## How I Got My Passion For TechI’ve often been asked over the years, how did you get interested in tech? Since I was just asked yesterday by someone, I decided what better way to answer that question than with a blog post. I first got interested in tech at a very early age, likely around 4 or 5 years old. I was living in [Houston, TX](
Houston - Wikipedia
 ), as my parents moved there when I was between 2 and 3 years old. They moved there from [Cocoa Beach, FL](
Cocoa Beach, Florida - Wikipedia
 ) because of the oil boom that was just starting. Plus, it was a much bigger city than Cocoa Beach which they wanted mainly for job market stuff. We were living on a 75 acre ranch at the time and I remember I had a 13-inch black and white Sony TV that I watched cartoons on. One day, out of the blue, my dad decided to hook up this machine to my TV called[ Pong](
Pong Game
 ). I had no idea what Pong was, but little did I know it would be the beginning of a new journey for me in life and one that would stick with me forever. Once Pops got it hooked up, and tuned the TV to channel 3, as that’s how we played video games for many years back in the day, I heard this little set of intro beeps and noises, and I was instantly intrigued. I remember I sat in front of my TV for hours upon hours that day, without eating, getting up and stretching or anything else. I was addicted and it was to some fascinating piece of technology that I was suddenly addicted to. Every day afterwards, I remember just sitting in front of that small TV playing Pong endlessly for hours on end as if it were all life had to offer. Little did I know at the time that this would be just the beginning of a life long fascination to video games and all things tech. Two or three years later, the [Atari 2600](
Atari 2600 - Wikipedia
 ) was really becoming popular and it was something I wanted my parents to get me as soon as I could. Unfortunately, the Atari 2600 would be out for a couple of years before we’d get one. Funny thing is, I remember that day like it was yesterday when it finally happened. My mom and my grandmother, Nana, went to [Willowbrook mall in Houston](
Willowbrook Mall
Willowbrook Mall
Shop the brands you love at the best shopping mall in Houston. Visit Willowbrook Mall for shopping, dining, and entertainment activities.
 ) to go shopping. I had been talking up a storm about wanting an Atari, and little did I know that it would happen on this day. To make a kind of long story short, we went to several department stores such as [Montgomery Wards](
Montgomery Ward - Wikipedia
 ), [JC Penney’s](
JCPenney - Wikipedia
 ), Sears and others, as well as a few toy stores such as KB Toys, The Children’s Palace, [Radio Shack](
Radio shack - Wikipedia
 ) and a one off place called [Game Peddler](https://www.houstonarchitecture.com/topic/22307-the-game-peddler-in-willowbrook-mall/ ). What I didn’t know at the time was that my mom was looking for the best deal price wise on an Atari 2600 and bundles that included a game or two. We ended up going to back to [KB Toys](
KB Toys - Wikipedia
 ), which I thought was super weird, as that was something we had never really done. At the same time, I was getting super excited as I kind of knew what might be about to happen. Sure enough, we walked in, my mom asked a sales person for some help getting an Atari 2600 and a couple of games. Those two games were [Adventure](
Adventure (1980 video game) - Wikipedia
 ) and [Yars’ Revenge](
Yars' Revenge - Wikipedia
 ). The console came with Combat. I can still feel the chills, the excitement, the joy and the huge smile I had on my face knowing my life long dreams(7 years old at the time) had just come true. Life was now complete! Or was it? I couldn’t wait to get home, but unfortunately my mom and Nana were hungry, so we went to the food court in the mall to get something to eat. Then we went over to [Toys ‘R Us](
Toys"R"Us
Toysrus.com, The Official Toys”R”Us Site - Toys, Games, & More
Toys”R”Us is the leading kids store for all toys, dolls, action figures, learning games, building blocks and more. C'mon, Let's Play!
 ) which was right across the street to look for more games, though I don’t think we bought anything. Finally, we’re home and ready to get this thing hooked up. It seemed like mom was taking forever to figure it out and get it all hooked up, but surely that was just the adrenaline and excitement Again, once the console powered on, and I heard whatever noise it was that the Atari 2600 produced, I was intrigued beyond all belief. I think my mom actually put Adventure in the slot first, and that too was an instant game changer. Adventure would go on to be one of the toughest games at the time, but one of my most played games as well as one of my top 5 games of that era. While I did get my start on Pong, I really credit the Atari 2600 as what got me into video games as a whole when I was a kid. I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that it was in color unlike Pong which was black and white only. Plus the Atari obviously had a lot more sounds and more in-depth games than what Pong offered. From then on, my interest and my addiction to all things tech, any thing that beeped, made noise or anything similar was something that I wanted to know more about and wanted to tinker with. We pretty much owned every game console after that point, except for a few such as [Odyssey](
Magnavox Odyssey - Wikipedia
 ) and [Odyssey 2](
Magnavox Odyssey 2 - Wikipedia
 ). We owned consoles such as [Intel](
Intellivision - Wikipedia
 )[l](
Intellivision - Wikipedia
 )[ivision](
Intellivision - Wikipedia
 ), [ColecoVision](
ColecoVision - Wikipedia
 ), [Atari 5200](
Atari 5200 - Wikipedia
 ) and [Atari 7800](
Atari 7800 - Wikipedia
 ) as well as later consoles such as the [Nintendo NES](
Nintendo Entertainment System - Wikipedia
 ) and again, most everything afterwards. This interest carried over well into my teens and my adult life. Today, I have a huge interest and obsession with mobile phones, such as [Android](
Android (operating system) - Wikipedia
 ) phones and [iPhones](
iPhone - Wikipedia
 ). I still play video games as well at the age of almost 53. I mainly play on PC, but I do own an [Xbox Series S](
Xbox Series X and Series S - Wikipedia
 ), [Nintendo Switch](
Nintendo Switch - Wikipedia
 ), [Steam Deck](
Steam Deck - Wikipedia
 ) and of course a [Playstation 5](
PlayStation 5 - Wikipedia
 ). While this is certainly a shortened version of what could be a very long post with regards to my love for tech over the years, it at least gives you the basics of what got me interested originally and is the reason why I’m so passionate about tech of all kinds to this very day. If you are like me and have a passion for tech and all things that go beep/boop, feel free to start up a conversation with me on Mastodon which is my social media platform of choice. You can find me here: [Cliff Wade](https://allthingstech.social/@cliffwade ) as I’m the co-admin of my own Mastodon instance, properly named: [AllThingsTech.social](https://allthingstech.social ). #AllThingsTech #Atari #ColecoVision #Nintendo #Playstation #Pong #Technology #Xbox image
## Tips And Tricks For New Mastodon Users## **What Is Mastodon?**Mastodon was founded in 2016 by German software developer Eugen Rochko. Unlike Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or most any other social media site, Mastodon is a nonprofit, meaning that it’s not owned or run by one individual or an individual company like the sites listed above. Mastodon might look like a clone of Twitter at first glance, and in some ways I guess you can say it is, but those similarities don’t go very deep at all. In fact, the underlying system behind Mastodon is way more complex than that of something like Twitter. Mastodon is considered a “decentralized platform” and is defined as a “federated network which operates very similarly to email.” When you first create your account, you choose a server; similar to how you choose to open an email account at Gmail or anywhere else, which generates your profile’s address. So, for example, if you sign up for Mastodon via the [allthingstech.social](https://allthingstech.social/?ref=blog.allthingstech.social ) server, then your Mastodon address will be @[your username]@allthingstech.social. For example, my account is [cliffwade@allthingstech.social](https://allthingstech.social/@cliffwade?ref=blog.allthingstech.social ) or [allthingstech.social/@cliffwade](https://allthingstech.social/@cliffwade?ref=blog.allthingstech.social ) Both links point to the same URL, so you can click it and see my profile. But no matter which server you sign up with, you will be able to communicate with users from any other server, just like how Gmail users email Hotmail users and vice versa. However, some servers might have blocked other servers (perhaps if it’s an unsavory group), which would mean you can’t communicate with anyone from the blocked server. But all of this is for a completely different post as I want to focus on tips and tricks for new users that will help get you started and hopefully get you connected with others in a better, quicker way.## Tip 1: Upload A Profile PictureThis should be common sense on any new social media platform that you go to assuming the site allows you to. It doesn’t have to be a selfie or a picture actually taken of you. It can be something that helps others quickly identify your posts. This can be anything you want it to be. Just pick something that you enjoy, that you feel represents you or that has a story behind it. People associate profile pictures with a name, and they get used to it. This will help you build an audience quicker and make it to where anyone you follow or interact with more likely to click on your name to read your bio and possibly follow you back. To enhance this a little further, I strongly recommend you add a profile banner as well like you see at the top of my profile in the image below. Again, make it what you want. Just remember, little things like this show other users that you’ve taken a bit of time to let others know a bit about yourself.## Tip 2: Fill Out Your BioThis and tip 1 likely go hand in hand. Without a bit of information provided in your bio to let others know who you are, what you do, what you like or anything else of importance, you’re less likely to get interaction or follows from others. While this certainly doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get interaction or follows, it’s the best place to start when it comes to Mastodon, or most any social media platform for that matter.## Tip 3: Make An Introductory Toot (Post)Again, just like on every other social media platform, introducing yourself helps others get to know a bit about you. There’s no specific guidelines as to what you need to say in this introductory toot (post), so feel free to say what you want. Make it serious, make it funny, whatever you feel is best. This introductory post is something that can be shared every couple of weeks so that the newer users to Mastodon might get a chance to see it as well. It’s also recommended that you pin it to your profile as you can have up to 5 posts pinned on your profile. That number may however vary depending on what instance you are on.## Tip 4: Follow Anyone On Mastodon That You Followed On TwitterThere are several websites out there that can check your Twitter following and follower list and find out who of those have a Mastodon reference in their profile there, leading you to find their account on Mastodon itself. This is obviously a great way to start off your Mastodon journey by following some familiar people. A couple of websites you can use for this are [FediFinder](https://fedifinder.glitch.me/?ref=blog.allthingstech.social ) as well as [MastoFind](https://mastofind.net/?ref=blog.allthingstech.social ). There are likely many others but I’ve personally used both of these with good success when I first came over to Mastodon several months ago. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need or should follow everyone that you followed on Twitter, as you might very well want to start fresh and only follow new folks you find on Mastodon. However, most of us have people we have become really good friends with or interact with regularly and if some of those have moved over completely to Mastodon, then it’s often important to keep those relationships going. Using the sites above will help you find others who have added a Mastodon link to their Twitter profile and you should add your Mastodon profile link to your Twitter profile for this same reason.## Tip 5: Use Hashtags When You Toot (Post)Since there is no algorithm on Mastodon, the best way for users to find things they like is via hashtags. Using hashtags in your posts gives everyone the ability to not only search for keywords of things they like or want to see, but you can also follow hashtags within Mastodon which can really add to the overall experience of the platform. Some people say to only use up to three hashtags, others say to use as many as you want. I’m not sure if there is a “correct” way to do this or not, but I’d say use what you want and judge changing it based on interaction or lack of interaction. Another thing I did to enhance this when I first joined Mastodon was to create a toot (post) with regards to the hashtags I like to use, view and search for. This too allows others to know a bit more about you, who you are, what things you like and what things you might be posting or commenting on around Mastodon.## Come Join Us On [AllThingsTech.social](https://allthingstech.social/?ref=blog.allthingstech.social )With all of this said with regards to how to setup your profile and make the best impression from the get go, and you’re looking to join the Mastodon platform, we at [AllThingsTech.social](https://allthingstech.social/?ref=blog.allthingstech.social ) would love to have you! Regardless of which Mastodon app you choose to use, or if you decide to create your account on the web version of Mastodon, you can enter the instance name above and then click Ok/Enter or whatever, and then you should be able to create an account on the [AllThingsTech.social](https://allthingstech.social/?ref=blog.allthingstech.social ) instance.## Final ThoughtsThese are just five of the first tips and tricks that I learned and preached about when I first came over to Mastodon and I feel it helped and still helps me greatly today even after 3+ months of being on the platform. There are many, many other things you can do to make your experience better and to possibly grow quicker and I’d be more than happy if you would share those with me if you’d like. Maybe if I get enough suggestions of other tips and tricks for new users, or even experienced users, I could make another post here and list them and give you credit for your suggestions. #AllThingsTech #Mastodon #SocialMedia #Technology #TipsTricks
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