About

Hello! ::- )

I am Axonn Echysttas. A software developer with a passion for astronomy, writing, listening to music, biking and gaming. I saw my first computer at 5 years old, at Brasov’s Airplane Factory, where both my parents worked. That’s in Romania, my country of origin. I immediately felt a fantastic attraction toward the strange device which showed me glyphs whenever I operated its keyboard. But back then, in 1988, a computer was a luxury even for large companies in Romania. Even worse, my parents had a poor financial background, so even when computers started to become mainstream in my country, we couldn’t afford one. I had to wait until 1997 until my father managed to get a hold of an obsolete computer, through the goodness of a wonderful Swedish friend of his. Until then, I saw computers at a few friends and at my gymnasium’s laboratory, and trust me, it wasn’t easy for me to leave a room if a computer was there.

At 14 years old, when I started high-school (in an IT class), I started coding in Pascal, on my obsolete 386 with 4 MB of RAM, then, on a 486 laptop with monochrome display (also received from Sweden). My first decent computer came in 2001, an AMD K6-II at 500 MHz, obtained, again, through luck & charity. Even my second computer (AMD Athlon XP 2100+) came through the same route. So I must admit that I’ve been extremely lucky to have my first computers. But, as time proved, I didn’t waste my luck. On the contrary.

I worked harder and harder, fell in love with programming and saw in it the opportunity to accomplish one of my greatest dreams: to create games. I was always enthralled by computer games, ever since I saw Dune 2 at the age of 11. Then, Descent 2, a few years later. The first computer game I played was Wolfenstein 3D. I may have not realized it then, but I do now: I wanted to work with computers since I was 5, I wanted to create games since I was 11. These desires have driven me all my life, and the fiery passion that has accumulated in me through many years of waiting is still burning strong, and I believe it will never extinguish.

And I’m not only interested in software. I am very well anchored in the hardware world as well. I know what makes computers tick and I hand-built my last two machines (Intel Core 2 Duo in 2006 and Intel Sandy Bridge in 2011). I published hardware articles and most my friends know that they can find solid advice if they turn to me.

And, amazingly as it may seem, I do have other interests besides computers. Among them, the oldest, is astronomy. As a matter of fact, I was into astronomy way before I learned about programming. I did know about computers, but they were unreachable at that time, so I buried that painful desire somewhere in the recesses of my brain. TV was the highest technology available to me, and documentaries about the Solar System and the Universe were one of the most hunted dishes on the menu. I read countless astronomy books when I got into high-school, exhausting the astronomy sector at the local library. I scanned and xeroxed everything I could find about the Solar System in Encyclopaedia Britannica and carefully cataloged the papers.

Music plays a very important role in my life. It helped me through the hard times and was there during the good times. I was lucky to have a good musical education, thanks to my Pink Floyd/Metallica/ZZ Top-listening father. My parents tell me how when I was 3 years old I was struggling to replay Shine On You Crazy Diamond at my father’s tape recorder. As I grew up, I discovered Dire Straits and Faith No More. Later on, Prodigy brought the love for Electronica in my life and KoRn and Marilyn Manson opened my taste for Metal, which developed into my love for bands such as Samael, Dimmu Borgir, Tristania and Kovenant.

I enjoy sports, but have little time to prove this. I love biking and tennis. I love the water but unfortunately I was never taught how to swim. I keep planning to go and learn.

And, if it’s not already apparent, I like writing. I’m an aspiring writer and I dream of the moment I will be able to transform into reality the wonderful stories I got cooking in my head.

I would describe myself as an extremely driven individual, with an insatiable hunger for creation. I’m sometimes too passionate, too loud, too rushed and too idealistic. But it didn’t kill me yet, so I’ll keep being the way I am.

I’ll cut the story of my life short here. My congratulations if you made it this far without skipping ::- ).