About

About

Welcome to Retr0’s Lab. I’m retr0crypticghost (or retr0 for short), a Site Reliability Engineer who thrives at the intersection of vintage and cutting-edge technology.

About Me

My work spans the full spectrum of computing—from cloud infrastructure and Kubernetes orchestration to tinkering with vintage systems like classic Macs, Commodore 64, Apple II, IBM PCs, and when I can get access, mainframe systems. As a cybersecurity enthusiast and automation advocate, I focus on building resilient systems while sharing the experiments and discoveries along the way.

I’m fascinated by the unseen forces that make technology work—the ghost in the machine, whether it’s elegant algorithms running on vintage hardware or the complex orchestration of modern distributed systems.

What You’ll Find Here

This lab serves as my digital workshop where I document:

  • Modern Infrastructure: Cloud platforms, containerization, CI/CD pipelines, and SRE practices
  • Cybersecurity Research: System hardening, threat modeling, and security automation
  • Retro Computing: Classic Macs, Commodore 64, Apple II, IBM PCs/DOS, and classic computing systems including mainframes when accessible
  • Automation & DevOps: Infrastructure as Code, monitoring, and operational efficiency
  • Open Source Advocacy: Contributing to FOSS projects and community-driven development
  • Hardware Hacking: Microcontrollers, embedded systems, and digital fabrication

The Philosophy

I believe that understanding where we’ve been technologically helps us build better futures. Whether it’s applying lessons from mainframe reliability to modern cloud architecture or finding elegant solutions in constrained vintage systems, there’s value in bridging the old and new.

I tend to focus on real-world usefulness rather than theoretical completeness. The best solutions are often the ones that actually work in practice, even if they’re not perfect on paper.

When it comes to AI, I believe in collaborative development where human experience brings practical requirements and project challenges, while AI analysis helps with pattern optimization and code quality. The result is better than either perspective alone could produce.

Get in Touch

Interested in SRE, cybersecurity, automation, retro computing, or just want to chat about tech? I’d love to connect:

Welcome to the lab—let’s explore the digital frontier together, one experiment at a time.