Comment by vintagedave | Hacker News Reader

Comment by vintagedave | Hacker News Reader

I bought something like eight Klein bottles in one go from him a couple of years ago, as a thankyou gift to various members of my team at work for a new software release. Not sure if he knew this but I had a spreadsheet tracking what kind of bottle (eg a wine-loving teammate got a Wine Klein, a teammate I've gone for beers with got a Klein Stein, etc), plus the countries they had to go to because many of us work remotely! Germany, Estonia, Chile, California...

Dr Stoll was _incredibly_ friendly during the process of buying all of these (I tried to keep it organised but I did ask him to send eight different packages to something like eight different locations!) and I bought his smallest-model Klein bottle for myself at the same time. It and its accompanying propaganda is one of my prized possessions, sitting on a shelf next to a wild boar's tusk, a 1920s brass charting compass, and other Really Cool Things.

If you read this and happen to remember me, Dr Stoll, I'm very grateful -- plus, I have no idea how to top that gift for my team next time we have a new release out. The next one is later this year. How can I do better than that? I genuinely don't know what to get them next :)

If you're interested, this is his website: https://www.kleinbottle.com/ It has far more than just normal Klein bottles. There are Klein hats. Klein earrings. Klein Erlenmeyer flasks...

Oh! I remember, Dave! You had people working all around the globe, from Santa Cruz all the way up to Scotts Valley. (by way of Estonia, Germany, and lord-knows-where-else). A fun way to learn about customs forms!

Gods, HN is so freakin' cool.

Cliff, very unrelated, but your book "The Cuckoo's Egg" was assigned reading during my junior year of HS in my AP Computer Science class. It got me so excited about the material and industry, and here I am nearly 20 years later as a professional software engineer. I really appreciate the impact you had on me!

Thank you, RJB - the effect is bidirectional. The work of so many people, building cool things, continues to have a real impact on my life.

Who'd've thought...

Wow, I had to take this chance to let you know how much your book impacted me as well. What I loved so much about "The Cuckoo's Egg" is that it blends a great story, technical details, and personal growth. I've never read anything else like it.

From all the other comments, it seems many people got as much out of it as I did. I especially liked your description of the Emacs bug that allowed outside access to Berkeley's computers. It brought out my great fascination with finding and fixing security holes. Thank you so much for this!

Cliff, if you read this comment, are there any books that impacted you as much as your book impacted all of us? Since reading The Cuckoo's Egg, I've searched for similar books but have yet to find any that feel just as enjoyable. I'm open to recommendations from everyone else as well. :)

I have to say, "a fun way to learn about customs forms" is the most wholesome way I can think of to respond to something that may have taken you some effort. And I am truly grateful for your assistance in getting those gifts for everyone.

When I read his book, the thing that stood out to me was his intellectual enthusiasm for almost ANYTHING. Like Feynman "training" ants, it was a level of curiosity I didn't even know could exist. I've tried training myself to have the same mindfulness/curiosity but it amazes me that some people are just naturally like this.

Cliff, I truly love your enthusiasm and it’s inspiring.

> If you read this and happen to remember me, Dr Stoll

I know he has an HN ID, and has chimed in, from time to time.

I’ve always enjoyed sharing this planet with him. He’s an oddball, but a wonderful one.

An oddball? Yep - not sure how I wound up this way. I never could follow the outlines when drawing in kindergarten. And the blursed change from /cmp/ to /key/ from Python 2.7 to 3.n really baked that oddballness into me. I've had to add even more vanilla to my chocolate chip cookies.

I know how I wound up one. Long story. Get your hanky.

Cheers, and carry on the Wonderful!

Do you use vanilla bean extract or the imitation stuff?

A fun suggestion for cookies is to add a shot of a good, but cheap bourbon to add extra vanilla taste (via oak wood's vanillin). The alcohol bakes out at a different rate than other liquid ingredients adding extra texture ("fluffiness") and leaves behind an earthy vanilla that most people can't seem to place until you tell them it was bourbon.

A company called Bourbon Barrel Foods also sometimes sells bourbon-barrel aged, lightly smoked sugars which are another fun way to do it (though volume for taste much more expensive than a cheap shot of bourbon).

> It and its accompanying propaganda is one of my prized possessions, sitting on a shelf

I bought a Klein mug and agree wholeheartedly. Both the mug itself, and the propoganda is on the \shelf of cool stuff\.

Memo to self: try to stay on the "shelf of cool stuff".

My bottle likewise sits atop its papers on my shelf of cool stuff. Most of the rest of the stuff is books.

That website design is triggering some deep '90s Web nostalgia for me.

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