I hate to break the news but "Cliff" really isn't "Cliff". "Cliff" really IS a program. It was written by the late Lars Christiaan van der Westhuizen (born 1948, Enspijk, Gelderland, Netherlands). Rumor has it that Mr. van der Westhuizen got bored herding sheep one day and decided to take apart his friends computer. What he found was facinating and that led him to research everything he could about computers. In 1993, he began writing code and by 1995 had written code for his first website (
De schaapherders almanak or The Sheep Herders Almanac). In 1998, the first Pontiac Fiero was brought to the Amsterdam Autorama and Custom Car show. Mr. van der Westhuizen saw this beauty and was smitten with its curvy lines and overwhelmed by it's high horsepower engine (he was a sheep herder, after all....it seemed like a lot of power to him at the time). He bought the car on the spot (allegedly working a deal for 12 sheep or 7350 Euro (~$8,000USD)). Also in 1998, Mr. van der Westhuizen married a former nun, Silke Bakke. Ms. Bakke had left her convent to pursue her love of cars while serving in France. In 1999, Mr. van der Westhuizen wrote the code for "CLIFF" (auto's wonen in frankrijk voor altijd or Cars Live In France Forever [a tribute to his wifes love of France]). Unfortunately, Mr. van der Westhuizen was killed in a freak storm as he was trying to be the first man to surf from his native Netherlands to his new home in France. He is survived by his wife, Silke and daughter, Cinnibar.
The rest is history!
[This message has been edited by Monkeyman (edited 04-04-2015).]