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The Cuckoo's egg is part of 'history of hackers' literature that fascinated me when I got into computer science. At the time I was spending my time with algorit

The Cuckoo's egg is part of 'history of hackers' literature that fascinated me when I got into computer science. At the time I was spending my time with algorithms, so computers were paper theoretical devices on one side, and media devices on the other. There another hidden world with some people that were driven by an enormous thirst for knowledge that could do fantastic things. One thing that humans don't really manage well is understand how much an activity will change you in the process. It's a cliché, if you fight a monster you become a monster, because you're forced to use some methods that will have an impact on your psyche. The book delves in how the chase of this hacker bled into the author's personal life, and how his simplistic worldview was not enough to manage the different conflicts that were at play. Yet the direction into which he was pulled was so opposite to his own inclinations that it forced him to reflect on it in a more conscious manner. This thought process was both interesting, relatable, and illuminating. I don't see that mentioned anywhere but that left a strong impression on me (hopefully I'm not wrong, this was more than 15 years ago...).

CliffStoll 4y ago
Whew! You said it. I hadn’t thought about who I was or anything beyond my techy life in Berkeley. I figured that I was an apolitical Berkeley longhair, attending Dead concerts and biking along verdant streets. It took a directed attack against my systems, my colleagues, and my community, to wake me up.
- revomatrix 4y ago
  whoa ..this is Cliff Stoll. I'm still reading that yellow book The Cuckoo's Egg btw ..totally amazed me ..
sanderjd 4y ago
This is the dynamic that blew my mind and made me love Ender's Game (and a few of its sequels).
- woolion 4y ago
  It's the third time this month I see a mention of this book, and every time it seems interesting. I'll try to read it soon!
  - ddulaney 4y ago
    Ender's Game is quite good, though the sequels get mixed reviews. You should be aware going in that the author really dislikes gay people. This doesn't come up much in Ender's Game, but it does tinge things and is a real theme in his other books.
    - sanderjd 4y ago
      Yep, I definitely don't universally vouch for Card, but I do still have very warm feelings toward Ender's Game, and also find a lot to value in the sequels, despite them being more hit or miss.
    - effingwewt 4y ago
      'Tinge things'? If an author's personal political and morality views change your enjoyment of books you'd only be able to read things from the last decade. As far as I remember homosexuality didn't even really come up in Ender's Game, its prequels mor sequels. I read Songmaster by OSC as a teenager, and that wasn't what I took away from it. There was a gay relationship that was at times hard to read for me as it went into such detail. Being straight it helped me see things' from the other side' so to speak. It wasn't until I was a grown adult and had already read everything OSC had written that I found out he was a conservative Mormon.
      - ddulaney 4y ago
        > If an author's personal political and morality views change your enjoyment of books you'd only be able to read things from the last decade. Not necessarily enjoyment, but they definitely change my perspective on the books. I read them, I sometimes love them, but I read them differently knowing what I do about the author. I don't need or want to agree with every view an author has. But I do want to read their writing in context, including historical context. You should still read Ender's Game, and you can definitely still like it (I know I do!). > homosexuality didn't even really come up in Ender's Game Yeah, that's fair. Lots of adjacent things did though: masculinity, sexuality, and violence in that context (for example, in the shower fight scene). I think his views on homosexuality are reflected in how he addresses those topics, even though it's not the main idea of the book. So yes: tinged. Not ruined, or unreadable, or canceled. But definitely there.
ggerules 4y ago
Yes, "The Cuckoo's Egg", also left a big impression on me, for my 20ish year old self. It was one of the books that lead me to get a Ph.D. and pursue math and computer science. Thanks!
- CliffStoll 4y ago
  You're very welcome! Your work in computing and math will change our world; may it be for the better.
yenda 4y ago
I worked for a year for Pengu, one of the hackers. I never dared to ask about that part of his path. He had a custom arcade game running the game in the office, that was the closest thing to the topic. He really moved on with his life. If you wonder, at the time, the company was doing claims processing for a big insurance company in the US
- justanother 4y ago
  I met up with Hans on X.25 just a couple years after the book came out, when he was at Artcom. I found him to be incredibly nice, and he even ran a small BBS and was helping me get a VAX account to explore VMS a bit. I don't recall why, but we eventually lost touch. This year I noticed him on Github doing some hardware-related stuff though.

CliffStoll 4y ago

Whew! You said it. I hadn’t thought about who I was or anything beyond my techy life in Berkeley. I figured that I was an apolitical Berkeley longhair, attending Dead concerts and biking along verdant streets. It took a directed attack against my systems, my colleagues, and my community, to wake me up.

revomatrix 4y ago
whoa ..this is Cliff Stoll. I'm still reading that yellow book The Cuckoo's Egg btw ..totally amazed me ..

sanderjd 4y ago

This is the dynamic that blew my mind and made me love Ender's Game (and a few of its sequels).

woolion 4y ago
It's the third time this month I see a mention of this book, and every time it seems interesting. I'll try to read it soon!
- ddulaney 4y ago
  Ender's Game is quite good, though the sequels get mixed reviews. You should be aware going in that the author really dislikes gay people. This doesn't come up much in Ender's Game, but it does tinge things and is a real theme in his other books.
  - sanderjd 4y ago
    Yep, I definitely don't universally vouch for Card, but I do still have very warm feelings toward Ender's Game, and also find a lot to value in the sequels, despite them being more hit or miss.
  - effingwewt 4y ago
    'Tinge things'? If an author's personal political and morality views change your enjoyment of books you'd only be able to read things from the last decade. As far as I remember homosexuality didn't even really come up in Ender's Game, its prequels mor sequels. I read Songmaster by OSC as a teenager, and that wasn't what I took away from it. There was a gay relationship that was at times hard to read for me as it went into such detail. Being straight it helped me see things' from the other side' so to speak. It wasn't until I was a grown adult and had already read everything OSC had written that I found out he was a conservative Mormon.
    - ddulaney 4y ago
      > If an author's personal political and morality views change your enjoyment of books you'd only be able to read things from the last decade. Not necessarily enjoyment, but they definitely change my perspective on the books. I read them, I sometimes love them, but I read them differently knowing what I do about the author. I don't need or want to agree with every view an author has. But I do want to read their writing in context, including historical context. You should still read Ender's Game, and you can definitely still like it (I know I do!). > homosexuality didn't even really come up in Ender's Game Yeah, that's fair. Lots of adjacent things did though: masculinity, sexuality, and violence in that context (for example, in the shower fight scene). I think his views on homosexuality are reflected in how he addresses those topics, even though it's not the main idea of the book. So yes: tinged. Not ruined, or unreadable, or canceled. But definitely there.

ggerules 4y ago

Yes, "The Cuckoo's Egg", also left a big impression on me, for my 20ish year old self. It was one of the books that lead me to get a Ph.D. and pursue math and computer science. Thanks!

CliffStoll 4y ago
You're very welcome! Your work in computing and math will change our world; may it be for the better.

yenda 4y ago

I worked for a year for Pengu, one of the hackers. I never dared to ask about that part of his path. He had a custom arcade game running the game in the office, that was the closest thing to the topic. He really moved on with his life. If you wonder, at the time, the company was doing claims processing for a big insurance company in the US

justanother 4y ago
I met up with Hans on X.25 just a couple years after the book came out, when he was at Artcom. I found him to be incredibly nice, and he even ran a small BBS and was helping me get a VAX account to explore VMS a bit. I don't recall why, but we eventually lost touch. This year I noticed him on Github doing some hardware-related stuff though.