iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alicia Bendz @bendza.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Two posts in a day! Even though it's not a novel, using NaNoWriMo as a motivator to get some of my ideas down. I hope you're interested in nullability in Java and Kotlin plus a preview of nullability in Project Valhalla: albendz.github.io/albendz-code... #Java #Kotlin #JVM

albendz.github.io

Nulls: Are we still losing millions of dollars with Java and Kotlin?

An overview of nulls, NullPointerExceptions, and nullability in Java and Kotlin.

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Alicia Bendz @bendza.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Quick post on how to prepare for an impactful behavioral interview by making your personal project cheat sheet: albendz.github.io/albendz-code... I keep mine posted on my monitor for quick and easy recall of key data to support my work experience. #starinterview #behavioralinterview #techinterview

albendz.github.io

Personal STAR Interview Cheat Sheet

Guarantee a stand-out, STAR interview by building your personal project cheat sheet.

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Alicia Bendz @bendza.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Check out the trends AI trends I learned about at LWT + WWCode Tech Futures Summit here: albendz.github.io/albendz-code... I've included the speaker profiles and the talks that inspired this post if you're looking for some awesome women in tech #WomenInTech #AI #LWTSUMMIT #TechFutures

albendz.github.io

AI in Software Development 2025

A review of top themes in the evolution of AI in Software Development in 2025.

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Alicia Bendz @bendza.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

I like learning about the creative ways software vulnerabilities are introduced - like slopsquatting: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slopsqu... Typosquatting + gen AI hallucinating NPM package names that attackers have conveniently created with malicious code

en.wikipedia.org

Slopsquatting - Wikipedia

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Alicia Bendz @bendza.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

I've started writing down my thoughts about how I've been learning to use AI effectively at work. My first and favorite use so far is code exploration: albendz.github.io/albendz-code... It's really made a difference learning the codebase after starting my new role.

albendz.github.io

How I’m Using AI For Code Exploration

How I'm using AI to explore codebases, what can go wrong, and whether it will replace us.

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Reposted by Alicia Bendz

Frances: Meh and Loving It @francesmeh.reviews · 02/09/2025

flipping through browser tabs and open spreadsheets trying to piece together what i was working on before the long weekend like i'm guy pearce in memento

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Alicia Bendz @bendza.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

TIL: Redis is named after Remote Dictionary Server courtesy of this Keys to #AWS Optimization episode: www.youtube.com/live/_zuRJSW...

youtube.com

Optimize your ElastiCache costs by moving to Valkey | The Keys to AWS Optimization | S14 E1

YouTube video by AWS Events

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Reposted by Alicia Bendz

Thomas Frank @thomasjfrank.com · 26/07/2025

A major problem with using LLMs to learn things: Me: "A is true, therefore B is false, right?" LLM: "Right! Here's a ton of detail to confirm your belief." Me: "Actually, A is false; B is true." LLM: "Exactly right! Here's more detail to confirm that belief."

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Alicia Bendz @bendza.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Thank you to @virtualcoffee.io for hosting me at their lunch and learn last month where I talked about the surprisingly stressful team matching process in interviews. Extra thanks to @meg-gutshall.bsky.social for being a great host! You can check out the recording here: youtu.be/VlEdzAAIDK8?...

youtu.be

Navigating Team Matching After Passing Technical Interview Rounds with Alicia Bendz

YouTube video by Virtual Coffee

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Reposted by Alicia Bendz

CFE.dev @cfedev.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

We're counting down the days to Moar Serverless! The speakers and schedule are set including talks from Cloudflare, Netlify, Honeycomb, Sentry, LocalStack and more. Plus, it's all 100% virtual and 100% free. Grab your ticket today and join us live on May 22! cfe.dev/events/moar-...

Moar Serverless virtual conference May 22

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Alicia Bendz @bendza.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

Nice talk on idiomatic #Kotlin: youtu.be/qNAWWuY22Mg?... I didn't know Kotlin UInts are used for colors 🌈 kotlinlang.org/docs/unsigne...

youtu.be

Dissecting Kotlin: Unsealing the Sealed, the SAM, and Other Syntax by Huyen Tue Dao

YouTube video by Kotlin by JetBrains

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Alicia Bendz @bendza.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Pulled from my optimistic "Watch Later" list: an approachable introduction to hacking from Dane Sherrets talking at Chariot ETE youtu.be/12TDD5JBWTw?... Poking around in the web dev tools and manipulating URLs is a great way to get started finding vulnerabilities in websites

youtu.be

How Developers Can Ethically Hack for Fun and Profit - Dane Sherrets

YouTube video by ChariotSolutions

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Alicia Bendz @bendza.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

I got #Github pages working with #11ty despite making things more complicated than they needed to be. The result needs work but it exists now! albendz.github.io/albendz-code... Here are the resources I used to make it happen: - github.com/11ty/elevent... - www.11ty.dev/docs/deploym...

11ty.dev

Deployment

A docs page for Eleventy, a simpler static site generator.

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Reposted by Alicia Bendz

goose @opensource.block.xyz · 08/04/2025

Vibe coding is fun...until you expose API keys on the client side. Before you vibe code with Goose, do your future self a favor: ✅ .gooseignore your sensitive files ✅ Turn on Smart Approval ✅ Commit early, commit often ✅ Stay curious block.github.io/goose/blog/2...

block.github.io

How to Vibe Code Responsibly (with Goose)

Vibe coding feels magical until it isn't. Learn how to flow with Goose while protecting your code, your team, and your future self.

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Reposted by Alicia Bendz

goose @opensource.block.xyz · 01/04/2025

At Block, we're all in on MCP! Learn how our InfoSec team is addressing security considerations like agent communication, tool connectivity, and supply chain risk. block.github.io/goose/blog/2...

block.github.io

Securing the Model Context Protocol

Building secure and capable AI integrations with Model Context Protocol (MCP) at Block.

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Reposted by Alicia Bendz

Angie Jones @angiejones.tech · 30/03/2025

Excellent writeup on how MCP future-proofs API integrations ~ @stevemanuel.bsky.social docs.mcp.run/blog/2025/03...

docs.mcp.run

MCP: The Differential for Modern APIs and Systems | 🤖

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Alicia Bendz @bendza.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Awkward interview story: My Block interview process was cut short by the layoffs this week, which included my recruiter. While that's not a great candidate experience, I think it's a worse experience to be a new hire on a team that just lost people. techcrunch.com/2025/03/25/r...

techcrunch.com

Read the email Jack Dorsey sent when he cut 931 of Block's staff | TechCrunch

Fintech Block laid off 931 people Tuesday, according to a leaked message from the company seen by TechCrunch.

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