loftwah/core

:house_with_garden: Open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first

Dean Lofts

Hello! I'm Dean, also known as Loftwah in the digital world. I am an experienced DevOps Engineer, System Administrator, and Network Infrastructure Professional, with skills spanning REST, Docker, Linux, Infrastructure, Troubleshooting, Network Security, DNS, and Cloud Computing. Currently, I'm working as a DevOps Engineer at Operoo, and my professional journey includes roles at PlayHQ Sports, PVS Australia Pty Ltd, Lions Eye Institute, among others.

Despite not having formal training in coding, my passion for technology led me to self-learn and develop proficiency in several areas including AI, AWS, DevOps, DevRel, Ruby, CrabLang, and Terraform. I'm a dedicated contributor to open-source projects, making significant contributions to Appwrite, EddieHub, LinkFree, NASA, Nocodb, Streamlabs, and WordPress. Ruby and Bash are my go-to programming languages.

Recently, I became an ambassador for the popular open-source community EddieHub and its project LinkFree, a fantastic open-source alternative to Linktree. I love participating in hackathons and co-hosting spaces like my recent Twitter space that pulled in over 1300 attendees. I'm also the author of "Linux for Pirates!", a guide meant to assist newcomers in the tech industry.

Outside the tech realm, I'm a self-taught hip hop producer and music producer, known as Loftwah The Beatsmiff. I've released several albums and collaborated with artists like Grind Mode Cypher and OptiMystic MC. I also had a brief stint as a Recording Engineer at Shake Down Studio.

Before my foray into tech and music, I served in the Royal Australian Navy and worked on large-scale projects across various sectors like defence, mining, oil and gas, ISPs, and SaaS. These diverse experiences have given me a wealth of knowledge that I hope to bring into the education industry.

In addition to my tech and music contributions, I run a tech-oriented YouTube channel, publish tech articles, and share my personal journey, including overcoming adversity and mental health struggles. Despite the challenges, I find joy in experiences like road trips with my daughter and being part of a supportive work team.

You'll find me to be confident, friendly, informal, and optimistic. I believe in open, asynchronous communication and love to see the tech community grow. Just a heads up - I might need to pause my music during voice calls!

Fun fact - I have received several awards for my military service, including the Iraq Medal, the Australian Active Service Medal, and the Australian Defence Medal. My preferred work hours are in the afternoon and evening.

If you're interested in exploring my music, you can find it on YouTube and other platforms. For more on my thoughts about tech, my career, and emerging trends, you can check out my writings. Thanks for stopping by, and don't hesitate to reach out! 😎

To learn more about what I'm probably like, my personality type is ISTP-A. You can also take your own test here.

Speaks: English

Highest WPM: 120wpm

Note Tests conducted on Monkeytype

My Links

LinkFree | Spotify | Twitter | YouTube

Books I Like

Long Walk to Freedom, Secrets of the Autistic Millionaire, The Rose That Grew from Concrete (poetry collection), The 48 Laws of Power, The Art of War, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Think and Grow Rich and Zero Day.

My Interests

Arcade Games, Beat Making, Card Games, Coding, Comedy, Computers, Gaming, Music Production, Reading, Running, Sleeping, Swimming, Trivia and Writing.

Favourite Uses

Appwrite, AWS, Cloudflare, CrabLang, GitHub, Google Workspace, Grammarly, Linux, MacOS, Ruby, Slack, Ubuntu and VSCode.

Quotes I Like

• "Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic.” - Arthur C. Clarke
• "Social engineering bypasses all technologies, including firewalls." - Kevin Mitnick
• "People said I should accept the world. Bullshit! I don't accept the world." - Richard Stallman
• “The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers.” - Sydney Harris
• "Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success." - Napoleon Hill
• "It doesn't matter what you know, what matters is when you know” - Kathy Sierra
• "Technology frightens me to death. It’s designed by engineers to impress other engineers. And they always come with instruction booklets that are written by engineers for other engineers — which is why almost no technology ever works.” - John Cleese
• "Software is like sex; it's better when it's free." - Linus Torvalds
• "The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways." - Robert Greene
• "I don't see myself being special; I just see myself having more responsibilities than the next man. People look to me to do things for them, to have answers." - Tupac Shakur
• “A hacker is someone trying to figure out a way to make toast with a coffee maker” - Wau Holland
• “Be curious. Read widely. Try new things. What people call intelligence just boils down to curiosity.” - Aaron Swartz
• "I always felt that I had to work harder than the next guy, just to do as well as the next guy. And to do better than the next guy, I had to just kill. And you know, to a certain extent, that's still with me in how I work, you know. I just... go in." - Jimmy Iovine
• “I know the dark things that people have intentions for when it comes to using information nefariously and I do my best to interrupt that and I’m going to continue to. I’m not afraid of anybody and If I’m called to take care of that its game over for that person or group.” - Gummo
• "Silence is a source of great strength." - Lao Tzu
• "If we don't know what we are doing, the enemy certainly can't anticipate our future actions." - Colonel Goodhead
• "A rising tide floats all boats….. only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked." - Warren Buffett
• "I'm not a genius. I'm just a hard-working guy." - Steve Jobs
• "If you claim to be someone's ally, but aren't getting hit by the stones thrown at them, you aren't standing close enough." - Stan Mitchell