We at Net:Sight Solutions pride ourselves on our relaxed attitude (we like to think we're not as Victorian in our attitudes as some others in the industry we might mention); and so we asked our senior management team to answer a selection of the questions you submitted last month. We were expecting an array of challenging queries on religion, politics and the like; what we got was more 15 to 1 than University Challenge. Next month: Pop Idol. Yes, we're kidding.
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What is your name? And, do you have any nicknames?
My name is Jan, and that's all I'm saying. |
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Where were you born?
Utrecht, in the Netherlands. |
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What do you do at Net:Sight?
I am the Big Cheese, the Head Honcho, the Top Banana. When something goes wrong it ultimately stops with me. |
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When did you join Net:Sight?
Well you might say I never joined Net:Sight, I founded it with Eric in 1994, and we haven't looked back since. |
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What did you do before coming to Net:Sight?
I attended Oxford University, which is where I met Eric. The rest, you might say, is history. |
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Describe yourself in three words.
Devilishly attractive Dutchman. |
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What achievement are you most proud of?
I think the initial release of the browser was an amazing time, the public's reaction to it surpassed anything we could have hoped for. |
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What do you do outside Net:Sight?
I rarely have time for anything else; I do enjoy a good concert or a trip to the theatre, work permitting. |
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What's your favourite food?
When I came to England, Eric introduced me to fish and chips, and my diet has never been the same since. I also particularly like Chinese food. |
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What's your favourite book, piece of music, play or film?
Oh, let me think. Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre, possibly. It's used as the theme for a TV show, I think, but I can't remember which one offhand. |
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What are you listening to right now?
I think the last song I heard was Nature Boy, by Nat King Cole. |
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If you could change one thing, what would it be?
That's an easy one (finally!) - I'd make sure everyone was using our browser. |
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What is your name? And, do you have any nicknames?
I am Sebastien Leland; people usually call me Seb. |
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Where were you born?
I was born in Rouen, in France, but I have lived in England since I was 21. Some people say I have still not lost my accent. |
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What do you do at Net:Sight?
I keep our costs down, and make sure the tax man is happy. |
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When did you join Net:Sight?
I only joined the company last year; I am still the new boy here. |
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What did you do before coming to Net:Sight?
I worked as an auditor, and before that as an accountant. |
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Describe yourself in three words.
Good with figures. |
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What achievement are you most proud of?
I am proudest of my children, I think. |
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What do you do outside Net:Sight?
I play football for a local amateur team. What Sofia would call 'soccer'. |
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What's your favourite food?
French cooking, of course! |
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What's your favourite book, piece of music, play or film?
Les Liaisons Dangereuses - the book, play and film. Jeunet's Delicatessen is also very good. |
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What are you listening to right now?
I have just been introduced to a band called - ironically - Belle And Sebastian. I was listening to them, a song called The State I Am In. It is growing on me. |
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If you could change one thing, what would it be?
I would like our release cycles to be two months shorter. |
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What is your name? And, do you have any nicknames?
My name is Sofia Shaw. |
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Where were you born?
Queens, New York. But I'm not giving a date. |
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What do you do at Net:Sight?
I do public relations work, I talk to the newspapers and magazines, I try to promote the company's products, and I keep us in the public eye. |
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When did you join Net:Sight?
I joined in February 1999. |
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What did you do before coming to Net:Sight?
I lived in New York with my husband. I was a journalist for a software magazine. |
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Describe yourself in three words.
Easily distracted... sorry, what was the question? Very funny. Thank you. |
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What achievement are you most proud of?
I'm proud of my daughter, Emily. She's only young, but she definitely takes after her mother. |
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What do you do outside Net:Sight?
My husband and I are members of a local amateur dramatics group. |
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What's your favourite food?
Japanese food is my favorite. M&S cook all their sushi, unfortunately. |
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What's your favourite book, piece of music, play or film?
I love the old black-and-white films; Citizen Kane, Kind Hearts And Coronets, The Third Man, The Big Sleep, Casablanca (no, I'm not old enough to remember them the first time round). I'm also a fan of Depeche Mode, James and Portishead. |
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What are you listening to right now?
Secretly, by Skunk Anansie. She has the most amazing voice. |
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If you could change one thing, what would it be?
Hollywood wouldn't remake old films. You can't hope to compare to the likes of Alec Guinness or Humphrey Bogart. |
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What is your name? And, do you have any nicknames?
I'm Angharad, some of my friends call me Harry. |
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Where were you born?
I was born in Swansea, in Wales. |
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What do you do at Net:Sight?
I am responsible for hiring (and firing, sometimes) the employees here. |
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When did you join Net:Sight?
I've been here for four years now. |
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What did you do before coming to Net:Sight?
I was doing a similar job for a rival company - but I won't say which one! I also lived in Cork, briefly. |
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Describe yourself in three words.
Firm but fair - at least, that's what I hope people would say. |
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What achievement are you most proud of?
I'm very proud that, at a time when all the other companies in this sector were downsizing, we were recruiting. In fact, there's never been a time when we haven't been actively increasing headcount, while I've been here. |
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What do you do outside Net:Sight?
I ruin my liver with friends. |
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What's your favourite food?
Indian food - especially a nice, creamy chicken tikka massala. Very good for the waistline, you know. |
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What's your favourite book, piece of music, play or film?
I've recently been introduced to the Harry Potter books, and I find I can't put them down (very embarrassing!). As for music, I like The Beautiful South, Gomez, Ash and The Stone Roses. |
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What are you listening to right now?
Gomez's Here Comes The Breeze (highly recommended). Before that, a song by Whipping Boy, an Irish band. Called Tripped. I think they've split up now, more's the pity. Never got to seem them live. |
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If you could change one thing, what would it be?
About me? I would probably get some of my tattoos removed. Which raises an interesting follow-up... No, you can't. |
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What is your name? And, do you have any nicknames?
My name is Eric. I have no idea what people call me behind my back. |
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Where were you born?
Norwich, England. |
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What do you do at Net:Sight?
Very little. |
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When did you join Net:Sight?
I joined in 1994, when Jan and I started writing the browser. Or rather, I wrote it; he drank coffee and watched. |
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What did you do before coming to Net:Sight?
I was at Oxford University, studying biochemistry. |
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Describe yourself in three words.
Could do better. |
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What achievement are you most proud of?
I wrote the original browser's intelligent agent component, I'm quite proud of how that turned out. It's pretty much been rewritten from the ground up though, so it can't have been that good. |
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What do you do outside Net:Sight?
Doesn't apply to me. |
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What's your favourite food?
I like traditional English food; bubble and squeak, steak and kidney pie, things like that. |
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What's your favourite book, piece of music, play or film?
Batman And Robin. Best film ever. Speed 2 comes close though. What a great year for Hollywood that was. |
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What are you listening to right now?
Nothing 'right now', I'm answering a banal questionnaire, for which I had to pause 303 by Kula Shaker. |
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If you could change one thing, what would it be?
Um. World peace? Put a stop to poverty and hunger? I have no idea. I'd quite like a bigger house, does that count? |
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What is your name? And, do you have any nicknames?
My name is Catherine Frost. Most people call me Cathy, but other than that I don't have any nicknames (that I know of!). |
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Where were you born?
Berkshire, England. |
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What do you do at Net:Sight?
I manage the sales teams and the marketing teams, which is much more difficult than it sounds! |
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When did you join Net:Sight?
I was headhunted for this position in late 1998. |
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What did you do before coming to Net:Sight?
I was a model for Giorgio Armani. No, not really, but it got you thinking, didn't it?! |
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Describe yourself in three words.
Feisty, yet approachable! |
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What achievement are you most proud of?
Oh, this is a difficult one. I'm very proud of a romance novel I'm in the process of writing, but I haven't tried to have it published yet. |
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What do you do outside Net:Sight?
I sing in a band with some of my fellow employees. Eric sometimes joins us on double-bass, when his schedule permits. Some day we might finally persuade Jan to lend us his crooning talents! Very smooth! I'm not sure what genre we are exactly, it's a bit of a mixture (pop-jazz-folk-blues-triphop perhaps?!). If this software business doesn't work out, rock stardom awaits! |
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What's your favourite food?
I love a good, meaty Lasagne with an expensive Italian red wine (depends who my dinner date is though - perhaps an expensive Italian!). |
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What's your favourite book, piece of music, play or film?
I very much enjoyed reading Bridget Jones' Diary, so I haven't seen the film yet - I like the images inside my head (although, Colin Firth...). Oh, and anything by Jane Austin. I like listening to REM, Dido and David Gray. |
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What are you listening to right now?
Dream A Little Dream Of Me, the version by Salad & Terry Hall. Off the Help album. One of my favourite songs actually. |
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If you could change one thing, what would it be?
I'd like everyone who doesn't already to use our browser, of course! Jan already said that. Oh, I can't have it too? No; he's in charge, he gets the easy answers. OK. In that case, I'd like for us to have more free downloads. That should please people! |