Ron HitchensRon Hitchens is a California based computer consultant and educator whose career dates back to the disco era. His first exposure to computers was operating mainframes in the Air Force. His first programming language was COBOL, learned from a friend'sborrowed textbook. Since that time Ron has used just about every computer system and programming language you can imagine: from 6502 assembler to XSLT. Ron spent much of the 1980s at the University of Texas at Austin, as student and staffer, where he burrowed deep into the Unix kernel and assisted with many interesting research projects. Ron spent the next several years doing kernel work for clients such as IBM and Unisys. Ron has also developed and taught professional development courses for the same clientele. Following a brief flirtation with C++, Ron fell in love with Java and has spent the last several years employing server-side Java technologies to build Web applications for clients ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Ron is Founder and President of Ronsoft Technologies (www.ronsoft.com). Ron lives in California with his wife and co-pilot, Karen, and a dog named Boomer. When Ron isn't working (hah!) he and Karen enjoy snorkeling, bicycling and walking the dog. Read More Read Less