My interests

This page talks about myself in abit more detail. I will be going over what my interests are, how I first got interested in them and where I want to go in the future with them.

Cars

I've been into cars from a very young age. I can remember being obsessed (much to my dad's annoyance :D) with the first Pixar Cars film. Not much later than this, my dad and I would watch Top Gear and Wheeler Dealers together when I was younger. Over the years, I've also been to my fair share of car shows and motorsport events.

I got my license in early 2022. My first taste of car ownership was a 55 plate Fiesta (the newest car I've owned to date!) which i had for two years. It was a great little car and certainly marked a big milestone in my life.

I then got my first taste of project car life with my family's 2003 Mini Cooper S. I love this car but it needed alot putting right, however all is forgiven when you are on a nice, empty road and can (safely and legally!) let that supercharger sing!

I currently drive my family's Smart Roadster. This little gem has been the pride of the fleet for a 6 years now. It has its faults of course, but it such a gem to drive. I will forever keep fond memories of my dad and I working on it together.

This image shows me alongside the Roadster and the Mini.

Cyber Security/IT

I have also had an interest in IT from a young age. My dad is an IT professional, so naturally I showed interest in this from a young age. I have fond memories of my dad giving me an old HP Compaq laptop when I was about 12, I then installed Ubuntu onto it and spent hours scrathing my head how to set it up.

As i got older and my knowledge of the field expanded, I began showing interest in Cyber Security. I find the vastness of the field fascinating, it also provides fantastic opportunity to solve challenges and learn how things work under the hood. For years, I have watched YouTube videos on famous data breaches/malware and their affect on users, I have found them very interesting.

DISCLAIMER: The next two paragraphs are my OPINION.

In recent years, I have become a big advocate for online privacy and security in my personal life. I have realised that social media, streaming platforms and other big companies (such as big game studios) provide no real benefit to society and are actively trying to spy on you whilst making you own nothing. I am a firm believer in the saying "you'll own nothing and be happy"

I also do not like the direction Windows is going in, with the introduction of creepy, spying features meant for your "convenience" such as recall. As a result, I have moved all of my personal PC devices over to Linux. Whilst it is much more of a learning curve, I do genuinely believe learning Linux is beneficial for anyone looking into an IT career.

Hifi Systems

I also quite like vintage Hifi systems. I think its great how (if you know where to look) you can pick up really crisp-sounding, high quality for next to nothing. I personally run a set of 2000s Sonos 75w bookshelf speakers with a Sony Reciever and Kenwood hifi CD player from the 90s (relatively simple setup I know). They sound so good and just work. Much better than a cheap soundbar or (god forbid) cheap PC speakers. I also love how these retro systems look, the saying "they dont make them like they used to" comes to mind.