Ben Balter writes about technology leadership, open source, and modern collaboration at scale. His essays blend engineering mindset with management, community building, remote work, and transparent communication—shaped by years of experience at GitHub and in public-sector tech.
175 articles from this blog
A developer shares insights from a WordPress meetup talk on HTML and PHP basics, explaining how to edit code without breaking a site.
The article argues for using WordPress as a document management system, leveraging its core features like custom post types, revisions, and permissions.
A guide to building a WordPress plugin that uses regex to convert Microsoft Word footnotes into a web-friendly format for the Simple Footnotes plugin.
A talk on using WordPress to build and control your personal brand online, covering key steps and recommended plugins.
Analysis of U.S. government domain seizures for copyright infringement, highlighting due process concerns and technical misunderstandings.
Analyzing the unofficial XML API behind George Washington University's course schedule and campus map iPhone app, with provided endpoints and a PHP wrapper.
Twitter challenged a court gag order to notify users about a government data request, setting a precedent for digital privacy rights.
A WordPress plugin that adapts The New York Times' open-source text highlighting and deep linking feature for easy installation and use.
Analysis of a court ruling extending Fourth Amendment warrant requirements to emails stored on third-party servers, challenging the Stored Communications Act.
Analysis of Comcast demanding fees from Level 3 for Netflix traffic, highlighting net neutrality concerns and the future of internet access.
Google's white paper argues China's internet restrictions violate WTO rules and hinder global e-commerce by blocking access to information and trade.
A WordPress plugin that imports Twitter mentions as comments, integrating tweets into your blog's native comment system.
Explores the rise of cloud computing, its core concepts, and its imminent impact on federal government IT infrastructure and contracting.
Explores the legal and privacy implications of law enforcement's expanding digital wiretapping authority in the era of cloud computing.
Introducing WP Resume, a WordPress plugin for easily creating and managing an online resume using custom post types and a familiar interface.
