What do some of the brightest minds at Apple, Cisco, Microsoft and Oracle have in common? They're probably celebrating Bicycle Day today (covertly or overtly).

Q - Will they be using the Geek Wonder Drug ?
A - My Magic 8-Ball says: "Reply hazy, try again."

On April 19th, 1943 at 16h20, Dr. Albert Hofmann , chemist for Sandoz Pharmaceuticals in Switzerland, deliberately ingested the first dose of LSD. 3 days earlier, he had taken the first inadvertent dose by accidentally inhaling fumes as he worked. Hofmann first synthesized the compound on November 11th, 1938 and years later felt the "peculiar need" to examine it again.

After ingesting 250 µg, (about 10 times a baseline dose) he felt a sense of urgency to return home and described his experience as follows:

"I had to struggle to speak intelligibly. I asked my laboratory assistant, who was informed of the self-experiment, to escort me home. We went by bicycle, no automobile being available because of wartime restrictions on their use. On the way home, my condition began to assume threatening forms. Everything in my field of vision wavered and was distorted as if seen in a curved mirror. I also had the sensation of being unable to move from the spot. Nevertheless, my assistant later told me we had traveled very rapidly."

Dr. Hofmann called for a doctor, who examined him and could find nothing wrong physically other than pupils dilated the size of Argentina.

"Now, little by little I could begin to enjoy the unprecedented colors and plays of shapes that persisted behind my closed eyes. Kaleidoscopic, fantastic images surged in on me, alternating, variegated, opening and then closing themselves in circles and spirals, exploding in colored fountains, rearranging and hybridizing themselves in constant flux. It was particularly remarkable how every acoustic perception, such as the sound of a door handle or a passing automobile, became transformed into optical perceptions. Every sound generated a vividly changing image, with its own consistent form and color ... Exhausted, I then slept, to awake next morning refreshed, with a clear head, though still somewhat tired physically. A sensation of well-being and renewed life flowed through me. Breakfast tasted delicious and gave me extraordinary pleasure. When I later walked out into the garden, in which the sun shone now after a spring rain, everything glistened and sparkled in a fresh light. The world was as if newly created. All my senses vibrated in a condition of highest sensitivity, which then persisted for the entire day. This self-experiment showed that LSD-25 behaved as a psychoactive substance with extraordinary properties and potency. There was to my knowledge no other known substance that evoked such profound psychic effects in such extremely low doses, that caused such dramatic changes in human consciousness and our experience of the inner and outer world."

Hofmann turned 101 years old this January and is still as bright as a button ... er .. dot .. er ... he's just very lucid and productive.

For a detailed account of another scientist's experience with psychotropics, check out Alduous Huxley's 1954 Classic "Doors of Perception" (full version online here ). It gives new meaning to the words: trip, trippy and acid-freak.

If you're looking to experience that: "Whoa! All the surfaces are breathing and Mac's look even shinier" phenomenon, you're more likely to encounter it with a white/black collar professional than with that hippy at Greenmarket sporting worn leather sandals and a faded Kenyan kikoi who's always toting a bag of something that looks like rosemary.

Currently, LSD is classified as a Schedule 9 Prohibited Substance in South Africa, though local and international psychiatric communities are working on legislation to allow it's usage in therapeutic contexts. So don't do the crime if you can't do the time (and don't wanna end up sharing more than your tripped out stories with a cellie named Bubba).

If you're considering a safe and controlled experience with psychotropics (beyond the most commonly consumed ones, like caffeine, alcohol and nicotine), you may want to consider attending the Santo Daime festival at Rustler's this September to "ride the plumed serpent".

Apple's Steve Jobs, mentions taking LSD as "one of the two or three most important things he has done in his life." Whether that contributed to his creativity (remember the line of dalmation spotted and candy coloured macs?) and business acumen, he doesn't say.

And finally, for all the *nix fans:

"There are two major products that come from Berkeley : LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence." -- Jeremy S. Anderson