Why do I like technology so much? One word: Curiosity. Most people like technology because of how it makes life easier for them. While I do appreciate that, for me it is more about, "Wow. Now, how does this work? How could it be better? Can I make it better?"

Technology has always kept me captivated. From the day I first touched the keys of a computer way back in 1992 all the way till today. I've logged many thousands of hours in front of computers. This captivation (some call it dedication) made me install, use (and trash, in my experiments) just about every version of Windows since Windows 3.1. I've fine-tuned my programming skills and I've written software that have been installed a total of 75,000+ times world-wide. My internet presences have accumulated hits running into 6 figures.

I've beta tested many Microsoft products but the only one that has been materially rewarded was beta testing Windows Live Messenger (I was couriered a laptop bag from Hong Kong). I have taken part in a number of inter-school technology related competitions back when I was in Choice. I've conducted a number of programming competitions at RASET including CodeWhiz 2006 with the kind support and encouragement from the faculty. 'neoSearch' was given the highest grading as a mini-project in 2007. My colleagues and I tried developing a social networking site as a final project in 2008 but unfortunately it didn't meet our high expectations due to time constraints. My conviction that my interest in technology was not just superficial got reinforced when I got placed in Infosys in February '07 (an offer I later turned down in favour of pursuing higher studies).

In January 2008, neoSearch's success was officially recognized by RASET and it was listed as the sole entry under student achievements on the intranet website. Along with DiskMax, it got mention in the Jan - Feb 2008 RASET Newsletter. I would like to thank Mr. Binu A for his role as a mentor and in getting my work recognized. In April 2008, my continuing work on neoSearch was recognized by IEEE RASET by including a write-up by me on neoSearch and desktop-search technologies in general (read it here).

Necessity forced me to fine-tune my hardware diagnostic skills and that, coupled with extensive research on the internet, has, on occasion, even allowed me to diagnose problems with my laptops far more accurately than trained Hewlett-Packard personnel. I have even taken HP to court with confidence due to this. If you are looking to buy a laptop or if you have problems with your system, exploit my experience and walk away with the best possible solution.

It's been a long journey and I have enjoyed every minute of it.

Computers Over the Years

I have listed the configurations as they were in the year of purchase, some were subsequently upgraded. I've left out the finer details of the configuration like for example the Core 2 Duo 2 GHz came with 4MB of L2 cache and the 512MB dedicated graphics RAM could share up to 768MB more from system RAM if required to bring it to a total of 1.25GB of video memory.

It is amazing how technology has advanced over the years. I would have never imagined in 1997 when sitting in front of a bulky desktop PC equipped with 16MB of RAM that a decade hence I would have on my lap a svelte system that had 32 times more memory and a processor around 6 times faster just to process graphics.