We geeks can be pretty jaded about technology. Been there, done that, read it on the Internet, next. But what about the Internet? What kind of crazy theoretician first looked up from his or her triple shot of espresso and said, "Ahhh, a vast global network. Now, what's a network? Better add more sugar."

Mondo2000 is a magazine about thinkers who must use a lot of sugar in their coffee. Want to know where genius comes from (aside from caffeine and sugar)? Insanity, that's where. Here's an art joke for you: how many Dada artists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Answer: Ten. One to smash the lightbulb and nine to put the pieces in the bathtub.

True invention has to come from somewhere. Before there were pieces to adapt, there had to be pieces to start with. And that's where Mondo2000 comes in. Mondo is a magazine about the "new edge" -- an edge so new it hasn't even been cut enough to bleed. Theoreticians, academics, industrial musicians, even fashion designers -- all have found ways to wire their reality and even change their own perception of it through art or machinery. These are the people insane enough to challenge what everyone else called "reality" and build the beginnings of the virtual world -- wetware, cyberpunk, nanotechnology, self-healing viruses, industrial music -- before there was virtual, before there was Wired, there was Mondo.

Mondo2000 always provides a great read -- fascinating, funny, and chock-full of trippy pictures to grace your geeky coffee table. Grab a copy. Open a page at random. Anywhere you look, there's a new idea, or a new thought about an old idea. Make sure you check out Mondo's site, and find out about its upcoming New Edge Road Trip (genius geeks going way out there). Take a look at some back issues if you can -- even old issues bring new ideas. These are visionaries looking far, far forward. Mondo was Geek Chic back when "geek" was a schoolyard fighting term -- and proud of it. Hopefully it'll help you think outside the parameters of the putty-colored box on your desk. Go past dual processors and overclocking. Dip your head into a dense pool of techno-kookiness and maybe a little bit will rub off.

Be creative.

Be weird.