Benjamin Askins
genlevel /ˈdʒɛn.lɛv.əl/
Short for generation level — the version identifier on Computer Associates software distribution tapes.CA-XCOM v12.0 Generation Level 1407 SP00There's a story here. I'll tell it later.

Software engineer with 36 years of breadth and depth across infrastructure, distributed systems, developer experience, and platform engineering. Domains include banking, insurance, micro-lending, logistics, manufacturing, and two-sided digital marketplaces.

Producing electronic music since 1991. Played live up and down the east coast with Infusion in the early nineties, and around Sydney and Canberra as genlevel through to the end of the millennium. Releasing solo work intermittently ever since.

Central Coast, NSW.
I never met a command line I didn't learn to love.
ISPF/PDF 3.4 PERSONAL DATA SET LIST ROW 1 OF 12
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
DSNAME LEVEL ===> BASKINS.IDENTITY.*
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
NAMEBENJAMIN ASKINS
ALIASGENLEVEL
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
ROLESOFTWARE ENGINEER
EXPERIENCE36 YEARS
FOCUSINFRASTRUCTURE, DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS,
DEVELOPER EXPERIENCE, PLATFORM ENGINEERING
DOMAINSBANKING, INSURANCE, MICRO-LENDING,
LOGISTICS, MANUFACTURING, MARKETPLACES
MUSICPRODUCING SINCE 1991, RELEASING AS
GENLEVEL SINCE 1997
LOCATIONCENTRAL COAST, NSW
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
LINKS:
PROJECTS: AURELIA · AXON · LAMINA · PANOPTICON
COMMAND ===> _ SCROLL ===> PAGE
PF1=HELP PF3=EXIT PF5=RFIND PF7=UP PF8=DOWN PF10=LEFT PF11=RIGHT
%SET-I-INTSET, login procedure complete
GENLEVEL::BASKINS — OpenVMS V7.3-2 on node GENLVL

$ SHOW PERSONAL /FULL

Personal Information Display

  Name:          Benjamin Askins
  Alias:         genlevel
  Role:          Software Engineer
  Experience:    36 years — infrastructure, distributed systems,
                 developer experience, platform engineering
  Domains:       Banking, insurance, micro-lending, logistics,
                 manufacturing, two-sided digital marketplaces
  Music:         Producing since 1991, releasing as genlevel
                 since 1997
  Location:      Central Coast, NSW

$ DIR [.LINKS]

  Directory GENLEVEL$DISK:[BASKINS.LINKS]

GITHUB.COM;1 1   benaskins
MUSIC.COM;1 1   music.genlevel.com

  Total of 2 files.

$
xterm — ben@genlevel.net
# ~/.identity — sourced from bashrc

ben@genlevel:~$ cat /etc/motd

Benjamin Askins · genlevel
Software engineer, 36 years. Infrastructure, distributed
systems, developer experience, platform engineering.
Banking, insurance, micro-lending, logistics,
manufacturing, two-sided digital marketplaces.
Producing music since 1991. Releasing as genlevel
since 1997. Central Coast, NSW.

ben@genlevel:~$ ls -la ~/links/

total 2
lrwxrwxrwx ben github -> github.com/benaskins
lrwxrwxrwx ben music -> music.genlevel.com

ben@genlevel:~$ ps aux | grep projects

ben   1001  aurelia     running
ben   1002  axon        running
ben   1003  lamina      running
ben   1004  panopticon  running

ben@genlevel:~$
dtterm — genlevel
Window Edit Options
Solaris 2.6 — Common Desktop Environment

genlevel% finger baskins

Login: baskins                  Name: Benjamin Askins
Directory: /export/home/baskins     Shell: /bin/tcsh
No unread mail.

Plan:
Software engineer, 36 years. Infrastructure, distributed
systems, developer experience, platform engineering.
Banking, insurance, micro-lending, logistics,
manufacturing, two-sided digital marketplaces.
Producing music since 1991. Releasing as genlevel
since 1997. Central Coast, NSW.

Links:
  github.com/benaskins
  music.genlevel.com

Projects: aurelia, axon, lamina, panopticon

genlevel%
C:\
Command Prompt
_
×
Microsoft(R) Windows NT(TM)
(C) Copyright 1985-1996 Microsoft Corp.

C:\WINNT\Profiles\baskins> type identity.txt

Benjamin Askins
genlevel

Software engineer, 36 years. Infrastructure,
distributed systems, developer experience,
platform engineering. Banking, insurance,
micro-lending, logistics, manufacturing,
two-sided digital marketplaces.
Producing music since 1991. Releasing as
genlevel since 1997. Central Coast, NSW.

C:\WINNT\Profiles\baskins> dir /b links\

  github.com/benaskins
  music.genlevel.com

C:\WINNT\Profiles\baskins> net start

  The following services are started:

   AURELIA
   AXON
   LAMINA
   PANOPTICON

C:\WINNT\Profiles\baskins> _
ben — ~
Last login: Tue Mar 10 09:14:22 on ttys001
cat ~/.identity

  Benjamin Askins
  genlevel
  ─────────────────────────────────
  Role:        Software Engineer
  Experience:  36 years
  Focus:       Infrastructure · Distributed Systems
              Developer Experience · Platform Engineering
  Domains:     Banking · Insurance · Micro-lending
              Logistics · Manufacturing · Marketplaces
  Music:       Producing since 1991, releasing as
              genlevel since 1997
  Location:    Central Coast, NSW

cat ~/.links

  github.com/benaskins
  music.genlevel.com

brew services list | grep active

  aurelia     started
  axon        started
  lamina      started
  panopticon  started

Claude Code v1.0.33
/Users/ben/dev/sites/benjaminaskins.net
Model: claude-opus-4-6

> who am I?

Let me check.

Read(human-identity.md)

Benjamin Askins · genlevel

Software engineer, 36 years. Infrastructure,
distributed systems, developer experience, platform
engineering. Domains include banking, insurance,
micro-lending, logistics, manufacturing, and
two-sided digital marketplaces.

Producing music since 1991. Releasing as
genlevel since 1997. Central Coast, NSW.

Links:
- github.com/benaskins
- music.genlevel.com

Current projects: aurelia, axon, lamina, panopticon

>
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