Back from DefCon

... and I can feel it.

It's always nice to get a recharge, and DefCon does a lot to bolster my passion and interest in the like of work I've chosen. If I had to sum it up with a few bullet points:

• Lots of learning
• Advancing my own ideas and helping others do the same
  
• Getting almost no sleep
• Making new industry contacts and friends
• Catching up with old friends
• Copious partying

"Partying" to me usually involves loud music and dark rooms and may involve alcohol however it's certainly not a requirement. Most of the parties I went to were sponsored events designed to foster the networking process while allowing DefCon-goers to ditch the conference-like environment for one that incites social interaction and cutting-loose. I shook a lot of hands, gave out scores of contact cards, got quite a few in return, and had some really great discussions.

Through the presentations I attended and the discussions I had on the side, I learned about some cutting-edge security stuff and observed some fascinating and thought-provoking projects that are certain to change the way I approach certain problems. I needed this.

I may do something a little bit different with my photos of this event. There were far too many to even consider uploading, and a lot of them were rubbish anyway. I need a few days to sort through them all.

I can say that I walked about 12 miles this last weekend, but it didn't stop me from doing some stuff that the eco-zealots won't approve of. Such as renting a stretch-limo made from a tandem-axle F650 chassis and cramming 25 hackers inside it to go to the "Toxic BBQ" event across town. Hey, it was $8 per head and we showed up in style.


Of course, on the way back, I caught a 1956 bus that we somehow crammed more than 60 people onto. Poor bus could barely get moving.


Here are a few other favorites from the weekend, but look for something more later on.




Wire-wrapped patch board from ye-olde days


My friend Ulysses got Mohawk'd last night for $5. One of the parties was giving mohawks for a fund raiser. No, I didn't get one.


A ghetto-panorama (stand far away and crop the hell out of the picture) of the crowd at Toxic BBQ.


Some shots of Las Vegas at dusk from the iDefense event.




A cheap green prismatic line laser (like you'd see in a laser level) plus a fog machine produced a surreal green swirling plane just one inch above the floor at the event last night.