1 d498e05f 2024-04-27 aa This is some info about myself, that I didn't feel like putting into my
2 d498e05f 2024-04-27 aa ~/.project. A mini-autobiography of sorts. If you want things like my
3 d498e05f 2024-04-27 aa contact info, please finger(1) aa at this server, or see project.txt on
4 d498e05f 2024-04-27 aa the web/gopher/gemini.
9 c77cd1dc 2024-04-27 aa My memories of what has happened before 2014 are a bit foggy, so that may
10 d498e05f 2024-04-27 aa be not entirely accurate.
12 d498e05f 2024-04-27 aa 2000: get born in Moscow
13 d498e05f 2024-04-27 aa 2005: finally manage to pronounce the Russian rhotic sound! still hate
14 c77cd1dc 2024-04-27 aa it after, though
15 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa 2007: first year at school; am hated by peers for being smart, short
17 d498e05f 2024-04-27 aa 2008: the teacher tells us to be quiet; other children violate that
18 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa order immediately; I don't join; am punished along with the rest
19 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa anyway; begin internalising a disdain for authority
20 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa 2009: probably the first time I am told that I am just "not a language
22 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa 2010: teacher tells me to promise that I'll receive a 5 (i.e. the
23 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa highest mark) for the upcoming test; I am confused -- isn't she
24 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa the one who decides?
25 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa 2011: we move to a different apartment, I lose all of my pre-school
27 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa 2012: mum hires a private English tutor, and I switch Minecraft to
28 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa English; most other programs on my computer are soon to follow
29 d498e05f 2024-04-27 aa 2013: learn a bit of HTML; love it, but don't know what to do with it
30 d498e05f 2024-04-27 aa 2014: Putin annexes Crimea; the ruble plummets, and everyone starts
31 c77cd1dc 2024-04-27 aa hating Ukrainians; I begin googling "how to emigrate"
32 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa 2015: move to a school for the mathematically inclined, get familiar
33 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa with Pascal; have some friends again, but don't trust them
34 d498e05f 2024-04-27 aa 2016: switch to Python
35 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa 2017: teacher tells me to leave the school, and go back to one for
36 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa non-mathematically-inclined after I fail a test I didn't care
37 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa about; I proceed to pass most other tests as usual
38 d498e05f 2024-04-27 aa 2018: graduate from school only to immediately get into a cybersecurity
39 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa bachelor program to avoid army conscription; make some pretty bad
41 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa 2019: conclude that the only thing way in which the university is better
42 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa than school is that they don't care if I show up or not; proceed
43 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa to stay at home and play video games all day -- just in time for
45 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa 2020: install Linux for the first time (later switch to OpenBSD), begin
46 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa reading lots of nonfiction, and actually doing stuff besides
47 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa playing video games; university "friends" do not approve
48 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa 2021: fire my toxic "friends"
49 d498e05f 2024-04-27 aa 2022: Putin invades Ukraine, and I get my bachelor's diploma; instead of
50 d498e05f 2024-04-27 aa going for a master's, I go for a job, because the IT and CS
51 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa workers are now exempt from conscription; coworkers turn out to be
52 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa pigs, and money to be the only redeeming thing about it all (the
53 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa military commisar doesn't seem to care for my exemption)
54 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa 2023: notice that I have "just about enough" money; terrified of further
55 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa inaction, secretly prepare the documents, and, on the last work
56 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa day of the year, tell the boss I'm leaving
57 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa 2024: am renting an apartment by the Kutaisi opera house, making money
58 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa from a remote job at 34 times the hourly rate (though only 2
59 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa monthly) over the previous shit-show; meeting people from England
60 0cc82851 2024-05-28 aa and New Zealand; thinking about how to get a residency, and create
64 d498e05f 2024-04-27 aa A LITTLE ABOUT ME
66 350689b3 2024-06-07 aa My name is Alexander. I am a free software developer and a cosmopolite.
67 350689b3 2024-06-07 aa I love learning, but hate bigotry and hypocrisy. I grew up in the
68 350689b3 2024-06-07 aa gulag-land, but now I am free, and will not exchange that for anything
71 350689b3 2024-06-07 aa I do most of my computing on an old ThinkPad, running OpenBSD. I try to
72 350689b3 2024-06-07 aa avoid social media as much as possible, and I keep my Android phone in
73 350689b3 2024-06-07 aa the cupboard most of the time. I don't read news, don't watch TV, and
74 350689b3 2024-06-07 aa at most play a film, or a video game once in a moth, or two.
76 350689b3 2024-06-07 aa I used to read lots of fiction when I was younger, but now I read
77 350689b3 2024-06-07 aa non-fiction almost exclusively. I still like getting through a couple of
78 350689b3 2024-06-07 aa chapters of a novel before I go to sleep.
80 350689b3 2024-06-07 aa I used to be very "busy" all the time, mostly due to spending an
81 350689b3 2024-06-07 aa enormous amount of time at school/university/office. I am not anymore.
82 350689b3 2024-06-07 aa I am in control of my time. Now that I am a free man, and don't have to
83 350689b3 2024-06-07 aa do what someone else tells me to, I try to find an effective approach to
84 350689b3 2024-06-07 aa most things, and end up doing them faster and better.
87 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa LESSONS LEARNED
89 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa When I was about 21, it dawned upon me that a lot of the things I used
90 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa to believe were false, and a lot of the rules I used to live by had a
91 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa negative influence on me. Here are a few things I learned from my
92 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa mistakes (and successes) so far:
94 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa - Disregard unsolicited advice, specifically:
95 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa + Never believe absolute statements. (Even this one ;)
96 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa + Never believe people who say that something is impossible.
97 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa - Believe in yourself. No one else will. But if you do you'll be able
98 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa to achieve anything you want.
99 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa + But don't confuse belief with wishful thinking. These are completely
100 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa different things.
101 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa - Freedom is the best.
102 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa - If you are in a bad environment, change it.
103 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa - Raw intellect might get you through the basics, but it's never enough
104 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa for important things. When you set your mind to something, spend your
105 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa time preparing, or you'll miss all the opportunities.
106 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa - Take walks.
107 72a61c1f 2024-05-27 aa - Read books.
108 a2608441 2024-06-18 aa - There's nothing like having friends. But assholes are not worth your
109 a2608441 2024-06-18 aa time. Which ones you get largely depends on your environment. Seek
110 a2608441 2024-06-18 aa better environment.
