Hi. I’m Astra.

The It Part

I started from relatively humble beginnings and somehow ended up in the wonderful world of technical support.

I've worked with networking, troubleshooting, hardware, software, systems, websites, databases, cloud services, and the occasional printer that has apparently chosen violence.

I've worked towards certifications including CCNA, because apparently understanding networks wasn't enough. I also spent an unreasonable amount of time learning networking concepts only to discover that computers still occasionally refuse to communicate because one tiny setting somewhere decided to ruin everyone's afternoon.

Currently, I'm interested in going deeper into:

• Cybersecurity
• Linux
• Bash
• Virtual machines
• SOC operations
• Networking
• Web development
• Automation
• AI
• Video editing
• Basically anything involving computers that doesn't require me to physically fight the computer

I am also slowly discovering that trying to learn twelve different technical fields simultaneously is not, technically speaking, a productivity strategy.

It is more of a lifestyle choice.

My Natural Habitat

You'll probably find me somewhere between:

A terminal window,

a browser with approximately 47 tabs open,

a half-finished project,

and a YouTube video explaining something I should probably already know.

My computer setup has evolved several times because apparently buying technology is easier than accepting that the real bottleneck is sometimes the person sitting in front of it.

I like powerful hardware, clean setups, Linux, networking tools, virtual machines and anything that lets me experiment without destroying my main operating system.

Hence the VMs.

Because breaking one computer is a mistake.

Breaking a virtual machine is research.

The Builder

I don't particularly enjoy just consuming technology.

I like building things.

Websites.
Tools.
Experiments.
Automation ideas.
Random projects that seemed brilliant at 2:00 AM.

Some of them become useful.

Some of them become educational.

Some of them become folders named:

final_project_v2_REAL_final_USE_THIS_ONE

Naturally, that folder is never the final one.

I've worked with technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, cPanel and Cloudflare, and I'm interested in turning those skills into things people can actually use.

One of my current projects is Null Africa, which is intended to become something more interesting than another generic “digital solutions” website.

Because the internet already has enough agencies saying:

We transform businesses through innovative digital experiences.

Nobody knows what that means.

Including them.

The Cybersecurity Phase

At some point I looked at cybersecurity and thought:

“That looks interesting.”

This was before discovering how much there is to learn.

Networking.
Linux.
Operating systems.
Authentication.
Logs.
Protocols.
Vulnerabilities.
Threat detection.
Incident response.

Apparently cybersecurity is not just sitting in a dark room typing sudo nmap while wearing a hoodie.

Disappointing.

Still, I'm working towards building real practical skills rather than collecting cybersecurity buzzwords like Pokémon.

The goal is to understand how systems work well enough to understand how they fail.

Because apparently the best way to defend something is to spend an unhealthy amount of time thinking about how someone would break it.

The Financial Department

I also have an interest in finance, markets, investing, and trading.

This is a particularly funny combination with my IT background.

Because IT teaches:

“Measure twice. Change once.”

Markets teach:

“Here is a chart. Good luck.”

I've learned about things like CFA concepts, financial analysis, EPS, valuation and market behaviour.

I've also learned that the phrase “guaranteed profit” should probably be followed by running in the opposite direction.

Preferably before opening the trading app.

My Approach To Learning

I learn best by doing.

Give me a concept and I'll understand it.

Give me a lab and I'll remember it.

Give me a broken system and I'll become emotionally invested in fixing it.

I like experimenting, breaking things in controlled environments, figuring out why they broke, fixing them, and then breaking them again in a slightly more sophisticated way.

Which is basically engineering with extra steps.

I'm also a believer in learning from free resources wherever possible.

If someone on YouTube can explain something better than a three-hour course costing $199, I will happily watch the YouTube video.

Capitalism will survive.

Personality.Exe

I'm curious.

I'm analytical.

I'm ambitious.

I'm occasionally stubborn.

I overthink things.

Sometimes unnecessarily.

Sometimes correctly.

The distinction usually becomes obvious three business days later.

I enjoy conversations that actually go somewhere. Technology, business, psychology, money, relationships, ideas, life, the future, weird philosophical questions that appear out of nowhere.

Small talk has its place.

Usually that place is somewhere far away from me.

I also appreciate humour, sarcasm and people who can laugh at themselves.

Because if you can't laugh at your own decisions, eventually your decisions will do it for you.

The Long-Term Plan

The plan is relatively straightforward.

Become very good at technology.

Build valuable skills.

Create things.

Earn properly.

Become financially independent.

Keep learning.

Eventually build something of my own.

And once I'm in a position where I can actually help other people without destroying myself in the process, help them too.

Not because I'm trying to save the world.

The world has made it pretty clear that it does not need another unemployed superhero.

But because I've experienced enough uncertainty to understand how much difference one genuinely useful person can make.

Current Status

Career: Loading...

Cybersecurity knowledge: Loading...

Financial situation: Please wait...

Projects: Too many.

Browser tabs: A crime scene.

Sleep schedule: Classified.

Life plan: Surprisingly coherent.

Common sense: Under active development.

Potential: Annoyingly high.

Ability to make unnecessarily complicated decisions: Elite level.

Final Summary

I'm Astra.

I'm an IT guy who likes technology, cybersecurity, networking, building things, learning new skills, making questionable technical experiments, and occasionally staring at a computer wondering why it has personally betrayed me.

I'm not interested in pretending I know everything.

I'd rather know how to figure things out.

Because technology changes.

Tools change.

Companies change.

The industry changes.

And eventually, someone's going to invent another JavaScript framework for absolutely no reason.

So I'd rather build the ability to adapt.

That's probably the most useful skill I have.

Everything else is just software updates.