Benjamin Borowski 🍁
@typeoneerror.com
🔮 Notion warlock at notionmastery.com
🧱 Product maker at weareokidoki.com
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🧱 Product maker at weareokidoki.com
🤠 Latest at typeoneerror.com
👨🚒 Volunteer firefighter (Lt.)
👨💻 Hacker (rb/js/ios/php)
🎹 Producer (soundcloud.com/hacynth)
🎧 DJ (mixcloud.com/hacynth)
Avatar by Vic Nguyen
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Benjamin Borowski 🍁
@typeoneerror.com
· Oct 26
Hello, new friends! 👋
I'm Ben. I'm a software/product guy and one of the world's top Notion experts. I make software and currently run the NotionMastery.com program.
Connect with me if you're interested in my favorite topics: Systems, Complexity, Permaculture.
Here are my favorite books:
I'm Ben. I'm a software/product guy and one of the world's top Notion experts. I make software and currently run the NotionMastery.com program.
Connect with me if you're interested in my favorite topics: Systems, Complexity, Permaculture.
Here are my favorite books:
Reposted by Benjamin Borowski 🍁
Endorsed. And I’ve built AI in education, long time back.
So why skepticism now? Good applications require a pedagogy which is not consistent with today’s scaling of AI in an industrial-style of education. You can’t cut through that.
Wait it out — and learn the pedagogy while you wait.
So why skepticism now? Good applications require a pedagogy which is not consistent with today’s scaling of AI in an industrial-style of education. You can’t cut through that.
Wait it out — and learn the pedagogy while you wait.
if I was advising AI-curious junior folks it'd 100% just don't use it at all, stay out of it, let the whole thing just pass you by. It's much safer (as well as frankly better for one's teaching).
November 20, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Endorsed. And I’ve built AI in education, long time back.
So why skepticism now? Good applications require a pedagogy which is not consistent with today’s scaling of AI in an industrial-style of education. You can’t cut through that.
Wait it out — and learn the pedagogy while you wait.
So why skepticism now? Good applications require a pedagogy which is not consistent with today’s scaling of AI in an industrial-style of education. You can’t cut through that.
Wait it out — and learn the pedagogy while you wait.
Reposted by Benjamin Borowski 🍁
In other words: no one is going to let you sit at the adults table and "do strategy" just because you finished your dinosaur nuggets twice as quickly.
Best case scenario, you get another helping of dinosaur nuggets. More realistically, half of you get laid off, and the other half get 2x the work.
Best case scenario, you get another helping of dinosaur nuggets. More realistically, half of you get laid off, and the other half get 2x the work.
November 19, 2025 at 11:30 PM
In other words: no one is going to let you sit at the adults table and "do strategy" just because you finished your dinosaur nuggets twice as quickly.
Best case scenario, you get another helping of dinosaur nuggets. More realistically, half of you get laid off, and the other half get 2x the work.
Best case scenario, you get another helping of dinosaur nuggets. More realistically, half of you get laid off, and the other half get 2x the work.
Reposted by Benjamin Borowski 🍁
The Possible Futures workshops are so centering for me. They always bring me back to what any of this is for.
People approach this from so many angles, and still the same themes emerge: we want connection, belonging, healing, purpose, safety. 🧵
People approach this from so many angles, and still the same themes emerge: we want connection, belonging, healing, purpose, safety. 🧵
November 18, 2025 at 9:55 PM
The Possible Futures workshops are so centering for me. They always bring me back to what any of this is for.
People approach this from so many angles, and still the same themes emerge: we want connection, belonging, healing, purpose, safety. 🧵
People approach this from so many angles, and still the same themes emerge: we want connection, belonging, healing, purpose, safety. 🧵
a wave of amazing deterministic and human-centric software is coming. it focuses on consent, data portability, and security and completely eschews AI. i know because this is what I want, not as a user, but as a human. i feel so positive about the future because the present is literally hell. revolt!
November 19, 2025 at 9:34 PM
a wave of amazing deterministic and human-centric software is coming. it focuses on consent, data portability, and security and completely eschews AI. i know because this is what I want, not as a user, but as a human. i feel so positive about the future because the present is literally hell. revolt!
Better yet, like cigarettes, an objective harm warning: "AI harms sense-making and is exploitative."
Unless you find disinfo, revenge porn, crime, theft, gambling, addiction, self-harm, et al entertaining (many do!)
There is no ethical or safe use of AI under corporate governance.
Unless you find disinfo, revenge porn, crime, theft, gambling, addiction, self-harm, et al entertaining (many do!)
There is no ethical or safe use of AI under corporate governance.
We need a public awareness campaign to start treating generative AI like Miss Cleo. “For entertainment purposes only.”
”Doctors agreed that long wait times for appointments were bad, yet also expressed concerns about patients turning to magic 8 balls for medical advice”
November 19, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Better yet, like cigarettes, an objective harm warning: "AI harms sense-making and is exploitative."
Unless you find disinfo, revenge porn, crime, theft, gambling, addiction, self-harm, et al entertaining (many do!)
There is no ethical or safe use of AI under corporate governance.
Unless you find disinfo, revenge porn, crime, theft, gambling, addiction, self-harm, et al entertaining (many do!)
There is no ethical or safe use of AI under corporate governance.
Reposted by Benjamin Borowski 🍁
Whenever I see "use AI or get left behind" I remember this children's poem by Grigori Oster:
If you ever want to get
ahead of your peers,
Never chase after those
Who are currently leading.
In five minutes, disappointed,
they will run back this way,
Not having moved,
you will be in the lead.
If you ever want to get
ahead of your peers,
Never chase after those
Who are currently leading.
In five minutes, disappointed,
they will run back this way,
Not having moved,
you will be in the lead.
November 18, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Whenever I see "use AI or get left behind" I remember this children's poem by Grigori Oster:
If you ever want to get
ahead of your peers,
Never chase after those
Who are currently leading.
In five minutes, disappointed,
they will run back this way,
Not having moved,
you will be in the lead.
If you ever want to get
ahead of your peers,
Never chase after those
Who are currently leading.
In five minutes, disappointed,
they will run back this way,
Not having moved,
you will be in the lead.
Had to fix this egregious design oversight with Notion Agent customization.
November 18, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Had to fix this egregious design oversight with Notion Agent customization.
🆕 "Compact" layout in Gallery views in #Notion is slick. Great for "action" cards with buttons. Allows you to display properties wrapped instead of a single line for each prop. Can be adjusted per property in "Compact card settings".
November 18, 2025 at 4:25 AM
🆕 "Compact" layout in Gallery views in #Notion is slick. Great for "action" cards with buttons. Allows you to display properties wrapped instead of a single line for each prop. Can be adjusted per property in "Compact card settings".
Reposted by Benjamin Borowski 🍁
For me one of the most fascinating aspects of AI is that it can definitely do some kinds of work for you, but you must in all cases supply the expertise. If you do not, you will eventually err catastrophically.
I am reminded of Ashby’s Law.
1/
I am reminded of Ashby’s Law.
1/
July 22, 2025 at 3:39 AM
For me one of the most fascinating aspects of AI is that it can definitely do some kinds of work for you, but you must in all cases supply the expertise. If you do not, you will eventually err catastrophically.
I am reminded of Ashby’s Law.
1/
I am reminded of Ashby’s Law.
1/
Reposted by Benjamin Borowski 🍁
Matthew McConaughey is on the Texas sideline, which implies that they're losing because they're not using Agentforce, the powerful new AI from Salesforce
November 16, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Matthew McConaughey is on the Texas sideline, which implies that they're losing because they're not using Agentforce, the powerful new AI from Salesforce
They did say we were allowed to use calculators on the test. @notion.com formulas are calculators, right? 😏
November 16, 2025 at 2:21 AM
They did say we were allowed to use calculators on the test. @notion.com formulas are calculators, right? 😏
Reposted by Benjamin Borowski 🍁
What, exactly, does this string of words mean? Why does everyone who stands to profit from selling "AI" love to repeat it? And what's the value of slogans that masquerade as history?
sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/...
sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/...
"The Printing Press Democratized Knowledge": When Slogans Masquerade as History — Sonja Drimmer
The phrase is said so frequently it seems, like the mechanism it celebrates, to mechanically replicate itself. It's become a favorite catchphrase among tech boosters of any sort (see my post on...
sonjadrimmer.com
September 10, 2025 at 7:51 PM
What, exactly, does this string of words mean? Why does everyone who stands to profit from selling "AI" love to repeat it? And what's the value of slogans that masquerade as history?
sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/...
sonjadrimmer.com/blog-1/2025/...
I've never known what to do at the beep as I always hang up before I get to it.
November 15, 2025 at 5:55 PM
I've never known what to do at the beep as I always hang up before I get to it.
I haven't done this much math since grade school. (Learning how to calculate friction loss in various hose layouts). I swear I will not sign up for any courses in 2026!
November 15, 2025 at 5:52 PM
I haven't done this much math since grade school. (Learning how to calculate friction loss in various hose layouts). I swear I will not sign up for any courses in 2026!
This is the one I'm grieving the most. I've always been a "firefox guy". I think we're not giving enough credence to the fact that the internet has a terminal illness and we're in perpetual grief cycles as creative technologist.
Anyway here's a pic of my fav firefox I'm still grieving the loss of.
Anyway here's a pic of my fav firefox I'm still grieving the loss of.
November 15, 2025 at 3:59 PM
This is the one I'm grieving the most. I've always been a "firefox guy". I think we're not giving enough credence to the fact that the internet has a terminal illness and we're in perpetual grief cycles as creative technologist.
Anyway here's a pic of my fav firefox I'm still grieving the loss of.
Anyway here's a pic of my fav firefox I'm still grieving the loss of.
Post a gaming picture that gives you video game anxiety.
November 15, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Post a gaming picture that gives you video game anxiety.
Reposted by Benjamin Borowski 🍁
why did the tiktok teens centralize around unalive instead of krill yourself, or shrimpicide. got scrimped (dead). seein shrimp colors (dead). you can even reclaim and conform the neologism, ready? prawnalive. murder? merguia, that's a land scrimp. also works for morgue. pistol shrimp? gun.
August 15, 2025 at 3:38 AM
why did the tiktok teens centralize around unalive instead of krill yourself, or shrimpicide. got scrimped (dead). seein shrimp colors (dead). you can even reclaim and conform the neologism, ready? prawnalive. murder? merguia, that's a land scrimp. also works for morgue. pistol shrimp? gun.
Reposted by Benjamin Borowski 🍁
We host live weekly review for our students; a 1 hour (often 2) co-working/body-doubling session where we close gaps, reflect, and plan ahead. No chatter, just review. Some folks say they don't have an hour to review. To that I say "if you don't have an hour to review, you probably need two." 😉
November 14, 2025 at 8:59 PM
We host live weekly review for our students; a 1 hour (often 2) co-working/body-doubling session where we close gaps, reflect, and plan ahead. No chatter, just review. Some folks say they don't have an hour to review. To that I say "if you don't have an hour to review, you probably need two." 😉
Great list. I'd also add "don't use MCP", but kind of implied by 1, I think. Frankly, I wouldn't recommend agents to most people. It's "easy" when you're a person like Nate here, but even then, it seems relatively easy to footgun unless diligent. Should probably be considered experimental tooling.
After a deep dive on LLM agent security, here's things I think we should all be doing but aren't:
1. Running agents on remote containers only.
2. Doing internet research in a separate cleanroom env
3. Having LLMs read logs daily for signs of exfiltration/promptjacking
1. Running agents on remote containers only.
2. Doing internet research in a separate cleanroom env
3. Having LLMs read logs daily for signs of exfiltration/promptjacking
November 14, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Great list. I'd also add "don't use MCP", but kind of implied by 1, I think. Frankly, I wouldn't recommend agents to most people. It's "easy" when you're a person like Nate here, but even then, it seems relatively easy to footgun unless diligent. Should probably be considered experimental tooling.
Alpha launch! First modules of Architecting Workspaces are with alpha testers. This is my guidebook (and toolkit) for building fault-tolerant and scalable Notion workspaces for teams. My consultant's manual. More in the coming months. For now, giving myself time to celebration! 🎉
November 14, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Alpha launch! First modules of Architecting Workspaces are with alpha testers. This is my guidebook (and toolkit) for building fault-tolerant and scalable Notion workspaces for teams. My consultant's manual. More in the coming months. For now, giving myself time to celebration! 🎉
i think about a month to work on my personal website could fix me
November 13, 2025 at 11:33 PM
i think about a month to work on my personal website could fix me
I have to remind myself that all the agentic coding right now is what's breaking software. It's not that my power is growing. It's definitely not that. ps sorry.
one of my woo beliefs is that mercury in retrograde is nonsense and *I* am the force responsible. tech just gives up in my presence. last night I was told not to touch Engine 2 at the fire hall because "It only breaks when you use it". if you think you have no bugs in your product, let me try.
November 13, 2025 at 4:09 PM
I have to remind myself that all the agentic coding right now is what's breaking software. It's not that my power is growing. It's definitely not that. ps sorry.
Reposted by Benjamin Borowski 🍁
Every now and then I answer a question earnestly and it turns out the asker is using AI to generate both their question and responses. Initially I have this feeling of gfy, but I've decided that earnest authenticity is always worth it. What's wrong with answering AI in earnest. Who might benefit?
November 13, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Every now and then I answer a question earnestly and it turns out the asker is using AI to generate both their question and responses. Initially I have this feeling of gfy, but I've decided that earnest authenticity is always worth it. What's wrong with answering AI in earnest. Who might benefit?