Professor of cybercool

17 July 1999

“‘Do you feel pornography is a driving force for high-tech?` I played along,
‘Of course. The same human thrill-seeking which makes sex and drugs important is
a big factor in seeking out astonishing computer graphics.`” An
industrial-strength programmer is answering Japanese questions on cyberculture.
Not an ordinary programmer, note—this is Rudy Rucker having fun, the
purpose of life. In Seek! he’s picked a brilliant bunch of his columns,
essays and interviews, a travelogue of discovery from cellular automata to his
“transreal” fiction (take someone you know, project them into a wild future, see
what happens). So this is how to be a professor of computing science, write
acclaimed nonfiction (Infinity and the Mind), become a hit with the
cyberpunks (his science fiction series: Software, Realware,
Wetware and Freeware) and have an excellent time. Step one:
move to California. Now where’s that credit card… Published by Four Walls
Eight Windows,£10.60/$16.95, ISBN 1568581386.