I bought this person's book too. I didn't know they were still alive. I really enjoyed reading The Cuckoo's Egg—it was such a fun read. They really have a way with words
Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
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Re: Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
#12Re: Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
#13I watch a lot of videos at 1.5x. Older Cliff Stoll videos don't work at 1.5x. Cliff at 1.0x is already like other people at 1.5x. I am so stoked to see Cliff at 1.0x in 2026 is still like other people at 1.5x. I am so glad to see Cliff still out there talking. "The Cuckoo's Egg"[0] was formative for me when I was a kid getting into computers. I am so happy that Cliff is out there making formative experiences for new…
The book is brilliant.
Also worth mentioning is the rather dramatic PBS Nova episode from 1990, The KGB, the Computer, and Me -- starring, of course, Cliff Stoll. It's an entertaining take of the same topic.
I couldn't find a way to pay for a copy of it[], but this one on YouTube is pretty clean compared to the state of many other old NTSC things on our modern interweb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW8YBrH4Q6o
[]: Of course, a person is free to toss PBS a few dollars and/or buy an Acme Klein Bottle. :)
Re: Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
#14Re: Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
#15Such a fun and enthusiastic guy. I’ve one of his klein bottles from like 20 years ago, think he still sells them.
I just bought one a few months ago after putting it off for years. He sent the most charming hand written note and a series of selfies proving that he personally packed it! A true gem.
Re: Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
#16Such a fun and enthusiastic guy. I’ve one of his klein bottles from like 20 years ago, think he still sells them.
I just bought one a few months ago after putting it off for years. He sent the most charming hand written note and a series of selfies proving that he personally packed it! A true gem.
I love that he’s still doing that - he did the same thing back then: selfies, lots of fun little notes on the packaging, stories about taking the package by bicycle to the nearest post office, and even assurances about his neighborhood’s political leanings (overwhelmingly anti-Bush).
Re: Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
#17Cliff Stoll is alive? Good news.
Re: Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
#18Great
Re: Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
#19I saw him live in a presentation he gave in Chicago, early 90s. He and his book are the cause of my switching from a very young PhD in thermodynamics career to going back to school for CS, then working in the latter field until retirement, years back. I also read his Silicon Snake Oil book, as soon as it came out, which he - himself - publicly claimed to have been in error, in parts, sometimes, but about which I now…
> Silicon Snake Oil book, as soon as it came out, which he - himself - publicly claimed to have been in error, in parts, sometimes, but about which I now think - looking at X, TruthSocial, TikTok, etc. - that may, in fact, has been premonitory...
It wasn’t really premonitory. More technophobic. It’s understandable in 1995 to have written it as few could envision what we have today.
Re: Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
#20What a fascinating video. What a treat to hear him talk.
Much of my excitement has been dying off due to the commercialization of the hacker community, the culture war, and the constant legislative losses for privacy and effective ownership of goods you purchase because they've code in them you often cannot legally circumvent the "digital lock" on.
I'm curious what can be done to get it back. It seems the more I care, the more I get jaded due to the constant loss of freedom with tech.