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Welcome to Retr0's Lab

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By retr0crypticghost 3 min read

Hello and welcome to Retr0’s Lab! I’m retr0crypticghost (or retr0 for short), a Site Reliability Engineer getting this blog going to share what I’m working on and learning about.

I’ve always been fascinated by the intersection of vintage and modern technology - there’s something compelling about understanding both where we’ve been and where we’re going in computing. Whether it’s breathing life into classic hardware or orchestrating modern cloud infrastructure, I enjoy exploring how different eras of technology can inform each other.

About Me

My work spans the full spectrum of computing—from cloud infrastructure and Kubernetes to tinkering with vintage systems like classic Macs, Commodore 64, Apple II, and IBM PCs. 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 I Work With

I tend to be a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to technology. Strong with Python, solid C/C++ background, currently learning Rust and Go, and I’ll pick up BASIC or other languages when needed for vintage systems. For infrastructure and automation, Ansible is everywhere in my workflow. I work with various virtualization platforms, cloud services (AWS, Azure, Oracle Cloud, DigitalOcean), and multiple Linux distributions (RHEL, Ubuntu, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux), though my daily driver is Fedora Workstation for its best-of-all-worlds approach to gaming and development.

What to Expect

This is where I’ll share what I’m working on and learning about:

🖥️ Modern Infrastructure & SRE

  • Working with Kubernetes and containers
  • Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
  • Automation and Infrastructure as Code
  • Day-to-day reliability engineering

🔒 Cybersecurity

  • System hardening approaches
  • Security automation
  • Open source security tools
  • Privacy technologies

🕹️ Vintage Computing

  • Classic Macs, Commodore 64, Apple II, IBM PCs/DOS
  • Mainframe systems (when I can get access)
  • Old hardware restoration projects
  • Programming for vintage systems
  • Making old tech do new things

🔧 Hardware Projects

  • Microcontroller experiments
  • 3D printing / prototyping
  • Linux on various hardware
  • Embedded systems tinkering

The Philosophy

I find it interesting how old and new systems can inform each other. Constraints in vintage computing often led to clever solutions that are still relevant today. Sometimes the best way to understand modern complexity is to see how similar problems were solved when resources were scarce.

I’m also a strong advocate for open source software and enjoy contributing to community-driven development. The collaborative environment and continuous learning it offers aligns well with both my professional work and personal interests.

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 real project challenges and practical requirements, while AI analysis helps with pattern optimization, edge case identification, and code quality. Through continuous refinement and regular review based on actual usage, the result is better than either perspective alone could produce.

Let’s Connect

If any of this sounds interesting to you, I’d like to connect:

Whether you work in SRE, tinker with old computers, or just like seeing how things work, welcome to the lab.

Feel free to reach out if you’re working on similar projects or just want to chat about technology old and new.

introduction sre cybersecurity retro-computing automation
This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.