Patricia Howitt: [New Zealand]
I have degrees in Arts (Languages and Philosophy) and Law. My first job was with the NZ Department of Customs. Thanks to help from the government's top legal advisors, I was able to fill the Office Solicitor's role while still studying for my law degree - drafting law, preparing cases for hearing, and providing general legal advice. It was a huge learning curve, but it set me up really well for my career in government.

Once qualified, I worked for a while in the office of the Crown Prosecutor to widen my experience, and moved to the legal division of the Ministry of Transport. I was assigned to the Marine Division, and later became involved in Traffic and Transport Licensing. I also trained Senior Traffic Officers in prosecution techniques.

I was headhunted into the newly formed Accident Compensation Corporation, set up to administer a "world first" system for replacing accident litigation by providing statutory compensation for accidental injury. This arena was dominated by medical issues, so the legal division worked closely with the Corporation's medical advisors on medico-legal questions - and there were plenty of those.

I became one of the Corporation's leading advocates for Appeal cases and was also appointed as a Review Officer with the powers of a magistrate to hear and decide claimants' complaints about Corporation decisions. There was nothing informal about this process, or its outcome - a Review Officer had to file a fully-reasoned decision that was subject to appeal to a High Court Judge if the claimant was not satisfied with it.

By the time I left the Corporation I was Regional Solicitor for its Hamilton region, a large portion of the central North Island. I was responsible for all aspects of its legal work and still operating as an advocate and Review Officer.

For two years I taught part-time in the Business Studies Department of the Waikato Polytechnic, lecturing in Business Law for the NZ Society of Accountants' Diploma in Business Studies. More recently, I held the same position locally in the Business Studies Department of the Northland Polytechnic.

In 1993 I attended the Northland Polytechnic as a student - to study the Introductory Certificate in Business Computing. My first use of the Computer was to help me with secretarial and publishing work for our Health Action Team and later for our Hospital Trust and the Breed Club I belonged to. I also bought a scanner and began to digitise my art. Soon the Internet beckoned. I took the plunge and came online in June 1996. By December I had put in my first "Home Page" which included a substantial gallery of my art, and the start of a continuing project, Health News NZ, creating both from scratch in HTML. The updated version of my Art Gallery is now part of the Jungle Queen sites - HERE.

I started a small graphics design business in our nearest town so my time on the net was limited. However, in 1997 I created all the website graphics for my ISP Voyager, which was partially owned by the Australian ISP OzEmail. I also created graphics for some of Voyager's clients, but unfortunately Voyager was sold that year, and in spite of its being one of NZs top ISPs, it was disbanded by the new owners soon afterwards.

For family reasons, I brought my business home in 2002 and concentrated solely on the Net. I now freelance in graphics, and I very much enjoy creating websites. Scott and I have our own hosting business and his technical ability and support complements my skills with graphics and HTML.

Scott Willse [Costa Mesa California]
I graduated from Costa Mesa High School in 1969. Then I went to Orange Costa College, where I was a computer science major and learned how to program on huge main frames. I have a passion for high-tech equipment and programming, having originally trained as a programmer, and I love computers, the intenet, and software programs.

I have been on the internet since 2000. I have a strong interest in helping people, especially with technical stuff, and I am very excited about the quality of our hosting, which we use for all our own sites as well. I am returning to programming and developing my knowledge and skills in the new programming languages that developed for the net since I did my training.