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EvanAnderson 3 days ago [-]
I 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 hackers today.
Great talk, Cliff. (The "adjusted for inflation" quip about the budget made my day, too.)
Thanx, Evan - from my nonNewtonian frame of reference, life is happening at 1x, but time dilation is difficult to measure. I’ll try living at 0.5x someday. -Cliff
ssl-3 10 hours ago [-]
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. :)
JKCalhoun 7 hours ago [-]
Already got my Klein bottle last year!
(I recommend everyone do it—the personal notes from Cliff are priceless.)
taneq 6 hours ago [-]
I bought one for my sister a few years ago. Can confirm, the email chain alone is worth it. :D
tonyedgecombe 4 hours ago [-]
There was a British program as well. Sadly my copy got mangled by our VCR and I haven’t found it anywhere online.
ssl-3 1 hours ago [-]
Do you know what was it called, and when/where it aired?
It is possible that some here have different methods for finding things.
tonyedgecombe 47 minutes ago [-]
I think it was called Spycatcher. It was on a commercial channel, possibly Yorkshire TV.
The only paperback book I've ever sat down and read in one sitting. Started on a lazy Sunday morning and literally couldn't put it down. Highly recommended if you've not read it.
mvdwoord 6 hours ago [-]
Thanks! Just ordered the book. Cliff Stoll is a treasure, I knew vaguely about this story, but not about the book. Looking forward to it.
alsetmusic 2 hours ago [-]
A coworker suggested that I read The Cuckoo's Egg and I sorta shrugged it off. When I got around to reading it, I was pretty happy that it exists. It's a real time-portal to a pre-security internet. You can skip all the descriptions about how tech works, which are included for normies. Imagine not using passwords or just using 'password' or all the other stuff that we did when we were young and stupid. Then imagine government agencies doing the same. What? Yep. That's what the book is about.
Sorrel47 4 hours ago [-]
The Cuckoo's Egg is still one of the best security books ever written. Glad he's still around.
allknowingfrog 3 hours ago [-]
If The Cuckoo's Egg is one of the best ones, I can skip the rest. It's a fun story, but not particularly well-told in my opinion. Cliff Stoll is a cool guy who does cool things. I guess I just don't appreciate him as an author.
rockskon 9 hours ago [-]
What 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.
netfortius 10 hours ago [-]
I 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 think - looking at X, TruthSocial, TikTok, etc. - that may, in fact, has been premonitory...
firesteelrain 9 hours ago [-]
> 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.
IAmBroom 4 hours ago [-]
Look up the definition of "premonitory". It definitely is.
wglb 3 hours ago [-]
I saw him speak at the Dayton Hamvention two times. Absolute fun and like no other.
When I was CSO at Relativity, I conducted security awareness training for all, and gave each one a copy of Cuckoo’s Egg.
CliffStoll 1 hours ago [-]
There's nothing like speaking to the choir. When you have the same common denominator, it makes storytelling easy.
The Defcon ham radio village was packed -- I picked up a lot of info on meshtastic. Last night set up a node in my attic.
21asdffdsa12 5 hours ago [-]
I would not take the advice of somebody, if that persons basement is not full of klein-bottles. Everything else is just surface level ..
CliffStoll 1 hours ago [-]
My kids don't take the advice of anyone who has Kleinbottles in their crawlspace, fdsa. And I doubt if removing those glass manifolds would have much effect. -C
Waterluvian 4 hours ago [-]
I checked my basement Klein bottle stock and it looks like I’ve got zero volume. How much can I put you down for? (we sell by the litre)
The PBS Nova episode about Stoll was the literal starting point of my discovery of the internet.
Because of the show, my next year in university I signed up for an elective CompSci course (I was an English Literature major) about threat assessment. Part of our course involved browsing the RISKS Forum newsgroup on the Sparc Stations at the University of Toronto Engineering Annex.
That episode was also the beginning of my fascination with telecom equipment, which I got the chance to use professionally for about a year in 1998-1999. There's a telephone museum about an hour from where I live that still has a working mechanical switch that you can dial on and see it working.
jodysalt 1 hours ago [-]
A thoroughly enjoyable watch - he's a natural disrupter. It is a reminder to focus on principles rather than any latest fashion. It is quite refreshing in the current AI torrent.
xyzelement 6 hours ago [-]
It's been a few years - and I guess decades - since I read Cliff's book. One thing I recall is his journey from a Berkeley hippie to a man dealing with the military and men in suits and realizing that they are also good and necessary people. And also becoming a family man if I remember correctly.
It's a really important part of the story in my mind of Cliff growing up - sort of - as part of the experience.
giov4 4 hours ago [-]
sorry guys just noticed but shouldn't the "Baby klein bottle" be called "Klein klein bottle"?
www.kleinbottle.com
is this an overlooked DE pun by Cliff? is that even possible?
Peacefulz 8 hours ago [-]
One of my favorite books is "The Cuckoo's Egg". I read it at least yearly. Cliff Stoll has had an incredible impact on my interests. I'm happy to see him doing talks.
CliffStoll 2 hours ago [-]
And my thanks to you, Peaceful Lulz. I had fun writing that book, and occasionally do a talks. Couldn’t resist a 40th anniversary spoutathon at defcon! -Cliff
empthought 2 hours ago [-]
I read your book when I was ten years old! I was later stoked to find our computer system at school was a Unix machine, so I could try some of the commands you explained in the story, like ps and sendmail.
Quite welcome, Red Beard. I had fun doing that spoutathon. Meeting old friends at DefCon. Way fun.
JKCalhoun 6 hours ago [-]
God damn, this world needs more Cliff Stolls.
soltanov 4 hours ago [-]
@CliffStoll did you talk with Markus Hess. i think he is active on thewilyhacker.de?
Moru 11 hours ago [-]
Yes, thank you! Our whole family of nerds enjoyed it and I had to explain quite a few things to daughter but not the over head projector at least, she did bump into that tech in school for some art project.
She just installed linux on the laptop for university study and got to hear about what people used before "more" and "less" :-)
CliffStoll 2 hours ago [-]
Smiles to you and your family, Moru — you’re now passing along the good word to the next generation. Heart be still…
flaschenoeffner 10 hours ago [-]
What a great talk. I read The Cuckoo's Egg in Spring '90. Changed my life. Thanks.
Quai 10 hours ago [-]
You are on my short-list of people I look up to.
Thank you!
CliffStoll 2 hours ago [-]
Does “short” modify “list” or “people” ?
chris_wot 7 hours ago [-]
You are a wonderful, wonderful person. Your book is one of my favourite books I've read, ever. Thank you so much for writing it!
CliffStoll 1 hours ago [-]
Your kindness reflects back to you, Chris: I thank you for brightening my morning. Now, if only I had a biscotti…. -Cliff
giov4 6 hours ago [-]
Thank you Cliff!
I had shivers most of the time during the talk, it was touching me from the inside and flipping me back like a latex glove. And while I knew your story I confess I listened to you for the first time.
It was the most amazing cyber space trip ever, feeling those copper lines and understanding you could interface with their content.
You simply represent what a hacker is, I'm getting older and loosing motivation and creativity, but after hearing you I swear I will never give that up and I promise I will keep the hardcore digging for those cents.
You are our father.
CliffStoll 57 minutes ago [-]
And my warm thanks to you, Giov. As you realize, in that talk I probably covered 5 percent of what actually happened. But that's storytelling.
Like you, as I've grown older, I cherish those times when my old-school skills are still useful - whether in computing, physics, or electronics. And there's so many new goodies that I'm never bored.
Anyways - how often do you get a chance to show a slide rule to a thousand people?
Cheers, -Cliff
chukar 5 hours ago [-]
Stoll is a treasure. His enthusiasm for science and teaching never gets old.
lee_ward 5 hours ago [-]
Stoll is still the best storyteller in security. 40 years and this holds up perfectly.
malthaus 8 hours ago [-]
the story really comes full circle for me now. i've read the book in the 90s and recently listened to hess's POV via a ccc talk (https://youtu.be/USDNMWZsR5o auto subbed/dubbed video here)
great nostalgia for when the internet was still amazing
Nina_antalpha 8 hours ago [-]
A friend put me onto The Cuckoo's Egg, and that's where I first met Cliff. And honestly, half the protagonists in hacker fiction can't hold a candle to him.
pi-rat 11 hours ago [-]
Such a fun and enthusiastic guy. I’ve one of his klein bottles from like 20 years ago, think he still sells them.
vanderZwan 11 hours ago [-]
You know, it just occured to me that technically we're all inside all of his Klein bottles. Or all Klein bottles, really.
snowchaser 10 hours ago [-]
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.
CliffStoll 2 hours ago [-]
Those photos are for me as well, Chaser of Snow. Whenever I make a missteake, the pictures show what I did rongg.
And I celebrate every Klein Bottle order by walking around my backyard garden … puts me in the right mood.
Cheers, Cliff
pi-rat 9 hours ago [-]
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).
CliffStoll 2 hours ago [-]
Same politics today, Rat of Pi. Bay Area bubble. Cheers, -C
bebimbop 8 hours ago [-]
I got one from him a couple of years ago. He even sent me photos while packing and shipping, and a handwritten note along with the bottle. An absolute stand-up guy.
avmich 2 days ago [-]
Fantastic book, great story, awesome memories. Thank you, Cliff.
CliffStoll 2 hours ago [-]
My smiles back to you, Mich. From a long time ago, when the world was young, and continents hadn’t drifted apart.
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
peterbmarks 11 hours ago [-]
Did he really break the screen on someone's phone during the talk? He seems dangerous to be around.
CliffStoll 2 hours ago [-]
One of the goons put a phone showing a timer on stage, hoping it might help keep me on time. Alas its screensaver kicked in, and I figured that the dead screen was my fault.
Note to myself: Next talk, bring analog clock. Old darkroom timer.
Cheers, Cliff
giov4 5 hours ago [-]
why does it seems dangerous to you?
I actually immensely appreciated the way he is totally human, didn't even had to go beyond the stage behaviour because I believe that's the marvellous part!
It's a whole thing, the whole experience, the whole Him being himself, beauty and art mixed together in real cyberspace.
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 hackers today.
Great talk, Cliff. (The "adjusted for inflation" quip about the budget made my day, too.)
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo%27s_Egg_(book)
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. :)
(I recommend everyone do it—the personal notes from Cliff are priceless.)
It is possible that some here have different methods for finding things.
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.
It wasn’t really premonitory. More technophobic. It’s understandable in 1995 to have written it as few could envision what we have today.
When I was CSO at Relativity, I conducted security awareness training for all, and gave each one a copy of Cuckoo’s Egg.
The Defcon ham radio village was packed -- I picked up a lot of info on meshtastic. Last night set up a node in my attic.
Because of the show, my next year in university I signed up for an elective CompSci course (I was an English Literature major) about threat assessment. Part of our course involved browsing the RISKS Forum newsgroup on the Sparc Stations at the University of Toronto Engineering Annex.
That episode was also the beginning of my fascination with telecom equipment, which I got the chance to use professionally for about a year in 1998-1999. There's a telephone museum about an hour from where I live that still has a working mechanical switch that you can dial on and see it working.
It's a really important part of the story in my mind of Cliff growing up - sort of - as part of the experience.
www.kleinbottle.com
is this an overlooked DE pun by Cliff? is that even possible?
She just installed linux on the laptop for university study and got to hear about what people used before "more" and "less" :-)
Thank you!
I had shivers most of the time during the talk, it was touching me from the inside and flipping me back like a latex glove. And while I knew your story I confess I listened to you for the first time.
It was the most amazing cyber space trip ever, feeling those copper lines and understanding you could interface with their content.
You simply represent what a hacker is, I'm getting older and loosing motivation and creativity, but after hearing you I swear I will never give that up and I promise I will keep the hardcore digging for those cents.
You are our father.
Like you, as I've grown older, I cherish those times when my old-school skills are still useful - whether in computing, physics, or electronics. And there's so many new goodies that I'm never bored.
Anyways - how often do you get a chance to show a slide rule to a thousand people? Cheers, -Cliff
great nostalgia for when the internet was still amazing
And I celebrate every Klein Bottle order by walking around my backyard garden … puts me in the right mood.
Cheers, Cliff
"Rumors of my death are slightly exaggerated | 1676 points by CliffStoll 3 months ago | 260 comments"
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=CliffStoll
Note to myself: Next talk, bring analog clock. Old darkroom timer.
Cheers, Cliff
I actually immensely appreciated the way he is totally human, didn't even had to go beyond the stage behaviour because I believe that's the marvellous part!
It's a whole thing, the whole experience, the whole Him being himself, beauty and art mixed together in real cyberspace.