DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

[willasaywhat]

Re: DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

Good:

• Met up with people I met previous years, managed to say hello and touch base. Met a few new people, forum regulars, and hackerspace folks.
• DC407 made it's first trip to DEFCON since its revival.
• Ate at the Peppermill. Good lord that was good.
• Finally got to see the rest of Vegas, albeit on foot.
• Saw the world record mohawk.
• Got my badge early by being at Black Hat.
• The forum meet was great, put faces to handles. Cod pieces to others.
• Meet the Feds panel. Absolutely hilarious. And I got to put a face to Priest.

Bad:

• Crowds. I made it to maybe 2 or 3 talks, but that was mostly because I was in the same track for 2 talks. Honestly, this burned me out very quickly. Worst of all, it seemed like most of the 'filler' was people who genuinely didn't care about the talks or the reason Defcon started. It felt like the con sold out. (Not that I have a frame of reference for this, just my personal thoughts.)
• The Facebook guy. I went to his talk and endured his misplaced ideas (my opinion). One question my father (also in attendance) asked was, why did he leave Facebook? One doesn't just 'quit' a position like that.
• The Riviera. This was my first year staying there, and honestly, I immediately understood the tone by which most have referred to the place.
• No TF2 tournament. I kept going into the room looking for it, but it wasn't there.
• Riviera transportation. They kept bringing limos and black SUVs that cost $45-50 a ride. We all wanted taxis, but they kept bringing the bling.
• 3g/Edge saturation. This always happens at conferences, but it was pretty bad. Solution? Buy a MiFi or something that isn't on 3g/Edge.
• Leaving early because I rage quit. Not Defcon's fault, more of being in Vegas almost a week, but the crowds and reruns from Black Hat didn't help.

Take the bad with a grain of salt. I was in Vegas for almost a week, so towards Defcon I was getting pretty burnt out. I also got back home with a terrible case of con-flu and airplane ear.

As a side note, I'm not a party kind of person. I'm more of a dinner party, forum meet, let's sync up kind of person. Drinking, smoking, et al just don't interest me. What is there to do after 11pm that doesn't involve some element of debauchery? The forum meet was awesome for me, since I got to meet a bunch of people and put faces to names, but it died out quickly once Hacker Pimps and Spiders spun up.

[eris]

Re: DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

So much to say, still so exhausted, physically and mentally, that a six block walk to my store made me fall over. I have so many people to thank.


Good:
THINK GEEK DOT COM you gave us some great donations for the Scavenger Hunt prize packages. Everyone should go and visit your site and buy stuff!

Defcon style wedding on Weds. Yea, thats me and Vandal finally making legal. Thanks for coming.

Astcell, hearing about my bitch about the cost of wedding photos and gifting us with a set that allowed us to get all the cool shots we wanted. (scans to come!) Also, thanks again for the rocking bunch of stuff you donated for prizes to the Scavenger Hunt!

Panda and True Duality, for being noobs that almost won the hunt but instead became first timer legends in other ways.

True Duality for rocking the candy pasties and posing pouch post con.

Team White Lighning, for being noobs that WON the scavenger hunt. Please send us your names and photos of you using the Think Geek donated prizes! Besides, we need your names to get your team your free entry next year!

Dallas, for donating some awesome stuff for the Scavenger Hunt!

Ninjas: wow, the party, the badge, giving us badges to give away as prizes, you rule.

EFF Summit: thanks for the entries as prizes, I am so glad to hear you made so much!

Irvine Underground: THanks for the free tshirts and gift certificates for the Hunt!

Israel Torres: we didn't use your crypto challenges but thanks for providing them. Next year!

Evil: You are a good sport. I was impressed by your sprinting speed in full gear!

Goons: as usual, fantastic job. Thanks for the Hacker Pimps party safety assurance.

Black and White: I got mugs for you with those ABC receipts but I couldn't find you! Thanks for the boobs in the boobs quick time Challenge!

Dual D Flip Flop: you rocked the new Challenge section of the Scavenger Hunt. We are so happy to have you on staff!

Salem, thanks for helping him in the off hours.

Liz, thank you for coming up and introducing yourself to me at DC101.

Highwiz, great DC 101. Keep it up. Almost all of our hunt contestants came out of that talk.

The Korean Hackers: kamsahamnida!

So much more good...more later.


Bad:
Missing Flea
Missing AbbeyN and IceTre
Drunk guy named Pie at Poolside from Hilton(only that turned out to be a lie as well. Liar lying with your lying hole)
Fence Around Pool
Knife Boy at Hacker Pimps
Missing the cute as hell girl at Hacker Pimps party because of Knife Boy
Losing my freshwater pearl and cloissonne necklace at Ninja Party. My mom made that.
Aurora, I'm sorry I didn't make the meet. Next year.

A few more bads to put up as well, but I gotta go lie down.

[MisterVandal]

Re: DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

The Good, really it's hard to list em all so I will just go with the basics.

All the Scav Hunt Teams, you guys fucking rock.
The Korean hackers and their Hanboks!
Ninja Party, seriously? a new standard has been set for parties.
Hanging out with close friends that I only get to see once a year.
There was a wedding thing, I might have gone, not sure, I was pretty hammered.
101 Talk, even if I didn't realize what I was doing when I sat down, it was fun.
Poc parties, fuck yeah.
303 Party awesome time.
Hackerpimps, nuff said.
MohawkCon, now I have to grow my hair out every year a few months before con.
Pyro, the contest area was rocking the whole time.
Philly-Gee, the guy who did the artwork for our shirts and banner.
Everyone who had something to do with my wang, I had no knowledge of that, so it was awesome.
Syntax Error, thanks for the beer dude!

Bad

Flea and Queeg :(
People bitching that they didn't get a ninja badge.
Running out of Badges before Friday.

Meh, I guess that's all the bad. Bad parts of defcon are kind of like bad sex, even when it's bad, it's pretty good.

[Xodia]

Re: DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

Good:

- DC719 for letting me carpool with them.
- Epic carpool adventures w/ Gruffy and Julia. Utah is a majestic state.
- Folks bringing their own grills to the TBBQ. This cut down on the line so much. Rock.
- The badges this year were sweet. The Ninja tie-in was a fun puzzle.
- B-Sides, though I missed the talks, the space was incredible. Keep that up! It was great to see so many east-coasters there too.
- The Tamper Evident contest was really fun to watch/hear about. You'll get em' next year, Valanx.
- Mohawks for charity=Win.
- Winning money my first time ever gambling on Freemont St. Thanks, Miley Cyrus.
- Recognize playing Pixies covers. Fuck yeah.
- The guy with the shank @ Hackerpimps was handled well. Kudos to the folks that took care of him.
- Being able to say, "Yeah, that guy with the black shirt, khaki shorts, a mohawk, and sunglasses" and it apply to 500+ folks was pretty sweet.
- Last man standing. I never knew I could handle that much Guinness.
- The UAV talk was really fun.
- All the awesome people that I see on an irregular basis. You know who you are.

Bad:

- Beercans falling off balconies.
- No Icetre or Abby...and as a result no nacho-goodness.
- No Cotman (or crazy mid-strip traffic adventures)!
- Choosing to not sleep two days in a row.
- Handjob @ 303. Did anyone get a picture of him passed out?
- The music selection at the Queen Victoria pub being limited to 80's New Wave past midnight. Wtf.
- The lack of people rocking the fuck out in the Cyberpunk Gala.
- Sleeping through Gringo Warrior after practicing for it.

[greatscott]

Re: DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

Good:
Bad:
- The lack of people rocking the fuck out in the Cyberpunk Gala.

Agreed, it was a shame! This was a tough year for the DC music events. I need to salute the private parties: they were rocking with great locations and other amazing things going on. Also that Capri101/102 location is getting tirrred and bland. The gate at the pool also really put a damper on things. Still, the events went off and drew some cohesive crowds at peak-time, the talent was hot!, the dragon was insane, and it's still a generally important outlet to have open at the con :)

Speaking of which, anyone can pop over to https://forum.defcon.org/showthread.php?t=11712 to leave feedback and ideas on the events for DC19.

We've got a lot up our sleeves for next year though...it's gonna get nuts.... for everyone.

[kajer]

Re: DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

Bad:

• No TF2 tournament. I kept going into the room looking for it, but it wasn't there.

I had a TF2 server ready to go just in case, but I was pretty burned out after each oCTF session. Next year, look for my oCTF datacenter and ask for a TF2 server, I can re-purpose the thing for a TF2 session if enough people are interested...But I only have about 30 open switch ports. It can expand to 80 if I steal the HackBus's switch.

[greatscott]

Re: DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

My official Good/Bad:

Good:
- Functioning on 3-hours of sleep for 5 days in a row.
- Hanging out with Aricon, ChrisAM, Joe, Tam, Zebbler, Kate, Cristina, David/TribalSoul, Zziks, Krisz, and my brother (and a bunch of others I'm sure I'm leaving off this list!)
- Witty banter with Lockheed and other folks at the NOC
- The QM folks having amazing attitudes and putting up with all my bs ;)
- Zebbler making the dragon "breathe" fire
- "Double Rainbow" autotuned over the sound system
- Zziks and Krisz being ON POINT
- All the other random cool people I met whose names I forget :_(
- Fireworks fistbump with Hackajar at 3am at the craps table
- Having amazing Fish&Chips at the pub w/ good folks
- Trying a Black&Velvet for the first time
- Having dedicated broadcast/rec laptops thanks to DT
- 4G Reception in Vegas was WIN!!!! :D
- Hash House w/ Zziks and my brother!

Bad:
- Functioning on 3-hours of sleep for 5 days in a row.
- ChrisAM missing most of all of DC18 due to some crazy alien cellulitis eating his arm... and not getting to hang out with him/joekv/tam/and aricon more because of it
- Not getting to hang out with all the DJs/performers that much
- Being served **raw** chicken at the peppermill
- The pool being gated. The official statement about getting folks in was that "Even though many DC folks aren't staying at the Riv, it's OK for defcon folks to go in the pool area, but it's a health code violation to prop the door open" (WTF)
- Missing all the talks and other events due to running around like a chicken with my head cut off
- Not having a chance to totally let loose like I get to in previous years

[HighWiz]

Re: DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

I met some REALLY great people! - Great job to DefCon101 peeps for telling everyone to meet someone.

Met some very cool people there, why? Because of the defcon 101 talk. Telling people to break down barriers, put away baggage and assumptions and go out, meet people and have fun set the RIGHT tone. Thanks to the DC101 organizers

I'm really happy and excited that you both got a lot out of 101. It's because of people like you two that we do 101. Aurora is was my pleasure to meet you this year & Xr@y I do hope to meet you next year.

Highwiz, great DC 101. Keep it up. Almost all of our hunt contestants came out of that talk.

101 Talk, even if I didn't realize what I was doing when I sat down, it was fun.

Thank you both. I'm really glad that the Scavenger Hunt had a Mini-Game at 101, it helped make it a great event. You both as well as Siviak and DualDFlipFlop have my thanks and appreciation for doing such an awesome job. And in my opinion being such wonderful examples of what members of the DefCon Community should be.

[ph0enix]

Re: DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

Was this "Nick" Character the guy poking peoples noses who exclaimed "I'm up to 40!" in the smoking area?

Really unsure.

I've received the video from my boyfriend now, and I just need to get a moment to snag his picture out of it [this week is my last week with $employer, today is my last day, and tomorrow is a travel day...], but if you PM me an e-mail address, I can go ahead and send you a picture in the next few days, so you can ID the fuckwit.

[TrueDuality]

Re: DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

Good:
- How welcoming everyone I talked to was
- The speed of the few lines I was in
- The Scavenger Hunt, Thanks Eris, Vandal, Siviak, and DualD for all the hard work you guys put into that. It was a lot of fun. I'll see you next year and I won't drop the ball on Sunday.
- Vandal's Wang
- All the parties especially Ninja Networks, you guys rock
- The goons, they did a great job of keeping the peace and not using me as a play thing
- The whole community, there was only one person that irritated me in the slightest throughout the entire con, everyone else was eager to share what they knew, learn or at the very least talk to an eager noob :)
- A lot of free booze
- The talks that I went to, the lines might have been too long for me to get into some of the ones I wanted but the ones that I did were great
- A new handle, it won't be the last time any of you see the Pasties

Bad:
- How I felt after that burrito challenge arrrgghh

[saxdr]

Re: DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

Holes in one.

• Massage corner. Many thanks to Courtnee and Jessica for offering their services to the con. You guys are ninja masseuses. Rather appropo for the attending crowd.
• Ninja party. Nice venue. Free drinks. Badge dripping with awesomesauce. I'm honored I got to attend.
• Con badge. Nice improvements from last year. The addition of a display and integration with the Ninjas were neat features.
• Hardware hacking village. Another thing that seems to get better every year. Thanks to everyone for not walking off with my soldering station. Thanks also for recycling all my electronics and doing something useful with them.
• Goons. It was evident that there was some thought that went into "traffic control" this year. It seemed a lot more orderly moving around this year, especially with the popular talks. Clearly delineating "kill zones" keeps lemmings from coagulating around doors. It seems like the Goons all went to charm school or something over the past year . . . much more amiable and less beating of con-goers. Or maybe the con-goers were all better behaved this year . . .
• Noobs stepping out. I saw quite a few rookies out there doing great stuff. Few if any of us were born 1337; most of us humans had to break stuff and learn how to fix it the hard way along the way. I think that embodies the spirit of the con . . . figure out how things work and share what you find.

Mulligans.

• Beverage selection. The beer selection was a bit sparse, but at least they weren't charging $6 for a Bud. The bar at Rumors was somewhat wanting as well, but I shouldn't complain as it was free for most of the night.
• Not enough hours in the day. So much to do at the con, so little time.
• No geo-challenge. That was a total bummer that some putz jacked Syntax's laptops right before the con. Looking forward to participating in that next year.
• No vendors in HHV. Parts nearby the hackspace at HOPE was a big win. I know there's been some previous discussions about this . . . holding the con at the Rio next year may alleviate space issues.
• Closing was a bit rushed. Lot to pack into a short amount of time. Not a slam at all, though; the only ways around the closing issue is to allow more time for it, cut stuff out of it, or speed it along.
• Beverage cooling. What's up with the salt continually finding a way into my beer? I think I'll have a plumber professionally install the pipes for next year.

[hackajar]

Re: DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

Seems any idiot can get in to Hacker Jeopardy.

Hey! I resemble that comment!

[Chris]

Re: DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

The Bad
Vendor area was not open enough

The Vendor Area was open for 25 hours over the course of the weekend. 9 hours on Friday, 9 hours on Saturday, and 7 hours on Sunday. What additional hours do you think it should have been open that it wasn't?

[Club81]

Re: DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

The Vendor Area was open for 25 hours over the course of the weekend. 9 hours on Friday, 9 hours on Saturday, and 7 hours on Sunday. What additional hours do you think it should have been open that it wasn't?

Yep, that's a lot of hours. I hit the vendor area each day and came away with new stuff each time!

Some THUR hours would kick-ass so we could do vendor area after badges and DEFCON swag but before 1:00PM sessions. I know there's some ties to the BH vendor area that make this a no-go, but a guy can dream!

[Chris]

Re: DEFCON 18 -- Good v. Bad

Yep, that's a lot of hours. I hit the vendor area each day and came away with new stuff each time!

Some THUR hours would kick-ass so we could do vendor area after badges and DEFCON swag but before 1:00PM sessions. I know there's some ties to the BH vendor area that make this a no-go, but a guy can dream!

It's not so much that. There are really only two "official" ties to the BH Vendors (Breakpoint Books and TSOK) but the main problem is that in order to open on Thursday we have to have the space on Wednesday so that we can set everything up. It's not out of the question, but honestly, I have resisted opening at all on Thursday and leaving that to official Swag. Thanks for the suggestion and I will keep it in mind when I start planning for next year but my guess is that the hours and days next year will be the same as this year.