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Bonnie Eisenman

Software engineer, author, knitter, Esperantist. Member of NYC Resistor and author of Learning React Native.

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All Posts

2020

Don't tolerate -isms in your interviews

My organization typically interviews in pairs: two interviewers, one candidate. This is beneficial for several reason...

Is Processing Java?

I wanted to use my "normal" programming tools with Processing, which led me down this rabbit hole. TLDR; Processing is a combination of a Java library, a Java pre-processor, and an IDE. You can use Processing like any other Java library if you want, instead of being locked into the IDE. Here are some of the subtle gotchas that I found.

More than Coding: What is Exploratory Work?

Implementation versus exploration. Who is expected to do what. Being glue.

2019

Less-obvious accessibility questions

Accessibility and ability are both complex spectrums. Many venues that claim to be ā€œADA accessibleā€ arenā€™t actually a...

2018

An Engineer's Formula for Software Estimation

A rough formula for tshirt-sizing estimates for software projects.

Experiments with Fractal Streets

Generating street layouts with Clojure.

What I Know About: Being Sick at Work

Some of the strategies I use for managing my disability in the workplace.

Notes on Modifying Unowned Code

What do you do when you want to add a feature to a codebase that nobody maintains?

SVG Jigsaw Generation in Clojure

Silly, terrible, no-good very-bad jigsaw puzzles. Featuring Voronoi diagrams, KD-trees, and Clojure.

Books 2017

What I read, what I'd recommend, and some patterns.

2017

Lisp Learning, Part 1: Generating a Circular SVG

Iā€™m going to be participating in the Recurse Center one week mini-batch in January. Recurse Center describes itself a...

For want of a sandwich

Notes on recovery. Dec 2017.

Underscores in Scala

Doodling about the Scala underscore operator, feat. my awful handwriting

Reading Papers as a Working Programmer

Do industry software engineers read research papers? I asked a bunch of people.

Quitting Facebook / this is just to say

Spoiler alert, it was on purpose.

What I know about debugging circuits

Iā€™m a trained software engineer, but I am decidedly an amateur when it comes to working with physical hardware and bu...

Strange Loop 2017: Sketchnotes Edition

Doodles of a few Strange Loop talks.

Chronic pain, some time later

Good healthcare is nice to have.

tmux course on egghead.io

Wrangle your terminal with tmux

Scala jargon

A list of things I didn't understand at NE Scala Symposium.

Grep Course on Egghead.io

My first video course is online at Egghead.

Reading List: 2016

Highlights from my 2016 reading list.

Internet of Dirt: A Texting Plant

Have your plant text you when it needs watering.

Fitbit for Spoonies

Intersections of fitness and (dis)ability.

2016

Two Twitter Bots

BingoBits tweets partial Scrabble bingos. DailyOblo is a SET-inspired bot that tweets cards.

Strange Loop Zine 2016: Call for Pages

Apparently we're making a Strange Loop zine?

Making GET Requests with the Adafruit Feather HUZZAH

TLDR; User-Agent strings are important, even if they're nonsense.

Last Month, July 2016

Moving, knitting, reading, soldering.

Sweater Planning

Things I'm thinking about for my next sweater.

A Year of Knitting

Reflections on my first year of knitting, and the hats/scarves/sweater/shawls I made along the way.

Last Week, 06/25/16

Visit to Noisebridge, a sewing class, kaballistic sci-fi.

Last Week, 06/19/16

Hello from the airport.

A first video lesson: Applying Basic Styles in React Native

My first video lesson is live on Egghead.io.

Last Week, 06/12/16

Back from vacation, and back to our regularly scheduled linkspam.

Zero to Ten: A Chronic Pain Scale

Here's the pain scale I use in my daily journaling. Guaranteed non-scientific!

Soldering Class

I'm teaching a soldering class at NYC Resistor on July 30th.

Last Week, 06/05/16: React Europe Edition

I spent the week in Paris for React Europe, so this week's linkspam is entirely React-themed.

React Europe 2016

Notes from the conference.

Last Week, 05/29/16

Prep for React Europe, knitting, linkspam.

Last Week, 05/22/16

Prep for a soldering class, reading CS papers, linkspam, the usual.

Last Week, 05/15/16

Esperanto scrabble tiles, more goats.

Notes from 3D Printing

Got a crash course in 3D printing, took some notes.

Last Week, 05/06/16

Wekinator workshop, finished a scarf, started a hat, went to FACETS (briefly).

Last Week, 05/01/16

It was a bit chilly, and gorgeous, in New York this week.Bring Your Child to Work Day is apparently a real thing? (I ...

Last Week, 04/25/16

I want to try journaling a bit more about what Iā€™ve actually done with my time. Hereā€™s some stuff I did last week: ...

Morning Reading, 04/24/16

This morning, I am sitting in my apartment with a glass of fresh cold-brew and my laptop, going through my Pocket lis...

State of the JavaScript Landscape: A Map for Newcomers

A First Hat

A simple hat.

Intro to React Native on InfoQ

FAQs on Writing Learning React Native

MeteorJS Podcast on Learning React Native

2015

Learning React Native

A book on building mobile apps with JavaScript.

Garter Lace Scarf

Infinity scarf knit from Noro Obi yarn.

Musical Needlepoint

Project with conductive thread, Arduino, and ChucK.

Testing with ReactJS at Codecademy

Laser Pies for Pi Day

Of course we laser-etched pi pies for Super Pi Day.

ReactJS In Real Life: My article on InfoQ

About a month ago I wrote an article for InfoQ: React.js in Real Life at Codecademy.Itā€™s been fun watching the respon...

Caramelizing Sugar onto Chocolate: Laser Adventure Time!

Laser + Sugar + Chocolate = Fun.

Brass Chainmaille Bracelet

Simple European 4-in-1 brass bracelet, made with 18ga 3/16" rings.

Circuitry and Puzzles

WIP experiment with conductive paint, a laser-cut puzzle, and LEDs.

React.js Conf

I'm at React.js Conf!

2014

Other People Make Piano Stairs

I put my Piano Stairs on Instructables a while ago, and other people have made their own!

I finished Duolingo's German course

I finished Duolingoā€™s German tree last week. After some months (9? 10?) of slow but steady progress, it felt really r...

Lasers and Chocolate: Update

My roommate and I experimented with laser-cutting chocolate.

Mug Music

Turn a mug of water into a musical instrument.

MakerFaire

I went to Maker Faire a couple of weeks ago! It was really wonderful. I had never been before, and it was so overwhel...

Life Updates

Iā€™m no longer a student! Wow, thatā€™s weird.I moved to NYC and started my job at Codecademy about a month ago now. So ...

Lasers!

Last week I took a laser-cutting class at NYC Resistor. Iā€™d stopped by their table at MakerFaire, and thought it migh...

Braaaaains. And Music.

Harvest Zhang and I perform together for our final project, using a mindwave reader and my Illumaphone.

Illumaphone: A Light-Based Musical Instrument

Spatial, light-based instrument I built for a final project.

(Twitch Plays) Twitchy

A Twitch.TV-controlled hexapod, built with Arduino, Electric Imp, and a bunch of laser-cut acrylic and servos.

Piano Stairs

Turn any staircase into a piano with an Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and $6 worth of light sensors.

2013

DDR Gloves

For HackPrinceton 2013, we made some DDR Gloves.