Andrei PrivacyZen Newsletter
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Hi, I'm Andrei.
A different kind of software engineer and all round generalist.
⏱️ About Me in 20 Seconds:
I am a full-stack software engineer with 21+ years of continuous hands-on experience, I discovered humans have the capability to learn any skill given they invest the time and energy, so I've been developing plenty of skills.
Driven by Curiosity, Unconventional Thinking
As a kid I wished to become an archeologist, then doctor. By 13 I had written my first chat bot and so my long career into computer science began. I always had a knack to study how things work on a deep level, to understand everything. This made me loose countless days and nights on learning and experimenting.
This made me become irreplaceable and unique (aren't we all?). In massive corporate ecosystems, management always wants to place a familiar label or title on an engineer to put them in a neat organizational box. They could never do that to me. Because I refused to specialize in a single silo, I wore almost every critical hat in the operations ecosystem: Database Administrator, Backend Developer, Full Stack Software Developer, System Administrator, DevOps Engineer, Linux Fan, Cyber Security Consultant, and Frontend Builder.
The 1 vs. 10 Efficiency Equation: By mastering the entire lifecycle—from configuring a Linux cloud VM to styling a website (yeah, this is probably my least favorite one) I can construct complete software environments independently. When you don't have to hire, manage, and pay for 10 developers who waste hours aligning internal updates via meetings, one single engineer gets you to production lines dramatically faster.
Over two decades, my engineering journey naturally shifted across software paradigms. I explored and built solutions using legacy architectures like Tcl, PHP, Java, and Visual Basic. Through that long evolution, I discovered what truly endures. I fell in love with the absolute concurrency power of Elixir, and more recently, the elegant, fast compilation simplicity of Golang. I don't follow modern framework hype; I write systems built to scale on a basic €5 virtual private server. Because in the end, we don't need
[ FULL-LIFECYCLE ARCHITECTURE ]
The Capabilities of an Entire Department inside One Mind
Why waste runway paying for agency overhead and managers who don't touch code?
01 // Backend Automation
High-speed concurrency engines written natively in Go Or Elixir for zero downtime.
02 // Linux & DevOps Care
Hardening bare-metal instances, reverse proxy routing, and independent container architecture.
03 // Database Administration
Relational indexing optimization, safe asset transactions, and self-hosted data isolation layers.
04 // Interface Mechanics
Lightweight, performance-first semantic presentation layers utilizing HTML, CSS, and modern HTMX nodes.
05 // Cyber Security Layout
Total attack boundary reduction by isolating backend components cleanly from client browser interfaces.
06 // Product Execution
Translating broad core ideas into lean, functional Minimum Viable Products that serve verified active traffic.
[ INNATE POTENTIAL ]
Discovering Hidden Human Modalities
My passions are varied, and many surfaced later in life. For years, I firmly believed I lacked an artistic drive. I was convinced that my mind was purely logical and unable to create art or paint. Then, at 24, I suddenly discovered I could draw. A few years later, I transitioned into painting and sculpture
That profound shifts proved that every single person holds an innate wonder and talent locked within them. We don't lack capacity; we simply need to find the time and allow ourselves to let that internal expression surface.
After some quite unfortunate life events I discovered Somatics. Because it is rooted firmly in empirical neuroscience rather than ambiguous concepts, I naturally integrated it into my daily life. Today, alongside system development, I am a Certified Somatic Movement Instructor, tracking how nervous system regulation amplifies cognitive focus and creative problem-solving. Movement improves your brain and body, thus improving our life.
Interests & Micro-Crafts
- The majority of my decisions regarding wellness, wellbeing, food, etc are science based. This makes my life easier, if something is true, it must be backed up by real scientific experiments, otherwise it's just a fake fad.
- ✍️ Writing & Thinking: I have compiled thousands of personal markdown notes, the volume equivalent of several novels of concepts, entirely independent of my codebases.
- 🌲 Nature Love Walking quietly through deep natural landscapes and discovering remote environments. There are quite a lot of dangerous things in my zone: Wolves, Bears, Poisonous snakes, ticks and also wild european bisons.
- I found that by improving my microbiome and sitting more in the sun near infrared improved many issues
- 🧠 Continuous Learning Perpetually curious, looking for novel intersections between code, organic biology, and mechanical engineering.
Every individual is a deep wonder. Wander through my thoughts and discover your own pathways via my Blog & Articles.
Curious about the systems behind this speed? Check out my 🧰 Tools Page.