Robert X. Cringley is the most influential gossip columnist in an industry practically ruled by gossip. His Notes from the Field column in InfoWorld, a PC trade publication is read by more than 500,000 computer professionals every week. His face is hidden, better to allow him access to the halls of techno-power.
Cringley is a former Stanford professor and foreign correspondent. He has written other books under other names. He lives in Palo Alto, California.
Update: his real name is Mark C. Stephens and he is a former teaching assistant at Stanford, not a former professor nor even an M.Sc. In fact, the name Robert X. Cringley has served as a nom de plume for a number of journalists before Mr. Stephens.