Hi, and welcome to my website!
My name is Max Vincent and I am currently working as a Logistics Engineer in the province of Lucca, in Tuscany, Italy.
Some of my passions include exercise, outdoor pursuits, computing, machine learning, language learning and traveling. I have had the good fortune to have visited and lived in many different countries, which has broadened my horizons and given me access to opportunities I would have never expected.
I am an enthusiastic language learner. I was raised bilingual English/Italian and as of early 2025 I am able to communicate in Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and French, to varying degrees of proficiency. Other languages that I have an interest in are Afrikaans, Japanese, German and Polish.
You can find some of my thoughts and experiences learning various languages at the following link: Language Review.
I have a degree in Computer Science, and computing has been a foundational interest of mine since a young age. At age 16 I assembled a desktop computer for the first time, and since then I have tinkered with hardware and software on a variety of different projects.
I run a homelab with multiple systems including but not limited to virtualization software (Proxmox), containerization software (Docker), Network Attached Storage (via TrueNAS), Linux Ubuntu Server running Docker containers for various open source utility services, Security Cam systems with NVR software on a dedicated VLAN. I wired various ethernet ports myself throughout my house and set up enterprise grade router, switches and wireless access points (TP-Link Omada). I implemented network security by separating various services/devices using VLANs, setting up ACLs (e.g. to prevent unauthorised internet access of IoT devices), configuring guest Wi-Fi networks and specific ethernet port security configurations with a Omada compatible smart switch. Various devices are able to communicate with each other via SSH, RDP, or through services on specific network ports. I implemented a WireGuard VPN which allows access to the home network from my devices even when I am away from home. I have set up an off site server which leverages Docker containers to provide various utility services. I hardened the off site server myself by configuring the firewall and implementing industry standard SSH practices.
As far as hardware is concerned I am enthusiastic about IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad laptops, in particular I enjoy repairing, restoring, upgrading and in general tinkering with old hardware. I’ve dabbled with a variety of Raspberry Pi projects, including a print server and a basic NAS (Network Accessed Storage), among others. I am also an enthusiastic Linux user, as well as having plenty of experience using Windows and MacOS.
I’m a keen outdoorsman: the time I don’t spend behind a terminal screen is spent outdoors hiking, camping or rock-climbing in the mountains. I enjoy hiking to the summits of my local mountains and sports climbing outside as much as I can get away with. In the winter I snowboard and ski, often traveling to the alps. Whenever possible I enjoy foraging mushrooms and edible plants in the hills.
