Applause (or Boos) ...

[martinbogo]

Re: Applause (or Boos) ...

A few boos, which is not like booze:
Vending machine on floor 16 of the Monte Carlo tower: You suck. Your owner sucks. If you are going to drop coins inside your frame without counting them, at least warn people that you will steal their quarters.
Ice Machine on the 15th floor of the Monte Carlo: You suck. You don't work. You don't ever work. Die in a fire.

Just from experience:

Don't stay in San Remo, or Monte Carlo towers. Really. Until the Riv gets around to doing the remodels of those towers, they are going to be suboptimal experiences.

On the other hand, staying in the Monaco tower, even though I was RIGHT under the penthouse (boom-boom-boom!) ... was great. The remodeled rooms are comfortable, clean, and the A/C units are so powerful you can chill beer to the perfect temperature ... where they even bead up with condensation.

For the most part, I have to agree. The folks that work at the Riv that I came across were friendly, and glad to see us. Even if we did have .. antics:

defconbathroomcam.com
the stickers in the elevators 'advertising' pen-testing
the San Remo tower elevator hack
Ninja's on the roof (flippersmack forever!)
and of course ... killer bees. Wait. no, we didn't do that one. Did we?

-Dr Volts

[Salem]

Re: Applause (or Boos) ...

I was RIGHT under the penthouse (boom-boom-boom!)

When did you hear loud music coming from the penthouse? There wasn't a party this year.

[BlackOrchid]

Re: Applause (or Boos) ...

Yay to the wait staff (bartenders/waitresses). Queeg and I were sitting at the bar at the casino on Sunda and all of them were glad to see us there. Complimented us all on the wonderful tips and mostly how we treated them with respect. Also YAY to attendees for being nice to these people.

Security said the same and even the life guards said the same. The only ones who seem to be a bit crappy are a few of the older ladies that run the register at Kady's who think we're a 'bit too much.' (but those were the slowest people on the planet so their opinions didn't matter to me).

Yay! to the poor lifeguard who put up with me after I cussed him out for shutting the pool the first time. It was actually a legitimate reason and I apologized for being an ass. The one's I did talk to actually liked us being there also. (But I still think management put pheromones on the building to have a legitimate reason to shut down the OHHHH so frightening 'Goon Swim!")

Booo's that we couldn't chicken fight Amber! I always look forward to you kicking my ass! LOL (go to defcon, make new friends and beat them up)

To the wonderful cleaning staff a big cheers. They were pleasant and appreciated all the tips that were left by everyone. They were glad to see a pick up in business and job security for a short while.

BTW: Those Christian Singers that were being unwittingly harassed; (younger adults).. took it all in stride and did not see it as anything they hadn't experienced in school .. (humm.. I wonder what that says about attendees???.... )

So although I have a few gripes I still find a bit of optimism in the middle of it.

Val.. 100% LOVE. You always seem to make people feel at home. You're real and I can joke and have serious conversations with you in confidence!

Everyone at the Foofus/Bunnies for Priest room-Especially Phenfen. They never ask for anything from anyone and are always gracious.

A big Fuuuck you to the asshat who screwed with them! (and I'm not saying anything more because you know who you are!)

Queeg-for the great night of gambling entertainment. I had a blast doing our strange game! Love you bunches

To those who help continue the not-a-penthouse party gathering-(not mentioning names lest there be red flags for the Riv to use against them). GREAT JOB! Had a wonderful time.

Abby and Icetre, you know already how much I appreciate you both. And also to abby.. Loved the singing. You are just so sweet!

I can't even name people who were on the limo except the hack3r crew-but thank you all for chipping in and being honest and willing to pay. It gives me hope in the human race. (as do most things that occur at defcon)

All the GOONS! Damn! I know you all do you best to protect us from outsiders and even ourselves. Thank you for All that you do. If you need something, just ask me-I'll do it.. (well...... within moral reasoning) heh

Mee for just being my friend. sorry about the miscommunication; (and no, I still haven't been able to sleep yet).

boooo to me for jokingly using the word 'yankee'.. apparently some people got offended by it but that was not my intention... sincere apologies but next time please just speak up and say.. "you offended me" BUT If I mean to offend you.. I won't apologize. :)

Gosh, I could go on and on.. so to shorten this.. Those I talk to.. I really adore! I appreciate your contributions to the entire community and yes we all notice but I'm running out of pixels and braincells right now.

IR@tant (bunnies for priest) .. thank you for replacing my bunny ears!

OK.. bedtime should come soon. Will give more thanks when I get some rest.

[BlackOrchid]

Re: Applause (or Boos) ...

um.. no.. I won't give more.. that was a damn book I just wrote and I still wasn't done.

[martinbogo]

Re: Applause (or Boos) ...

When did you hear loud music coming from the penthouse? There wasn't a party this year.

EFF - Summit party. There most definitely was a party above floor 63.

[Salem]

Re: Applause (or Boos) ...

EFF - Summit party.

Ahh gotcha, I had thought you were talking about "the penthouse party".

[flea]

Re: Applause (or Boos) ...

The line/s: Lines, lines, lines, I haven't seen so many lines since I gave up drugs.

Hack the line!!!! Hack the line!!!!!

Using Ninja moves, and accordion physics, I found a vulnerability in the badge cue. Exploiting the split doorway architecture of Riv and the lack of goon security I found a vulnerability in the badge processing cue and successfully popped the badge cue which enabled me not to have to wait in badge cue for a second time to get a badge,

I'll prepare a white paper for next year

xor

Sorry we didn't get to meet Dallas.


For the record, your 'hack' was really just taking advantage of other attendees. Your 'hack' was cutting in line. Nobody wanted to stand in those lines, we did everything we (goon security) could to mitigate the problem that we didn't create but took all of the abuse for (happily). So really, your ninja moves were just ass-hattery that you perpetrated against your fellow attendees. Good job.

Feel free to buy me a beer and I'll continue to explain in depth why you're an asshole.

[shrdlu]

Re: Applause (or Boos) ...

xor

For the record, your 'hack' was really just taking advantage of other attendees. Your 'hack' was cutting in line. Nobody wanted to stand in those lines, we did everything we (goon security) could to mitigate the problem that we didn't create but took all of the abuse for (happily). So really, your ninja moves were just ass-hattery that you perpetrated against your fellow attendees. Good job.

Feel free to buy me a beer and I'll continue to explain in depth why you're an asshole.

Hey, xor, what flea said goes double for me, and I'm not *nearly* as nice as he is.

I'm enormously grateful to the goons for the amount of order they brought to what could have been chaos and mayhem. Flea, remind me next year, and I'll buy you that beer you so richly deserve. No worries, because I'm going to take it out of xor's hide.

For that matter, I owe Al a beer, and others too numerous to mention (shrdlu waves in the general direction of Russ and Pyr0).

[fizzgig]

Re: Applause (or Boos) ...

Yay to the wait staff (bartenders/waitresses). Queeg and I were sitting at the bar at the casino on Sunda and all of them were glad to see us there. Complimented us all on the wonderful tips and mostly how we treated them with respect. Also YAY to attendees for being nice to these people.

Agreed - I noticed a LOT more respect this year in both directions.

Everyone at the Foofus/Bunnies for Priest room-Especially Phenfen. They never ask for anything from anyone and are always gracious.

We always love having you guys over. :) Friends of yours are friends of ours.

A big Fuuuck you to the asshat who screwed with them! (and I'm not saying anything more because you know who you are!)

Said fuckwit had better hope he never gets found. Of all the people to do something shitty to, you picked the worst. I wish you Prometheus's punishment, though at least HE did something useful.

My applause/boos:

BOO to whomever feels the need to rip people off. There were several incidents this year, including some moron who stole a box of shirts Kingpin was going to sell for charity. People like you make me sick. You have no inherent value. There isn't a pit in Hell deep enough for you, and I can only hope you contract some really painful, deadly and slowly-progressing disease.

APPLAUSE to contest organizers this year, particularly Joe Grand and GMark/Winn/the HJ crew! Definitely the two highlights of the con this year for me.

BOO to poor geography skills. South America != a country.

APPLAUSE to the Goons this year. Folks seemed really well restrained, order was largely maintained, and I definitely did not notice any kind of buzz-killing attitudes this year that have sometimes cropped up in years past. Outstanding job, folks!

BOO to that weird fucker who came up to our porch and into our room trying to give "raspberries", whatever the hell that was. As soon as you laid a hand on one of our people, it was over. You're lucky the more temperamental in our group showed restraint, I'll tell you that much.

Finally, BOO to the asshole who thought it would be funny to run off with one of Priest's balls, then claim "I wasn't really going to take it." First off, bullshit. Second off, if you had not stopped in front of a security guard in the casino, it would have ended far more poorly.

Remember kids, drinking is fun, and it can be really hilarious. Don't be destructive, don't seek to piss people off, and don't be surprised if you get taken down a peg or two when you violate said rules. This is coming from an expert drunk. :)

--f

[theprez98]

Re: Applause (or Boos) ...

For the record, your 'hack' was really just taking advantage of other attendees. Your 'hack' was cutting in line. Nobody wanted to stand in those lines, we did everything we (goon security) could to mitigate the problem that we didn't create but took all of the abuse for (happily).

This was the biggest problem I saw. The "get to the right!" would have worked, but as soon as a gap was created in the center of the "speaker" hallway, more people would just flood the gap and continue to prolong the logjam. Again, a design and layout issue, not a goon control issue. It's a shitty hand to be dealt, and while I think most forum-goers understand it, I don't think the general DEFCON attendee understands it.

[Chris]

Re: Applause (or Boos) ...

For the record, your 'hack' was really just taking advantage of other attendees. Your 'hack' was cutting in line. Nobody wanted to stand in those lines, we did everything we (goon security) could to mitigate the problem that we didn't create but took all of the abuse for (happily). So really, your ninja moves were just ass-hattery that you perpetrated against your fellow attendees. Good job.

Feel free to buy me a beer and I'll continue to explain in depth why you're an asshole.

Shit dude...I'm going to buy you a beer just for letting me read that awesome rant.

[greatscott]

Re: Applause (or Boos) ...

Cheers!:
Nikita - Helping me track down the much needed goon badge!

Neil - Giving me Tour De DefcOn

Charel - Helping me out with the projector debacle + allowing me to look into screens for Capri101/102

Charel's Goon friends - who helped return the projector from the SUMMIT/EFF party

The QM Goons - for being great sports w.r.t. checking out projectors and stealing tables

Dispatch Goons - for letting me accidentally use ALL your paper (save one sheet) for printing out the DJ database.

Lockheed/The NOC Goons - also putting up with my antics about drops. I owe you a CAT5 - I don't think I remembered to snag it from Capri101/12

Christian/Mobius - Being a damn good sport and easy to get a hold of for audio needs, and supplying a killer system

VJs Roach/Kevin - helping me with my various AV debacles

Kevin (Liquid8or) - for being a good sport and taking some of the audio/video recordings into your own hands!

IceTre / AbbyNormal / (their son) - for PIMPING out the SUMMIT/EFF party. And yes IceTre, if I'm involved next year, you're more than welcome to help make the event "your bitch" ;) and for the penthouse party Rae and I accidentally stumbled upon (thanks to your Australian friend?), which was fun while it lasted

PaulDotCom/i-hacked - for letting the NSBRadio DJs drop the tunaz at your event

ChrisAM (Securabit) - for all sorts of crazy help from finding my missing gf, to lending me your soundcard, to letting me use various cables (and FINE, my next laptop will be a Mac)

E-Roc - for alllllll your stagehand help and tearing it up at the PaulDotCom/I-Hacked party!

Rae - putting up with all my ridiculous antics, treating me right (especially when ultra stressed), and taking care of the non-stop c*ck-blocking that had to be done :P

The DJs/Bands - who rolled with the punches, were totally flexible, and not divas about anything (most of the time :P)

Greensector - for setting up the slick decor + and helping tear it down for the Goon Band

Hackajar - for the round of drinks at the Peppermill!

The Scritch/Simon - for hopping on the white ball decks at the last second

and all the other new cool friends I made // Krisz + company, Pixel, Dallas, the PaulDotCom guys, and everyone else who's name's I can't remember off the top of my head, it was a whirlwind!

Jeers:

- Mean Riv Checkout lady!

- Belligerent luggage-staff peeps!

- All the fools who tried to steal my girlfriend ;) NICE TRY suckaz! :P I commend them all for trying though...

- My piece of crap soundcard that decided to fritz out at the skybox party

- All the hardware I had on reserve for recording that all decided to not play nice and make my life miserable

(am quite happy the Jeer list is so short)

TIL NEXT YEAR!

[Abby_Normal]

Re: Applause (or Boos) ...

Hey, xor, what flea said goes double for me, and I'm not *nearly* as nice as he is..

He's lucky he didn't get kicked in the nuts.

And I wear steel toes.

[hexjunkie]

Re: Applause (or Boos) ...

Applause:

To all of the organizers, goons, contest folk, vendors, and speakers that made Defcon 17 what is was. I had a blast (as this is my first con) and even got a nice new nickname :)

To the hotel staff for putting up with the asshats... (you will get a boo in a min though)

To all the attendees without which all the hilarity would not ensue.

To the after hours crews (the ones who throw the parties) you guys did a hell of a job this year and I look forward to all of them next year!

To "findthefed" who ever you are you rock sir.. I would not mind seeing this turn into an actual contest in the future with a different theme every year... (for those who don't know a guy who posts under "findthefed" went around the hotel posting clues/pictures/hints on twitter as to where he was and a few attendees spent most of the time hunting him down from iphones, radio frequency scanning equipment, and general detective work. That was a great impromptu contest!

To the RFID guys for taking shit because people can't be told they can be insecure.... for those who haven't seen the article on slashdot Link to Wired You guys rock and I wish you would have done the wall of sheep with it as well.. It is their own fault for not securing their RFID information or having the information on an RFID tag in the first place... Hopefully this will be better executed next year and you guys will be allowed to post :)

Boos:

Killer bees took my drinking spot away :(
Hotel staff that were asshats for no apparent reason.
To the attendees that did stupid stuff and generally didn't think before they acted (HACK THE LINE... what a stupid idea to f**k over your peers)
The Riv for not having the renovations complete (my room looked like a motel 6)


All in all I had a good time, I hope almost everyone else did and I look forward to doing it again next year.

[flea]

Re: Applause (or Boos) ...

This was the biggest problem I saw. The "get to the right!" would have worked, but as soon as a gap was created in the center of the "speaker" hallway, more people would just flood the gap and continue to prolong the logjam. Again, a design and layout issue, not a goon control issue. It's a shitty hand to be dealt, and while I think most forum-goers understand it, I don't think the general DEFCON attendee understands it.

i can tell you what happened there... with very little notice, the security teams were informed that registration would open at 8am. with this notice, we weren't able to plan for the kind of coverage that we normally have f/s/s. So by the time we could get a shift on the ground, 9am, the line had already formed it's self and when it did, it crossed that hallway. My guys were stretched thin and were putting out fires as best they could, this one hadn't been addressed yet. The minute I saw the line crossing the hallway, we began a process of moving the whole thing over to the other side. Once that was completed, traffic began to flow nicely.