The call to learn | Clifford Stoll
The call to learn | Clifford Stoll on HackerTube: recommended by 3 Hacker News commenters across 3 separate months, 2010–2025.
Clifford Stoll's energetic TED talk, a wandering mix of anecdotes, a science experiment and thoughts on curiosity, education and technology. He is the author of The Cuckoo's Egg.
What HN commenters said
5 Hacker News comments link this video. Each one links back to its thread.
ColinWrightJun 2025Recommends
There may be some youngsters who don't know who Cliff Stoll is. He wrote "The Cuckoo's Egg" which is a riveting tale, capable of entertaining nerds and non-nerds alike. He sells glass Klein Bottles, huge, medium, tiny, earrings, and more. He's given a TED talk: ▶ this video He's brilliant, bonkers, and wonderful company. I spent a fantastic morning with him early last year (2024) and it was brilliant fun. I will for many, many years treasure my signed Klein Bottle and my signed copy of "The Cuckoo's Egg". Thanks Cliff
in “Klein Bottle Amazon Brand Hijacking (2021)” · View on HN
hrayrJun 2015Recommends
I love this guy, I first saw him in his TED talk [1]. He kinda reminds me of Richard Feynman (similar mannerisms and enthusiasm for science). [1] ▶ this video
in “The man with 1,000 klein bottles under his house [video]” · View on HN
thaumaturgyNov 2010Recommends
Clifford Stoll has explained this far better than I could [1], but aside from the sheer intrinsic value and altruism of taking time out to be an amazing teacher for some students, it can also serve some really practical benefits: if you want the next generation of adults to have a firm grasp of science and technical issues -- whether they later operate a cash register, enter a career in politics, or build the next Amazon -- then it makes sense for us to find the time to teach these skills to students. If you want open source software to take over the world, teach programming to kids. If you want sensible social policies where science and technology are concerned, then teach science and technology to kids. If you want more rational discourse in the future, then teach logic to kids. Saying, "this is somebody else's job" -- even if you're also saying that it's a valuable job and they should be compensated well for it -- is not just self-serving, it's short-sighted. [1]: ▶ this video
in “The time I hacked my high school” · View on HN
JDiculousDec 2019Cites it
I remember watching his TED talk 11 years ago ▶ this video and buying a couple Klein bottles afterwards. This brings back memories!
in “Cliff Stoll, the mad scientist who invented the art of hunting hackers” · View on HN
yklJun 2015Cites it
Here's a link to the actual TED talk, since mattyohe's link is actually to one of Google's promo videos. ▶ this video
in “The man with 1,000 klein bottles under his house [video]” · View on HN