I am a software engineer by profession and have been programming computers since I was in high school at the age of 13. Following that I have worked in industries ranging from micro-computer sales and software development, industrial electronic automation control and management software, multimedia device application development, computer games development, and most recently in the information security industry. It is here where I have spent the majority of my professional programming career, starting with Foundstone in 2000, which was acquired by McAfee in 2004. McAfee was acquired by Intel in 2011 but remains largely an independent wholly owned subsidiary. Most recently I have been working for CrowdStrike, another infosec company focused on helping businesses deal with targeted attacks.
In June 1994 I moved to Los Angeles, transferring to California after the company I worked for closed up shop in England and offered me a position at their U.S. division.
Since relocating to the U.S.A. I have found it difficult to explain to the locals where I came from. Whenever anyone said to me "you must be from England?" I used to correct them by telling them "no I'm Welsh actually" to which the typical response was either a blank stare or "oh, Wales, England". I now just smile, admit defeat, and state I come from Britain.
Oh, and don't get me started on trying to explain the difference between England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom over here. Believe me, it's a lost cause :-) For a great explanation though, try here.
It was also the time that I had enough hair to enable me to do such a thing :-(