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Raised in the Chicago area, Ed Krol went to the University of Illinois, got a degree in computer science, and never left. In 1985 Krol became part of a networking group at the University of Illinois where he became the network manager at the time the National Center for Supercomputer Applications was formed. It was there that he managed the installation of the original NSFnet. During the same period, he also wrote the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet" because he had so much trouble getting information and was sick of telling the same story to everyone. In 1989 Krol opted to leave the fast lane and returned to pastoral life on campus, where he remains to this day assistant director for Network Information Services, Computing and Communications Service Office, University of Illinois, Urbana. He also writes a monthly column for Network World. He has a wife and daughter (who is in the Hacker's Dictionary as the toddler responsible for "Mollyguards"). In his spare time Krol is a pilot and plays hockey.