These are just a few of the interesting people I know :

Essex people

• Chris Johns (CMJ)
  Fellow Acorn user at the University of Essex and someone I'm very proud to call a friend. When I had problems he was there for me, and I hope I was and will be there for him. He's just moved up to York to start a new job.

• Alistair Galbraith
  One of the madder people doing computer science, if that is possible. Alistair is probably the person I know from Essex who'll go furthest. I've not spoken to him in a while and I probably should.

• Jason Gordon (Jiggy)
  A flatmate from first year, and very enthusiastic about everything.

• David Gamble (QSUndel)
  Have you ever met anyone with boundless energy ? Or a constantly inquisitive mind ? Or who is just too darned clever for his own good. David is one of those people. You've got to hate him for it. It's the law. Nobody should be like that and able to roam the streets. One minute he'd be trying to work out how to create a graphic equaliser without using complex maths, and the next he'd be taking apart atoms just to see what makes them tick. You see the problem ?

RISC OS people

• Dave Thomas (Spanners)
  Dave seems to be one of the few people who is willing to accept challenges, however mad they may seem. Liking Loretta is one challenge I think even he will give up on, though. I worked with Dave at RISCOS Ltd. He's been up in Glasgow with Picsel for the last 5 years.

• Matthew Godbolt (TheMoog)
  Another of those people who is likely to be totally knackered by the time he's thirty. Where he gets the energy from I'll never know. He's now running his own company writing software for programmers.

• Phil Norman (Forrey)
  Phil is someone only met late in the time at University, but in that time he's been a continual source of delight as he pulls out bizarre programs. I believe he's still working for a Swiss company.

• Nicholas Clark (N)
  If I knew half as much about anything as Nick knows about Perl, or programming in general I'd be very happy. Always a source of something interesting and one of my favourite people to ask questions of.

• Peter Naulls (Chocky)
  Peter is to Java what Nick is Perl. If I ever need a guru it will be to one of these two that I come. And I don't need to look far for a shoulder to cry on.

• Thomas Olsson (Zappo)
  Every so often I find a program that is very cool. Once in a while I find real gems. Of these gems I think that Thomas has produced about half. It scares me when I suddenly discover that something I always liked to use was written by him.

• Robin Watts
  Robin has always been in the RISC OS world, it seems. Whilst I was at uni, Robin was someone I looked up to, and now that we work together (some of the time) it's nice to know that he's someone people should look up to.

• Matthew Bullock
  Matthew is clever. Cleverer than me, anyhow. We worked together at RISCOS Ltd, doing silly things. I'm not sure where he is now and I really should catch up.

• Dave Ward (Dave upstairs)
  Dave's an oddity. He worked upstairs from us at RISCOS Ltd, and some might say that he's a major reason that RISCOS Ltd started. Some might. Whatever the tale, he's a mate and has a gorgeous girlfriend so we have to be friends <grin>.

• Alex MacFarlane Smith (Aardvark)
  Alex is a clever guy who's helped me out when I've needed things doing that I couldn't do. He's more 'together' than I and I really admire that

• Joseph Heenan (Jogu)
  Jogu takes on far more things than I ever have done. And he makes remote controls for sky boxes in his spare time. Like most of my friends, he's far cleverer than I, too.

• Ian Jeffray
  As with some of the other friends here, Ian's very driven. He doesn't suffer fools gladly. Why he puts up with me around I don't know, but I appreciate it though I may not show it sometimes. I look at his dedication and attitude and whilst caustic at time, I only wish that I could have that kind of energy.

• Andrew Hill
  Andrew's a doctor. He does computer things. It's strange. He has more enthusiasm than most, possibly only matched by David Gamble.

• Matt Edgar
  Matt Edgar's someone I met through work. Let's say he's cleverer than I and leave it at that. He's been another good friend to talk to.

• Chris Williams (Drobe)
  I've known Chris for quite a few years now and it's surprising how similar to my brother he is. When Simon's not around to talk to, Chris makes a good substitute. He's in his final year of Uni, getting ready for exams.

Amazing people

• Angela Rayner
  Very few people have rung me out of the blue, but I'm pleased to say that Angela was one of the few, not least because it is partly through her that I met...

• Helen Rayner (ThisHell)
  It is odd how you know people in one way and yet it is only when you know them in another that you realise who they are. I knew Helen from my days on Fidonet, and yet it wasn't until I went to university that I became somewhat obsessed with her. Such is life, I guess. She's in Oxford now, working as a psychiatric nursing assistant.

• Sue Robinson
  I met Sue at Downham, through Caroline. When times were hard, she was a very good friend. One day I hope that I can repay the service, 'cos she was someone I could really talk to and helped me a lot. Thanks Sue!

• Caroline Webster
  It's time to have an entry for Caroline, I think. In Caroline I found someone with whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life. Things didn't work out.

• Vanessa Illingworth
  I met Vanessa through David Gamble. Vanessa is someone I can talk to; it's quite strange, but I can get along with her quite well and haven't known her long.

• Catherine
  Catherine is interesting. She's Dave's girlfriend. She's gorgeous. She helped us move, she hung around with us when we had noone else to be with and she's generally great. And she said she'd get nasty if I didn't write something about her <smile>.

Family

• Julian Fletcher
  Julian's my middle brother, currently doing his PhD at The University of Surrey in theoretical physics (which I would explain but it honestly goes straight over my head). I do wonder what he wants to do when he's finished with Education.

• Simon Fletcher
  Simon's my youngest brother. He's living in Reading, working for a company that does reports on media appearences of companies (it sounds rather interesting). He seems to know what he wants out of life, which I really would like to know how to do.

• Hannah Jackson
  Simon's girlfriend. Hannah's comfortable to be around. I don't know if she works hard to make us comfortable or if it just comes naturally. She and Simon are great together; I hope they realise how lucky they are.

• Claire Dunnett
  A life long friend and misplaced sister of mine. Seperated at birth by being born into a different family, Claire has been one of my longest and best friends. Just because we're not related doesn't mean we can't be brother and sister. She's married to Justin now and they're having a baby this year.

School people

• Philip Tordoff
  I forget how I met Phil; it just seems that whenever I think of Doncaster, Phil was always there. Maybe it's just because he made me laugh, or something else. Whatever it was, he's one of my oldest friends. He's still in Doncaster, and got married a few years ago to one of his school friends.

• Angela Beardsmore
  In the same way that Phil was always there in Doncaster, Angela had always been in Newark. She always was one for getting what she wanted, and through everything she's still kept a smile and cheered me up. She's in Kent now, finishing her PhD.

Other people

• Julia Naulls (Speckles)
  Julia is a wonderful woman, and gives a great balance for Peter. She's a fun little American who has chosen the cold and rain of England, to live with her husband. They love one another dearly. It's so wonderful.

Apologies