Ellen Ullmanis the author of a novel,The Bug, aNew York TimesNotable Book and runner-up for the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the cult classic memoirClose to the Machine, based on her years as a rare female computer programmer in the early years of the personal computer era. She lives in San Francisco.
Jaron Lanier is a scientist and musician best known for his work in Virtual Reality research, a term he coined and popularized. Time named him one of the "Time 100" in 2010. He lives in Berkeley, California.