Interview: Raj Agrawal of Upcomingtechnology.org

My goal is to reduce my ego to the lowest level.

About:

I’m Raj Agrawal from Mumbai, turned 21 this August. I completed my graduation in the year 2009 and preparing myself for MCA Entrance Exam which is due next year. I run a technology blog titled ‘Technology | Security | Softwares | & More’ @ www.upcomingtechnology.org which dedicated to share all the interesting news, in and out of the tech world. My hobbies/passions include playing acoustic rock, listening to music, learning about the paranormal things and most importantly, exploring new technologies.

Raj Agrawal

Interview

Q1: Welcome to Speakbindas. Tell us since when blogging has been a part of your life? Was there any motive or inspiration as a backbone of it?

A1: Namaste, I began blogging some time in the year 2006 and since then, my adventurous journey on the world of Web 2.0 began. Before I started blogging, I always had this thought in my mind, “most of the web news portals are busy putting up a ridiculously wide range of topics that are targeted to capture all the possible readers but, there existed a very less number of websites that focused on putting up articles that were interesting and informative at the same time”. So, this led me to establish upcomingtechnology.org with an intention to share only the interestingly-informative things, which people would enjoy reading.

Q2: What is your blog all about? Which topics you cover there? Is that you alone running/maintaining the blog, or have a team?

A2: I maintain the blog myself and as the name “Upcoming Techs”suggests, it is mainly focused on technology (of any tense) and also computer tips & tricks, computer security, science & nature updates.

Q3: What are the present statistics for your blog, i.e. number of daily visitors, visitors geographical status etc.?

A3: upcomingtechnology.org has gone through some ridiculous domain transfers (3 times already!) which has terribly affected the amount of traffic my blog would receive. I finally settled with a final domain name in the year 2008. This is because when I started off, I was a newbie blogger and wasn’t aware of the consequences of a domain transfer. At present, my blog receives around 100 – 150 page views a day mostly from North and South America, followed by India and Europe. The unique visitors sum up to 60-70 per day.

Q4: Is blogging for you just a passion or a medium for earning too? Does it help you to earn enough cash to quit a 9 to 5 day job?

A4: Honestly, I blog to make people aware of the existence of interesting things, share my views on things I see and understand and also to satisfy my willingness to have “another identity”. I support the idea of ‘blog and earn’ because it helps to keep the money flowing in. Blogging will always be a way of side income for me and honestly, I don’t wish to make a living out of it.

Q5: Who are your favorite bloggers, whom you read frequently?

A5: I enjoy reading articles at Zdnet Technology blogs, Bruce Schneier’s blog and Technovelgy.com

Q6: From the secret bucket of your blogging experiences, what tips you would like to share with the fellow bloggers?

A6: Always maintain a good balance between the interestingness, clarity, length and a human touch to a blog article.

Q7: Do you believe that blogging completes you? If yes, tell us how?

A7: It really doesn’t. But, it is an important add-on to the list of activities I include myself in.

Q8: What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?

A8: This happened recently. My blog was included at blogburst.com that acts a communicator between quality bloggers and the ‘media guys’ like reuters, fox news, usatoday, e.t.c. Soon, two of my blog articles were placed at the suntimes.com (Chicago Sun-Times) and computershopper.com respectively. I was happy.

Q9: Say, you are sponsored to travel to 3 world destinations, where you need not to worry about costs for food, hotel or anything. Which destinations would you pick up, and why? Would you like to take someone along with you? If yes, whom?

A9: London, Dubai and Italy are the three countries on my list. These countries are among the most beautiful places and possess many unique features. I would love to go along with my parents when it’s time to.

Q10: Are you into watching movies? If yes, which fills your list of favorite ones?

A10:  Yes, I do like watching movies. My favorites are The Matrix Series, Southpark – Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Madagascar 1 & 2, The Shrek Series, A Beautiful Mind, Ratatouille, Sarkar and Taare Zameen Par.

Q11: How has blogging helped you other than money?

A11: Being a Tech blogger, it helped me gain a different identity among friends and relatives as an add-on to what they know me for.

Q12: What would be the one thing you’d change about yourself?

A12: Every one is born with a varying level of ego and which is the root of all the varieties of problems a human can encounter. My goal is to reduce my ego to the lowest level.

Q13: What is your deepest fear?

A13: This is not a deepest fear but I sometimes ponder about the crazy presumptions   made in relation to the so called ‘apocalyptic year’ 2012 which once scared me enough to even get a nightmare 😀 I am sure you have heard about the year 2012 story some where. If you search for it, you will find plenty of weird and twisted theories that would possibly happen at the end of 2012 (especially the polar shift theory). Scary stuff.

Q14: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?

A14: That person would be Kirk Hammett, the lead guitarist from a heavy metal band, Metallica.

Q15: Which is your favorite television show? Favorite songs?

A15: I enjoy watching Southpark, Chuddie Buddies, Shinchan, Man Vs Wild, Time Warp and listening to wide range of musical genres especially Heavy/Thrash metal, Country music and some old Hindi songs.

Q16: How much money do you have in your purse/wallet right now (including change)?

A16: Rs. 352

Q17: What is your favorite food? Any particular dislikes?

A17: I like eating fruits, all Indian cuisines (except karela and bhindi), pizzas and bakery food.

Q18: What’s your take on the technological advancement these days? Does it make people’s life simple or complicated?

A18: Technological advancement is speeding as time is passing by. New techs are intended to make the life of the users easier and it has been successful to a great level. There have been some technologies that proved to be a wrong deal for the end user but they are soon rejected from the market or reintroduced with proper fixes. It is a part of the overall technological advancement process. If good things come in, bad things will come along too. And I am sure there is a lot more going on in the tech world to what is revealed to the public.

Q19: List out the 10 bloggers you believe should be interviewed by Speakbindas.com.

A19: Some of the Indian bloggers I wanted to recommend have been interviewed recently. You can interview the blogger at engadgeteer.com.

Q20: Any special message you would like to share with your blog readers as well with everyone else?

A20: To the blog readers: No special message. The readers are chilled out and they know what they are doing.

To everyone: Life is meant to be great. Be happy, love yourself and focus on what you want to achieve and not what people think about you.