Ben McCarthy
@benricem.bsky.social
Irish, non-binary, maker of apps, taker of photos.
benricemccarthy.com / obscura.camera / croissantapp.com/
weirder here than everywhere else.
they / them
🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🇮🇪
benricemccarthy.com / obscura.camera / croissantapp.com/
weirder here than everywhere else.
they / them
🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🇮🇪
Pinned
Ben McCarthy
@benricem.bsky.social
· Nov 15
I’m Ben 👋
I’m a non-binary designer and developer of apps, most notably Obscura, Croissant, and Ketchup
I’m a huge fan of Lego, video games, coffee, photography, and plenty more
I live in Dublin with my partner Sara, and our two cats, Goose and Zero
#introduction
I’m a non-binary designer and developer of apps, most notably Obscura, Croissant, and Ketchup
I’m a huge fan of Lego, video games, coffee, photography, and plenty more
I live in Dublin with my partner Sara, and our two cats, Goose and Zero
#introduction
I miss my friends but it’ll be years if not decades before I step foot in the US again
BREAKING: Trump administration plans to end prison rape protections for trans & intersex people, memo says. A DOJ memo says certain standards under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) do not align with Trump’s Jan. 20 anti-trans executive order, @byadamrhodes.bsky.social reports.
Trump administration plans to end prison rape protections for trans and intersex people
A Department of Justice memo says certain standards under the Prison Rape Elimination Act do not align with Trump’s executive order
prismreports.org
December 5, 2025 at 8:55 AM
I miss my friends but it’ll be years if not decades before I step foot in the US again
I hope vomit hose guy is having a great week
December 4, 2025 at 6:15 PM
I hope vomit hose guy is having a great week
Live Free or Dye Hard?
No Time To Dye?
Dye Another Day?
No Time To Dye?
Dye Another Day?
December 3, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Live Free or Dye Hard?
No Time To Dye?
Dye Another Day?
No Time To Dye?
Dye Another Day?
I had to deal with this awkward and humiliating line of questioning that has absolutely no relevance to trans healthcare
And I had to wait three years for it.
And they denied my application.
The NGS is inhumane and not fit for purpose.
And I had to wait three years for it.
And they denied my application.
The NGS is inhumane and not fit for purpose.
There is absolutely no excuse or reason why this line of questioning should be allowed to continue in a free and open society in Ireland #SpéirGorm trans people should no longer be subject to this tortuous human rights violation they call healthcare! Fuck the NGS!
www.instagram.com/reel/DRxbq8c...
www.instagram.com/reel/DRxbq8c...
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December 3, 2025 at 12:30 PM
I had to deal with this awkward and humiliating line of questioning that has absolutely no relevance to trans healthcare
And I had to wait three years for it.
And they denied my application.
The NGS is inhumane and not fit for purpose.
And I had to wait three years for it.
And they denied my application.
The NGS is inhumane and not fit for purpose.
Reposted by Ben McCarthy
We seem to have only two choices when it comes to most consumer tech: a) standard evil by a multinational corporation; b) bespoke evil by a weird little guy
If you're switching off Firefox because of the AI shit, going to "Chromium but it's ran by a crypto compatible org whose CEO is a homophobe" is REALLY not the move, folks.
my god dude don't tell people to use brave
December 2, 2025 at 3:31 PM
We seem to have only two choices when it comes to most consumer tech: a) standard evil by a multinational corporation; b) bespoke evil by a weird little guy
Reposted by Ben McCarthy
God I hate how anti-intellectual out times are. I’d rather be sitting here reading interesting books, or learning about astronomy stuff, or making a movie about weird shit - but I gotta spend energy constantly explaining my existence to a world that empathizes more with Nazis then marginalized ppl.
December 2, 2025 at 9:46 AM
God I hate how anti-intellectual out times are. I’d rather be sitting here reading interesting books, or learning about astronomy stuff, or making a movie about weird shit - but I gotta spend energy constantly explaining my existence to a world that empathizes more with Nazis then marginalized ppl.
I really enjoyed the new Stranger Things episodes but I'm starting to think we might not get #JusticeForBarb
November 29, 2025 at 11:01 PM
I really enjoyed the new Stranger Things episodes but I'm starting to think we might not get #JusticeForBarb
Reposted by Ben McCarthy
Announcement time:
Sara, Goose, Zero and I are moving to London in January!
The whole process is proving very expensive (what isn’t these days) so I’ve decided to bump the price of Obscura from $20 to $25 per year. But since it’s black friday, you can get your first year for just $10 yay!
Sara, Goose, Zero and I are moving to London in January!
The whole process is proving very expensive (what isn’t these days) so I’ve decided to bump the price of Obscura from $20 to $25 per year. But since it’s black friday, you can get your first year for just $10 yay!
November 24, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Announcement time:
Sara, Goose, Zero and I are moving to London in January!
The whole process is proving very expensive (what isn’t these days) so I’ve decided to bump the price of Obscura from $20 to $25 per year. But since it’s black friday, you can get your first year for just $10 yay!
Sara, Goose, Zero and I are moving to London in January!
The whole process is proving very expensive (what isn’t these days) so I’ve decided to bump the price of Obscura from $20 to $25 per year. But since it’s black friday, you can get your first year for just $10 yay!
Somehow Sean Penn's lips have returned
November 27, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Somehow Sean Penn's lips have returned
Reposted by Ben McCarthy
What a wonderful President we have. #translivesmatter #transrightsarehumanrights
November 25, 2025 at 8:43 AM
What a wonderful President we have. #translivesmatter #transrightsarehumanrights
Announcement time:
Sara, Goose, Zero and I are moving to London in January!
The whole process is proving very expensive (what isn’t these days) so I’ve decided to bump the price of Obscura from $20 to $25 per year. But since it’s black friday, you can get your first year for just $10 yay!
Sara, Goose, Zero and I are moving to London in January!
The whole process is proving very expensive (what isn’t these days) so I’ve decided to bump the price of Obscura from $20 to $25 per year. But since it’s black friday, you can get your first year for just $10 yay!
November 24, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Announcement time:
Sara, Goose, Zero and I are moving to London in January!
The whole process is proving very expensive (what isn’t these days) so I’ve decided to bump the price of Obscura from $20 to $25 per year. But since it’s black friday, you can get your first year for just $10 yay!
Sara, Goose, Zero and I are moving to London in January!
The whole process is proving very expensive (what isn’t these days) so I’ve decided to bump the price of Obscura from $20 to $25 per year. But since it’s black friday, you can get your first year for just $10 yay!
Try asking ChatGPT about the allegations Sam Altman’s sister made against him
I don't understand how anyone can watch how blatantly Grok is manipulated to answer the way ownership desires it to and then act like the other LLM chatbots couldn't possibly be similarly but less obviously compromised to produce responses in whatever way corporate interests and priorities dictate.
November 24, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Try asking ChatGPT about the allegations Sam Altman’s sister made against him
We just made Black Forest gateau hot chocolate and it was a billion calories of deliciousness
(The cream melted way to fast to get a good photo, sadly)
(The cream melted way to fast to get a good photo, sadly)
November 23, 2025 at 8:55 PM
We just made Black Forest gateau hot chocolate and it was a billion calories of deliciousness
(The cream melted way to fast to get a good photo, sadly)
(The cream melted way to fast to get a good photo, sadly)
Reposted by Ben McCarthy
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
Today I got up at 3am to fly to London so I could spent 45 seconds getting my passport photocopied and then went straight back to the airport and flew home
It was kinda cool but I’m also so tired it hurts
It was kinda cool but I’m also so tired it hurts
November 21, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Today I got up at 3am to fly to London so I could spent 45 seconds getting my passport photocopied and then went straight back to the airport and flew home
It was kinda cool but I’m also so tired it hurts
It was kinda cool but I’m also so tired it hurts
I was kinda hoping Mamdani would pull an Assassins Creed: do the whole “requiescat in pace” bit, maybe backflip off the roof of the White House into a freshly raked pile of leaves, and then exfiltrate hidden among a group of shambling monks
November 21, 2025 at 9:27 PM
I was kinda hoping Mamdani would pull an Assassins Creed: do the whole “requiescat in pace” bit, maybe backflip off the roof of the White House into a freshly raked pile of leaves, and then exfiltrate hidden among a group of shambling monks
Excited to see the nominees for best baby hornet of the year
November 17, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Excited to see the nominees for best baby hornet of the year
By 2030 all of American politics will just be I Think You Should Leaves sketches
November 16, 2025 at 10:54 PM
By 2030 all of American politics will just be I Think You Should Leaves sketches
Reposted by Ben McCarthy
Republican PR Situation Room:
"Well whipping our constituents into a frenzy over a cabal of pedophiles running the country has backfired spectacularly… but at least demonising Monica Lewinsky for fellating Bill Clinton in order to impeach him never backfired on us"
"Well whipping our constituents into a frenzy over a cabal of pedophiles running the country has backfired spectacularly… but at least demonising Monica Lewinsky for fellating Bill Clinton in order to impeach him never backfired on us"
November 14, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Republican PR Situation Room:
"Well whipping our constituents into a frenzy over a cabal of pedophiles running the country has backfired spectacularly… but at least demonising Monica Lewinsky for fellating Bill Clinton in order to impeach him never backfired on us"
"Well whipping our constituents into a frenzy over a cabal of pedophiles running the country has backfired spectacularly… but at least demonising Monica Lewinsky for fellating Bill Clinton in order to impeach him never backfired on us"
If I had a nickel for every time Bill Clinton's penis was involved in a president scandal I'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice
www.newsweek.com/donald-trump...
www.newsweek.com/donald-trump...
Donald Trump ‘blowing Bubba’ message in Epstein emails under scrutiny
Mark Epstein asked Jeffrey Epstein in an email to ask Steve Bannon if Vladimir Putin has "the photos of Trump blowing Bubba."
www.newsweek.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:35 PM
If I had a nickel for every time Bill Clinton's penis was involved in a president scandal I'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice
www.newsweek.com/donald-trump...
www.newsweek.com/donald-trump...
C'mon Valve, you had one job
November 13, 2025 at 12:01 AM
C'mon Valve, you had one job
smocking gun www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...
Epstein claimed that Donald Trump ‘knew about the girls’ in private emails
Trump was mentioned in emails between Epstein and an associate in Trump’s circle, according to newly released emails
www.independent.co.uk
November 12, 2025 at 3:01 PM
smocking gun www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...
Given that Arc Raiders seems to be a massive success, maybe Embark could take some of their earnings and replace the AI generated voice lines with real actors?
“It’s important to assume every game company is now using AI.” Nexon CEO comments on role of human creativity as AI tools become the norm
automaton-media.com/en/news/its-...
automaton-media.com/en/news/its-...
“It’s important to assume every game company is now using AI.” Nexon CEO comments on role of human creativity as AI tools become the norm - AUTOMATON WEST
In an interview following the launch of ARC Raiders, the CEO of Embark Studios' parent company Nexon shares his views on AI.
automaton-media.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Given that Arc Raiders seems to be a massive success, maybe Embark could take some of their earnings and replace the AI generated voice lines with real actors?