about me

my name is Jk and i build systems.
this site
The best people I know write.
Technical skills only get you so far.
I have bigger ambitions.
– Posts are usually about the future of technology, building infrastructure systems, and privacy –
about me
I work at the intersection of emerging technology and software, with an emphasis on infrastructure, privacy, and AR/VR.
I’m currently building production systems at Mysten Labs. I work on zklogin, the most widely used zero knowledge system on earth. I also spoke on some of my work building reliable infrastructure fast at Pulumi Up 2024. I created the incident management program that has handled the real-time response, mitigation, and long-term resolution for some major incidents on the network. People rely on Sui to be resilient and stable, thanks in part to my work.
I was a production software engineer at Meta for a few years, working on privacy infrastructure and AR/VR. before that, I was at Arizona State University in Meteor Studio working on new research in augmented reality security and privacy. I spent my time during school working at various parts of the software stack, from firmware testing to fullstack to mobile.
Software will define the future of humanity, and my strongest desire is to leave a legacy of software I built that my family can be proud of.
tidbits
- My approach to my work includes a conviction that taste and curation will drive the next generation of technology.
- I have a daughter who lights up my world. I subscribe to the reggio emilia approach the best I can in my parenting.
- My partner Ariel is the yin to my yang and offers peace in my mind of chaos.
- Rock and roll has always been a huge part of my life and recently I’ve gotten into a relatively niche genre that is an amalgamation of metal and hardcore aptly called metalcore. most *core music contains lyrical themes and sounds I can find joy in. – angry music, happy boi –
- Much like Murakami, I began training for endurance athletics near the end of my twenties. I enjoy running long distance wherever I can and participate in the occasional race.
- When I was a teeenager I was an avid Boy Scout and earned the Eagle Scout award, taking many backpacking trips mostly around Arizona. Spending time in nature and making space for my family to do the same is a high priority for me.
favorites
works that inform how I live and work
- strunk and white
- zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance
- thinking in systems: a primer
- no bad kids
- the righteous mind
- computer systems: a programmer’s perspective
- the great online game
- read write own
life priorities
- family
- kindness
- health
- legacy
- passion
- ambition
- connection
things
I generally try to live minimally and avoid accumulation of things when possible, prioritizing owning a few high-quality things.
- You will find me wearing mostly black most of the year. I thoroughly enjoy the variety of styles that exist within a single color. This is an outward expression of my belief that constraint yields creativity and lends itself well to a minimalistic wardrobe.
- I almost exclusively run long distance in altras. I am accustomed the luxury of running zero-drop with a wide toebox. The foot strength, comfort, and road-closeness are well worth the premium price.
- Inside my home I wear my mahabis curve shoes, which provide a balance between comfort and support, especially when working from home.
- I have a single global chef knife that has treated me well but is showing signs of incessant use.
- The dunlop tortex jazz iii have been my chosen guitar picks of late. Ernie ball’s earthwood series are the strings I equip my acoustic with.
- My keyboard is an ergomech split lily58 with blank black keycaps and durock pom piano switches.
- Sunday tends to be the weekly pizza night in our house, and I bake 16 inch pies on a 3/8 inch pizza steel. The factory seconds ones are relatively affordable compared to the bigger home pizza ovens and result in some solidly tasty pizzas.
music
Some of the artists I keep coming back to are
- four year strong
- the devil wears prada
- we came as romans
- bilmuri
- mighty oaks
- joan
- lany
My “can you dig it?” playlist is where I rotate through new music quite regularly and is a good reference point for up to date sonic obsessions.
anti-favorites:
- haskell
- quiet resentment
- phone cases
religion:
I was raised a latter day saint. I have been in a decade-long process of introspection and recently stopped practicing. I expect to be discovering my own faith for the rest of my life. High-control religion is hurtful and tends to be overtly regressive, but I believe there is immense value in the ritual, prayer, loyalty, hope, faith, inner strength, and community of organized religion. There is so much to be grateful for and it’s convenient to have someone to thank.
reach out
I can be reached fairly easily at all the usual places like twitter or telegram.