I was always interested in computers, technology and music, and got my first computer aged 12 which was an Atari 1040ST that had some fantastic games (particularly Nebulus ) and way ahead of it’s time. I then got a brand new IBM 386sx clone which I used to connect to the very early Aussie Internet using a 9600bit/s modem (this would have been around 1992-3). I was also very much into playing my guitar and finished up traveling to Los Angeles when I was just 18 to attend college at the Musicians Institute G.I.T and graduated a year after. When I returned I began a guitar teaching practice with a roster of 55 students and continued this for the next decade.
Around 1996, the first Internet Cafe opened in a nearby suburb offering IBM 486 clones running Windows 95 and Netscape Navigator and I was just hooked immediately. This is when my primary interest rapidly switched from music to computers/Internet and by 2001, I had stopped teaching guitar and started up a guitar string company selling my own branded strings on my first website. The business was quite successful and after 5 years I sold it as by this time my interest was solely on web design and coding which I had been learning since starting the business.
In 2006 I decided to attend a 12-month T.A.F.E course for Multimedia Design which really kick started my skills, mainly due to a single teacher: Axel Goddyn, an Austrian programmer who is an incredibly talented and excellent teacher. He instilled in me high standards, and also introduced me to the Linux operating system (specifically Ubuntu). I spent the next 3 years honing my skills in HTML, CSS and JavaScript and in 2009 I launched the Ricmedia Guitar website where I had created a complete guitar reference of chords, scales, theory and tools including a metronome and guitar tuner using Adobe Flash designed with SWiSH Max.
Later I started Ricmedia PC Help and published over 150 tutorials (most accompanied with videos) which is currently receiving around 90,000 visitors a month. The website has comprehensive tutorials on Windows, Linux, Raspberry Pi, web browsers and a lot more, and it’s success prompted me to switch over to the main ricmedia.com domain instead of the sub domain pchelp.ricmedia.com and begin publishing new tutorials on four core subjects: Linux, Windows, Raspberry Pi and Networking, all of which I had become well acquainted. Ricmedia.com was launched in 2019 and is rapidly growing a loyal audience.
Over the years I was also a very avid bush walker and completed several major multi-day walks including The Overland Track, Western Arthur Traverse and an attempt at Federation Peak all of which are in Tasmania. I’ve also walked extensively in the Grampians National Park and several other locations in Victoria.
I have also done my fair share of traveling including trips to Japan, Hawaii, U.S.A and every state in Australia except W.A.
I still play guitar sometimes but spend most of my time writing tutorials, web design and web development, server administration and I also have a small local clientele for whom I am the “Tech Guy”. I live in the picturesque town of Daylesford in Victoria’s Central Highlands in Australia.