also appeared in The Sagebrush, the University of Nevada, Reno student newspaper. Although Barker might not have been the first person to conceive of the ovoid alien face, his version quickly became the best-known. His book was an underground hit, and received praise from Terry Gilliam, Ivan Stang, and Noam Chomsky. He bundled the book along with several trinkets as the Complete Schwa Kit (), and put out another book with trinkets as Complete Counter-Schwa Kit (). Eventually his popularity led to a book deal with Chronicle Books, and in 1997 published Schwa: World Operations Manual () a reference manual for world control that included postcards, stickers, warranties, contracts, and charts. Barker also created and ran a (now defunct) labyrinthine website early in the days of the World Wide Web. He described it as "an experiment in building an online science fiction environment in HTML." Instead of simply showcasing his printed artwork, the website became another medium for Schwa fans to explore. Schwa Pyramid Barker teamed up with AOL to create an online game exclusively for AOL members. He worked with the now-defunct Orbital Studios to create a game about conspiracies, corporations, and aliens. The initial instructions set the tone of the game: Don't follow instructions. Suspect instructions. They are something to be wary of. The player was a stick figure right in the middle of the darkened and conspiratorial world of Schwa. The player worked his way up the pyramid by collecting power through media, corporations, government, and labor, to eventually dominate the world. The game launched on March 9, 1998. A follow-up game called Schwa Conspiracy was announced for later that year, but was never finished. Current status Although a growing hit, Bill Barker disappeared from the public (and underground) eye sometime in late September 2001. His long-running website is dead and the post office box he had used for years now returns his mail unread. In April 2008 a Schwa trademark was re-registered (assigned by Compuwatcher, Inc.) and a small series of websites were launched; this new Schwa business has no affiliation with Bill Barker or his artwork. In March 2012 Barker created a Facebook page under the name alaVoid, which does not seem to be updated anymore. External links The Schwa Corporation's website (archived via archive.org) Images Alone cannot you it resist, Stanford University General reviews SCHWA the Video: Dear ‘Stick People’ – Your Alien Overlords