Jeff Blankenburg
@jeffblankenburg
Followers
8,141
Following
1,240
Media
1,584
Statuses
22,915
Husband, father, programmer, speaker, writer, blogger, podcaster, collector, traveler, golfer. #ai , #developer
Columbus, OH
Joined May 2007
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
Merchan
• 125167 Tweets
Chester
• 119540 Tweets
Milli
• 95504 Tweets
Eagles
• 74735 Tweets
#CristinaMostraElTitulo
• 63729 Tweets
Dick Cheney
• 60887 Tweets
Mbappé
• 55284 Tweets
Franco Escamilla
• 49150 Tweets
Barcola
• 41742 Tweets
Packers
• 33965 Tweets
Barış Alper
• 31594 Tweets
#FRAITA
• 25981 Tweets
Galler - Türkiye
• 23649 Tweets
#BizimÇocuklar
• 17337 Tweets
Kenan
• 15841 Tweets
Sergio Mendes
• 15750 Tweets
Go Birds
• 15418 Tweets
Montella
• 14219 Tweets
Deschamps
• 14094 Tweets
ايطاليا
• 13976 Tweets
Tonali
• 12794 Tweets
#الجوهره_للاهلي_ممثل_الوطن
• 10510 Tweets
Saliba
• 10033 Tweets
My daughter started 9th grade yesterday. Her first class of the day was Computer Science. A class of 19 boys and her.
The teacher thought she was lost, and asked which room she was looking for.
And we wonder why this industry has a diversity problem.
467
9K
46K
This class is an elective that SHE picked. It is mostly upperclassmen. (Literally.) It is all male students, and a male teacher.
How can we change diversity when parents aren’t encouraging their daughters to try it?
When my daughter realizes she has 0 female peers, then what?
56
139
2K
I am a strong believer that every job in the future will require the ability to write some code. It might be to create reports, or interact with a robot, but knowing how to write some simple code will be a big career differentiator.
16
130
2K
Talking to students and teachers isn’t enough.
We need to find a way to get in front of parents. Elementary school parents.
We need to show them the opportunity, and show them that their involvement is the answer.
I think I need to write a new talk.
Have an awesome day.
74
69
2K
Why aren’t parents encouraging their children (especially daughters) to embrace technology?
I think I’m too blinded by this wonderland of opportunity to really see or understand the stigma.
My college degree is in Psychology. It’s never too late for anyone.
29
88
2K
The teacher introduced the class to Scratch, something she has used at home since 3rd grade.
(They’ll be learning Python in 2nd quarter.)
10
69
2K
@PlusTouCEO
She does. And she’s ready to take the problem on at her school. Here’s a text she just sent me:
30
45
802
Ripping some 2022
@Topps
Stadium Club tonight.
Best rip ever, or greatest rip ever?
@CardPurchaser
@LilDingers
94
39
665
@hankgreen
Also, let’s talk about the last time anyone used a hotel bathtub. Give me a real shower, please!
13
38
478
Ordered pizza from
@pizzahut
. They followed my instructions perfectly. Awesome.
http://t.co/Ub2anMs
81
2K
349
@oliravi
@azzcatdesign
@charlottecodes
@MikeLjoycE
@kentcdodds
Agreed. I don’t think the teacher was being malicious. It was a mistake. But those kinds of mistakes make underrepresented groups feel unwelcome.
The rest of my thread was about how we shift this mindset in parents and students.
5
5
216
Thinking about writing a talk titled “Why Avoiding Twitter is a Career Mistake in Software.”
Would LOVE your opinions on this thesis.
43
34
166
My tweet about my daughter yesterday went a little viral.
I was blown away by the number of women offering support, understanding, and their own personal stories that were very similar.
The technology industry can do so much better. We HAVE to do better.
9
8
166
Am I the only one still living in a pandemic? My feeds are full of friends getting together at bars and restaurants.
I feel like the guy that hides in his bunker for 10 years too long.
I’m staying in until I get vaccinated, even though I miss all of you desperately.
30
4
160
@MKizzyy
@DrKerstin
She is
@_rileyb_skates_
on here. She’s not discouraged at all. But it’s awesome that there’s an army of women who want to support girls like her!
5
3
143
It should be noted that 373
@OriginalFunko
figures is a perfectly normal amount for someone to have in their home office.
12
5
146
Why do I just feel sad all the time?
My life is pretty great. Wonderful wife, two smart kids, great job, great house, great friends.
Something needs to change.
100
2
131
I guess I never announced this here.
I STARTED A NEW JOB.
I'm a new Global Director of Innovation
@Neudesic
. Very excited to get started!
27
4
130
*Explain what you do for a living, poorly.*
I'll go first: I teach humans how to teach computers to talk to humans.
23
14
119
Just achieved FOUR YEARS on the Amazon Alexa team, and I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.
Love this technology. Can’t wait for what’s next.
16
3
123
@JenniferMcCown
Will do! Congratulations on your success! I also travel the world and speak...perhaps our paths will cross one day!
4
2
106
Got to explore the Blue Origin space capsule with Adam Savage yesterday.
Unbelievably cool experience. The capsule was neat too.
@blueorigin
@donttrythis
#remars
6
7
104
This is one of the greatest two minute videos in history.
6
46
102
Today is my last day at Amazon. So thankful for my time here, and all of the amazing people I've met as a result.
18
1
102
I want to let everyone know that
@EmilyKager
is an amazing person. She sent an encouraging letter to my 16-yo daughter two years ago about being female in technology, and it is STILL hanging on the wall next to her bed.
0
7
96
How many of you are actually self quarantining yourself, even if you arent sick?
46
0
92
3/3
For my generosity, I get to sit in the back of the plane, after all of the overhead bins are filled. I get to check my carry-on.
And zero compensation.
This is certainly a story of privilege, but it also kinda sucks.
36
4
86
I just changed all of my passwords to “Kenny.”
Now I only have Kenny logins.
8
10
81
I'm not working today, because it's a US holiday.
But today is my 5 year anniversary at Amazon Alexa.
Still feels like we're just getting started, and I still look forward to working towards the future of ambient computing every day!
@alexadevs
@alexa99
13
0
85
With your kids “learning from home,” would they enjoy building cool things for Alexa?
Every day, at 2pm Eastern, I will spend 30 minutes teaching beginners how to create some fun experiences.
No technical skills required. Completely free.
Please RT!
11
51
83
Today is my 6 year anniversary on the Amazon Alexa team. Hard to believe the time has gone by so quickly!
@alexadevs
@alexa99
14
2
83
If you ever need to go to another state to go camping, I will drive you. If you need help finding places to camp, I will help you. If you want to talk about camping afterward, I will talk. If you never want to talk about camping again, I will never say a word about it.
1
10
80
If you can *still* be a Trump supporter after today’s terrorism, I’m done. Today crossed a big line.
Nothing about today was a peaceful protest. Nothing about today was patriotic.
You are on the same side as those waving confederate flags while destroying our capitol building.
6
5
71
I’m building a super cool Alexa thing. I can’t wait to publish it. When I’m not working on it, I’m thinking about it.
Building software designed to be used by VOICE is such a unique problem compared with anything I’ve written in the past 20 years.
#obsessed
#alexadevs
4
6
72
All stories, no matter how magical, have an end, and this is mine. I have decided to leave Alexa and Amazon, and my last day will be June 6th. We can focus on what's next in a future thread.
🧵
29
0
70
"Will you marry me?" is a marriage proposal.
"Will, you, Mary, me" is a double date proposal.
"Will, you marry me" is a time traveler spoiling the future.
"Will you, Mary me" is a cavewoman reminding her amnesiac husband named Will who he is.
5
11
66
Today is my 44th birthday. I’m going to have to wait 400 more years until my age has all 4s again, but I’m up for the challenge.
I hope everyone has an awesome day!
24
0
66
I lost my last grandparent today.
Arline was 100 years old, and was there for every meaningful moment of my life. In her memory, I’d like to share some of my favorite photos from her life.
27
0
67
You’ll all be relieved to know that I passed my AWS Certification Exam for Alexa.
I am qualified to do my job!!
6
1
64
What's your take on Alexa these days? Do you use it at home? At work?
Have you ever built anything for it? Why or why not?
Genuinely curious about your opinions.
58
4
58
Writing software is humbling. I just spent 30 min trying to figure out what could be wrong with my asynchronous javascript function that is preventing it from returning the value I'm expecting.
API slow?
Forgot async?
Error messages?
Nope.
Never wrote the return statement.
13
3
61
It has come to my attention that I'm being watched.
1
6
61
Today is a happy day. My grandmother turned 100 years old!
4
0
63
Today was supposed to be the day I announced my new role at a startup that I was very excited to join.
Last Friday, their COO called me to let me know that they had implemented a hiring freeze, and my role had been eliminated.
Today is now Day
#1
of a new job search instead.
40
12
62
Bodies are weird. I've been walking around in a fat suit (of my own creation) for the last 15 years.
I started limiting my portion sizes, and it all started to fall off.
#brightlineeating
8
0
60
Happy anniversary to me! Today marks THREE YEARS on the Amazon Alexa team, and I couldn't be happier.
Love this place, love this team, love this tech.
#alexadevs
#alexa
#voicefirst
7
3
56
7
13
60
Many say that working from home is glamorous. I’m here to let you know it isn’t.
5
11
57
I just dropped my daughter at college for the first time. I am so excited for her.
I’ll be over here staring into the middle distance holding back the tears.
6
0
56
I really hate how jaded I've become about thinking anyone will read something.
Docs, emails...nearly any type of communication. Nobody reads anymore, and I've got to craft sneaky ways to get them informed. It seems like it would be giraffe elephant, but you didn't read this far.
15
5
52
I am a professional speaker. I give presentations via live streams (and in person) several hours almost every day.
This is what it looks like.
6
2
55
Regardless of the outcome of this election, I am truly embarrassed to be an American tonight.
5
3
53
Everyone that does streaming or video calls regularly knows this:
2
4
52
40 minutes away from taking my first AWS Certification Exam. Feel ready, still nervous.
It’s the AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder - Specialty exam.
Wish me luck!
#alexadevs
#alexa
#aws
#reinvent
#awscertified
8
1
52
Do you know node or python? Have an interest in the future of voice and AI? Do you enjoy shaping the future of technology? My team is hiring, and I'd love to chat with you about where we're headed with Alexa.
My DMs are open!
3
18
52
I’ve been flying to Seattle/Redmond for work-related trips for over 12 years now. Yesterday was the first time I really ventured out of the city.
Took my family to see Snoqualmie Falls and Mount Rainier. I found myself speechless several times. Absolutely breathtaking.
8
2
52
Learning English is difficult, but it can be taught through tough thorough thought, though.
1
6
50
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED:
It took me 45 years to accomplish, but with my visit to Hawaii this week, I have officially visited all of the 50 United States.
8
0
51
June 6, 2019: Got to spend a few hours hanging out with Adam Savage (
@donttrythis
) before his presentation at
@AmazonreMARS
. We talked about making things, space travel, and virtual reality. One of the nicest people I’ve ever met.
3
3
49
I build stuff for Alexa and voice. I work on the team that makes Alexa @ Amazon. My DMs are always open, and I’m happy to answer your development questions.
1
2
51
Wanted to see if I could get Alexa to read my tweets to me in a custom skill. Took me two hours. It only required:
- node.js knowledge
- AWS lambda experience
- npm twitter
- twitter developer account
- knowledge of promises and async
- javascript string manipulation
- patience
6
3
50
When Am I Ever Going To Use This??
This poster, hanging in my daughter’s high school, has a copyright of 1991.
It shows all of the different concepts in math, and which professions regularly use which one.
Computer Programmer has every single box checked, except 3.
#yep
8
12
47
We’ll see how it goes in December, but here’s my current diet update:
Started at 233 lbs on Sep 17th with
#brightlineeating
. Basically no added sugar, no flour, and portioning.
74 days later, I weigh in at 202. I’m 31 pounds lighter.
Continuing the journey to 175.
10
0
48
Just heard a story about yet another dude making inappropriate comments, actions, and texts to a number of female colleagues.
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, MAN? JUST STOP IT.
They are your peers, not your prey.
4
9
45
EVERYONE! I’ve finally found it. Now...what should I do?
10
1
48
I have been writing code for 20 years. I just spent 45 minutes fighting an issue only to discover trailing spaces had been added to my data values, meaning comparisons would fail on those values. Adding .trim() to my checks.
#weareallbeginners
7
7
49
My wife is using the word “mansplaining” wrong, but I don’t know how to tell her.
9
2
47
My team is hiring! We're looking for a Developer Community Manager. Who do you know that has some experience growing a thriving developer community? I'd love to meet them!
6
16
44
Should schools in America be required to teach Arabic numerals as part of their curriculum?
Yes
359
No
138
15
12
44
I’ve worked from home for 12 years. Since 2007. Everything about commuting seems almost foreign to me now: filling my gas tank often, rush hour traffic, paying for parking.
Makes me wonder...
What would life be like if all “office jobs” were “work from home?”
13
6
44
Opportunity is not like a pizza. Giving some to others doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty for you. America is a place for anyone that wants to be here.
If your politicians are spending more time scaring you than finding solutions, you should ask for new politicians.
Vote.
2
6
45
There’s many people on this
@delta
flight thanking me for being such a “nice guy.” I think I’m just being taken advantage of.
They asked for volunteers to take a later flight (4 hours). I’d get $500 for my inconvenience. Sounds good.
1/3
23
7
42
Watching a friend's
#stirtrek
presentation, where he mentions he *only* has 40 minutes to give his talk. (He only has 25 minutes.)
Texted his wife, who had his daughter carry a sign into his office with that news. It was as close to interactive television as I've ever seen.
6
1
44
I made a promise to myself that after I got under 200 pounds (which happened yesterday), I would allow myself one meal of pizza. I had two slices, and a breadstick. (I haven't had flour since August.)
This morning, I'm back over 200 pounds, but barely.
Totally worth it.
9
1
43
I’ll do a full video tour once everything is completed, but I can’t resist sharing this photo from our new arcade basement.
7
0
42
Dear Pacific Timezoners,
Every time you tell an Eastern Timezoner that "the only available time to meet is 7pm Eastern," ask yourself if you considered 6am Pacific.
Sometimes, it's okay to inconvenience yourself.
P.S. I still love you, though.
11
2
43
I will never understand the “our advertised pricing is only for new customers” strategy.
You’d rather lose me as a customer than give me your best price?
9
1
43
Today is Alexa’s 5th birthday. Still can’t believe I’ve had an opportunity to be part of this journey for most of it.
Looking forward to celebrating her 10th!
#Alexa
#alexadevs
#happybirthday
2
6
43
Just got accepted to speak at
@codemash
! Can’t wait for 2022 to be “the year it all felt normal again.”
2
1
42
Has a very brief "why can't I connect to email? Let's connect to the VPN to confirm I'm still employed" moment this morning.
Imposter syndrome is my favorite.
5
0
42