If your workflow requires a copy of this history, the simplest way is to copy everything below the line and paste it into a word processing document. If you would prefer that I generate one for you, email me at whblondeau@gmail.com. I'll happily and promptly send it.
Bill Blondeau
122 N. 6th St.
Madison, WI 53704
References upon request.
These links point to written pieces of various kinds. Their purpose is to allow prospective employers, clients, or collaborators to judge my ability as a writer. This portfolio is obviously weighted towards Technical Writing; but the nontechnical nonfiction essays, and even the fiction, might have something useful to say.
As a rule, these pieces are not very long or complicated. My sense is that shorter pieces probably deliver more bang for the buck. One exception: the NGWMN Documentation Excerpts are drawn from a large, complicated, and highly technical documentation project, and consequently run long. (Anyone who wants to assess my hardcore technical documentation chops should probably start with that one.)
A note about the referenced works: content published online is, in general, copyrighted, with all rights reserved. This includes content in GitHub repositories. However, if the repository contains a specific license (usually called "LICENSE" with a filetype extension) that license supersedes the general assumption of copyright.
Most of my Technical Writing proper has been done on closed, internal systems for clients. Here are some publicly available examples:
Samples drawn from an extensive documentation effort. The NGWMN Groundwater Portal was and is a large, complicated application built and operated by USGS/CIDA. The folks at CIDA report that this particular product continues to prove useful, which gives me a fair amount of professional satisfaction.
Intended audience: CIDA developers, designers, and project leadership.
pywqp Water Quality Download Client README
A brief overview and usage document for the pywqp client I wrote for USGS/CIDA.
Intended audience: Python-savvy data scientists and developers.
Python Tomcat Monitor for Nagios README
The Nagios open source application for monitoring systems, networks, and infrastructure. Nagios works via plugins. This README provides usage and a conceptual overview for a simple Python plugin I wrote to monitor the health of Apache Tomcat servers on the network.
Intended audience: IT infrastructure specialists, possibly with limited Nagios, Tomcat, and/or Python knowledge.
rocket-appliances Geospatial Domain Language (work in progress)
This project is intended as a demonstrator for the fundamental problems of geospatial programming. It's essentially the use of language design to create salient representations of key cartographic abstractions.
Intended audience: people who want to learn about geospatial programming.
Knotwork for a makerspace (work in progress)
How to tie basic knots. And, what they are good for.
Don't assume that Technical Writing means "high tech". There are principles of good technical writing that make documentation understandable, and help the reader to grasp the material. These principles apply to low tech just as seriously as to the latest structures of symbolic logic and microelectronics.
This wiki is currently unfinished. It's intended to back up a series of classes on basic knotwork at The Bodgery, a local makerspace: after the students have seen the knots explained and demonstrated during class, they will be encouraged to practice the knots every day. This material will help them to not forget how, and when, to use the knots.
Intended audience: Students of basic knotwork at a makerspace.
Posts and commissioned pieces about the Tech Industry, considered as a community of professional practice and as a community of individuals.
Madison+ UX 2015 Presentations
Note: these articles have unfortunately vanished from the web. I'm leaving these links in place: at minimum, they serve as a list of some work I was, and am, pretty proud of. And, hopefully, adorable.io has archived them and would be willing to provide contributor's copies. I'll be looking into that.
Madison+ UX, a User Experience design conference, began in 2012, and concluded with the 2015 conf. I was there for the beginning and the end; adorable.io, the conference presenter, commissioned me to briefly document the presentations. The articles are posted on adorable.io's blog, accompanied by videos, slide decks, and info about the presenters.
Unsurprisingly, the conference was superb: very professionally managed and featuring a wonderful lineup. Everyone was obviously sorry that this was the last one. Sure ended on a high note, though.
Intended audience: UX specialists, conference organizers who want to see how it's done, and tech people in general.
A meditative look at the hopeful nature of the Tech Industry, as seen through (somewhat bedazzled) beginner's eyes at Madison Ruby 2012. I was a brand new Bendyworker at that point, and saw a lot of things that left me exhilarated. I also saw the possible encroachment of Enterprise norms as a threat to the community.
Intended audience: People who work in tech, especially Rubyists.
RailsBridge: a Difference That Makes A Difference
RailsBridge helps women get into programming via brief, intensive workshops that introduce prospective developers to Ruby on Rails. It begins with an Install Night, in which participants bring their laptops, and mentors help ensure that the latest Ruby and Rails are properly installed. The same kind of thoughtful approach characterizes the entire workshop.
RailsBridge is smart, humane, inclusive; and I'm happy to note that it's still going strong.
Intended audience: People who work in tech, especially Rubyists; and people who might want to work in tech, especially women.
A selection of well-received nonfiction pieces. The tone varies depending on the anticipated audience, the purpose or import of the piece, and the context.
The Crafted World of Analog Computing
A look at the elegant, almost steampunk computing machines we used before we went digital. A different way to use electromechanical resources to solve very hard problems.
Intended audience: General readers who understand some basics of math and computation.
Complex Systems: A Motorcycle Tour Through the Museum
An article originally published in Kurt Cagle's XML Today. A 101-level introduction to the theory and nature of Complex Systems: how they dominate the real world we inhabit, but resist our linear thinking and vector-based sciences.
Intended audience: People who are, or might become, interested in Systems Theory.
Complex Systems: Feedback is Hard
The next article in the sequence of Complex System articles, after A Motorcycle Tour Through the Museum. This article introduces the concept of the Feedback Loop, which is the fundamental component of Complex Systems.
Intended audience: People who are, or might become, interested in Systems Theory.
I've written some fiction. A couple of pieces have been accepted for publication:
Here are drafts of some as yet unpublished works that seem to hold some promise…