THE Internet revolution has transformed the world of business and commerce. But, as LAURA ELSTON reports, it has also helped change the lives of people across SussexBODY piercing enthusiast Claire Brewer set up her website with the intention of giving people an insight into her hobby - but also to prove she was not a typical employee of the male-dominated, suit-wearing IT world.

Claire, 29 and from Brighton, set up the site more than two years ago, featuring pictures of her own piercings.

Systems administrator Claire, of St George's Terrace, created the page to provide people with an insight into both the subject and her life.

Comments

"Everybody thinks that someone else is interested in their story. I set it up mainly to say why I decided to live this particular lifestyle," she said.

But Claire was also out to prove that she was an individual.

She said: "Computing has its stereotypes and I don't like to live up to them. I also feel that I should be judged on my ability rather than who I am."

The worldwide web played a large part in developing Claire's interest in piercing after she discovered an Internet newsgroup, which works like a message board and allows people to leave comments for others to read, on body art while studying computer science at the University of Hertfordshire.

Since having her navel pierced at the age of 25, Claire has had 16 piercings in four years and actually enjoys the process.

"It's very addictive. I like the whole ritual aspect," she said.

Claire also has a Celtic tattoo between her shoulder blades, which is pictured on the website.

Claire's website has not only given her the chance to show off her body art, but has also helped her to get in touch with people on her wavelength.

Using contacts made through her website and a body art Internet newsgroup located at www.deja.com, Claire met up with a group of 12 piercing enthusiasts for a night out in Manchester last year.

Claire and the group also use the Internet to put their knowledge to good use. Through the body art newsgroup they chat to newcomers from the piercing community, advising them on the best piercing studios to visit and helping with any queries.

Claire explained: "We point people in the right direction. If anyone asks questions, we answer them."

Claire's website address is www.bmeworld.com/clanky

Internet tradesman Kevin Tagliaferro failed to realise when he used the web to transform his business it would let loose an evil force which had been lurking in his garage.

Kevin runs a website from his home in Eastbourne where he operates a business buying and selling number plates.

Terror

His car may just look like a battered purple Ford Capri to the unsuspecting but the Devil Car with its ARK 666Y number plate is being blamed for a reign of terror.

And when he launched his site for ARK 666Y in April last year, at www.beachyhead.freeserve.co.uk, Beachy Head suffered its biggest cliff fall to date, six bombs were washed ashore and the lighthouse stopped working.

For 43-year-old Kevin this was enough to verify the bizarre and spooky events which had plagued him and his friends since the car came into his possession back in 1997 - including being hit by lightning.

He explained how a man first asked him to buy the Capri in 1996 because "his neighbours didn't like it because it was bringing bad luck" but they didn't finalise the £150 deal until early the next year.

He said: "He drove it down from Chatham and there was a huge snowstorm but when I met him he left as quickly as he arrived.

"But then I asked my driver to take it to the garage and he refused, so I drove it to a mechanic and he wouldn't work on it because of the number plate.

"Eventually I got another mechanic to work on it and to this day he swears he heard a woman's voice in it and another friend I have known for 25 years got in the car and swears blind she saw a lady's face in the back of the car and ran off up the road."

He added: "At this point I contacted the high priest of British Witches to explain to me exactly what significance ARK 666Y had. He explained that ARK comes from the bible and 666 comes from the 'beast'."

But from then on things only got worse - Kevin and his friend were struck by lightning and the brakes on the car caught fire without explanation.

And when Kevin moved the Capri to a different lock-up garage, a shed only 20 yards away burnt to the ground - after setting fire to the roof of the block of garages the car was in.

He said: "At first I didn't believe all the superstition and thought it was a bit silly, but so many things have happened now. People do have bad luck when they come into contact with the car."

Backlash

His website now has a whole section devoted to the car and its antics, but just to avoid the backlash affecting his business he plans to separate ARK 666Y in its own site - to protect his clients.

Love is most definitely still on line for a couple who married after meeting on an Internet chat channel.

Jenny and Arthur Rusdell-Wilson, of Fairview Avenue in Goring-by-Sea, are still as smitten as the first time they logged on.

The couple met and fell in love on the Fiftyish Internet chat channel using their nicknames Arfa and Jay in 1996.

After meeting face to face in 1997, the computer couple married in October 1998 and the harmony has continued.

Jenny, 51, revealed: "He says 'I love you' three or four times a day, often more. I thought married bliss was a ten-day wonder, but it's carried on. It's permanent."

"The Internet has totally changed my life."

The couple still keep in contact with friends they made through the channel and claimed they are not the only ones to find a soulmate through Internet surfing.

The Rusdell-Wilsons met Jim MacAlees, from Belfast, and Barbara Toebe, from Iowa in America, on the Fiftyish chat channel as well.

And now Jim, who gave Jenny away at her wedding, and Barbara, who was the Matron of Honour, are to tie the knot in March.

Jenny, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and is cared for by Arthur, revealed that she does not have as much stamina as she used to and uses the Internet much less.

But she has bought herself a laptop as it is difficult for her to get into their office to use their other computers.

Arthur and Jenny both have their own websites, but Jenny said her page was in an "undeveloped state" and Arthur said his was "pathetic".

Despite their criticisms, Jenny revealed: "We are a computer family."

Not only has Arthur attended a ten-week computer course at Northbrook College in Worthing, but the couple also hope to connect up their computers to those belonging to Arthur's sons, Timmy,14, and Gregory, 23.

Jenny said: "We intend to network them together and then we can talk and work together."

Arthur's website address is www.shawvic.

demon.co.uk and Jenny's site can be found at www3.mistral.co.uk/ruzz

l Some of the stories will be featured in

the new series of Meridian's Cyber Cafe.

Presented by Richard Orford and Claire Anderson, it begins on January 24.

For all the latest news from across Sussex, job adverts, holidays and much more, log onto the Argus website. We can be found at www.thisisbrighton.co.uk www.thisismidsussex.co.uk www.thisisworthing.co.uk and www.thisiseastbourne.co.uk

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.