From C to shining sea

WHAT DO YOU call 400 geeks on a cruise through Alaska's Inside Passage? Wasted scenery? The Code Boat? Neil Bauman is expecting 400 code wizards and the people who love them to be afloat for Perl Whirl, scheduled to sail from Vancouver in May 2000.

Perl is one of the languages underpinning vast sections of the Web, powering everything from order forms to serious interactivity. The tour is designed to develop skills in intermediate-to-advanced coding and entry-level mellowing. Geeks aren't usually known for their ability to vacation restfully, which Bauman says makes for domestic hardships. "Certainly for geeks' significant others, vacationing is a moderately frustrating experience," he says. "Geeks tend to bring tech manuals along." While code jockeys spend time programming XML APIs, sweeties can enjoy the scenery and presumably form support groups with other code widow(er)s. In addition, there's always the possibility of geek love: Bauman reports that many registrants are single—and female.

Of course, as geeks adapt to the cruising lifestyle, the cruise line must adapt to geek culture. When confronted with the Holland-America formal-dinner dress code (suits for men, cocktail dresses "for the ladies,"), cruise organizers countered with a proposal for Wizards' Night, decreeing clothing, a festive attitude, and no bare feet. The proposal has since evolved into a full-on Wizards' Night Out, which promises to be rather like the prom with added networking.

The seven-day cruise will include 17.5 hours of classroom time on such topics as JavaScript, CGI, and data-backed Web sites. In addition, several stars of the Perl universe will be on hand, including Larry Wall (who wrote the language), Tim Bray, Jon Orwant (speaking on "Rebuilding Post-Apocalyptic Civilization with Perl"), and fabled techno-nomad Steven Roberts, rumored to be launching a 14,000-mile "Microship" ocean trek from the cruise itself.

But can true geeks survive a whole week of leisure? Bauman hopes to provide a smallish onboard network as well as ship-to-shore phone connections. After all, no matter how relaxed the geek, "It's not a vacation without e-mail access."

For more information on Perl Whirl, check www.geekcruises.com.