Mondo 2000

Sporadically published magazine (was High Frontiers, Reality Hackers, etc.) centered around cognitive research involving mind-altering drugs, computers, and techno music. Did I mention it had snappy visuals and at least one nude woman per issue?

Less corporate than Wired but more self-consciously "hip" than bOING bOING. Ideal reader seemed to be a college-educated raver with a smart drink in one hand, a laser pointer in the other, body covered with piercings and tattoos, who intends to have his head cryogenically preserved after his death. Its writers tended to throw phrases like "techno-erotic paganism" around a great deal.

I picked up a copy of the Mondo 2000 compilation not too long ago at a local New Age bookshop. It's interesting as a reference for those interested in the early 90s, and for the predictions made therein (especially the ravings on virtual reality and cyberpunk science fiction). Most notable about the book is its unusual formatting; each entry (usually a quote by some cultural commentator of the day) has next to it a right-aligned complementary entry explaining a little about the author and their work.

It's interesting that, in the days before applied hypertext (or at least the popularisation of it as a medium), people were still working on ways of linking relevant information together, even in a primitive paper-based way.

But despite what the cover says, there's nothing in it about techno-erotic paganism. Faugh!