Ben Fry
@benfry.com
While trying to sort out and assemble my own thoughts about generative AI, it's been helpful to take in the work of others who are more articulate about it.
www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...
www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...
January 11, 2026 at 5:36 PM
While trying to sort out and assemble my own thoughts about generative AI, it's been helpful to take in the work of others who are more articulate about it.
www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...
www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...
“6 or 7 characters should be plenty for a password, or maybe 8 if you must”
![Connect to the file server “borges” as:
( ) Guest
(x) Registered User
Name: [ a very large text field… ]
Password: [••••••••] [x] Add to Keychain](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:3jxxtvxhel7vjozs4kg63mh4/bafkreiawqba3kf7qnfcdqmuszedu44wx4bya2chfc7xmt5xvwokant4zum@jpeg)
December 23, 2025 at 12:20 AM
“6 or 7 characters should be plenty for a password, or maybe 8 if you must”
I miss this being the most annoying thing a piece of software might do… It sounded so desperate and lame, but was just an eye roll.
Now you fire up one of the Adobe apps and it goes completely nuts phoning home. This is my laptop's firewall saying wtf after double-clicking Photoshop.
Now you fire up one of the Adobe apps and it goes completely nuts phoning home. This is my laptop's firewall saying wtf after double-clicking Photoshop.
December 9, 2025 at 5:12 PM
I miss this being the most annoying thing a piece of software might do… It sounded so desperate and lame, but was just an eye roll.
Now you fire up one of the Adobe apps and it goes completely nuts phoning home. This is my laptop's firewall saying wtf after double-clicking Photoshop.
Now you fire up one of the Adobe apps and it goes completely nuts phoning home. This is my laptop's firewall saying wtf after double-clicking Photoshop.
I'm terrible at marketing so I asked ChatGPT 5 to make an ad for rowboat.net
December 2, 2025 at 7:58 PM
I'm terrible at marketing so I asked ChatGPT 5 to make an ad for rowboat.net
Inverse Histogram of Seltzer Flavor Preference at New England-based Design & Software Development Studio (2025)
November 26, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Inverse Histogram of Seltzer Flavor Preference at New England-based Design & Software Development Studio (2025)
…and Brazil (which also looks nice in night mode).
November 25, 2025 at 1:13 PM
…and Brazil (which also looks nice in night mode).
…which got Paul thinking about smaller areas he wanted to see, like Andorra, Brunei*, Taiwan…
* this is Brunei/Malaysia/Singapore (many thanks to Geofabrik for these OSM exports)
* this is Brunei/Malaysia/Singapore (many thanks to Geofabrik for these OSM exports)
November 25, 2025 at 1:13 PM
…which got Paul thinking about smaller areas he wanted to see, like Andorra, Brunei*, Taiwan…
* this is Brunei/Malaysia/Singapore (many thanks to Geofabrik for these OSM exports)
* this is Brunei/Malaysia/Singapore (many thanks to Geofabrik for these OSM exports)
…so then Katherine was all “um, Hong Kong?” (love this one! look at those neighborhoods! a new favorite)…
November 25, 2025 at 1:13 PM
…so then Katherine was all “um, Hong Kong?” (love this one! look at those neighborhoods! a new favorite)…
…so then Mark wanted a Finland (which also looks sharp on black, evoking NASA's Earth Lights image)…
November 25, 2025 at 1:13 PM
…so then Mark wanted a Finland (which also looks sharp on black, evoking NASA's Earth Lights image)…
I dusted off the code over the weekend because Karlie was wanting a version of Alaska to give to a friend who moved there and is feeling the disconnect* of living in a very rural area.
* no offense to Alaska, which is stunning and arguably better for its lack of pavement
* no offense to Alaska, which is stunning and arguably better for its lack of pavement
November 25, 2025 at 1:13 PM
I dusted off the code over the weekend because Karlie was wanting a version of Alaska to give to a friend who moved there and is feeling the disconnect* of living in a very rural area.
* no offense to Alaska, which is stunning and arguably better for its lack of pavement
* no offense to Alaska, which is stunning and arguably better for its lack of pavement
Fun with streets… from 2007, here's what a map of the United States* looks like made up of only roads.
No other features have been added to this image, however they emerge as roads avoid mountains, and sparse areas convey low population.
* the “lower 48,” sorry AK & HI
www.benfry.com/allstreets/
No other features have been added to this image, however they emerge as roads avoid mountains, and sparse areas convey low population.
* the “lower 48,” sorry AK & HI
www.benfry.com/allstreets/
November 25, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Fun with streets… from 2007, here's what a map of the United States* looks like made up of only roads.
No other features have been added to this image, however they emerge as roads avoid mountains, and sparse areas convey low population.
* the “lower 48,” sorry AK & HI
www.benfry.com/allstreets/
No other features have been added to this image, however they emerge as roads avoid mountains, and sparse areas convey low population.
* the “lower 48,” sorry AK & HI
www.benfry.com/allstreets/
I'm really struggling with what to even say, but here's a perfect articulation of the work from John Palfrey, the President of the Foundation:
November 18, 2025 at 7:33 PM
I'm really struggling with what to even say, but here's a perfect articulation of the work from John Palfrey, the President of the Foundation:
Delighted that there's an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to the concept of “spherical cows.”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spheric...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spheric...
November 16, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Delighted that there's an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to the concept of “spherical cows.”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spheric...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spheric...
The installer for macOS Sequoia version 15.7.1 is… 15.71 GB.
Well done, everyone. A++
Well done, everyone. A++
November 10, 2025 at 6:15 PM
The installer for macOS Sequoia version 15.7.1 is… 15.71 GB.
Well done, everyone. A++
Well done, everyone. A++
Finally an excuse to purchase: the Playdate is now a work expense.
October 23, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Finally an excuse to purchase: the Playdate is now a work expense.
…and finally, Paul's “My Pet Fox“
October 21, 2025 at 6:06 PM
…and finally, Paul's “My Pet Fox“
…Mark's ominously titled “The Food”…
October 21, 2025 at 6:06 PM
…Mark's ominously titled “The Food”…
…Karlie's “what's outside my submarine”…
October 21, 2025 at 6:06 PM
…Karlie's “what's outside my submarine”…
What Ellory was able to throw together during the hour…
October 21, 2025 at 6:06 PM
What Ellory was able to throw together during the hour…
On Friday's we often end the day with a short workshop taught by someone in the studio. Recently, my 8yo came by the office to teach a (very entertaining) workshop on building stop motion animations with LEGO. Somehow, he was completely unfazed by doing this for people several times his age.
October 21, 2025 at 6:06 PM
On Friday's we often end the day with a short workshop taught by someone in the studio. Recently, my 8yo came by the office to teach a (very entertaining) workshop on building stop motion animations with LEGO. Somehow, he was completely unfazed by doing this for people several times his age.
Reading a bedtime story to my 8yo and was not expecting to find @djpatil.bsky.social as one of the characters in his Wayside School book… 💜
October 8, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Reading a bedtime story to my 8yo and was not expecting to find @djpatil.bsky.social as one of the characters in his Wayside School book… 💜
A couple others burned in my memory… the announcement of the 128K Mac, we also had a Lisa at home for a brief time, and this tiny computer on the beautiful green background, as well as this lovely orange composition…
September 23, 2025 at 4:24 PM
A couple others burned in my memory… the announcement of the 128K Mac, we also had a Lisa at home for a brief time, and this tiny computer on the beautiful green background, as well as this lovely orange composition…