The current Mayan Countdown has us at 349 days left until the end of the world, so we here at 8bitrocket.com have decided to spend some time looking for stories that we think show that something weird is going on this year.

The next Sign Of Doomsday: Bob Cringley Quits Writing About Technology

Like a human planet Nibiru, Bob Cringley has been making silent comebacks for the past 25 years.   His real name is Mark Stephens, but he has been using the “Cringley” name ever since 1987 when he began authoring a column on technology rumors in Infoworld Magazine (ah, magazines, remember those?).

He left Infoworld in 1995, and wrote Accidental Empires, still one of the best books ever written about the computer revolution in the Silicon Valley.   He was also partly responsible for the documentary Triumph Of The Nerds (watch it on youtbe.com)  based on his writings.  He started a blog sometime around 1998, and that is when I began reading his work, weekly.   He has been updating it ever since (although he has moved it around a couple times unexpectedly and I’ve had the search for it).   For the past 14 years I have enjoyed his work and marveled at accuracy of his predictions for the industry.

Cringely has always been kind of an enigma.  He personally knows nearly everyone who ever had anything to do with the computer revolution (he recently promoted a personal interview he did with Steve Jobs),  has a huge web  following, yet he himself goes by a fake name, and according to Wikipedia, once lied about his education credentials.   In a way, Mark Stephens (Cringley)  is a reflection of the industry he chose to dive into and be a part of for the past 25 years.   He is like flash swirled with substance, sprinkled with magic dust. He has been a constant voice, supporter, sounding board, and town crier for the technology sector, while at the same time operating his very own (albeit tiny) reality distortion field that he very well may have learned to operate from Steve Jobs himself.  That is, until now.

Yesterday Cringley announced that he is quitting his weekly column.    His reason was interesting:

“That’s 1300 consecutive weeks without a break. Honest to God, I haven’t missed a week since 1987…I’m not saying exactly when the end will come, just that it will be this year sometime after September…I’d like to make some changes in my life, like build a boat with my kids and maybe walk the Earth.”

Spending time with his kids is a legit reason.  I feel the same all the time. I wonder though, did the death of Steve Jobs last year affect Cringley enough to give him this idea?  Maybe, or maybe it’s because Doomsday is approaching…

Is the Quickening, er Doomsday er Armageddon coming this year?   Is it just the Winter Solstice?* Is this another sign of the end times?  Did Ancient Aliens dictate the end of the world to people on Yucatan Peninsula 100’s of years ago or did some old Mayan guy just run out of space when trying  to mark upcoming birthdays on his stone calendar? Only 349 more days until we get the answer. What else will happen in the coming months?

Tune in to find out.

*Yes.