Forums » Announcements » Interview »
|
Interview with Rich Robinson: Microsoft MVP |
Posted Date: 10 Aug 2010 Posted By:: Abhisek Panda   Member Level: Gold Member Rank: 25 Points: 1
Responses:
4
|
MyWindowsClub.com interview with technical experts and bloggers.
Here is our interview with Rich Robinson: Founder of many Windows Community. He is also a Microsoft MVP in the Windows Desktop Experience. You can find all his information on RichR.org.
1.Introduce Yourself
My name is Rich Robinson, I grew up in London England, have moved around a lot and am currently in Ohio, United States.
2.Tell us about your technical background.
I've been using computers since I was very young. My Dad got me a Commodore 64 and I loved playing with it. I was lucky that we got an Amstrad PC in our home and, although I didn't play with it much, it exposed me to a life-long interest in computers. Now I use these skills, I learned early in my life, to program in ASP.NET (C#, VB.NET, Ajax) and run my websites using LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL & PHP.) Currently I work on IBM Mainframes and use JCL, COBOL, Rexx, and primarily administer security with RACF, ACF2, and Top Secret. I've played with most technologies and languages available to me and am currently building a "productivity" dashboard for my home network using Ruby.
3.What do you do in order to keep up with latest tools and technologies?
The field I work in exposes me to a lot of technologies and I am always learning about what's out there and what's coming. I also subscribe to many RSS feeds to keep up with the latest news.
4.What are the technology web sites and blogs you are associated with?
I run Windows Guides and Windows Forums and also have a side project called MyWindowsPC that is in closed development for now.
5.What do you do when you are not building software or contributing in technical web sites and blogs ?
I love spending time with my family and our two puppies. I like to do anything outdoors and am currently big in to road biking and running. I'll be riding 180 miles next week to raise money for cancer research and will be running the Columbus Marathon in October. I also like to swim, ski, play football (soccer), and go hiking.
6.If you have a technical blog, which site is your role model? Which webmaster you like to follow?
There are many sites that I look up to as an inspiration for mine. To name a few: Lifehacker, Smashing Magainze, and TechCrunch. Although these are not Windows-specific websites, they set the standard for good design and good interaction with their readers.
7.How and when did you start your blog? What makes your blog interesting to your current readers?
I started Windows Guides in February 2008. I began running a website on free hosting and its main purpose was to teach friends and family how to customize and fix their PC. From there, I decided to get a .com website as I enjoyed it so much. After about 10 days of having it online, Smashing Magazine linked to it and the knock on effect was over 37,000 hits in one day and three phone calls from my web host. The rest is history and I continue to have great moments like that.
At Windows Guides, we have a team of 15 writers who cover all aspects of Windows. I believe it's interesting because we reach out to users of all skill levels (I learn a lot from the articles our writers publish) and we keep things simple and work hard to help people understand key concepts.
8.You are a MVP. How does the MVP status help you? Please share your journey to MVP.
Being an MVP is a great honor as I respect Microsoft and their business model. I received an email from Brian Boston asking me questions about my contributions to online communities about Windows and was awarded the MVP award shortly afterward.
9.You are using Windows for a long period. Please share your Windows experience and tell us which Windows Operating System you like most and Why?
My first PC (that I could call my own) ran Windows 3.1. I would sit for hours and customize the interface. The internet wasn't prevalent when I first used it (around 1993) so I would frequently get my system in such a state that it stopped working and would then read manuals to learn how to fix it. My favorite operating systems are Windows 95 (for the impact it made and the growth of personal computing that resulted from it) and Windows 7 because it's a great operating system.
10.What are your expectations for the next version of Windows by Microsoft? What changes do you want?
My expectations are more focus on a personalized experience (user awareness) as well as a Windows application market, more emphasis on data backup (now hard drives are so big), location independent file access, and an appliance-like instant on feature (an extension of the Sleep mode function we've used for years.)
Windows 7 shows that Microsoft have a team of "dumb it down" people who have turned processes from 12 steps in Vista to two steps in Windows 7. I'd like to see further development in this area.
11. What do you think about MyWindowsClub.com and the features? Is there any feature or option in MWC specifically attractive / interesting to you? If you become a decision maker in MWC, what changes you would like to introduce?
MyWindowsClub is already showing a lot of potential. I like the Profile option that helps a user make the site more personal. If I could make a decision, I would simplify the UI so that users didn't have so many options from the homepage.
Thanks for the interview--great questions.
Regards,
Abhisek Panda
Webmaster
Be Happy and Make Others also Happy
Go Green and Save [Y]our Future.
Website, Hosting, Domain and all you need
|
Responses
|
#4090 Author:  technocrac Member Level: Bronze Member Rank: 265 Date: 10/Aug/2010 Rating:  Points: 2 |
Thanks dear Webmaster Abhisek,
1. for the wonderful interview provided;
2. for making a journey with Rich;
3. for making MWC a truly global site by getting this interview here.
Wishes for your future assignments.
Thanks & Regards,
technocrac,
There is nothing bigger than technology!
The greatest Shopping experience !
| #4091 Author:  D.Jeya Kumar(JK) Member Level: Diamond Member Rank: 3 Date: 10/Aug/2010 Rating: Points: 2 |
Hi,
Thanks you so much for interview with Rich. As the name suggests he is Rich in knowledge and technologies. He knows most of the languages.
It is very interesting to know about such a technical expertise. It will boost MWC to members to contribute more in MWC.
D.Jeya Kumar(JK)
MVP
http://tamilpadamcomedy.blogspot.com
Visit My .Net Blog
| #4098 Author:  K Mohan Member Level: Gold Member Rank: 28 Date: 10/Aug/2010 Rating: Points: 2 |
The interview is well concienved.
The questions asked were members centric.
The informations provided there in is very useful to all users.
Thanks for bringing this interview in this forum.
K Mohan
The '''Cheer Leader ''' of this site
| #4230 Author:  Vasu Jain Member Level: Silver Member Rank: 71 Date: 21/Aug/2010 Rating: Points: 0 |
Quiet an inspiring interview .. Keep it up Abhisek.
|
|
| Post Reply |
|
|
|
 | | This thread is locked for new responses. Please post your comments and questions as a separate thread.
If required, refer to the URL of this page in your new post. |
|
|
|
|
|