Since my early days of bloging i have had a few loyal readers. Among them is Madhur Kapoor. He has been visiting ever since. I have also been reading his blog which is centered around technology, software reviews mostly. I was impressed by his 3 year birthday on his blog a couple of months back. I was under the impression that he is a new blogger like me. Having been around blogging for more than three years, means that he started out way back, when blogs where not as popular as they are today. Might i remind you that back in ’06 the trend was websites building a community. So, for this insight of his, starting on blogging when it was not a trend but a passion, makes me respect him as a blogger even more.
As always the interview is short enough to be easy for him to answer without being a burden and easy enough for you to read through and get to know him better. So here we go.
1. Tell us a little about your self.
I am a 23 year old blogger from India. I am a Computer Engineer by Profession and a blogger by passion. Apart from blogging, i do enjoy programming and i am also a CCENT (Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician) and SCJP (Sun Certified Java Programmer). I like watching Football and i am a huge supporter of Manchester United. I am also a gamer and play a lot of Computer Games.
2. Your blog recently celebrated three years. Back when you started it blogs where not so popular. Why and how did you decide to start a blog instead of a website?
At that time, i was a member of a few technology forums and i noticed that most of the members had their own blogs. I had a few websites which i remember i created in Geocities, MSN etc so i knew there was some difference. After doing some research, i came across Blogspot, WordPress and found out what a blog was.
3. Why did you choose WordPress? In ’06 it was not so popular, why not Joomla, XOOPS, phpNuke or something else?
Blogspot was quite famous at that time. The first blog which i created was on Blogspot.com. But most of the blogs which read were on WordPress so i decided to try out WordPress too. I created a blog on WordPress.com and found that it had better features. But it had a few restrcitions and so i decided to invest a little on a self hosted blog and thats how things started. The words Joomla, phpNuke etc were still unfamiliar to me at that time. And afer trying out WordPress, there was no looking back.
4. What was the first programming language you used and what programs do you remember being your first?
The first programming language which i learned in School was ‘Logo’. I remember that i used to move the cursor from one point to another by giving out some commands. Then ‘Basic’ was taught to us and i developed quite a few programs in that languages. Some of the basic programs which i used to make were concerned with string manipulation like finding out the words in a string, reversing a string, finding occurances of a word etc. After that i got introduced to C++, Java, C# which i learned later. And thanks to my blog, i also got introduced to HTML, Javascript, CSS, PHP, ASP.
5. What kind of games do you like to play and what is your all time favorite?
I enjoy playing all types of games which include Action, Role Playing, Adventure, Sports, Strategy etc. I play Pro Evolution Soccer and Football Manager regularly. Some of my all time favorite games include Age of Empires, Half Life, Doom, Mario, Splinter Cell series, Call Of Duty Series, GTA series, PES, Football Manager, Fifa, Virtua Tennis, NFS etc.
6. What is the field of Computer Science you like the most?
Most of all i enjoy Computer Programming. Apart from that i am also interested in Cryptography, Algorithms, Networking and Operating Systems.
7. Describe a typical day of yours…
Generally i wake up around 9-10 Am or sometimes as late as 1 Pm. My typical routine consists working on my blogs, writing a few blog posts, reading feeds, playing games, hanging out, coding or watching movies. Normally i sleep between 2-4 am. This will change a lot in two months when i start working.
8. Looking back, is there something you regret on your online life?
Sometimes i wish i could have started blogging a bit sooner. I started blogging when i was in college and so my Internet Connection was limited a lot ( 30MB limit a day ), if i had a broadband at that time, i could have done better.
9. What is the advice you would give to all other bloggers (starters or not)?
I have seen many people start blogging in order to make money and they soon get bored if they don’t make any money after 1-2 months. I will suggest all the new bloggers to have patience and be passionate.
I would like to thank Madhur for his time answering the questions. Also, you can find him on his blog, gaming blog or twitter.
Great to know about Madhur 🙂 I especially loved the tip to new bloggers – so damn true!
Thanks for the interview! I knew a lot of these things about Madhur but didn’t know as much his programming experience. I know while I am writing this I am very jealous because he is watching the Chelsea v Barcelona match and I am stuck at work.
Thanks for the interview Stratos.
@Kim
Lol yeah, i watched the match. But you didn’t miss much. It was not a great game as i was expecting.
@Madhur: Thank you man! I really enjoyed reading it…
@All: Thanks for dropping by…
Wow Madhur, you are awesome. I knew you are interested in programming but never thought you would know so many languages…
You are awesome buddy, am eager to see some useful web2.o service to be launched by you 🙂
I know Madhur bhai from around 8 months now, been a excellent guy acquainted with details on Gaming, graphics and knows a lot of blogging stuff.
Infact he was also one of the influential reason to bring me into Gaming world 😀 Now I love Games and Madhur! 😉
Great to see Madhur interviewed here! In the 2 years I have been blogging, Madhur has been a constant support and I am amazed at the passion he has for blogging and helping fellow bloggers.
Good going Madhur and congrats on the 3 year mark!
@All: Thanks for stopping by and saying so many nice things about Madhur. He really deserves it!
Thanks for those wonderful words guys. All this wouldnt have been possible without your support.
@Pavan
I am more of a Jack of all trades master on none
@Sid
It has been great knowing you too buddy. Good to know you got into gaming too
@K-InThehouse
It has been great knowing you for these two years. You have also supported me a lot
Thanks for the interview. This way i came to know more about Madhur.
I know Madhur from last one year or so.
His strong points in blogging are blogs consistently with posts everyday.
I know that he is start working soon. Hope he will be able to do after working.
I know it is hard to blog when working as i am in that stage now 🙂
Wow great interview Madhur. Best of luck for your future. 🙂
@Nihar, Harshad
Thanks Guys
Madhur bhai is one of my best friends online. he helped me in many ways and is a very nice guy who comes to your rescue whenever you end up in trouble.
I enjoyed the interview. Questions are perfect for him.
@Stratos
Waiting for more interviews..
Thanks PC 🙂
@PC: Will have some very soon…
I’ve never heard of Logo, but I can go a lot further than that as I first played around with Windows DOS, not that I was any good at it 😀
Amazing that you have accumulated such a wealth of knowledge at such a young age. I reckon you have laid a good foundation for whatever career you choose.
It’s good to know a fellow blogger. Such interviews add personal touch to the person.
Madhur why don’t you play counter strike? You will love it 😉
@Sire
Thanks buddy 🙂
@Harsh
Played Counter Strike a lot in college. Used to play it whole night and miss classes. It messed up my second semester GPA. Got D in almost all the subjects
Hi Madhur! It’s good to meet you. I’m very impressed with your programming knowledge, it’s such a foreign world to me.
Although I wish Stratos had asked you some questions about Indian food. Do you cook? If so, you must be my new best friend!
@Tracy
Hi, Good to meet you too. I am not a big fan of cooking but i do cook occasionally and know a few dishes.