Silicon Kid Website

Matthew Purcell (The Silicon Kid) began writing his computer advice column in The Canberra Times in 1998, at the age of 14. The column was originally published fortnightly, but its popularity quickly grew, promoting the column to weekly publication. The Silicon Kid column can be found in Techno, which is published as part of the "The Guide" in Monday's edition of The Canberra Times. The Kid answers all questions himself, using many different sources to comprehensively research each question he receives and provide the best information available to readers.

When not answering computer questions, Matthew can be seen orienteering through the bushland and forests in and around the ACT. During summer you might also see the Matthew running, mountain biking, and kayaking when competing in one of the many adventure races staged around Canberra.

Being so busy, Matthew also likes his downtime. His favourite TV shows include Stargate SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, 24, Lost, MythBusters, and Top Gear.

In 2005, Matthew graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Information Technology degrees from the Australian National University, and in 2006 studied a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours (Information Systems) and graduated with first-class honours. His thesis was titled Managerial Perceptions of IT Qualifications and focussed upon the value organisations place upon different IT qualifications and certifications. In 2007, Matthew completed a Graduate Diploma in Education in Secondary Teaching at the University of Canberra.

Matthew is also a Novell Certified Administrator (CNA), Apple Certified Systems Administrator (ACSA) , FileMaker 8 Certified Developer , Nortel Certified Technology Specialist (NCTS) , and holds an ITIL Foundations of IT Service Management certificate .

Currently, Matthew is the ICT Manager and a secondary school teacher (teaching Business Studies and Software Design and Development) at Canberra Grammar School .