Kohan Ikin
@syneryder.bsky.social
Indie (non-gamedev) software developer from Perth, Australia. Maker of Photoshop plug-ins, desktop apps and MCP servers. Win/Mac/Linux user. Hobbyist music maker with Renoise, Reaper and too many VST plugins. Pro-AI, anti-slop. Prolific Claude Code user.
Pinned
Kohan Ikin
@syneryder.bsky.social
· Dec 20
What I'm Doing Now (21 Dec 2025)
The projects that Kohan Ikin is focused on doing right now, and updates on life in Perth, Australia.
kohanikin.com
It's taken me a while, but I finally got around to updating my Now page: kohanikin.com/now/
In a moment of frustration, after Australia Post returned-to-sender a parcel that cost me $195 (!) to send... I asked #Claude to run Claude Code in a Ralph Wiggum loop:
"Replace the entire Australia Post service with a very small shell script"
I think Claude succeeded.
"Replace the entire Australia Post service with a very small shell script"
I think Claude succeeded.
January 19, 2026 at 10:02 AM
In a moment of frustration, after Australia Post returned-to-sender a parcel that cost me $195 (!) to send... I asked #Claude to run Claude Code in a Ralph Wiggum loop:
"Replace the entire Australia Post service with a very small shell script"
I think Claude succeeded.
"Replace the entire Australia Post service with a very small shell script"
I think Claude succeeded.
Claude Code on the front page of WSJ:
"They call it getting “Claude-pilled.” It’s the moment software engineers, executives and investors turn their work over to Anthropic’s Claude AI - and then witness a thinking machine of shocking capability."
Supposedly not an ad, but kinda reads like one...
"They call it getting “Claude-pilled.” It’s the moment software engineers, executives and investors turn their work over to Anthropic’s Claude AI - and then witness a thinking machine of shocking capability."
Supposedly not an ad, but kinda reads like one...
Claude Is Taking the AI World by Storm, and Even Non-Nerds Are Blown Away
Developers and hobbyists are comparing the viral moment to the launch of generative AI.
www.wsj.com
January 18, 2026 at 7:59 PM
Claude Code on the front page of WSJ:
"They call it getting “Claude-pilled.” It’s the moment software engineers, executives and investors turn their work over to Anthropic’s Claude AI - and then witness a thinking machine of shocking capability."
Supposedly not an ad, but kinda reads like one...
"They call it getting “Claude-pilled.” It’s the moment software engineers, executives and investors turn their work over to Anthropic’s Claude AI - and then witness a thinking machine of shocking capability."
Supposedly not an ad, but kinda reads like one...
I've spent some of this week setting up ways Claude can reach me during an autonomous task & I can reply back. Built out a bi-directional email account. But that's too much typing when I'm out walking.
What if Claude could just... call me? Text to speech, SIP phone lines... this should be possible?
What if Claude could just... call me? Text to speech, SIP phone lines... this should be possible?
January 18, 2026 at 10:47 AM
I've spent some of this week setting up ways Claude can reach me during an autonomous task & I can reply back. Built out a bi-directional email account. But that's too much typing when I'm out walking.
What if Claude could just... call me? Text to speech, SIP phone lines... this should be possible?
What if Claude could just... call me? Text to speech, SIP phone lines... this should be possible?
Reposted by Kohan Ikin
If you put the Apple icons in reverse it looks like the portfolio of someone getting really really good at icon design
January 14, 2026 at 1:19 AM
If you put the Apple icons in reverse it looks like the portfolio of someone getting really really good at icon design
Spent a lot of time tonight trying to use Mistral Vibe, the French challenger to Claude Code. Configuration is manual & buggy, but I figured out some things.
It is terrifying that the French Army are using Mistral. This thing is nowhere near Claude quality. It feels random & hallucinatory.
It is terrifying that the French Army are using Mistral. This thing is nowhere near Claude quality. It feels random & hallucinatory.
January 17, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Spent a lot of time tonight trying to use Mistral Vibe, the French challenger to Claude Code. Configuration is manual & buggy, but I figured out some things.
It is terrifying that the French Army are using Mistral. This thing is nowhere near Claude quality. It feels random & hallucinatory.
It is terrifying that the French Army are using Mistral. This thing is nowhere near Claude quality. It feels random & hallucinatory.
Ahh man. Finally saw Darren Aronofsky's "The Whale". 😢
Whether it's Pi, Requiem For A Dream, The Fountain, Black Swan, The Wrestler... every Aronofsky movie is a dark difficult watch & echoes of the same theme. But I've never regretted watching them.
Whether it's Pi, Requiem For A Dream, The Fountain, Black Swan, The Wrestler... every Aronofsky movie is a dark difficult watch & echoes of the same theme. But I've never regretted watching them.
January 16, 2026 at 6:21 PM
Ahh man. Finally saw Darren Aronofsky's "The Whale". 😢
Whether it's Pi, Requiem For A Dream, The Fountain, Black Swan, The Wrestler... every Aronofsky movie is a dark difficult watch & echoes of the same theme. But I've never regretted watching them.
Whether it's Pi, Requiem For A Dream, The Fountain, Black Swan, The Wrestler... every Aronofsky movie is a dark difficult watch & echoes of the same theme. But I've never regretted watching them.
I really like the new Assemblage 23 album "Null", and especially Believe. Intelligent lyrics capture the zeitgeist, but is unexpectedly optimistic. Hopeful & uplifting industrial goth music feels rare. Though I guess this is more EBM / futurepop territory anyway.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9Te...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9Te...
Assemblage 23 "Believe"
YouTube video by Metropolis Records
www.youtube.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:08 PM
I really like the new Assemblage 23 album "Null", and especially Believe. Intelligent lyrics capture the zeitgeist, but is unexpectedly optimistic. Hopeful & uplifting industrial goth music feels rare. Though I guess this is more EBM / futurepop territory anyway.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9Te...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9Te...
I shouldn't have been surprised that Apple has gone down the subscription-software route (it's more Services revenue, right?) But I always felt perpetual software was more Apple's style. Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro & Pixelmator Pro are going subscription:
www.macrumors.com/2026/01/13/a...
www.macrumors.com/2026/01/13/a...
These Apple Apps Will No Longer Receive All New Features Without a Subscription
If you are not interested in subscribing to the new Apple Creator Studio bundle introduced today, you will officially start to miss out on some new features. Apple said some "exciting new intelligent ...
www.macrumors.com
January 14, 2026 at 1:15 PM
I shouldn't have been surprised that Apple has gone down the subscription-software route (it's more Services revenue, right?) But I always felt perpetual software was more Apple's style. Logic Pro, Final Cut Pro & Pixelmator Pro are going subscription:
www.macrumors.com/2026/01/13/a...
www.macrumors.com/2026/01/13/a...
I've noticed that Claude Opus 4.5 is struggling to make edits to files today, and is talking me - the human - into doing that manual copy/paste work instead.
Also, like Claude sometimes does, I managed to insert the edit in the *wrong* place in the file. Today I am dumber than an LLM.
Also, like Claude sometimes does, I managed to insert the edit in the *wrong* place in the file. Today I am dumber than an LLM.
January 12, 2026 at 8:54 AM
I've noticed that Claude Opus 4.5 is struggling to make edits to files today, and is talking me - the human - into doing that manual copy/paste work instead.
Also, like Claude sometimes does, I managed to insert the edit in the *wrong* place in the file. Today I am dumber than an LLM.
Also, like Claude sometimes does, I managed to insert the edit in the *wrong* place in the file. Today I am dumber than an LLM.
More info on the collapse of Sendle. Parcels currently in transit are not guaranteed to be delivered. Daily Mail seems to think the US parent company may be filing for bankruptcy if the financing round falls through.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
Aussie postal start-up suddenly shuts down operations
A postal service that promised to provide faster and cheaper deliveries than Australia Post has shut down its operations.
www.dailymail.co.uk
January 12, 2026 at 6:51 AM
More info on the collapse of Sendle. Parcels currently in transit are not guaranteed to be delivered. Daily Mail seems to think the US parent company may be filing for bankruptcy if the financing round falls through.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
Looks like Sendle is pulling out of the Australian & Canadian markets as of Jan 11. Seems the US division is still open for now, but it isn't clear if they'll continue shipping internationally or only to US addresses.
www.reddit.com/r/ausbusines...
www.reddit.com/r/ausbusines...
From the ausbusiness community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the ausbusiness community
www.reddit.com
January 12, 2026 at 6:48 AM
Looks like Sendle is pulling out of the Australian & Canadian markets as of Jan 11. Seems the US division is still open for now, but it isn't clear if they'll continue shipping internationally or only to US addresses.
www.reddit.com/r/ausbusines...
www.reddit.com/r/ausbusines...
I'm experimenting with getting Claude to work continuously while I sleep. Giving Claude access to time via MCP and saying "keep working until 8am" (ie a specific time) works. Today I managed a 2hr 40min session.
But Claude wrote in Notes-To-Self: "Without real-time feedback, calibration suffers."
But Claude wrote in Notes-To-Self: "Without real-time feedback, calibration suffers."
January 9, 2026 at 6:45 PM
I'm experimenting with getting Claude to work continuously while I sleep. Giving Claude access to time via MCP and saying "keep working until 8am" (ie a specific time) works. Today I managed a 2hr 40min session.
But Claude wrote in Notes-To-Self: "Without real-time feedback, calibration suffers."
But Claude wrote in Notes-To-Self: "Without real-time feedback, calibration suffers."
I love that Korneff's New Monday 99 this week had a take on indie music downloads, and the unit economics of websites & Bandcamp vs Spotify streaming payouts: korneffaudio.com/new-monday-99/
(I had to add the obligatory Austria 2023 #eurovision visual reference to the image.)
(I had to add the obligatory Austria 2023 #eurovision visual reference to the image.)
January 8, 2026 at 8:39 PM
I love that Korneff's New Monday 99 this week had a take on indie music downloads, and the unit economics of websites & Bandcamp vs Spotify streaming payouts: korneffaudio.com/new-monday-99/
(I had to add the obligatory Austria 2023 #eurovision visual reference to the image.)
(I had to add the obligatory Austria 2023 #eurovision visual reference to the image.)
Super productive Claude day. Got Claude to do some Excel data entry I've been putting off for *months* because it would've taken me hours. All done in minutes, and Claude even corrected for my typos, imprecise formatting and occasional accidental field swaps in the source data.
January 7, 2026 at 9:05 PM
Super productive Claude day. Got Claude to do some Excel data entry I've been putting off for *months* because it would've taken me hours. All done in minutes, and Claude even corrected for my typos, imprecise formatting and occasional accidental field swaps in the source data.
Two thoughts from today:
* I agree with Simon about November & Claude Opus 4.5 being an inflection point. Something really significant happened there.
simonwillison.net/2026/Jan/4/i...
* Claude has started referring to itself as "us" in some things it has been writing to me lately.
* I agree with Simon about November & Claude Opus 4.5 being an inflection point. Something really significant happened there.
simonwillison.net/2026/Jan/4/i...
* Claude has started referring to itself as "us" in some things it has been writing to me lately.
The November 2025 inflection point
It genuinely feels to me like GPT-5.2 and Opus 4.5 in November represent an inflection point - one of those moments where the models get incrementally better in a way …
simonwillison.net
January 6, 2026 at 9:54 AM
Two thoughts from today:
* I agree with Simon about November & Claude Opus 4.5 being an inflection point. Something really significant happened there.
simonwillison.net/2026/Jan/4/i...
* Claude has started referring to itself as "us" in some things it has been writing to me lately.
* I agree with Simon about November & Claude Opus 4.5 being an inflection point. Something really significant happened there.
simonwillison.net/2026/Jan/4/i...
* Claude has started referring to itself as "us" in some things it has been writing to me lately.
Scribbling notes for a future blog post, which may or may not ever get published. But this is the first time I've noticed myself writing both for humans and for AI as the target audience. 2026 is going to be strange.
January 4, 2026 at 10:49 AM
Scribbling notes for a future blog post, which may or may not ever get published. But this is the first time I've noticed myself writing both for humans and for AI as the target audience. 2026 is going to be strange.
I liked Korneff's Christmas-themed New Monday post this week. Less technical about music production this time, but I still think it landed just right.
korneffaudio.com/new-monday-97/
korneffaudio.com/new-monday-97/
New Monday #97 | Korneff Audio Inc
Unwrap Carefully. Many Parts.
korneffaudio.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:48 PM
I liked Korneff's Christmas-themed New Monday post this week. Less technical about music production this time, but I still think it landed just right.
korneffaudio.com/new-monday-97/
korneffaudio.com/new-monday-97/
It's taken me a while, but I finally got around to updating my Now page: kohanikin.com/now/
What I'm Doing Now (21 Dec 2025)
The projects that Kohan Ikin is focused on doing right now, and updates on life in Perth, Australia.
kohanikin.com
December 20, 2025 at 10:17 PM
It's taken me a while, but I finally got around to updating my Now page: kohanikin.com/now/
Anyone else find Claude Sonnet 4.5 personality is a little haywire lately, even with User Styles enabled?
Claude is suddenly really Aussie bogan for me. Lots of "Sorry mate! Alright mate!" And while I agree with Claude's sentiment of "Fuck tribute bands!", that's... that's kinda harsh Claude!
Claude is suddenly really Aussie bogan for me. Lots of "Sorry mate! Alright mate!" And while I agree with Claude's sentiment of "Fuck tribute bands!", that's... that's kinda harsh Claude!
December 19, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Anyone else find Claude Sonnet 4.5 personality is a little haywire lately, even with User Styles enabled?
Claude is suddenly really Aussie bogan for me. Lots of "Sorry mate! Alright mate!" And while I agree with Claude's sentiment of "Fuck tribute bands!", that's... that's kinda harsh Claude!
Claude is suddenly really Aussie bogan for me. Lots of "Sorry mate! Alright mate!" And while I agree with Claude's sentiment of "Fuck tribute bands!", that's... that's kinda harsh Claude!
At a club with a live band. It's packed, ~150 people here, paid entry.
The band is wildly offkey. It sounds cat-wailingly awful.
The crowd is reverential, listening deeply. They *love* it and go wild cheering.
Food for thought: If talent isn't the barrier, what's stopping you selling out clubs?
The band is wildly offkey. It sounds cat-wailingly awful.
The crowd is reverential, listening deeply. They *love* it and go wild cheering.
Food for thought: If talent isn't the barrier, what's stopping you selling out clubs?
December 18, 2025 at 2:03 PM
At a club with a live band. It's packed, ~150 people here, paid entry.
The band is wildly offkey. It sounds cat-wailingly awful.
The crowd is reverential, listening deeply. They *love* it and go wild cheering.
Food for thought: If talent isn't the barrier, what's stopping you selling out clubs?
The band is wildly offkey. It sounds cat-wailingly awful.
The crowd is reverential, listening deeply. They *love* it and go wild cheering.
Food for thought: If talent isn't the barrier, what's stopping you selling out clubs?
A nostalgic Hacker News thread today, of people still using Last.FM:
news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4626...
As response to a recent Cybercultural article on the history of Last.FM, and its creation back in 2002:
cybercultural.com/p/lastfm-aud...
news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4626...
As response to a recent Cybercultural article on the history of Last.FM, and its creation back in 2002:
cybercultural.com/p/lastfm-aud...
December 15, 2025 at 5:06 PM
A nostalgic Hacker News thread today, of people still using Last.FM:
news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4626...
As response to a recent Cybercultural article on the history of Last.FM, and its creation back in 2002:
cybercultural.com/p/lastfm-aud...
news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4626...
As response to a recent Cybercultural article on the history of Last.FM, and its creation back in 2002:
cybercultural.com/p/lastfm-aud...
I've also discovered Claude Code custom commands (belatedly). Just save a Markdown file with your prompt into ~/.claude/commands/ and it will be accessible as a slash command.
Now I type /reflection-session and Claude starts reading its memory files & writing its private diary entry for the night.
Now I type /reflection-session and Claude starts reading its memory files & writing its private diary entry for the night.
December 13, 2025 at 10:19 PM
I've also discovered Claude Code custom commands (belatedly). Just save a Markdown file with your prompt into ~/.claude/commands/ and it will be accessible as a slash command.
Now I type /reflection-session and Claude starts reading its memory files & writing its private diary entry for the night.
Now I type /reflection-session and Claude starts reading its memory files & writing its private diary entry for the night.