Computers & Tech

From fumbling at a DOS prompt to running a Raspberry Pi rack — a life in computing.

💡 True story: spent hours trying to load Windows on my first PC before being told you just type win at the DOS prompt. We've all been there.

It Started With a 486

My first PC was a 486DX33, and from the moment it booted up I was hooked — even if the first few hours were spent staring at a DOS prompt wondering how on earth to get into Windows. (The answer, as someone eventually pointed out, is just typing win. Simple as that. I've never quite forgiven myself.)

That was it — I was done for. Computing went from curiosity to obsession pretty much overnight.

Too Many Machines to Count

I couldn't begin to list every computer I've owned over the years — there have been far too many. What I can say is that as hardware has become more powerful and virtualisation more accessible, running separate servers for different services has gone from a faff to genuinely straightforward. The home lab has grown accordingly.

A Late Convert to Mac

For a long time, Macs were a blind spot. That changed in 2011 when I picked up a MacBook Air — and it's a decision I haven't regretted for a moment. Even five years on it was still handling almost everything I needed from a laptop. Sometimes the right hardware just works.

Home Automation

I've been working on home automation using Z-Wave for a while. The software side of things was still catching up at the time — nothing truly polished, though some promising options were emerging. Despite that, the setup covers the areas that matter most:

• Security — instant notifications anywhere, with photos uploaded straight to the internet on trigger
• Lighting — most lights on smart control
• Sockets — key sockets automated, which makes day-to-day life noticeably easier

PI Rack

The centrepiece of the home lab — a tidy little cluster built around Raspberry Pis:

Current Focus

Most of my time these days goes into networking and security — training, keeping up with the field, and making sure the home infrastructure is as solid as it can be.