Clifford Stoll: 18 Minutes with an Agile Mind

i have a friend who is just like that its very odd i never knew there were other people like that

I can understand being annoyed by or impatient with Clifford Stoll. Having followed him since The Cuckoo's Egg came out, he's pretty much always been this way. I recall an interview on The Today Show perhaps, where he sat cross-legged in the chair (still hopping up and down) and played with a yo-yo the whole time.

While he may take a while to get to a point, it's like reading a fractured narrative to me. There are lots of little points that seemingly do not add up or go anywhere, but if you can make the connections you can draw quite a bit from it, much as in this "lecture" where the shards are connected by the inscription on the bell.

That was amazing! Just as powerful as "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. I wish I had teachers like that when I went through school. His mind is definately racing with thoughts and deciding what to say next.

Regardless of his style he's cool and if anyone is interested Klein mugs, jars, etc can be purchased online kleinbottle . com without the spaces. I found these a couple years ago and it's cool to see the person behind some of them.

Great fun to watch, and if it's a style of learning that suits you, great. Trouble is, not everone learns well from that style - that's not to say there's anything wrong with it, just that for every tutor like that you'd need a calm steady slow one.

There's no point in being highly memorable if what you're /teaching/ isn't remembered as well.