iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 16/09/2026

@whitequark I’m no where near your level, but it’s no less terrifying.

A graph rising dramatically from left (2015) to right (2026), showing 641.8K average downloads per day for September 2026.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 13/09/2026

Amodei asking everyone to “slow down” the pace of AI

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 05/09/2026

Found in the vendor hall. A pennant featuring Kermit dressed like David Byrne of Talking Heads. #DragonCon

Several pennants in a vendor booth. The one that is the focus shows Kermit the Frog wearing a suit with rather large shoulder pads and the phrase “Same as it ever was.”

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 04/09/2026

Hello, #DragonCon! (Photos from last night.)

Cosplayers at Dragon Con. Both are Green Lanterns, but one is a Rocketeer/Green Lantern mash-up.

Cosplayers at Dragon Con, dressed as characters from Pixar’s Inside Out. Each holds a glowing orb, glowing with the color for their character.

Cosplayers at Dragon Con, dressed as characters from Spaceballs. One is a pregnant woman with a sticker on her belly that reads: “Spaceballs: The Baby.”

Cosplayers at Dragon Con, dressed as employees from The Varsity restaurant in Atlanta. They are handing out hats and badge ribbons to anyone who approaches them and says “What’ll y’all have?”

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 08/08/2026

At #FediCon, @dansup tells us how @loops is doing 1 year later. #FOSSY

Daniel Supernault stands in front of a chalk board and a projection screen displaying a bright pink background and the number 98,888,400.

Slide showing a graph of Loops user growth over a year, from 0 to 44,242 users.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 08/08/2026

I would like to know the story behind this Tim Burton-inspired style painting by “Turd Ferguson” hanging on the wall at Brown’s Crafthouse UBC in Vancouver. (“Turd Ferguson” was the name Norm MacDonald as Burt Reynolds gave on an old SNL Celebrity Jeopardy […] [Original post on phpc.social]

A large painting in a Tim Burton-esque style, with the artist signature “Turd Ferguson.”

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 06/08/2026

First talk at #FOSSY is Daniel Scherzer’s “From First PR to Release Manager: A Path into Open Source,” his own story about contributing to #PHP as a release manager.

Daniel Scherzer speaking at FOSSY. He’s looking at the screen, which has a slide with the title “Anyone can contribute” and the comic XKCD #1954, “Imposter Syndrome.”

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 05/08/2026

Remember that one day in 1990 when everyone was eating oat bran muffins?

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 20/07/2026

@ret Zend Studio for Eclipse… #PHP

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 15/07/2026

There are so many possibilities!

A text message I received this morning that asks, “Hi, is this Mr. Johnson, the network cable repairman?”

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 08/07/2026

It’s not Wednesday until this photo of @Philsturgeon graces your feed. From this post: mastodon.green/@Philsturgeon/116883…

A white man with dark hair, glasses, and a beard holds a mini chainsaw up while making a bug-eyed, wide mouthed, “crazy” face.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 09/06/2026

Elizabeth announces six ways the get involved in the work of @thephpf, rolling out over the rest of this year. #PHP #PHPverse #ThePHPF

A screenshot of a slide from Elizabeth Barron’s “Getting to Know the PHP Foundation” at PHPverse.

Six ways to get involved: community special interest groups

Rolling out May through October — each tackles a real gap, and we’re building them with you.

* Ecosystem Security Team
* PHP Ambassador Program
* Onboarding Initiative
* Cryptography SIG
* Community Events Coalition
* Accessibility & Inclusion

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 09/06/2026

Shout out to all of the financial supporters of @thephpf! #PHP #PHPverse #ThePHPF

A slide from Elizabeth Barron’s PHP Foundation talk at PHPverse. It lists some of the top sponsors of the PHP Foundation: JetBrains, Automattic, Sovereign Tech Agency, Alpha-Omega, Team Blue, and GoDaddy.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 09/06/2026

Closing out the day, @elizabeth shares what @thephpf is up to to keep PHP healthy, funded, and thriving. #PHP #PHPverse #ThePHPF

A screenshot of Elizabeth Barron presenting on The PHP Foundation at PHPverse.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 09/06/2026

Up next at #PHPverse is @Crell, talking about how the PHP RFC process works. #PHP

A screenshot of Larry presenting at PHPverse.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 09/06/2026

#Packagist The Road Ahead: Build provenance and verification #PHP #PHPVerse

Slides from “Composer and Packagist Supply Chain Security in 2026” by Nils Adermann

Build provenance and verification

* Build provenance and attestations on hosted artifacts
SLSA provenance plus Sigstore attestations, verified client-side. What was built, where, when, from which commit.
* The 2.10 policy framework already aims here
Built to let orgs choose, at fine granularity, which artifacts to trust by provenance.
* Standards we target
OpenSSF Principles for Package Repository Security Authorization Track L3 (repo provides build provenance), and SLSA Dependency Track (Working Draft) L3-L4.
* Long-term
Major client and repository work. npm shipped signed provenance in 2023, PyPl attestations in 2024. We want the ergonomics right first.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 09/06/2026

Minimum release age (cooldown) is coming to #Packagist! #PHP #PHPverse

Nils Adermann presents on PHPverse. The screenshot shows a livestream from YouTube, currently focused on slide that reads:

Minimum release age (cooldown)

* Refuse versions newer than N hours or days. Most malicious versions are caught or pulled within hours of publication.
* Blocker: attackers can control timestamps. Packagist.org reads release time from git, so an attacker controlling the repo controls the clock. Not a security input until we assign it.

Takeaway: Easy to specify, impossible to trust until we control the publication timestamp. Staged publishing fixes that.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 20/05/2026

The #NativePHP talk by Shane Rosenthal has just the right amount of information I was looking for. I love seeing all the details on how they accomplished this on mobile. #PHPTek

From App Launch to Ready
What happens between user taps the icon and the first screen paints

01, Process spawn, Boot the app
02, Load native libraries, Load PHP into the process (System. LoadLibrary("php"))
03, JNI bridge setup, JNI_OnLoad - register native methods
04, Extract Laravel bundle, laravel_bundle.zip + app_storage/laravel/
05, Set environment, setenv() x~40 (APP_KEY, DB_*, SESSION*, -)
06, Warm Laravel, artisan optimize:clear, storage: link, run migrations
07, Ready, WebView → http://127.0.0.1/ (PHP stays alive)

The Full Call Flow

PHP/JS
nativephp_call()

→

C ext
PHPCall()

→

JNI / Swift
Registry lookup

→

Dispatch Event
Web View / Laravel/
Native

Round trip: < 0.1ms bridge overhead

~3 microseconds for the bridge itself

Actual time is whatever the native operation takes.

Lock-Free Rendering

Double Buffering
- PHP writes to inactive buffer.
- Atomic pointer swap when done.
- Native reads the other buffer.
- No locks needed.

Shadow Copy Diffing
- memcmp() entire buffer before signaling.
- if identical — skip the native pass.
- Zero wasted renders.
- One memcmp vs an entire render pass.

Three Threads, One Ul

• PHP Thread - Publishes flat buffer, signals
• Shadow Thread - Parses, layout, diffs, posts
• Main Thread - Compose / SwiftUl render

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 18/05/2026

There’s a @joepferguson down there somewhere. #PHPTek

Photo of a hotel atrium, as viewed from the 10th floor.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 13/04/2026

obi-wan-kenobi-now-thats-a-name-ive-not-heard-in-a-long-time.gif #PHP

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 02/04/2026

I'm guessing the sun's angle changed, and the lens flares shifted, so the view is much nicer now.

Image from the Orion capsule of Artemis II. In the foreground is vehicle arm of some sort. In the middle is the silhouette of a body in crescent shape (the Earth?). In the background is a purple lens flare.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 02/04/2026

Can someone explain what we’re seeing here? Is that the Earth in silhouette, with lens flares from the sun? #ArtemisII

Screenshot of video from the Orion capsule of Artemis II. A body (the Earth?) is in crescent, with lens flares in the foreground and background.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 27/03/2026

ramsey/uuid mentioned in print! This is a reminder that @phparch is a monthly magazine dedicated PHP. Go subscribe! (Thanks, @omerida, for using my library in your article; I got a kick out of it.) www.phparch.com #PHP

$A close-up photograph of a page from a magazine. There is some PHP code in focus showing the configuration of the PHPArkitect (sic) tool that analyzes your software architecture. The rule in focus says “we want to protect our domain from external dependencies except for Ramsey\Uuid.”$

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 22/03/2026

Trying to wire some money from an account to @OpenSourceCollective, and Wells Fargo does this. Really, Wells Fargo? Really? Get better programmers!

A screenshot of a page at the Wells Fargo banking website, asking for the recipient’s address. In the address field is the value “440 N Barranca Ave #3939.” However, the address field is outlined in red, and underneath, in red text, it says, “The address cannot contain special characters.”

They think addresses cannot contain number symbols.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 16/03/2026

This whole area is looking pretty sus right now. #Nashville #SevereWeather

A screenshot of RadarScope showing Nashville and areas to the south. There are two radar images: one is super-res reflectivity, and the other is super-res storm relative velocity. The Spring Hill area, south of Franklin, is circled in blue.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 16/03/2026

This is a radar-indicated tornado, heading pretty much straight for us. In this image, it looks a bit like it’s lost some of its shape. #Nashville #SevereWeather

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 10/01/2026

“Dennis, there's some lovely SLOP down here.”

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 31/12/2025

@corbden Speaking of TMNT and Other Strangeness, I was part of the Palladium Kickstarter to reprint those books in full-color hardback, and my copies just came in a couple of weeks ago!

Two hardcover books are positioned “fanning out.”

The one on top does not display a title (it is TMNT and Other Strangeness), and it has full-color artwork by Freddie E. Williams II and Michael Majestic (according to the title page) and is signed “Eastman ’24.” It features a collage on a cityscape background, but Master Splinter in the front, flanked by April O’Neal and Casey Jones. Above them are the four ninja turtles, each holding the weapon they are known for, and, oddly, showcasing headbands using the colors from the cartoons and movies (instead of all red, as they were in the comics).

The second book is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Transdimensional Adventures, featuring full-color artwork again by Freddie E. Williams II and Michael Majestic. The part of the book that can be seen in the photo shows part of a t-rex and other creatures.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 29/12/2025

It’s kinda cool to be among the 1% of players who got the “I Love Trams!” achievement on Steam for Cities: Skylines. I wasn’t even trying for it; my city just has trams everywhere. #CitiesSkylines #Steam

A screenshot of the “I Love Trams!” badge on Steam:

I Love Trams!
Have 10 tram lines active
1.0% of players have this achievement
Unlocked Dec. 28, 2025, 6:47 PM

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 25/12/2025

I’m not sure what’s going on with my phone, but many of the app icons are the “blank” iOS placeholder icon. It’s been like this since yesterday morning, and I’ve rebooted my phone multiple times, but that hasn’t fixed it. (The yellow-green boxes are my additions […] [Original post on phpc.social]

A screenshot of my phone, showing many of the apps using the iOS placeholder icon.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 24/12/2025

#HugOps to Steam’s engineers. Christmas Eve is not a great day for your store, community, and API to be down. 😬 steamstat.us

A screenshot of steamstat.us. There are websocket errors for online on steam and in-game on steam, and the Steam Store, Steam Community, and Steam Web API are all showing as “offline.”

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 17/12/2025

It's a big month! PHP 8.1 is EOL on the 31st. Barring any unforeseen emergency security releases, this week will mark the final PHP 8.1 release. #PHP

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 15/12/2025

This is what it was supposed to look like. /cc @Crell @mwop

> Going to be controversial here, but this is
> confusing, because it operates in the
> exact opposite of every other usage of =>
> we have. With associative arrays, the left
> is assigned to the expression on the right;
> with arrow functions, the return value is
> the expression on the right; with match,
> the expression on the right is returned.

This is going to be easy to get wrong.

I agree with Matthew.

I think it makes more sense to reverse them, like this:

using ($cVar => new CM()) {
// Do stuff here.
}

I think it’s still clear what this is doing, when reading it.

Cheers,
Ben

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 11/12/2025

First time I’ve seen this, but it’s pretty cool. I think it only works on Mastodon clients, though. @MonaApp (beta version) still shows the link (which is how Mona worked even before Mastodon added native quote-posting).

A screenshot from the Mastodon web UI of a quote-post I made. The link is hidden behind a “Post pending” box, while Mastodon is waiting for the original author to confirm my quote post.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 08/12/2025

My son sent this to me…

An image of two crabs. One is larger than the other. On the image is the text:

“Your brain thinks these crabs are different sizes. However, this is true because they are different sizes. This is because of an effect in your brain called seeing.”

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 07/12/2025

I know it’s wrong to respond to these—it’s most likely a pig butchering scam—but I couldn’t help myself.

A text message from someone asking, “Jenny, are you free tomorrow?”

I responded with, “Jenny’s number is 867-5309”

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 27/11/2025

[Cyberpunk 2077: potential spoilers] Just found this conversation on a random dead body in Night City. #Cyberpunk2077 #TheMatrix

ARCHIVED CONVERSATION: JOHN ANDERSON AND ORPH3U5

ORPH3U5: They're coming for you.
JOHN ANDERSON: who?
ORPH3U5: Get up and look.
JOHN ANDERSON: don't recognize em
ORPH3U5: Irrelevant. What matter is what they'll do when they find you.
JOHN ANDERSON, fuck.. so what now?
ORPH3U5: You need to leave the office. Now.
JOHN ANDERSON: OK, making a break for the elevator.
ORPHEUS: I suspect that's a bad idea.
ORPH3U5: You'll run straight into them.
JOHN ANDERSON: so what am I supposed to do? teleport?!
ORPH3U5: I will help you, but i'll need your full cooperation.
JOHN ANDERSON: ok, talk
ORPH3U5: Take a right out of your cubicle. Don't look back.
ORPH3U5: Stop.
JOHN ANDERSON: we good?
ORPH3U5: Yes. Go into the room on the other side of the hall.
JOHN ANDERSON: i'm there
ORPH3U5: Now open the window.
JOHN ANDERSON: what??
ORPH3U5: Open the window. There is a ledge. Use it to reach the emergency exit.
JOHN ANDERSON: nuh-uh, no way
JOHN ANDERSON: i'm afraid of heights
ORPH3U5: Trust me. It's the only way,

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 26/11/2025

Bubble much? “Magnificent Seven” == Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla This chart shows growth of the “Magnificent Seven” vs. the other 493 companies in the S&P 500. Since 2019, the Magnificent Seven have seen 1,057% growth, while the […] [Original post on phpc.social]

This chart shows growth of the “Magnificent Seven” vs. the other 493 companies in the S&P 500. Since 2019, the Magnificent Seven have seen 1,057% growth, while the other 493 have seen only 132% growth.

Source: Bloomberg 500 index
Federica Cocco / The Washington Post

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 12/11/2025

[Potential Dogtown spoilers in Cyberpunk 2077] El Capitán was not pleased with the condition of this vehicle. #Cyberpunk2077

A photo of a beat up, blue vehicle in the game Cyberpunk 2077, missing all four doors and its hood. It is scratched up, dented, and some of the tires are flat. The main character, V, is in the driver’s seat, driving the car down the road.

A photo of a beat up, blue vehicle in the game Cyberpunk 2077, missing all four doors, its hood, all the windows, and the front and rear bumpers. It is scratched up, dented, and some of the tires are flat. It’s sitting in a vehicle chop shop, waiting for repairs.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 12/11/2025

[Potential Dogtown spoilers in Cyberpunk 2077] Speaking of playing the guitar, this little untitled robot side quest was pretty rad. #Cyberpunk2077

A robot plays guitar. In the game, its hands appear to move naturally on the fretboard and has it strums and picks the strings.

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Ben Ramsey @ramsey.dev · 08/09/2025

Photos from a special edition of #WurstCon, celebrating the life of Ryan Weaver

Yuri, Larry, and Chris look on and Jacques records a video, as Jeremy applies a WurstCon sticker to a door.

The Yesterdog counter. On the wall is the Yesterdog menu and a lot of memorabilia. There are also t-shirts hanging for sale.

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