@ben_makes_stuff

Quit my Staff SWE job at DoorDash to build my own businesses ✈️ https://xitter.cf/t.co/l0v0iL9f3R (learn to fly) 🐶 https://xitter.cf/t.co/bO0FDpwqHP (ai moderation) 🗽 https://xitter.cf/t.co/bvpd5BsBe2 (nyc makers)

 New York, NY
bio.link/ben_makes_stuff
Joined June 2012
  • Tweets5.3K
  • Following219
  • Followers823
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Sometimes I still think about the bullet that I dodged by not taking this interview 😅
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You should book more than one discovery flight when getting into flight lessons. Get a feel for different schools, instructors, and so on Shipped something in flightschools.fyi to make that easy: An opt-in checkbox to send discovery flight requests to nearby schools!
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The nearby schools to contact is driven by school quality scores Schools that are lower quality do not get leads sent to them through this "also send my request to nearby schools" flow The opt-in checkbox avoids the dark pattern of "auto opt in to sharing personal data" too 👍
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Just shipped a better crosswind calculator for flight training: ☁️ Live weather + runway data from every airport in the US 🎨 Runway diagram to show you where the wind is coming from visually 🧮 "How it works" with all the math Try it here: flightschools.fyi/tools/cros…
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Finished my solo flying requirements yesterday in a Cessna 152, woohoo. Onto night flying and check-ride prep. Bonus: 20+ knot tailwind flying back to my home airport. I was doing 124 knots over the ground at one point! Could be a speed record in this lawnmower with wings 💨
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As a student pilot, some of the gear I use while flying has already saved my life. That said, I put together a list of the aviation gear I personally use and recommend: flightschools.fyi/recommende… If you're a pilot, what's your favorite bit of kit for the cockpit? Mine is below 👇
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My favorite is my Sentry ADSB-In device. Portable, 12h battery, nice mount included in the box. It helped prevent a collision with another aircraft. A plane started ascending into my flight path a couple flights ago. I got alerted well before ATC noticed!
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I think it's important to remember that ATC is not perfect. They might be juggling 1,000,000 other aircraft, and ATC is not flying the airplane for you - it's 100% on you as the pilot in command to avoid traffic. Eyes, ears, ADSB, etc. Use all possible tools available to you!
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4-5 star hotel lobbies are an underrated coworking option Found this one in Midtown. Would much rather pay a few bucks for a delicious cider and work here vs. a cramped office 👍 Great in NYC, because real coworking spaces ask $39+ just for a day pass and no meeting room access
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Changes to the Framework build: Dec batch. More time for X9 vs. X7 reviews to come in + to take advantage of any Black Friday deals in late Nov. Added Framework charger. Downgraded RAM from 64GB to 32GB. No more SSD. Framework's Gen 5 SSD is a bad value. Better buys on Amazon
Ben Katz@ben_makes_stuffSep 29
The charging circuit in my Macbook Pro M3 Max that I've been using for the last 3 years died. It cost me $741 to repair. Time to derisk repairability. Just ordered a Framework and will see how it compares to my MBP. Is 2026 really the year of Linux on the desktop? Let's see! 🤔
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This is now very close, in terms of price, to a M5 Macbook Pro *base* model 👇 Which is what this competes against performance wise. Not the M5 Max. It'll be closer still if I go with the X7. But, I'm being cautious RE: CPU choice since it's the only thing not user-replaceable!
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Thanks @SimJoSt for pointing me towards the "buy your own SSD" + X7 combo Think the X7 will save me money and not sacrifice anything for my use case, but TBD based on reviews I'm in no hurry with my Macbook working again, so I can afford to wait a few months + see what happens
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The charging circuit in my Macbook Pro M3 Max that I've been using for the last 3 years died. It cost me $741 to repair. Time to derisk repairability. Just ordered a Framework and will see how it compares to my MBP. Is 2026 really the year of Linux on the desktop? Let's see! 🤔
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To be clear, the kind of issue I had required board level soldering and chip replacement Will I be doing that with a Framework? No. But at least I can swap the motherboard myself in 15 minutes instead of waiting 1-2 weeks for a shop to do a bunch of soldering work.
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Very surprised to see this post go viral - thank you to everyone for all the nice comments! Particularly cool to hear from airline and private pilots who left book recommendations, random tips and tricks, + encouragement I'm going to stick with it! Will keep the blue side up 🫡
Ben Katz@ben_makes_stuffSep 20
Getting comfortable flying solo, so decided to test myself by flying to a random airport in upstate NY I had never been to before Pretty cool. Smooth landing, checked out the FBO to grab some free snacks, then flew back to my home airport Starting to feel like a real pilot
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And congratulations to @mojopikon - you happened to be the 1000th person to like my post! Appreciate the support
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Getting comfortable flying solo, so decided to test myself by flying to a random airport in upstate NY I had never been to before Pretty cool. Smooth landing, checked out the FBO to grab some free snacks, then flew back to my home airport Starting to feel like a real pilot
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While this post is absolutely blowing up, check out my stuff: - flightschools.fyi (learn to fly) - watchdog.chat (ai to manage your group/community) - hackayork.com (if you're a maker in NYC) - downloadpage.io (if you sell digital products) TY!

flightschools.fyi: Find the Best Flight School Near You

Find the perfect flight school in your state. Compare schools by quality score, aircraft fleet, instructor credentials, training costs, and more.

flightschools.fyi
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flightschools.fyi now lets you customize your training costs. Training at a busy airport or in complex airspace? Click the appropriate button and watch your costs change.
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Today I flew a Cessna 152 solo from Long Island, NY to Connecticut and back 👨‍✈️ Otherwise known as the “solo cross country” part of flight training Hell of a lot of fun + something I wanted to prove to myself that I could do Well, I did it!
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