Ben Hughes
I'm a software engineer based in San Diego, California, currently on an extended learning sabbatical spent studying a broad range of technical topics, from machine learning to systems programming. I've been consulting since 2002, with long-running client relationships and then nine years as founding engineer of Loomly.
I like careful software: clear trade-offs, durable code, and systems that stay easy to change.
Outside work I play jazz piano. Earlier in my career, I shaped my work around travel; these days I'm more settled.
What I'm up to
- Studying broadly across software engineering: machine learning, AI engineering, systems programming
- Keeping up closely with the AI landscape and exploring new AI developer tools
- Building Mandarin Forge, a Mandarin-learning platform I use for my own study
- Building went.place, a private, map-first archive for Foursquare and Swarm check-in history
- Studying Mandarin Chinese (HSK 3)
- Practicing jazz piano
- Rebuilding and redesigning Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers