A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Lisa Margetis from SingleHop about the upcoming Geekness Day on 13th July. Ahead of this date, they’ve asked lots of people to answer some questions. So here goes…

What makes you a geek?

I’ve always had an obsession with computers and gadgets leading to childhood nickname Gadget Boy. I started out my computing journey with a ZX81 (which I barely got any time on due to my sister hogging the keyboard!) before moving onto a Dragon 32 (which we bough a day before they went out of business) and then, finally a BBC Master 128 where I wasted many an hour playing games like Thrust and Jet Set Willy. I didn’t get a PC until I was at university!

I guess my fundamental geekness these days comes from my interest in the Raspberry Pi. I’m heavily involved with the community, writing a blog and answering forum posts on the Raspberry Pi Foundation, Stack Exchange and other places. I regularly beta-test new products that get sent to me for review and I like nothing better than getting a soldering iron out and assembling new boards.

What is your proudest geek moment?

I think probably my proudest moment was finally finishing my Picorder, a Star Trek-inspired, Raspberry Pi-powered tricorder.

What is your geek motto/favorite geek quote?

There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don’t.

Who is your geek role model?

I don’t really have one single role model, but I am in constant awe of both the generosity and the inventiveness of the Raspberry Pi community.

Which SingleHopper geek do you most relate to? Why?

Probably David Dunlap for his interest in tinkering and steampunk, both of which I share an interest in.

How familiar are you with SingleHop’s product offerings?

I’ve taken a quick look at their offerings but apart from that I’m not particularly familiar. I know that they offer things like private cloud hosting and managed hosting.

Anything else you think we should know?

What else can I tell you about me? I live in a small town in rural Bedfordshire, UK with my wife and two step-children and I’m involved in amateur theatre (I sing, I dance, I act), which is a complete departure from being a geek!