the software archeologist’s lab

Knowing our past
helps us build what’s next

A one-person lab exploring where software has been, where it is going, and what happens when curiosity gets root access — through essays, experiments, music tools, daft little games, picture books and one gloriously unnecessary programming language.

Now with 100% more “why did he build that?”

01 Apps The store 15 apps 02 Scrum Sprint zero 1 language 03 Artist The artist Press play 04 Books The bookstore 4 editions 05 Talks The stage 12 talks 06 Blog Field notes 37 posts
15
apps in the lab
37
field notes filed
4
books in print
60+
years of IT dug up
1
suspiciously helpful robot
LEVEL 01 THE STORE

Apps from the lab

All free. Download a release, launch the web build, or read the source. No cookies, no upsell, no regrets.

mITyStudio screenshot
STUDIO
music

mITyStudio

A local-first AI music studio. Describe a song, get a real multitrack project you can shape by hand — and sing it in a voice you trained.

Music Agent screenshot
AGENT
music

Music Agent

A multi-agent system that composes electronic tracks and plays them through Sonic Pi. Bring snacks.

mITyGuitar screenshot
GUITAR
music

mITyGuitar

Turns a Guitar Hero controller into a real practice guitar — chords, charts and all. Your neighbours: thrilled.

PiBeat screenshot
PIBEAT
music

PiBeat

A live-coding music environment for people who would rather write rhythm than drag rectangles. Runs on a Raspberry Pi.

Ghosts in the Machine screenshot
GHOSTS
game

Ghosts in the Machine

A haunted IT management sim. The tickets are ghosts: they queue, they escalate, and if you ignore them they mutate.

mITyFighter screenshot
FIGHT
game

mITyFighter

A retro 2D arcade fighter, built in half a day with Copilot. The real boss is legacy code.

Hipster screenshot
HIPSTER
game

Hipster

Guess the song, place it on the timeline. A web remake of Hitster — with a music library that actually knows Belgium.

LoveFlix screenshot
LOVE
fun

LoveFlix

An AI experiment that rewrites any movie as a romance — poster, plot and all. Where every movie finds its heart.

Sports Madness screenshot
SPORT
fun

Sports Madness

Drops short-lived "boosters" and "maddies" into a normal match, so any sport turns strategic and slightly chaotic.

mITyStories screenshot
STORY
fun

mITyStories

Generates complete illustrated picture books and comics — in English, Dutch, Flemish and French.

Typix screenshot
TYPIX
fun

Typix

Personality assessments that are actually fun: DISC, Enneagram and more, mapped to colour and energy zones.

mITyLaundry screenshot
WASH
fun

mITyLaundry

Point your camera at a garment and it sorts the wash for you — AR, entirely in the browser. Sorting socks: still not automated in 2026.

mITyLex screenshot
LEX
fun

mITyLex

Language learning built by a developer who got tired of the big apps. Short lessons, clear goals, visible progress.

mITyGarden screenshot
GARDEN
fun

mITyGarden

An AI garden design studio. Move the pool with a prompt, not a shovel.

Scrum Programming Language screenshot
SPL
lab

Scrum Programming Language

An intentional programming language: you write ceremonies, it compiles to Java.

LEVEL 02 SPRINT ZERO

A language that compiles ceremonies

Scrummy, the SCRUM language mascot
programming by intent · compiles to Java
Scrum Programming Language
A real language where you code entirely in ceremonies — sprint goals, epics, user stories. Yes, really. Sprint zero compiles. Say hello to Scrummy.
Explore →

SCRUM is a programming language I designed and built myself. Not a framework, not a DSL bolted onto something else — an actual language with its own compiler. You write the ceremonies you already argue about in stand-up, and it compiles them to deterministic Java. The AI runs at compile time, not at runtime, so the binary you ship behaves the same every single run.

hello-world.scrum
#SPRINTGOAL Deliver our first Scrum program

EPIC "SampleStories"

    USER STORY "HelloWorld"

        #REVIEW Our first Scrum Program
        SAY "Hello world!"

    END OF STORY

END OF EPIC
the ceremonies are the syntax
intent.scrum
EPIC "SampleStories"

    USER STORY "Greeting"

        #INTENT
        Display a friendly greeting to the user.
        #END INTENT

    END OF STORY

END OF EPIC
#INTENT states the what — the compiler writes the how, once, into Java
LEVEL 03 THE ARTIST

mITy.John, but make it sound

Songs composed with a suspicious amount of AI and a Raspberry Pi that never asked for any of this. Press play, judge gently.

LEVEL 04 THE BOOKSTORE

Books, printed & kindled

Reimagined classics and picture books the whole family can pretend to understand. Paperback & Kindle on Amazon.

Cover of Nel springt erin!
Nel springt erin!

Van Bruegel tot Matisse — twaalf meesterwerken voor kleine kijkers. Een ondeugende kat springt een schilderij in, en twee kinderen duiken erachteraan.

Buy on Amazon
Cover of Felix Jumps In!
Felix Jumps In!

From Bruegel to Matisse — twelve masterpieces for little viewers. A mischievous cat leaps into a painting and two children dive in after her.

Buy on Amazon
Cover of Filou saute dans le tableau !
Filou saute dans le tableau !

De Bruegel à Matisse — douze chefs-d'œuvre pour petits curieux. Un chat espiègle saute dans un tableau, deux enfants plongent à sa suite.

Buy on Amazon
Cover of Mimi springt ins Bild!
Mimi springt ins Bild!

Von Bruegel bis Matisse — zwölf Meisterwerke für kleine Betrachter. Eine freche Katze springt in ein Gemälde, zwei Kinder hinterher.

Buy on Amazon
Coming soon
Reimagining Series
In the oven
Reimagining Series

Iconic covers, respectfully reinterpreted and gently roasted. The lab is printing faster than the shelves fill.

LEVEL 05 THE STAGE

Talks & conferences

All 12 talks →
2026
The Future Of the SDLC Conference
Rethinking the SDLC in an AI-first world
Munich, Germany
Devoxx FR 2026 Conference
22–24 April 2026 Paris, France Details ↗
dotnetZuid Meetup
Outcoded by our kids — and this is no longer the job I signed for, with Bart
29 May 2026 Netherlands Details ↗
Roundtable — The art of staying ahead Roundtable
The future of DXP
Leuven, Belgium
8 more talks →
LEVEL 06 FIELD NOTES

Latest from the blog

All posts →
Development
Ghosts in the Machine: I built a haunted IT sim by inviting a ghost in
AI · Music
mITyStudio — I can't (or hardly) play music. So I built something that can.
Development
When a cat makes you publish you're first picture book
AI · Architecture
The Workflow Is the New Unit of Software Delivery
LEVEL 07 THE DIG

Retro-IT, one square at a time

Field finds from computing's past, posted daily-ish.

@mity.john →
// words to build by
Creative
A true architect is not an artist but an optimistic realist. He takes a diverse number of stakeholders, extracts needs, concerns and dreams, then creates a beautiful yet tangible solution loved by the users and the community at large. He creates vessels in which life happens.
Cameron Sinclair
Practice
If it’s a good idea, go ahead and do it. It is much easier to apologize than it is to get a permission.
Grace Hopper
Engaging
Invest in your professional development. Specialize… and team up with colleagues who have different strengths.
Melissa Milloway
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