Q: What is Digital Inspiration?
A: Digital Inspiration is an online tech magazine focused on software reviews, how-to guides, video tutorials, tech news and productivity tips. It includes a collection of over 6,000 articles.
Q: What is the purpose of this site?
A: We help you in taking maximum advantage of the software tools and web technologies at your disposal so that you spend more time doing things you really love. And we regularly discover interesting things online that you never knew existed – like this list of useful websites.
Q: How old is this site?
A: Digital Inspiration went online in early 2004 so this year is our 8th birthday.
Q: Who is the author of this website?
A: The site is written by Amit Agarwal. He has an Engineering degree in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology (1995) and is one of the few professional bloggers in the world. He also works as a personal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal (India).
Q: How do I subscribe to Digital Inspiration?
A: We have a daily email newsletter that is sent every weekday featuring top stories of the day with short excerpts. Alternatively, you can subscribe to the site in Google Reader through RSS Feeds.
You can join our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter. We are on Google Plus as well.
We frequently publish video tutorials and you can keep track of them by joining our YouTube channel. Digital Inspiration is a YouTube partner.
Q: I need some help or have a question. How do I contact you?
A. You can either write an email at amit@labnol.org, send a tweet @labnol, or directly send me a Facebook message.
Alternatively, for something urgent, you can call me at +91-562-4004563 but please keep the conversation brief. I do not offer tech support over phone.
Q: Will you review my product?
A: Like any other tech publication, we love checking out new stuff especially web apps, software and consumer gadgets. Send an email at amit@labnol.org to request product reviews though we obviously cannot cover everything that’s out there. We always honor embargoes and NDAs.
Q: Do you do giveaways or contests?
A: We occasionally conduct contests and giveaways for readers of our site. The winners of the contest, or giveaway, are either chosen randomly (say, using the rand() function in Excel) or by the representatives of the company itself. Giveaways are a great option to showcase your product before a big audience and we never charge money from companies who wish to hold such contests on our site.
Q: Do you accept guest posts?
A: Most guest posts are written for the purpose of SEO juice and that is the reason why we do not access guest posts. However, if you have written something insightful and useful, you are more than welcome to share it on Digital Inspiration – just send us your article via email at amit@labnol.org.
Q: Can our company hire you?
A: Thank you for your interest but I am not looking for work. I currently write for Digital Inspiration (this site) and a weekly column for The Wall Street Journal and this is enough work to keep me busy.
Q: Can I reprint your article on my blog or in a print magazine / newspaper?
A: The short answer is no but please read this fair use guide. Plagiarism is evil and we may sometimes file a DMCA complaint against websites that republish our content illegally.
Q: What software and hardware are you using?
A: Digital Inspiration is hosted at Dreamhost while the domain registration and email is handled by Google Apps. Here’s a complete list of the hardware equipment and software tools that I use everyday to get things done.
Q: Which WordPress theme are you using?
A: Digital Inspiration is currently using a customized version of the Elemin Theme developed by themify.me. You may refer to the Changelog to keep track of all the design related changes in chronological order.
Q: I want to join Digital Inspiration. Are you hiring?
A: Digital Inspiration is a one-man team at this time but if you are a talented tech geek / developer and have excellent command over English, send us some of your writing samples or links to your previously published work. Write a little bit about your background, a list of topics that you want to cover and how often can you contribute to the site.
We are looking for original and well-written articles on topics related computer software, web applications, personal technology and consumer gadgets. You can also contribute video tutorials, hacks and in-depth reviews of new software applications that make people feel more productive.
Fun Facts and Trivia
Q: Do you also have a job?
A: I quit my job in 2004 to become India’s first professional blogger. Blogging was an unheard phenomenon at that time and that probably explains why HT mentioned me as the “founder of Indian blogging revolution.”
Q: If you don’t have a regular job, how do you pay the bills?
A: I have partnered with various advertising programs including Google AdSense, BlogAds, WordAds (WordPress and Federated Media), BuySellAds, Chitika, and Google DFP. These programs help bring advertisers to my website and they are the main source of revenue.
I do not receive money or any other form of compensation from companies whose products and services are mentioned in the blog.
Q: Do you work from home?
A: I have a proper office (see pictures). While most people assume that blogging involves only writing and thus one can blog from anywhere, I rarely blog outside this place.
Q: How many hours do you spend blogging?
A: It varies but on an average, I work anywhere between 10-14 hours per day. I am running DIgital Inspiration alone so in addition to writing content, some of the time is also spent in engaging with the community, comment moderation, site maintenance and related administrative work.
Q: Do you have a personal blog?
Yes, I do. I will rarely share anything private, say my family pictures, on the tech blog but you may sometimes find them on my personal blog or even on my Facebook profile.
Q: What does the word “labnol” mean?
A: The word “labnol” doesn’t have any specific meaning but as it is unique, the original idea was that any mention of the word “labnol” on the web would be related to this blog in some way or the other. It thus makes Ego-Surfing easy.
Q: Other than this tech blog, what other projects are you working on?
A: I am the curator of India Blogs, a directory of Indian bloggers. My other technical projects include Sleeping Time, Google Social, Tall Tweets, RSS Search, and the very-popular AdSense Sandbox. I also produce video screencasts. My other initiative – India Blog School – aims to spread blogging culture in India through offline training.