Looks like this will be my last Defcon...

[micros]

This time the pranks have gone too far. I know everyone dislikes hearing an upset kid, but this was just way too much.

I have been attending DefCon since DC 0xA (ie DefCon 10) at the AP.

My wife and I have a young son who has Autism, a condition that should be well known around DefCon attendees considering how many Hackers have Aspergers, which is on the Autism spectrum.

Tonight we have gotten two prank calls to our room at the Rio, impersonating the front desk and maintenance staff of the hotel. I have contacted the hotel and know the calls were not from the front desk, and also supposedly they can't determine the source of room to room calls (we all know that is probably BS, and they just don't know how to access those records).

The pranksters went way over the top, even after my Wife stated our son has Autism, they kept pushing, and when I took the phone away from her, seeing how it was effecting her, they pushed further, and as I asked to speak to their manager (not knowing it was a prank yet), and they stated going into things like "you need to take parenting classes", and "We think you are beating your kid, and CPS will be called".

My wife is kinda on the spectrum too, and when you start talking about not knowing how to parent our kids, and calling CPS due to an Autism episode, it just plain kills the mood of DefCon. She was crying for a good 15-20 minutes after the first call.

We are all here to have fun, and I have had many many good years around DefCon, but once the "fun" starts impacting other people in an extremely negative way, it's no longer "fun". I am now stuck with a choice of attending DefCon by myself, or not attending DefCon at all in the future. A DefCon without the rest of my family just would not be the same, and thus this will probably be my last.

[hunter]

Re: Looks like this will be my last Defcon...

Micros, I am very sorry to hear that. What happened to you was just lame, and the lamers who did it should be called out.
Pranks can be fun when done appropriately, this was not, it was just junior high cruelty, invented from someone who should just grow up.

[micros]

Re: Looks like this will be my last Defcon...

Thanks Hunter,

My wife and I have discussed it more, and we will probably be back for DefCon 20. We are not going to let these loozers stop our ability to have Fun at DefCon.

Our policy (and others should adopt this too, see the thread about problems with the Hotel, which I doubt was the hotel calling), will now be to ask for an extension to dial back, or a name to ask for when calling back to the front desk.

We probably would have thought of this if we were not in the middle of trying to get our son calmed down.

[micros]

Re: Looks like this will be my last Defcon...

FYI, we just got another prank call.

This time, saying that they were having a bit of a computer emergency, and asking if I had a copy of Windows XP and a registration code. The name stated was "Roy", and that he was with the front desk.

If anyone else who has gotten a prank call wants to PM me their floor #, we might be able to track down which room these are coming from.

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Looks like this will be my last Defcon...

it may be a good idea in the future for folk to request that the hotel disable guest-to-guest calls for their room. i know that i would love that feature. didn't receive any prank calls, but hell... who really needs the in-room phone for anything?

the moment i ever receive one i'm just pulling the cord and being done with it. POTS phones are about as useful to me as faxes and VHS tapes.

[kallahar]

Re: Looks like this will be my last Defcon...

If you are unable to figure out to UNPLUG THE PHONE then perhaps defcon isn't for you. I would also recommend not bringing children. Defcon is not a friendly place, it's a trial by fire.

[autobahn]

Re: Looks like this will be my last Defcon...

If you are unable to figure out to UNPLUG THE PHONE then perhaps defcon isn't for you. I would also recommend not bringing children. Defcon is not a friendly place, it's a trial by fire.

I give a qualified agree - if you bring family and they expect a "peace and quiet" vacation at the con hotel, it's probably not the best idea.

I was under the impression that room-to-room calls WERE disabled, I tried to make a few and none went through correctly.

[micros]

Re: Looks like this will be my last Defcon...

This was my 10th DefCon, I think I know a fair amount about DefCon, the group that attends, and what goes on. Overall the people that attend are the kindest, nicest people you will ever meet, just look at how the blood drive did this year.

As far as DefCon not being kid friendly, it's actually more kid friendly then prime time TV... I have brought my kids to LV for DefCon since before they were born. They also end up doing other kid friendly things in Las Vegas with my Wife.

In regards to unplugging the phone in the room, while you probably can't understand this... If you are involved in trying to get your kid calmed down from an Autistic Episode, your not exactly focusing on the phone call that came in. Considering we have gotten real complaints in the past at some Resort hotels, this was not out of the question. The hotel phone is an important communication channel for the Hotel to it's guests, and this type of call is quite harmful to the hotel.

Considering that unlike that AP where we were 99% of the guests at the time, there are many non DefCon attendees in the hotel, and the caller did not know we were there for DefCon only makes this kind of prank even worse.

Can you imagine if instead of posting this to the DefCon forums, that this was posted to the hotel review sites? I could see the RIO not wanting us back next year if they get too many complaints.

[BlackOrchid]

Re: Looks like this will be my last Defcon...

micros-I solved the problem by never staying at the hotel where the Con is! When I need to regroup and recoup I don't want pranks-I just want sleep. Perhaps staying at a different hotel close to the con would be a better solution for you also.

And honestly, I would have NEVER brought my kids. (not even now that they are adults!) That would ruin MY fun. :)

[acoustica]

Re: Looks like this will be my last Defcon...

This sounds like one of two things:
1. A very pointed incident from someone who knew you and your room number or;
2. Someone who knew the range of the room numbers for discounted rooms and decided to have some childish and uncaring fun at the expense of your family.
**No, I'm not saying this sounds like fun to me. That's just what it sounds like in general to me. Not everyone has a heart/brain.

[webdawg]

Re: Looks like this will be my last Defcon...

You know nothing of phonelosers?

[Bad "BK" Kobold]

Re: Looks like this will be my last Defcon...

Wait. There was a phone in the rooms?!

After the first call, I would have unplugged the phone. Problem solved.

[micros]

Re: Looks like this will be my last Defcon...

The first call was the offensive call, after that, it was far more fun to just listen and hang up.

Next year I will bring phone recording devices with me, and see if I can get them on tape.

I have a feeling it was the rooms near us, we were near the end of floor 17.

[b0n3z]

Re: Looks like this will be my last Defcon...

I gotta agree, unplug the phone, call staff, etc....just let the trolls go troll elsewhere

[erehwon]

Re: Looks like this will be my last Defcon...

micros-I solved the problem by never staying at the hotel where the Con is! When I need to regroup and recoup I don't want pranks-I just want sleep. Perhaps staying at a different hotel close to the con would be a better solution for you also.

And honestly, I would have NEVER brought my kids. (not even now that they are adults!) That would ruin MY fun. :)

Micros, please don't let a couple of dorks that didn't get the kind of love you're showing your child ruin your all your fun at Defcon, but I completely agree with BlackOrchid. Since 2000, I have stayed off-site, one Defcon with one 'neighbor' playing Norwegian Death Metal at all hours of the night, and the other 'neighbor' having a boyfriend / girlfriend top of their lungs arguments at around 3am and make-up sex at 5am was too much for me.

Sure it means a little cab ride, but its extremely relaxing not having to deal with con issues at another hotel in the neighborhood, and while I stuff my badge in my bag as soon as I go off-site, you can sometimes have quiet conversations with the other hotel guests if/when you ask what they are doing in Las Vegas.