About Clifford Stoll

Been looking at different IT articles and I came across this author called Clifford Stoll. Looking at his background really showed such high tech inclination as his first book entitled "Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage" that talked about how he caught a group of hackers who stole secrets from military computer systems in the US and sold them to the KGB. Since then, he had been considered a computer security expert and given loads of talks to government as well as the corporate world.

Its is interessting that he would follow this up by writing his second and third book called "Silicon Snake Oil: Second Thoughts on the Information Highway" and "High-Tech Heretic: Why Computers Don't Belong in the Classroom and Other Reflections by a Computer Contrarian" respectively which warns about the high price of the effects of internet on real human interaction that we will have to pay in future as well as the assumptions of technology and the role of computers in classrooms. I have not personally read his books which, I hope I can lay hands on them sometime soon, the article in Newsweek about him in 1995 was certainly a thought provoking read.

Very interesting that he did such an about face comment about technology. Maybe some things changed as he became a stay at home dad and a teacher of eighth grader. Its worth our while to listen when someone like that think of technology as something which will cost us dearly in the future. Many a times children are guinea pigs to the system set in place in educational institutes. Many things are tried which may reveal some short term results but the long term consequences are never thoroughly researched on. I believe its about time we learn to moderate and not just jump in with such blind faith.

BEWARE!!

Thats the advice.



__