This is some info about myself, that I didn't feel like putting into my ~/.project. A mini-autobiography of sorts. If you want things like my contact info, please finger(1) aa at this server, or see project.txt on the web/gopher/gemini. TIMELINE My memories of what has happened before 2014 are a bit foggy, so that may be not entirely accurate. 2000: get born in Moscow 2005: finally manage to pronounce the Russian rhotic sound! still hate it after, though 2007: first year at school; am hated by peers for being smart, short and girly 2008: the teacher tells us to be quiet; other children violate that order immediately; I don't join; am punished along with the rest anyway; begin internalising a disdain for authority 2009: probably the first time I am told that I am just "not a language learner" 2010: teacher tells me to promise that I'll receive a 5 (i.e. the highest mark) for the upcoming test; I am confused -- isn't she the one who decides? 2011: we move to a different apartment, I lose all of my pre-school friends 2012: mum hires a private English tutor, and I switch Minecraft to English; most other programs on my computer are soon to follow 2013: learn a bit of HTML; love it, but don't know what to do with it 2014: Putin annexes Crimea; the ruble plummets, and everyone starts hating Ukrainians; I begin googling "how to emigrate" 2015: move to a school for the mathematically inclined, get familiar with Pascal; have some friends again, but don't trust them 2016: switch to Python 2017: teacher tells me to leave the school, and go back to one for non-mathematically-inclined after I fail a test I didn't care about; I proceed to pass most other tests as usual 2018: graduate from school only to immediately get into a cybersecurity bachelor program to avoid army conscription; make some pretty bad friends there 2019: conclude that the only thing way in which the university is better than school is that they don't care if I show up or not; proceed to stay at home and play video games all day -- just in time for COVID! 2020: install Linux for the first time (later switch to OpenBSD), begin reading lots of nonfiction, and actually doing stuff besides playing video games; university "friends" do not approve 2021: fire my toxic "friends" 2022: Putin invades Ukraine, and I get my bachelor's diploma; instead of going for a master's, I go for a job, because the IT and CS workers are now exempt from conscription; coworkers turn out to be pigs, and money to be the only redeeming thing about it all (the military commisar doesn't seem to care for my exemption) 2023: notice that I have "just about enough" money; terrified of further inaction, secretly prepare the documents, and, on the last work day of the year, tell the boss I'm leaving 2024: living in Kutaisi in Georgia, discovering that human company can actually be pleasant, and not all is lost A LITTLE ABOUT ME My name is Alexander. I am a free software developer and a cosmopolite. I love learning, but hate bigotry and hypocrisy. I grew up in the gulag-land, but now I am free, and will not exchange that for anything in the world. I do most of my computing on an old ThinkPad, running OpenBSD. I try to avoid social media as much as possible, and I keep my Android phone in the cupboard most of the time. I don't read news, don't watch TV, and at most play a film, or a video game once in a moth, or two. I used to read lots of fiction when I was younger, but now I read non-fiction almost exclusively. I still like getting through a couple of chapters of a novel before I go to sleep. I used to be very "busy" all the time, mostly due to spending an enormous amount of time at school/university/office. I am not anymore. I am in control of my time. Now that I am a free man, and don't have to do what someone else tells me to, I try to find an effective approach to most things, and end up doing them faster and better. LESSONS LEARNED When I was about 21, it dawned upon me that a lot of the things I used to believe were false, and a lot of the rules I used to live by had a negative influence on me. Here are a few things I learned from my mistakes (and successes) so far: - Disregard unsolicited advice, specifically: + Never believe absolute statements. (Even this one ;) + Never believe people who say that something is impossible. - Believe in yourself. No one else will. But if you do you'll be able to achieve anything you want. + But don't confuse belief with wishful thinking. These are completely different things. - Freedom is the best. - If you are in a bad environment, change it. - Raw intellect might get you through the basics, but it's never enough for important things. When you set your mind to something, spend your time preparing, or you'll miss all the opportunities. - Take walks. - Read books. - There's nothing like having friends. But assholes are not worth your time. Which ones you get largely depends on your environment. Seek better environment.