My name is Jonathan Guberman. I work as a software engineer in Toronto, Canada.
I didn't expect to become a software engineer—I've never taken a programming class—but after a postdoctoral research position didn't work out, I ended up working as a developer at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR).
After five years at OICR, I overcame my insecurity about not being a "real" programmer and applied for a job at TinEye, where I worked for over seven fantastic years as a full-stack developer and later as an engineering manager.
I recently decided it was time for a new challenge and started working as a senior software engineer at Cash App, part of Block (formerly known as Square).
I enjoy making things and helping others make things. I cofounded a makerspace, Site 3 coLaboratory, and served as its first director of education from 2010-2012.
The Pianocade is a chiptunes-style synthesizer that mimics the look, feel, and sound of 8-bit arcade games . I designed the hardware and firmware, and hand-made a run of about 100 units that shipped worldwide. It features programmable sound patches , arpegiated chords with variable ordering , a range of over 10 octaves .
Unmatched Maker is a deck editor and fansite for the Unmatched board game series. The deck editor has a WYSIWYG interface that lets you create custom decks. Users can share and comment on decks, as well as print or save them as high-quality raster or vector formats, and even export them for use in the popular Tabletop Simulator software.
I made this set of Alphabet Blocks when we were expecting our first child. Over the years the project has paid off when my children see a movie, read a book, or play a game for the first time and exclaim "Hey, that's on the blocks you made us!" Mission accomplished. You can find more details and a full list of subjects here.
The Pactuator was meant to be the first part of an entire faux-mechanical version of Pac-Man called Pac Machina. Alas, it never got made. It did, however, get me an email from a very nice lawyer at Namco that began "This is not a nastygram," and went on to explain in no uncertain terms to not even think of monetizing the project.
Have you ever wanted your food to shriek at you? The Syntheslicer is proof that a ridiculous pun is motivation enough for me to pursue a project. It's just a Drawdio attached to a knife instead of a pencil. Inexplicably, Make: Online named this one of their top 10 hacks of 2010.
Inspired by Anita Sarkeesian's "Ms. Male Character" video, I made Pac-Woman and Mr. Pac-Woman, a pair of ROM hacks where Pac-Woman is the plain member of the duo and her counterpart, Mr. Pac-Woman, has a jaunty top hat and bow tie so you can tell he's male. My only project (so far) for which I received anonymous abuse. Go figure.
I made the electronic guts of this Portal Turret Plushie and my friend Leigh Nunan made the plushie itself. It played game dialogue when it detected someone entering or leaving its field of view (motion sensor), picking it up (pressure sensor), or knocking it over (tilt sensor). Probably the most popular thing I've ever made; at one point it was on the front page of Reddit.
You know when you get a song stuck in your head, so you write a Twitter bot to generate and sing random versions of the chorus? That's what happened to me with The Beaches' Want What You Got, so I made Want What You Bot.
