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