The Internet is amazing - it completes my world (warning: long, boring)

[Canuckistanian]

I'm an eclectic guy.

I like Frank Zappa, J.S. Bach and P.D.Q. Bach. I can debate the merits of Weegee, Steely Dan, and 1960's television shows.

But, since the Internet, my mind has been a confused jumble of half remembered ideas and vaguely understood people.

Take tonight, for example.

I've always wondered if "Cliff May" (President of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a RW nutbar org) was really the guy I remembered seeing years ago on a PBS special, breaking a ring of German hackers on the early version of the internet. And eccentric guy, not unlike myself. Couldn't be, I thought.

So, with my 21st century knowledge, I Googled (funny how that word has become a verb), the simple 3 words "Cliff hacker Germany".

In about 0.1 second, the answer came back. I was mistaken.

The guy's name was Clifford Stoll, astrophysicist and computer expert. He's also a renowned author ("The Cuckoo's Nest", Silicon Snake Oil", "High Tech Heretic") and maker of Klein Bottles. Here's a link, if you're so inclined:
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~stoll/

And I says to myself, "Self, this Internet thingie is amazing". It not only corrected my faulty, decrepit memory, but also informed me of other factoids, which, although useless, may come in handy in some obscure conversation, making me not only LOOK clever but may also win me games of Trivial Pursuit.

Anyone else have astounding revelations of this sort?