Mark L. Chambers has been an author, computer consultant, BBS sysop, programmer, and hardware technician for more than 25 years — pushing computers and their uses far beyond "normal" performance limits for decades now. His fi rst love affair with a computer peripheral blossomed in 1984 when he bought his lightning-fast 300 BPS modem for his Atari 400. Now he spends entirely too much time on the Internet and drinks far too much caffeine-laden soda.

With a degree in journalism and creative writing from Louisiana State University, Mark took the logical career choice: programming computers. However, after fi ve years as a COBOL programmer for a hospital system, he decided there must be a better way to earn a living, and he became the Documentation Manager for Datastorm Technologies, a well-known communications software developer. Somewhere in between writing software manuals, Mark began writing computer how-to books. His fi rst book, Running a Perfect BBS, was published in 1994 — and after a short fi fteen years of fun (disguised as hard work), Mark is one of the most productive and best-selling technology authors on the planet.

Along with writing several books a year and editing whatever his publishers throw at him, Mark has also branched out into Web-based education, designing and teaching a number of online classes — called WebClinics — for Hewlett-Packard.

His favorite pastimes include collecting gargoyles, watching St. Louis Cardinals baseball, playing his three pinball machines and the latest computer games, supercharging computers, and rendering 3D fl ights of fancy with TrueSpace — and during all that, he listens to just about every type of music imaginable. Mark's worldwide Internet radio station, MLC Radio (at www.mlcbooks.com), plays only CD-quality classics from 1970 to 1979, including everything from Rush to Billy Joel to the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Mark's rapidly expanding list of books includes MacBook For Dummies, 2nd Edition; Mac OS X Snow Leopard All-in-One For Dummies; Macs for Seniors For Dummies; iMac For Dummies, 5th Edition; Build Your Own PC Do-It-Yourself For Dummies; Building a PC For Dummies, 5th Edition; Scanners For Dummies, 2nd Edition; CD & DVD Recording For Dummies, 2nd Edition; PCs All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, 4th Edition; Mac OS X Tiger: Top 100 Simplifi ed Tips & Tricks; Microsoft Offi ce v. X Power User's Guide; BURN IT! Creating Your Own Great DVDs and CDs; The Hewlett-Packard Offi cial Printer Handbook; The Hewlett-Packard Offi cial Recordable CD Handbook; The Hewlett-Packard Offi cial Digital Photography Handbook; Computer Gamer's Bible; Recordable CD Bible; Teach Yourself the iMac Visually; Running a Perfect BBS; Offi cial Netscape Guide to Web Animation; and Windows 98 Troubleshooting and Optimizing Little Black Book.

His books have been translated into 15 different languages so far — his favorites are German, Polish, Dutch, and French. Although he can't read them, he enjoys the pictures a great deal.

Mark welcomes all comments about his books. You can reach him at [email protected], or visit MLC Books Online, his Web site, at www.mlcbooks.com.