Amazon Engineer Jackson Kelley is Working on Data Privacy in Alexa

Ex block.one consultant (and formerly ML infrastructure engineer in retail at Amazon) Jackson Kelley has been nominated for a 2020 Noonie for contributions to the sticky subject of politics here on Hacker Noon. Scroll on for a a summary of what Jackson's been doing and thinking lately, including a new YouTube series, and which of his controversial opinions most people would definitely disagree with.

This Year's Noonies were made possible by: Sustany Capital, .TECH Domains, Grant for the Web, Skillsoft, Flipside Crypto, Udacity, and Beyondskills!  There are over $10K+ & 3K+ Yrs Domain Registration Up for Grabs. VOTE TODAY before it's all over on 12 Oct 🚀

1. Which 2020 Noonie have you been nominated for?

Hacker Noon Contributor of the Year - POLITICS

2. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I'm a software engineer at Amazon currently working on data privacy in Alexa. I also used to be an independent consultant for block.one, the creators of EOSIO. Prior to switching to Alexa I worked on ML infrastructure in the retail side of Amazon.

3. Tell us about the things you make / write / manage / build.

Lately I've been putting out weekly YouTube episodes in a series called Console. So far on Console I've covered everything from Linux tooling and compilers to Rust and Bloom Filters.

I also used to teach a blockchain development course on Udemy specific to EOSIO development.

4. What are you most excited about right now?

I think there are going to be some very interesting breakthroughs in WebAssembly and AR/VR very near in the future. However, frankly, I know much less than I should about either of these things.

I know it's cliche, but I'm also hoping fully autonomous vehicles happen in my life time.

5. What are you worried about right now?

Surveillance capitalism.

Also, my next project at work :D.

6. What's the most useful advice you've ever given somebody?

Read Taleb.

7. How has the pandemic changed your life and/or career?

I've been very fortunate insofar as the pandemic has not affected me.

8. If we gave you $10 million to invest in one thing right now, where would you put it?

I'd start a non-profit to teach inmates how to program in an attempt to reduce recidivism rates.

9. What's an opinion you have that most people don't agree with?

Luxury is immoral.

10. Which apps can't you live without?

Workflowy, Hackernews, and Pong Paging ;)

11. What are you currently learning?

How to bootstrap businesses, how to lead other engineers, and how to create engaging content and build a high-quality personal brand.

I'm also taking the MIT SICP course from 1985 to learn Lisp.

After that I'll take the latest distributed systems course from MIT.

VOTE for  Jackson Kelley as Hacker Noon Contributor of the Year - POLITICS before voting closes on 12 October, 2020! 🚀

With gratitude to Hacker Noon's 2020 Noonies Partners: Sustany Capital, .TECH Domains, Grant for the Web, Skillsoft, Flipside Crypto, Udacity, and Beyondskills!