# About this site These are the notes for *[char.blog](https://char.blog)*. I'm a technical consultant and researcher working on infrastructure, machine learning, and security. ## Personal I live near [London](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London) and in my day job at an [MSP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Managed_services) I'd consider myself a heavy [generalist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalist) with core focuses on designing and implementing infrastructure, networking, cybersecurity, and IAM. When the day winds down I usually work on my own projects ("[Multiorb](https://multiorb.net)", "[Neurythm](https://neurythm.net)", and [others](https://github.com/name)). I enjoy reading non-fiction and manga, or more occasionally gaming ([FPS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_shooter), [MMOs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_game)), a recent pick up of the [Meta Quest 3](https://www.meta.com/gb/quest/quest-3) has been fun to try out too. A typical day starts at ~7am, work can start from ~8-6, and I usually get to sleep around ~2am which nets me ~5-6 hours sleep.. I wrote more on my sleep [here](https://char.blog/sleep-and-recovery). The late night and early morning hours offer perfect conditions for deep work - minimal noise, zero distractions, just pure focus. Definitely a [night owl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_owl) through and through. As [Karpathy mentions](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu3LJY8N_9s) - the AM hours are a precious and interesting time to work. I actively participate in various online communities (Reddit, Hacker News, X, "[ntsysadmin](https://groups.google.com/g/ntsysadmin)", "[NANOG](https://nanog.org)", "[UKNOF (RIP)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UKNOF)", "[Fortinet](https://community.fortinet.com/)", "[Qualys](https://success.qualys.com/)", and more) under various [pseudonyms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudonym) and I've also volunteered for a national communications service for over 10 years in a physical capacity. My stance on certifications has evolved lately. While once sceptical, I'm now pursuing several to expand technical depth on some non-core focuses: - FinOps Certified Practitioner - FinOps Certified Engineer - Vulnerability Assessment Plus (VA+) - Cyber Essentials + Assessor ## Contact I love talking with new people about anything above, or whatever you want to talk about. If it's our first time talking, email me at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])! - GitHub: [name](https://github.com/name) - Multiorb-related Inquiries: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) - Neurythm-related Inquiries: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) - PGP Key: ([mirror-1](https://gist.github.com/name/07efd0559c0cddfce649fee22eaac0a9); fingerprint: `FD993AD5D13D36C8E861B7CEFA85B89FB7A50FAA`) If your inquiry is related to a network I manage or control, please send an email to my email listed on the respective WHOIS contact. If it's a P1 emergency, you can email [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). ## Recent posts - [[Blog - Note-Taking with Obsidian]] - [[Blog - NixOS Homelab Mini PC]] - [[Blog - First Time Abroad - Amsterdam Notes]]