Slip sliding away

Mark Muslek almost fell off a cliff once but has learnt from the experience

What was your first job, and how did you get into IT?
I joined the civil service - on the application form I stated not with the Inland Revenue and not in London. Guess where I started?

I got into IT by going through the local phone book and calling all the big companies. I got an interview that afternoon as a trainee programmer with the electricity company Norweb.
Planes, trains or automobiles?
All of them. It's my time and space!

What sport should be in the Olympics?
Paper aeroplane gymnastics. It is a true test of intellectual ability, athletic prowess and elegance.

What was your best business trip ever?
A one week ‘convention' in Barbados. Lying in a warm rock pool; watching the sun set over the Atlantic; waves crashing on the reef. Bliss.

What was the best holiday you ever went on?
Disney World, Paris. If the kids are happy...

If you had a week to live, how would you fill it?
I'd visit the seven wonders of the world.

Do you read Channelweb.co.uk on your mobile device?
No. At my age, it's much easier to read in wide screen, so PC only.

If someone shrunk you to the size of a pencil and put you in a blender, how would you get out?
Climb up the banana, hang from my fingertips and drop to the worktop.

Print or online news?
Print because I can start on the back page and ignore the drivel in the middle.

Will the economic recovery continue?
Very slowly, and probably with some hiccups along the way. The recovery is predicated on confidence and with all the cuts and redundancies it is in short supply!

Your closest near-death experience?
Traversing a rock face while potholing in Yorkshire. I slipped and almost went over the edge - 120 feet straight down. I always tied on after that!

Is IT well taught in schools?
No. As the saying goes: those who can, do...

Mark Muslek is managing director of JLT Mobile Computers