Q. What gave you the Idea to start a blog?

I guess I wanted to jump on the blogging bandwagon. I did have a blog prior to Typepad on Blogger.com but it didn't last long. When I was offered a chance to open a blog on Typepad during the beta test I decided to give blogging another chance. I quickly got hooked and thanks to a promise that I made myself to blog everyday, I'm still here today. I really can't remember what it's like not to blog and wonder how I used to spend my time before blogging.

Q. The title - A Welsh View - what was the original intention, for the blog to be filled with articles about Wales?

When I started blogging I didn't have a clue what I was going to blog about I just wanted my own blog.. As I didn't know what I was going to blog about I didn't know what it was going to be called. During the sign-up process with Typepad I was asked what to call my blog and A Welsh View was one of the first names that I came up with. I suppose it does have some meaning to it.

Q. Do your business partner(s) run a blog, or contribute to yours?

He hasn't got his own blog but is a reader and an occasional commenter. Out of the 'offline' people that I know, none of them have got their own blogs.

Q. Out of the 3 sites you run - which is the most popular?

A Welsh View by far. That's probably due to the fact that it's been running for a lot longer than the other two and I've got a lot of posts indexed by Google.

Crimelog (www.crimelog.co.uk) was the second blog that started back in July 2005 but it didn't last very long, although I've started it up again. Peculiarosities was started in January of this year and is an offshoot of the dailyish Peculiarosities section that has been running on A Welsh View.

I'm hoping that Crimelog and Peculiarosities become as successful as A Welsh View but it's probably going to take a long time and a lot of effort.

Q. Has any posting on your blog generated interest from the media?

I've had some interest from the media. I was featured in Computer Shopper this month, I've been listed in a Japanese magazine and I did have an interview from the Western Mail newspaper but that never went into print.

(Rob emailed me to update this bit - The BBC have interviewed him Sunday 12th March)

Q. Have there been any posts that have sparked a backlash against you?

I've been pretty lucky not to have attracted any backlash from anything that I've posted. Of course I get comments from people who may not agree with some of the things thta I post but there's nothing that sticks out in my mind.

Q. Do you have any rules for posting something - or is it just random?

I used to think that I should post things that my readers liked but I quickly realised that I should be posting things that I like because that's why people visit my blog. Everything that I post has to interest me in some way and whilst I don't have any rules over what I post I do tend to shy away from things that I think may be really offensive. I guess I should still post them though as they interest me.

Q. Is there a subject that you point blank refuse to post about?

There's nothing that I refuse to post but I do think twice about posting things that are really offensive. Maybe I should post them and let people decide if it's offensive.

Q. Do you have a subject that you go back to again and again because it's something that you are passionate about in one way or another?

Yeah, weird stories! I did go through a phase where I was posting stories about penis related accidents. I can't remember how I it started but I think it probably occured after I posted a few in quick succession. I then realised that there were so many penis-related accidents that I was seeing how long I could go before posting a story. I'm not a freak though!

Q. Do you visit each and every site you list - or just their RSS feed

Despite trying to use my feedreader more often I find it so much easier to visit web sites. I dislike how some sites don't post full feeds plus the posts don't look as good in a feedreader.

Q. What does your family think of the blogs?

They are all readers of my blog and are impressed with how well its been going.

Q. I've noticed that you seem to be continually "tinkering" with the layout of AWV - is this because you are not happy with is look?

I'm fairly happy with the look of the blog but I would love to have a new design. The design I've got at the moment looks pretty much like it did on day one. You may notice that the banner changes frequently (at least it used to). I have a collection of banners with scenes from around Wales. I wanted to change them frequently with new images but I either forget to do so or get tied up with other things.

Q. Do you get many hits from Wales.?

Good question. When I first received these questions I didn't have a clue how many readers were from Wales but after a quick poll of around 600 readers I now know that 10% are from Wales and a further 7% were originally from Wales but no longer live there.

Q. What was the reason for peculiarosities?

Peculiarosities originally started out as Daily Links and was a intended to be a post containing the weird news stories that I had come across during the day. At some point (I can't remember exactly when) I decided to rebrand Daily LInks and came up with the name peculiarosities. It didn't take long to come up with the word and is an amalgamation of the words peculiar and curiosities. Before using the word I did a quick check on Google and couldn't find it so I may well have been the first person to use it. Who knows, in a few years time the word may be part of the English language.

Q. You keep having a moan about Typepad, why not move to another blogging software?

I do like a good moan about Typepad but that's only because I want it to improve. In general I am happy with their service and they do offer a great service for the money. Each month I go way over the bandwidth limit and they don't charge me extra. Besides that, I do like how Typepad have a great support team that I expect wouldn't be available from Blogger or Wordpress.

about you in more depth:

Q. You recently graduated from University - What did you study?

I studied computing at Newport University. I came out with a first and I'm proud to say that I don't think I could have possibly done any better.

Q. Did you plan to start up your own business or fall into the idea?

That's a tough question to answer. Up until 3 months ago the thought of starting my own bsuiness had never crossed my mind (except when I was a lot younger) but when things weren't working out in my previous job I was presented with an interesting decision - do I look for another job or use my skills to start a new business? As this was probably the only opportunity that I would get I decided to go for it.

Q. What is the company going to be doing?

We are going to be a web development company that specialises in web applications. We have worked a lot with ASP.NET over the past year or so and believe that many businesses could benefit from the applications that you can construct using it. As of yet we haven't got any clients but we are about to embark on our first marketing campaign which we hope will prove to be successful.

Q. Why the name Ozum?

No reason except that it was the shortest .co.uk name we could find that sounded good. I loved it the first time that I discovered it but my business partner took a little while longer to become convinced. People always ask if there's a meaning behind it but it doesn't mean anything, except 'myself' in Turkish.

Q. Are you a gadget geek?

Of course! I'm not a true gadget geek in that I don't buy everything that I want but I do love reading about gadgets. Lately my phone has become an extension of my body. On top of my contract I've added on extras so that I can collect and send emails, watch the latest news headlines and watch movie trailers and reviews.

Q. "The IT Crowd" - hit or miss?

Surprisingly, I've never watched it. I usually catch on to a new show in its second season. I have been told that I'm similar to one of the guys on the show (the guy who Google's questions as people ask them).

interests:

List a few!

Blogging of course, attending beer festivals, watching CSI religiously every Tuesday and having a bet on the football on a Saturday.

Q. Influences:

(no answer )

Q. Person/people?

(no answer )

Q. Music?

Deep house music and music from the Baltimore, USA area. I know that sounds pretty specific but that's where the DJ's on HandzOnRadio are from. You'd be surprised how house music can vary based on location. Music from San Francisco sounds a lot different to taht from Chicago or Baltimore.

Favourites:

Q. Food?

I am partial to the odd mixed kebab smothered in mint sauce and also love the foot long Chipotle Southwest Cheese Steak sandwich from Subway.

Q. Drink?

I'm a big fan of Diet Coke, particularly Diet Coke with Lime. I'm also a big real ale fan and love trying out new beers.

Q. Colour?

Red

Q. Joke?

I'm not a big fan of jokes and I can't think of a single one. I'm more of a fan of funny stories.

Q. Place?

At the moment, California. I've been there a couple of times and have been lucky enough to travel along route 101 between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Q. What's on your MP3 player that you are listening to right now?

Loads of house music such as the stuff you'll find on www.handzonradio.fm and www.deephousepage.com. I could list different artists but I'm not sure if anyone will recognise them.

Q. What makes you laugh (apart from this dumbass questionnaire)?

British comedy such as Blackadder, One Foot In The Grave and Have I Got News For You and Family Guy. That show has to be the funniest cartoon ever! I don't know how they get away with some of the jokes.

Q. what makes you cry?

Not much. The last time I cried was when I had my cat put down.

and finally...

If you had the influence - is there something that you would change? (bring about world peace, prevent hunger or an event etc.)

no answer

To be fair to Robert, The questions he didn't answer - he says are the hardest questions he's had to think of an answer to, and couldn't.

Thanks Robert for a little insight to the man behind the site with the sheep and mountains.

I think we should all go to Wales and go on a real ale pub crawl and kebab hunt with him. Any takers...