I have been working with computers since 1983, first as a hobby and then as a profession. I have done everything from data entry to programming. I have written articles on programming for several computer magazines, and was the technical editor for several programming books.

Most of what I know about programming I learned from reading books and from writing programs. In fact, I wrote and published several games for Windows 3.1 that were published by a company called SoftSource. You might actually have seen them at one time or another in K-Mart or Electronics Boutique. There were three game packages: Solitaire, Dice Games, and Casino Games. Surprisingly, since they were written for Windows 3.1, the games stayed on the market for over four years. I actually sold enough copies that at one point we could have lived off the royalties.

Until recently, I worked as a Programmer/Writer at Mcirosoft, writing documentation and the accompanying example applications for the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) and for ADO.NET, the database component of the Microsoft .NET Framework. However, last fall (2003) I left my job so we could move back to the East Coast to be closer to family, particularly my parents, since my father has had some health problems. Now I spend my time looking for a new job.

While I send out my resume, search job listings, and wait for the phone to ring, I've started maintaining this web site again. In the evenings I write short stories, articles, and content for my two web sites. Although I only started submitting fiction in July, I've already had a couple of stories published. For details, visit my other web site, http://www.irenesmith.com.

I am married, and the mother of three children. The youngest is a seven-year old, named Matthew, who has been playing computer games since he was two. He has had his own computer (a hand me down from my husband) since he was five and spends every moment on the computer that we will allow, playing computer games or playing online games at places like NickJr.com and Playhouse Disney.

In addition to my son, I also have two grown children and three grandchildren, as well as about a dozen nieces and nephews and various aunts, uncles and cousins by marriage. My husband has a large family, you see. Quite a change for an only child. Unfortunately, I don't get to see the grandchildren anywhere near as often as I would like. My son, Mark, and his wife seem always to be working when I'm off or off when I'm working. My daughter, Anjanette, lives in Long Island, over three hours from our home, and we hardly ever get to see her. Of course, the situation is made more difficult by the fact that we have only one car. It means that we spend most weekends running errands, grocery shopping and taking away the garbage, but I'm hoping that will change as soon as we manage to find a new place near where I work.

Away from computers and the Internet, I also love to read (just about anything) and play role-playing games. I don't get as much time for these activities as I used to because my husband and son take up most of the time I have left between working, maintaining multiple web sites and programming.

I won't bore you any more, but I thought you might like to know a little about who I am and why I created this particular site. Enjoy your visit to the Tangled Web and drop me a line if you have comments or suggestions for future tutorials. You can reach me at [email protected]