Alan Simpson is the author of over 115 computer books on all sorts of topics: Windows, databases, Web-site design and development, programming, and network administration. His books are published throughout the world, in over a dozen languages, and have sold millions of copies. Though definitely in the techno-geek category, we let him contribute anyway because sometimes people like that come in handy.

Margaret Levine Young has co-authored several dozen computer books about the Internet, UNIX, WordPerfect, Access, and (stab from the past) PC-File and Javelin, including The Internet For Dummies (Wiley) and Windows XP Home Edition: The Complete Reference (Osborne/McGraw-Hill). She met her future husband Jordan in the R.E.S.I.S.T.O.R.S., a high-school computer club before there were high-school computer clubs. Her other passions are her children, music, Unitarian Universalism (www.uua.org), reading, and anything to do with cooking or eating.

Alison Barrows has authored or co-authored books on Windows, the Internet, Microsoft Access, WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, and other topics. In addition to writing books, Alison writes and edits technical documentation and training material. In real life she hangs out with her “guys” — Parker, 6, and Mason, 4, and Evan 2 — and tries to carve out some time to practice yoga. Alison lives with her family in central Massachusetts.

April Wells is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and holds an MBA from West Texas A&M. She is a database administrator with expertise in a wide variety of enterprise database software programs, including Oracle, DB2, MySQL, and Access. She is the author of several books and white papers on database software and is a frequent public speaker, trainer, and consultant.