Neo's file - In "The Matrix," during his interrogation scene, Neo's file reads as follows:
Last Update: July 22, 1998
Date of Birth: March 11, 1962
Place of Birth: Lower Downtown, Capital City
Mother's Maiden Name: Michelle McGahey (Michelle was an art director for the film)
Father's Name: John Anderson
Education: "Central West Junior High" and "Owen Patterson High"
(Owen was the production designer for the film)
Neo's middle name ~ Since "Thomas" (Greek origin, meaning "a twin") and "Anderson"
(Greek origin, meaning "son of Andrew, son of man") are both of Greek origin,
I chose the middle name "Alexander" (Greek origin, meaning "protector of men")
because it was the best "A" name of Greek origin.
Tons of internet research - Commodore 64, 1984 Toyota Celica, Visual Basic, history of hacking, hacking phases, tech noir, song lyrics.
Matrix film references - Chicago street names, companies such as Mulpha and MetaCortex, Neo's car scene to the Oracle. Mulpha is one of the companies seen in the cityscape during Agent Smith's interrogation of Morpheus.
William "Willie" Preston - Taken from "Bill Preston," the Bill character from the film "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" (1989).
"$3.11 is your change" - Taken from his date of birth 3/11, and the plaque on the Nebuchadnezzar which reads "Mark III no.11". In the Bible, Mark 3:11 reads as follows: "And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out saying 'You are the Son of God!' " Eventually, it will in fact be his change.
Sprite - Sprite as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary says: "Etymology: Middle English sprit, from Middle French esprit, from Latin spiritus spirit; 1a archaic : SOUL b : a disembodied spirit : GHOST"
Phil's Noodle House - Taken from the name Phil Oosterhouse, Associate Producer of the Matrix Trilogy, and writer of The Matrix Shooting Script "Scene Notes."
PrizNet - Word play on "prison net" which refers to the Matrix. The acronym "PNP" is the same acronym for plug-and-play computer hardware.
1984 Toyota Celica - An actual car. "1984" is taken from the movie of the same name. "Toyota Celica" was chosen by good fortune; I realized that "Toy" and "Cel" could refer to a "toy cell" or battery. In his car, he feels as trapped as a human body in a power plant.
Levi Stevens - Taken from the name Steven Levy, author of "Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution" (1984).
101 N Dearborn St - An actual address at North Dearborn and West Washington Street, Chicago, several blocks from Wells and Lake (mentioned in the first film), and Wabash and Lake (also mentioned in the first film).
Katie DeVille - "Katie" is taken from Angelina Jolie's character "Kate Libby" from the film "Hackers" (1995). "DeVille" is a word play on "devil." Also symbolized by her red plastic horns.
Levi's screen savers - Lines taken from "The Hacker Manifesto" by The Mentor, written January 8, 1986.
Knights Technoir - Name based on the similar-sounding Knights Templar where "Tech Noir" means "black technology," a body of film which revolves around the concept of "technofear." Literally an expression of underlying societal technophobia. The actual Knights Templar were knights of a religious military order established in the early 12th century in Jerusalem for the protection of pilgrims and the Holy Sepulcher.
"The Left Hand of Darkness" - Name taken from the title of the 1969 classic science-fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin.