CliffStoll
Re:How Voting Is Like a Klein Bottle
on Tuesday October 27, 2026 @12:40PM (#50261828)
I vote. I make Klein bottles. Nu?
Re:The ovary doesn't retire after menopause
on Monday October 19, 2026 @09:47PM (#50160383)
"the aging ovary is a potential third hit for ovarian cancer, with the first hit being genetic and the second hit being environmental..." This is important work crossing generations. Further, it shows that medical research (once centered on younger patients) is reaching older cohorts.
Re:Electrostatic Cathode Ray Tube Project 1 (2014)
on Wednesday September 09, 2026 @08:43PM (#49636731)
too bad the SparkFun O-Clock, AVR Oscilloscope clock kit is no longer available. Any ideas on where to get it?
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Thursday August 27, 2026 @12:09PM (#49467136)
73's de K7TA
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Thursday August 27, 2026 @12:07PM (#49467097)
Yep, it was Yorkshire Television that did the filming. It was a half hour, as I recall. I'll search my attic to see if I have it on videotape...
Cheers, -Cliff
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @01:40PM (#49452965)
Yes, Xyz, you got it right. I started out as an apolitical Berkeley techie (not exactly a hippie) and came to realize that the government and, yes, the military were necessary and important to preserve the community that I was living in. It's easy to scribble "Stop the CIA" on Berkeley stop-signs; but who's going to inform our government about what's happening in the world? I did a lot of growing-up during that chase.
As Bob Segar said, I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then.
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @01:32PM (#49452854)
I felt like Cassandra. Still do.
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @01:30PM (#49452821)
It wasn't quite a time of innocence, more like a time of trust-through-ignorance. The entire network was built on people who relied on each other for connectivity, software, and support. I once got slapped down for suggesting that we put passwords on an astronomy computer: "What have we got to hide?". (Turned out that someone had set up a bulletin board server on that system, without anyone's knowledge.) Cheers, -Cliff
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @01:27PM (#49452774)
Joel, it's a secret glue that we smeared on the binding. It also helps prevent the Oxford commas from falling off the pages. -C
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @01:25PM (#49452746)
Usenet? Now you're making me feel old.
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @01:23PM (#49452736)
I remember making that video - we went up to Calistoga and spent time in a mud-bath. If you find the video, I'd enjoy seeing it! Thanx, -Cliff
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @11:52AM (#49451267)
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
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @11:46AM (#49451168)
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.
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @11:41AM (#49451089)
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
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @11:21AM (#49450754)
Your kindness reflects back to you, Chris: I thank you for brightening my morning. Now, if only I had a biscotti…. -Cliff
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @11:18AM (#49450689)
Does “short” modify “list” or “people” ?
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @11:16AM (#49450661)
Smiles to you and your family, Moru — you’re now passing along the good word to the next generation. Heart be still…
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @11:12AM (#49450577)
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
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @11:05AM (#49450478)
My smiles back to you, Mich. From a long time ago, when the world was young, and continents hadn’t drifted apart.
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @11:02AM (#49450414)
Occasionally.
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @11:00AM (#49450387)
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
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @10:55AM (#49450274)
Same politics today, Rat of Pi. Bay Area bubble. Cheers, -C
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @10:52AM (#49450230)
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
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Wednesday August 26, 2026 @10:47AM (#49450157)
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
Re:Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later – Cliff Stoll [video]
on Saturday August 22, 2026 @11:00PM (#49405781)
Quite welcome, Red Beard. I had fun doing that spoutathon. Meeting old friends at DefCon. Way fun.
Re:Rumors of my death are slightly exaggerated
on Friday May 08, 2026 @05:50PM (#48069211)
Aah - thank you. Maybe I'll check it out. When I have free time. Uh right...
Cheers, -Cliff
Re:Rumors of my death are slightly exaggerated
on Friday May 08, 2026 @03:56PM (#48067920)
Once upon a time, MoneGator, things posted to the internet were assumed to be true unless proven otherwise. Oh, how things have inverted!
Re:Rumors of my death are slightly exaggerated
on Friday May 08, 2026 @03:55PM (#48067903)
Thank you Miraclemaker. By luck and coincidence, I've had a lot of fun fooling with the early networks, astronomy, radio, teaching, and topology.
Now, as I hear that distant bell tolling, it's time to pass the torch: it's your turn to take over and make this world a better place. You can't do much worse than my generation...
Warm wishes, -Cliff
Re:Rumors of my death are slightly exaggerated
on Friday May 08, 2026 @03:40PM (#48067727)
Yikes - Yep, I remember your visit -- what a hoot to see that photo.
And yep, I'm working on a new quilt: it'll be a recursive design.
Re:Rumors of my death are slightly exaggerated
on Friday May 08, 2026 @03:38PM (#48067714)
Thanks! I've submitted a paper to Black Hat / DefCon; I don't know if it'll be accepted. If so, I'll have fun doing a talk there.
I'm volunteering around the Bay Area (up at the Steam Trains at Tilden Park on Sunday afternoons), show up to the intro-classes at Berkeley Folk Dancing, and speak to schools and professional groups.
And, of course, I'm still operating this Klein bottle business. I have only one employee (who is a lazy, good for nothing sloth). Management is very thin and incompetent: there's only one boss (who is an oppressive taskmaster always trying to get me to do more work than I want to).