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    Penn and Teller's Lab Scam

    catvorg

    3 HN mentions · mentioned in 3 months, 2017–2024

    YouTube

    8:18 · 46K views · Aug 25, 2009

    Penn and Teller help Rob Pike and Dennis Ritchie of Bell Labs play a prank on Nobel-winning physicist Arno Penzias. The clip shows the gag and its setup.

    It is passed around as a favorite bit of computing folklore, and resurfaces in threads about Penzias, Ritchie and Pike.

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    3 comments from Hacker News

    1. @vijayr02Jan 2024· in “Arno A. Penzias, 90, Dies; Nobel Physicist Confirmed Big Bang Theory”

      RIP Arno. Here's the video and write up of the gag Dennis Ritchie and Rob Pike pulled on him: this video [LINK] Edit: just wanted to say the hum of the universe dulled a little bit with his passing

      CitesView on HN
    2. @EvanAndersonMar 2020· in “A Tale of Two Ships [pdf]”

      I was around 3 y/o when Abscam went down. Now, however, I have a pretty good idea why Penn and Teller called their Bell Labs prank "lab scam". Thanks for that. [LINK] this video

      CitesView on HN
    3. @js2Apr 2017· in “Teller Reveals His Secrets (2012)”

      Perhaps not known by the younger audience, but Penn & Teller helped Dennis Ritchie and Rob Pike perform a practical joke at Bell Labs: [LINK] this video

      CitesView on HN