BOOKS (or I will be in about 15mins)
February 12, 2026 at 11:42 AM
I am in yr LEEDS signing yr BOOKS (or I will be in about 15mins)
Reposted by Ben Evans
A little blue hippo made by an Egyptian artisan around 4,000 years ago! 🦛 ❤️
Decorated with river plants and lotus flowers, blue faience hippos are associated with the life-giving Nile and rebirth. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. 📷 by me
#Archaeology
Decorated with river plants and lotus flowers, blue faience hippos are associated with the life-giving Nile and rebirth. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. 📷 by me
#Archaeology
February 11, 2026 at 6:59 PM
A little blue hippo made by an Egyptian artisan around 4,000 years ago! 🦛 ❤️
Decorated with river plants and lotus flowers, blue faience hippos are associated with the life-giving Nile and rebirth. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. 📷 by me
#Archaeology
Decorated with river plants and lotus flowers, blue faience hippos are associated with the life-giving Nile and rebirth. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. 📷 by me
#Archaeology
Reposted by Ben Evans
I'm catching up on some Quarkus news and this one caught my eye
quarkus.io/blog/buildin...
It all started from "builds are slow", and the team as usual asked the 5 whys (or more) and reset all expectations to find a proper solution. Proud of this community ❤️.
quarkus.io/blog/buildin...
It all started from "builds are slow", and the team as usual asked the 5 whys (or more) and reset all expectations to find a proper solution. Proud of this community ❤️.
Towards faster builds
Quarkus: Supersonic Subatomic Java
quarkus.io
February 12, 2026 at 8:54 AM
I'm catching up on some Quarkus news and this one caught my eye
quarkus.io/blog/buildin...
It all started from "builds are slow", and the team as usual asked the 5 whys (or more) and reset all expectations to find a proper solution. Proud of this community ❤️.
quarkus.io/blog/buildin...
It all started from "builds are slow", and the team as usual asked the 5 whys (or more) and reset all expectations to find a proper solution. Proud of this community ❤️.
Reposted by Ben Evans
This fucking court won’t let ANYTHING self-identify
🚨 NEW: The Supreme Court has ruled that oat milk can no longer be called milk
February 11, 2026 at 7:36 PM
This fucking court won’t let ANYTHING self-identify
Reposted by Ben Evans
We need to talk about the rise of "smol bean fascism" where you have all the guns and the immunity but the really scary people are the ones with whistles and phone cameras and they're giving you generational trauma and ptsd by filming you killing people for no reason
January 28, 2026 at 9:25 PM
We need to talk about the rise of "smol bean fascism" where you have all the guns and the immunity but the really scary people are the ones with whistles and phone cameras and they're giving you generational trauma and ptsd by filming you killing people for no reason
Reposted by Ben Evans
"The existence of talking machines—entities that can do many of the things that only we have ever been able to do—throws a lot of other things into question."
A cement mixer also does work that was unique to humans at one point. But we're not asking general contractors whether they're conscious.
A cement mixer also does work that was unique to humans at one point. But we're not asking general contractors whether they're conscious.
February 11, 2026 at 3:53 PM
"The existence of talking machines—entities that can do many of the things that only we have ever been able to do—throws a lot of other things into question."
A cement mixer also does work that was unique to humans at one point. But we're not asking general contractors whether they're conscious.
A cement mixer also does work that was unique to humans at one point. But we're not asking general contractors whether they're conscious.
Reposted by Ben Evans
![Cartoon.
A person is standing in front of a desktop computer.
PERSON: Say "I am alive"
COMPUTER: [typed text] I AM ALIVE
PERSON: oh my god.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nsoblc5guyu4evlajh6lbr7a/bafkreicaq6i3jv2w223pcow55azh7bqwarss2sdushdxzwqzcl5xclrpwa@jpeg)
Reposted by Ben Evans
fun fact: the big air snowboarding ramp at the winter olympics is only 5° steeper than the cheese rolling hill.
February 10, 2026 at 3:10 PM
fun fact: the big air snowboarding ramp at the winter olympics is only 5° steeper than the cheese rolling hill.
Reposted by Ben Evans
we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad
February 10, 2026 at 8:18 PM
we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad
Reposted by Ben Evans
My "I was never a close friend of Peter Mandelson" T-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my shirt.
February 10, 2026 at 10:24 AM
My "I was never a close friend of Peter Mandelson" T-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by my shirt.
Reposted by Ben Evans
Other Wuthering Heights movies are but placeholders until the one star who was born to be Cathy becomes available.
February 10, 2026 at 9:05 AM
Other Wuthering Heights movies are but placeholders until the one star who was born to be Cathy becomes available.
Reposted by Ben Evans
BREAKING: PLUMMER ALSO DID HVAC WORK
February 10, 2026 at 7:41 AM
BREAKING: PLUMMER ALSO DID HVAC WORK
Looks like key person risk is back on the menu, boys!
Uh. I'm not working on an engineering team right now. So I don't have pessonal experience. But from what I'm hearing? It's not looking good. No, backlogs are not getting shorter. There are more "projects" in flight though as people let AI churn on problems.
How many enterprise companies have meaningfully reduced, or eliminated, their software engineering backlogs. Are we at the point where GenAI is paying off in production?
Are salaries increasing to match this new level of productivity?
Are salaries increasing to match this new level of productivity?
February 10, 2026 at 8:39 PM
Looks like key person risk is back on the menu, boys!
Reposted by Ben Evans
![Comic. [Person with ponytail pointing to diagram on wall as she talks to two other people, one with short hair.] PERSON 1: The high carbon content of the skeleton indicates that the individual lived less than 12.6 billion years ago, after the first round of stellar nucleosynthesis. [caption] Cosmologist carbon dating](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreiaaaa2fduedn5fusan4xvikaehxgps2yxdlv7vb3j7ep323zta2u4@jpeg)
February 10, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by Ben Evans
New acrylic painting of the frankly gorgeous Karim Diané as Jay-Den Kraag from #StarfleetAcademy. (Acrylic on cold-pressed watercolour block.) #StarTrek
February 10, 2026 at 11:20 AM
New acrylic painting of the frankly gorgeous Karim Diané as Jay-Den Kraag from #StarfleetAcademy. (Acrylic on cold-pressed watercolour block.) #StarTrek
Reposted by Ben Evans
"What separates us from liberals is the repression of ourselves, our prejudice toward others, and our severe lack of character which makes us fawn in the shadow of oppression; persecuting those just like us"
February 10, 2026 at 5:10 PM
"What separates us from liberals is the repression of ourselves, our prejudice toward others, and our severe lack of character which makes us fawn in the shadow of oppression; persecuting those just like us"
Reposted by Ben Evans
No, not the paedophile you're thinking of. A different one.
BREAKING | Starmer’s paedophile-linked peer and former comms chief quits Labour Party
trib.al/B3DT9BW
trib.al/B3DT9BW
Starmer’s paedophile-linked peer and former comms chief quits Labour Party
Matthew Doyle has apologised for his past association with a paedophile councillor Sean Morton
trib.al
February 10, 2026 at 5:02 PM
No, not the paedophile you're thinking of. A different one.
Reposted by Ben Evans
That’s what’s up.
February 10, 2026 at 5:11 AM
That’s what’s up.
Reposted by Ben Evans
Yes, he’s dressed up as a cup of coffee, but he’s also wearing his councillor’s hi-vis jacket. Important health and safety tip, there.
Council has 'slipped its clutch' on park café closures, councillor says
Newcastle councillor Doc Anand said that the closures of cafés in Exhibition and Paddy Freeman's Parks extended beyond food and drink
www.chroniclelive.co.uk
February 10, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Yes, he’s dressed up as a cup of coffee, but he’s also wearing his councillor’s hi-vis jacket. Important health and safety tip, there.
Reposted by Ben Evans
