Stephen Eldridge

My name is Stephen, most of my experience comes from learning on the job and tinkering. In recent years, I have become keener to learn more. Each day I push myself to limits that I never thought I could before. When COVID-19 hit the world by storm back in 2020, the First Line Support Team where I used to work was among the first in the company to be furloughed. This gave me a huge amount of time to work on my knowledge (although it started a bit rocky) but, let me rewind a bit further to start with

After watching many YouTube videos as a means to learn various skills I stumbled on a few of what are now my favourite channels;

Linus Tech Tips –

• The first Tech channel I started watching, this is when I got interested in all things Tech. The video I remember most fondly was that of a PiHole set-up (I shall include more on this later on).

NetworkChuck –

• Now I have a lot to thank this channel for. Chuck, reintroduced me to Linux-based Operating Systems more specifically Kali Linux, and helped me discover a new interest.

John Hammond –

• Where do I start, I stumbled across the channel of John Hammond whilst searching for more information on Penetration Testing. The videos are to show the process that John would normally go through to gain root access to a machine. This added a ton of fuel to the fire that had ignited pushing me to learn more.

David Bombal –

• A bit like NetworkChuck, the videos that are produced go into a depth of knowledge. You can watch a video and think you know all there is to know and then bam, another video. This time showing the same result using a different method, this is truly inspiring.

Jim Browning –

• If you want a laugh, watch Jim Browning take on scammers. His unique method of reversing a remote connection onto a scammer’s computer is quite a sight to behold. The pure idea that someone out there is causing scammers a ton of grief whilst trying to protect innocent victims is truly amazing.

My Linux introduction started as a means to block adverts. (if you knew me you would understand how much I detest Ads). My first project was to set up a PiHole ad blocker, a solution that seemed to be popular. Upon my successful setup, I realised that it was limited to my house. This was great for all the devices I couldn’t install a browser extension like uBlock Origin or AdBlock Plus on, both of which are great. If you don’t have one of them stop reading and install it immediately, you will thank me later.

Fast forward a year, which entailed going back to work after 6 months only to be furloughed again in December until mid-March 2021. I eventually made it back to working full-time whilst continuing my learning process.

Nowadays I have been both promoted and left the company I used to work at, I am currently an Infrastructure Engineer for an MSP. My job, like the others within the team, is to look after the back-end parts for our clients and to make the necessary changes required by them to ensure smooth operation.

Some days do get stressful and occasionally I bang my head against a wall but, let me tell you, even if you feel like giving up DON’T! Have a break have a kitk….. I mean have a long drink of your favourite beverage, take a walk, play some of your favourite games, just anything to reduce that feeling, and come back with a fresh perspective. I am not saying that I manage to follow this each time successfully I get stressed out after all we are all human, or at least I hope we are.

By making it to the end of this page, I hope you understand me at least a bit more.