We were able to interview our most famous writer via Email. Here is what he had to say, we hope you enjoy our interview as much as we did!

AETHYX MEDIAE: When did you start writing?

c1ph4: In school.

AETHYX MEDIAE: Well. When did you start writing online?

c1ph4: 1st of November 2001. The date when my cipha.net went online.

AETHYX MEDIAE: What were your inspirations?

c1ph4: I’m born in the 80s and a kid of the 90s. So, when I started writing online, the C64 was 19 years old, like myself. The GameBoy was 12 and the PlayStation 7. These machines influenced me heavily. To this date, I never experienced something similar. Maybe Android, but practically it’s built on Linux. Yeah, Linux too.

AETHYX MEDIAE: Why did you start writing online?

c1ph4: Heavy. Firstly, because I could. I’m into this web shit since 2000. And what I was looking for was a project I could do for myself. For my mind, for my future, for my interests. What I was doing before was just web design, on a very low level. What I could do with Greymatter at the end of 2001 was to expand my mind, my thoughts, my views. It was, practically, never easier. And never more technologically advanced. I loved that back then.

AETHYX MEDIAE: How long did it take for cipha.net until it was launched?

c1ph4: Two weeks. From concept to launch. I made scribbles about the topics, about the meta tags back then. I made sketches about the design. I think, regarding my very young age, it was very ambitious. Maybe more ambitious than healthy. I mean, this was my first solo project. It had to be independent, it had to be strong, it had to blew minds.

AETHYX MEDIAE: Was the site a success?

c1ph4: No. There were about 14 visitors per day from the start and I didn’t know if these were real humans or just robots. It blew my mind. Of course, this was my intention, my fault. Whatever. The project grew with the entries. I didn’t care about anything. I just wanted to do stuff online.

AETHYX MEDIAE: You suddenly stopped in 2010. Why?

c1ph4: You know, there was nothing left in the first place what needed to be done. I did e v e r y t h i n g. I did reviews, rhymes, wrote about political and technological situations. I was saturated. I felt that I had to stop. I hurt people back then, I was fucked. This was it, I thought. I went over the top, I didn’t care, nobody did care, so what? Let’s fuck cipha.net! Finito.

AETHYX MEDIAE: Did you regret it?

c1ph4: No, not a second. For the cyberpunks out there, I summarized my texts into ebooks. They may buy it or not, I did my job. It’s there for everyone to read. Read it, expand your mind, let it be, I don’t care. It’s your life. Waste it or do something useful.

AETHYX MEDIAE: What are you doing now?

c1ph4: I’m working. 24/7. I’m a computer scientist for profession. I pay my rent with it. But there are more things I would like to do. I can’t. I came from the gutter, this will never change, no matter how hard I try. Still, it’s better to be dead, I guess.

AETHYX MEDIAE: Will you be part of the web in the future?

c1ph4: I am absolutely not d’accord with several developments there. Twitter, Facebook, Apple; you name it. This is just disgusting, I don’t want to be a part of that. I mean, they are thinking it’s a good thing to make everything smaller and more stupid in converting whole words or definitions into “hashtags”. It isn’t, I hate it, it’s disgusting. People are disgusting, humanity is disgusting. No matter how hard you try, you will be disgusted. And become a part of the disgusting machinery yourself. What kind of future is that? Ask Robert Cailliau and Tim what they thought the web could be. What we see now is bullshit. Everyone says humanity is “more intelligent” now than ever. I see the complete opposite. I hate it.

AETHYX MEDIAE: Any plans?

c1ph4: Not marrying, no kids. I want money, like your god. Give me the money, let me be your god! No, just kidding. A bit. I will abandon Tumblr by the end of the year. I will code more, write less. I want Snowden to be free and Dotcom shot dead. I will even pay Bitcoins for the latter. Yeah, and I want to travel the world. I’m not happy here in Europe. If you think you can establish a new currency _before_ giving me a fucking European passport, go fuck yourself.

AETHYX MEDIAE: Thank you very much for this honest interview!

c1ph4: You’re welcome.