My name is George Frink.

My commitment to Web-related enterprises began at ONE BBSCON in Atlanta in August of 1994.

While there, I concluded that the dialup bulletin board system (BBS) world was doomed, because the Web would take all. Nothing Web-related was on the program.

My attempts to discuss hypertext markup language and Web servers with attendees were greeted with polite confusion.

No one in whom I confided as we left on August 21 agreed that investment in BBS publication was a waste of money.

Entry into the world of bits and bytes was preceded by some 20 years as a journalist, the concluding part of which included night school in computer science at North Carolina State University and daytime coursework elsewhere.

Going back to the beginning, what passed for a childhood was spent on a southeastern North Carolina farm.

There amid the swamps and cottonmouths, I worked hard and am proud of having done so. In that, I resemble almost every other family farmer's son.

As is also typical of the sons of family farmers, I have done many kinds of work, shrinking from nothing. While I was a student at North Carolina State University, I was one of the first two student assistant stack supervisors in the history of D.H. Hill Library.

When a former high school English teacher (Mrs. Mary Wyche Mintz) called to say I was needed there, I taught English at Hallsboro High School. She is and was a marvel of a teacher, without whom I might never have had a career as a writer.

Along the way, I coached track at a private school, loaded trucks and was a partner in a livestock operation.

At every stop, there has been plenty of volunteer work, most of it on behalf of children who have to fight every step of the way (as I did), just to grow up alive.

Southern Connections is my consulting, design and software development firm.

We specializing in Web-related products, Web publication and business strategies and network security.

We provide W3 Standards compliant design, automate Web publication, create Web-based applications, develop and implement network security plans and train client staff.

Once upon a time, thanks to the decision at ONE BBSCON, I led the Fayetteville Observer to the World Wide Web. In the parlance of the '60s, that was a trip.

Awards and Citations as a journalist include four N.C. Press Association Public Service Awards (editorial contribution) and (with Gene Smith and John Eslinger) an N.C. Sierra Club Award for Excellence in Environmental Journalism.

I have three children, all of whom are college graduates and doing very well for themselves (thank you for asking).

They're incredible people.