1990s 20th-century 90s 90s-culture 90s-nostalgia adventure ai ambition artificial-intelligence aspirations bill-gates blogging canadian-author canadian-literature career career-aspirations career-development career-transitions character-driven code coder-life coding collegesuccess comedy coming-of-age communication competition computer computer-bugs computer-coding computer-culture computer-engineering computer-engineers computer-games computer-industry computer-programmers computer-programming computer-science computer-software computers consumerism contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature corporate corporate-america corporate-culture corporate-driven-society corporate-environment corporate-ladder corporate-life corporate-lifestyle corporate-world coupland coworking creative-writing creativity cult cults cultural-commentary culture data digital-age digital-lifestyle digital-media digital-revolution disillusionment dorky-humor dot-com-boom dot-com-bubble dot-com-era douglas douglas-coupland drama dystopian-fiction east-coast-west-coast-divide eccentric-characters emotional-intelligence employee-culture employee-satisfaction employees engineering english entrepreneurial entrepreneurial-spirit entrepreneurialism entrepreneurship escape escapism existential-crisis existentialism exploration familylife fast-paced father-son-relationships fiction founders friends friendship friendships futurism gaming geek geek-culture geek-humor geek-squad geekdom geeks geeky-humor gen-x general generation-x generational-divide hackathon hacker-culture hackers hacking happiness human-connection human-relationships humor humorous identity identity-crisis individuality information-technology innovation innovation-culture internet internet-boom internet-culture internet-revolution introspection introspective isolation it-industry life-at-a-tech-company life-balance life-in-the-1990s life-in-the-tech-industry lifestyle literary loneliness love love-and-relationships loyalty mental-health microserfs microsoft microsoft-campus microsoft-culture microsoft-employees microsoft-redmond-campus mid-life-crisis millennial millennial-culture millennial-generation millennials modern-age modern-life modern-society modern-workplace multitasking nerd nerd-culture nerd-humor nerds nerdy-humor novel office-culture office-drama office-dynamics office-life office-politics online-communities personal-computers personal-growth personal-identity personal-relationships pop-culture pop-culture-references postmodern-literature postmodernism programmer programmer-humor programmers programming programming-languages psychological-thriller quarterlife-crisis quirky rave-culture realism. reality-vs-virtual-reality relationship relationship-drama relationships robotics romance romantic-relationships san-francisco satire satirical satirical-critique search-for-meaning seattle self-discovery self-discovery. silicon-valley silicon-valley-life social-awkwardness social-change social-commentary social-dynamics social-interaction social-isolation social-media social-networking social-relationships societal-critique societal-pressures software software-developers software-development software-engineering software-engineers software-industry start-up start-up-company start-up-culture start-up-life start-ups startup startup-culture startup-life startups storytelling suburbia success teams teamwork tech-culture tech-industry techie techno-thriller technological-advancements technology technology-addiction technology-driven-society technology-industry technology-innovation unconventional-career vancouver video-games virtual-community virtual-reality vulnerability web-development work-culture work-life work-life-balance workaholic workaholism workplace workplace-challenges workplace-comedy workplace-culture workplace-dynamics workplace-hierarchy workplace-humor workplace-productivity workplace-satire young-adult young-adult-fiction young-adults young-professionals