I'm a geek, a computer programmer, a writer, and an entrepreneur. I live in upstate New York, between NYC and Albany. My degree in Computer Science got me a job at IBM, but after spending 15 years there, the Internet literally sucked me out. Now I work at home, designing websites, writing books, and producing the Internet Tourbus newsletter. See my profile on Google+

The Internet Tourbus is a virtual tour of the best of the Internet, delivered twice weekly by e-mail to over 90,000 people in 130 countries. Bob Rankin and Patrick Crispen (aka the "Click & Clack" of the online world) explain Internet technology in plain English, with a dash of humor. Since 1995, Tourbus riders have been getting the scoop on Search Engines, Spam, Viruses, Cookies, Urban Legends, and the most useful sites on the Net. TOURBUS has a very diverse audience, with people from all over the world, and every level of computer knowledge. Tourbus is read by doctors, lawyers, teachers, students and journalists. We try to present Internet tools and technology in a way that appeals to both gurus and grandmas. I think everybody with an email address should be getting Tourbus. :-)

Ahh, my first computer... it was a TI-58 programmable calculator, which I taught to bark, sit, and play yahtzee. My high school had a 300-baud dial-up line to a nearby university computer which helped me get into all sorts of mischief! So I guess it was only natural from that point that I would pursue computers as a career. I avoided getting a home computer for many years, because I spent all day working with them. I finally broke down and bought a used IBM "PC Junior" in 1990. It had 4.77 megahertz of raw processing power, no hard disk, and no modem. But I loved it, and now have a PC Jr collection in my basement.

My first contact with the Internet was in 1993 through a conferencing system internal to IBM, where I worked at the time. I was used to networking with people around the world, but it seemed that the Internet held much greater treasures in store. I became more and more fascinated with the Internet, both as an information resource and as a means of conducting business. In 1994 I wrote the "Accessing The Internet By E-Mail" guide which told how to access almost anything on the Net using simple e-mail commands, and gave it away for free. It was hugely popular, eventually being translated into 30 languages.

My book "The No BS Guide to Linux" was published by NoStarch Press, and served as the basis for this website. I hope you'll learn, enjoy and tell a friend about LowFat Linux!

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