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...
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.)
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 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
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" :-)
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. :)
Thank you!
She just installed linux on the laptop for university study and got to hear about what people used before "more" and "less" :-)