Ben Balter
@ben.balter.com
Director of Hubber Enablement at @GitHub. Previously @GitHub Engineering, Security, Trust & Safety leader, and before that @PIFgov. Legacy blue check in Washington, D.C.
Can AI moderate open source communities to keep conversations productive? I created a quick GitHub Action that looks at issues/PRs/comments and can take moderation actions (warn, hide, lock, etc.) based on AI's evaluation of the content. Ideas/feedback welcome. github.com/benbalter/ai...
GitHub - benbalter/ai-community-moderator: An AI-powered GitHub Action that helps moderate community interactions by enforcing contributing guidelines and codes of conduct.
An AI-powered GitHub Action that helps moderate community interactions by enforcing contributing guidelines and codes of conduct. - benbalter/ai-community-moderator
github.com
June 23, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Can AI moderate open source communities to keep conversations productive? I created a quick GitHub Action that looks at issues/PRs/comments and can take moderation actions (warn, hide, lock, etc.) based on AI's evaluation of the content. Ideas/feedback welcome. github.com/benbalter/ai...
Archived more than 4,000 inactive Slack channels today with a quick GitHub Action Copilot and I whipped up. I hope to open source “Slack Stale Archiver” after it’s been running for a bit. Encouraging people to post their favorite animated GIF to keep the channel active has been the best part so far.
April 9, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Archived more than 4,000 inactive Slack channels today with a quick GitHub Action Copilot and I whipped up. I hope to open source “Slack Stale Archiver” after it’s been running for a bit. Encouraging people to post their favorite animated GIF to keep the channel active has been the best part so far.
Reposted by Ben Balter
Blog entry: Why I work in the open.
I’ve long worked in the open, overwhelmingly for one reason: it increases enormously the surface area for success.
I’ve long worked in the open, overwhelmingly for one reason: it increases enormously the surface area for success.
Why I work in the open.
I've long worked in the open, overwhelmingly for one reason: it increases enormously the surface area for success.
waldo.jaquith.org
March 25, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Blog entry: Why I work in the open.
I’ve long worked in the open, overwhelmingly for one reason: it increases enormously the surface area for success.
I’ve long worked in the open, overwhelmingly for one reason: it increases enormously the surface area for success.
Slack channel name squatting is the new domain squatting.
February 13, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Slack channel name squatting is the new domain squatting.
I see the "Simple Sabotage Field Manual" is making the rounds again in some circles. Thought it was timely to share this post again on my updated take: ben.balter.com/2016/01/15/h...
How to derail any meeting
How a WWII field manual can help modern knowledge workers identify those inadvertently sabotaging your organization today.
ben.balter.com
February 4, 2025 at 4:48 PM
I see the "Simple Sabotage Field Manual" is making the rounds again in some circles. Thought it was timely to share this post again on my updated take: ben.balter.com/2016/01/15/h...
If you do a lot of writing and are looking for a grammar, style, and spell checker that doesn't send what you write to a third party service, I wrote up instructions for how to setup and use the open source LanguageTool locally on your machine.
ben.balter.com/2025/01/30/h...
ben.balter.com/2025/01/30/h...
How to run LanguageTool on macOS
How to set up a free and open-source grammar, style, and spell checker that can be run locally on your machine without sending data to a third-party services like Grammarly, preserving the privacy of ...
ben.balter.com
January 30, 2025 at 5:37 PM
If you do a lot of writing and are looking for a grammar, style, and spell checker that doesn't send what you write to a third party service, I wrote up instructions for how to setup and use the open source LanguageTool locally on your machine.
ben.balter.com/2025/01/30/h...
ben.balter.com/2025/01/30/h...
I still have an irrational fear of @mentioning people in private Slack channels, ever since that one time that I @mentioned the CEO, accidentally clicked the wrong button, and ended up inviting him into the channel. At least he laughed at the creative channel name? 🤷♂️ Now I’m a backticks-only person.
December 4, 2024 at 9:40 PM
I still have an irrational fear of @mentioning people in private Slack channels, ever since that one time that I @mentioned the CEO, accidentally clicked the wrong button, and ended up inviting him into the channel. At least he laughed at the creative channel name? 🤷♂️ Now I’m a backticks-only person.
Reposted by Ben Balter
Developers, do you want to verify yourself here but don't have a personal domain? You can use your GitHub account! 🦋🐱
I temporarily renamed myself to @nicolo-ribaudo.github.io :)
I temporarily renamed myself to @nicolo-ribaudo.github.io :)
November 23, 2024 at 4:51 PM
Developers, do you want to verify yourself here but don't have a personal domain? You can use your GitHub account! 🦋🐱
I temporarily renamed myself to @nicolo-ribaudo.github.io :)
I temporarily renamed myself to @nicolo-ribaudo.github.io :)
Reposted by Ben Balter
Reorgs are the organizational equivalent of turning it off and back on again.
November 16, 2024 at 2:13 AM
Reorgs are the organizational equivalent of turning it off and back on again.
Reposted by Ben Balter
Why everything should have a URL http://bit.ly/1MoMnQI
Why everything should have a URL
By naturally capturing and exposing process and sharing it as widely as is appropriate for the subject matter, URLs render organizational context time and location agnostic allowing knowledge to move more freely within an organization on an asynchronous, discoverable, and opt-in basis.
bit.ly
November 16, 2024 at 2:09 AM
Why everything should have a URL http://bit.ly/1MoMnQI
10+ years later and I still don’t have an answer. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Is there a polite way to say "no, I don't want to jump on a quick call. Can't you just type up what you'd say and email it to me? async yo"?
November 16, 2024 at 3:43 AM
10+ years later and I still don’t have an answer. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Reposted by Ben Balter
Always be answering questions with URLs.
November 16, 2024 at 1:33 AM
Always be answering questions with URLs.
Reposted by Ben Balter
If you liked it then you should have put a URL on it.
November 16, 2024 at 1:36 AM
If you liked it then you should have put a URL on it.
Reposted by Ben Balter
Submitted a pull request to the closest thing GitHub has to an org chart. Merged or not, more companies should vet big changes in the open.
November 16, 2024 at 1:39 AM
Submitted a pull request to the closest thing GitHub has to an org chart. Merged or not, more companies should vet big changes in the open.
If you’re at GitHub Universe, come say hey! 👋
October 29, 2024 at 5:28 PM
If you’re at GitHub Universe, come say hey! 👋
Remote since day one, GitHub learned a lot about how to communicate across time zones. We created an internal “how we communicate” doc, which we’re sharing with the world today. TL;DR: we use GitHub Actions and OpenAI to solve for information overload. PR’s welcome! github.blog/2023-10-04-h...
October 4, 2023 at 8:50 PM
Remote since day one, GitHub learned a lot about how to communicate across time zones. We created an internal “how we communicate” doc, which we’re sharing with the world today. TL;DR: we use GitHub Actions and OpenAI to solve for information overload. PR’s welcome! github.blog/2023-10-04-h...
Remote work requires communicating more, less frequently, because async communication involves less frequent, but richer communication. There is less talking about the work and more doing it, allowing the system to optimize for throughput and flow. https://t.co/R3J5pCjUho
Remote work requires communicating more, less frequently
Remote work requires communicating more, less frequently, because asynchronous communication involves less frequent, but richer communication, meaning there is less time talking about the work and more time doing it, allowing the system to optimize for throughput and flow.
ben.balter.com
November 16, 2024 at 2:20 AM
Remote work requires communicating more, less frequently, because async communication involves less frequent, but richer communication. There is less talking about the work and more doing it, allowing the system to optimize for throughput and flow. https://t.co/R3J5pCjUho
Exactly 10 years ago today, I 🚢'd my first GitHub feature, GeoJSON rendering. The base layer has since moved from MapBox to Azure Maps, but the feature is still rendering more than 7 million maps a year across more than 27 million .geojson files. https://t.co/1NiPrgsW0o
There's a map for that
Not long ago, we began rendering 3D models on GitHub. Today we’re excited to announce the latest addition to the visualization family – geographic data. Any .geojson file in a…
github.blog
November 16, 2024 at 2:20 AM
Exactly 10 years ago today, I 🚢'd my first GitHub feature, GeoJSON rendering. The base layer has since moved from MapBox to Azure Maps, but the feature is still rendering more than 7 million maps a year across more than 27 million .geojson files. https://t.co/1NiPrgsW0o
Practice inclusive scheduling. When working as a distributed team, be mindful of cultural differences, time zones, encouraging breaks between meetings, and connecting as humans. https://ben.balter.com/2023/05/19/practice-inclusive-scheduling/
Practice inclusive scheduling
When working as a distributed team, be mindful of cultural differences, time zones, encouraging breaks between meetings, and connecting as humans.
ben.balter.com
November 16, 2024 at 2:20 AM
Practice inclusive scheduling. When working as a distributed team, be mindful of cultural differences, time zones, encouraging breaks between meetings, and connecting as humans. https://ben.balter.com/2023/05/19/practice-inclusive-scheduling/
Pull requests are a form of documentation. When authoring a PR, use the body as an opportunity to document the proposed change, especially the “why”, and cross link any related issues or other PRs to create a trail of breadcrumbs for future contributors. https://t.co/RrmuMZgR3A
Pull requests are a form of documentation
When authoring a pull request, use the body as an opportunity to document the proposed change, especially the “why”, and cross link any related issues or other PRs to create a trail of breadcrumbs for future contributors.
ben.balter.com
November 16, 2024 at 2:20 AM
Pull requests are a form of documentation. When authoring a PR, use the body as an opportunity to document the proposed change, especially the “why”, and cross link any related issues or other PRs to create a trail of breadcrumbs for future contributors. https://t.co/RrmuMZgR3A
I made a few updates to my "Intro to GitHub for non-technical roles" article. Glad it has been helpful. Please keep the questions and feedback coming. https://ben.balter.com/2023/03/02/github-for-non-technical-roles/
Intro to GitHub for non-technical roles
GitHub isn’t just for software developers. If you’re in a non-technical role, you can use GitHub to follow along, collaborate with your team, track your work, and share information. This brief guide includes everything you need to know to get started confidently with GitHub.
ben.balter.com
November 16, 2024 at 2:20 AM
I made a few updates to my "Intro to GitHub for non-technical roles" article. Glad it has been helpful. Please keep the questions and feedback coming. https://ben.balter.com/2023/03/02/github-for-non-technical-roles/
If you’re at a large(r) tech company that you joined when it was closer to a start up, what aspects of your organization’s culture or values do you wish you could purposefully preserve (or bring back)?
November 16, 2024 at 2:20 AM
If you’re at a large(r) tech company that you joined when it was closer to a start up, what aspects of your organization’s culture or values do you wish you could purposefully preserve (or bring back)?
GitHub isn’t just for software developers. If you work with or alongside software development teams, this brief guide includes everything that you need to know to get started confidently with GitHub. https://ben.balter.com/2023/03/02/github-for-non-technical-roles/
Intro to GitHub for non-technical roles
GitHub isn’t just for software developers. If you’re in a non-technical role, you can use GitHub to follow along, collaborate with your team, track your work, and share information. This brief guide includes everything you need to know to get started confidently with GitHub.
ben.balter.com
November 16, 2024 at 2:20 AM
GitHub isn’t just for software developers. If you work with or alongside software development teams, this brief guide includes everything that you need to know to get started confidently with GitHub. https://ben.balter.com/2023/03/02/github-for-non-technical-roles/
I’ve given the “life as a Hubber” onboarding talk for a year+ now. Each time I tell the story about how I adopted the “conjunction” y’all as a gender neutral reference to a group. 100s of Hubbers onboarded and not a single one pointed out that “y’all” is actually a contraction.😂
November 16, 2024 at 2:20 AM
I’ve given the “life as a Hubber” onboarding talk for a year+ now. Each time I tell the story about how I adopted the “conjunction” y’all as a gender neutral reference to a group. 100s of Hubbers onboarded and not a single one pointed out that “y’all” is actually a contraction.😂
Fish sticks are really having their moment.
November 16, 2024 at 2:20 AM
Fish sticks are really having their moment.