Joseph Menn, author of Fatal System Error: The Hunt for the New Crime Lords Who Are Bringing Down the Internet, wasn’t keen on revealing where he was born. “It makes it easier for people to steal my identity,” he said, smiling. “I was born in the United States.” Menn began his over-20-year career as a journalist at a small-town paper covering cops, “which is how you used to start out in journalism before there were websites you could glom on to in a nice city,” he said. Below, The Financial Times technology writer tells us more about himself.
Q. What is the last habit you tried to kick?
A. I am a perennially quitting smoker.
Q. Who was your childhood hero?
A. I was a teenager when I decided my twin heroes were Lou Reed and John Reed – Lou Reed for artistic reasons and John Reed for professional and political reasons at the time.
Q. Where would we find you at 10 a.m. on a typical Saturday?
A. In front of my PC, I’m sorry to say, checking email, doing book or newspaper work, and probably playing Scrabble on Facebook.
Q. What do you do to clear your mind?
A. Surfing when I can. Other than that it seems awfully crowded in there most of the time.
Q. What do you wish you had the nerve to do?
A. I’ve been able to do what I’ve wanted to do. I’ve been really lucky. I have a job in mainstream media, which is bizarre, and I get to cover stuff I care about.
Q. What music have you listened to today?
A. L.A. radio used to be a heck of a lot better than it is now. I’m in a rental car and all my favorite stations are gone. I don’t know that I’ve listened to any music today.
Q. What is your favorite word?
A. Wolverine. I was dating a woman, who wasn’t from this country, and for some reason I had cause to explain what a wolverine was and she thought it was a terrific animal. She dared me to try to get the word into my book on the tobacco industry – I tried and failed because I had co-authors. I think I managed to get it into the next book, though it didn’t have any business in there.
Q. If you could take only one more journey, where would you go?
A. Some place with great surfing. I’ve been to the Maldives. That was awfully nice. Bali would be tempting.
Q. What profession would you like to practice in your next life?
A. I like being a writer. But if I could be magically competent in whatever I choose, perhaps a scientist doing concrete good.
Q. Who is the one person living or dead you would most want to meet for dinner?
A. I have a bunch of questions for Jesus.
To read more about Menn’s talk on cyber crime and the future of the Internet, click here.
*Photo by Aaron Salcido.