should i bring my laptop?

[uglyb0b]

greetings-

a friend and i are planning on attending defcon 11. neither of us have ever attended defcon (or any related event for that matter), nor have we ever been to vegas.

an acquaintence who recently just got back from vegas said i shouldnt bother bringing my laptop; he said there is too much to do in vegas. however, i believe i am more 'geeky' than he is. i dont think he is going to attend defcon either.

im hoping ppl who have previously attended a defcon can tell me if i should bring my laptop. im not sure what to expect - as far as getting together with other ppl and bs'ing, exchanging info/ideas/etc. do a lot of ppl that come bring laptops or boxes in general? should i bother?

thanks for any input; i look forward to this event.

[octalpus]

DEFINITELY!! Bring it!! You can take notes, participate in the note exchange, get on either the wired or wireless LAN, exchange files, try out new OS's, work on your existing system... or just geek out with like minded individuals.

[noid]

I dunno. I bring my laptop every year, and every year I end up leaving it off for most of Defcon. I dont think I will even bother with it this year.

[dataworm]

Well the question is what is the For and the Agains to bring it?
Personally unless your affraid of travelling with you laptop, i don't see a reason why not to bring it... and In case of a terrorist attack in the plane you can alwais use your laptop to slam it on their head...

Normally there is't aloth of desktop because it's to annoying to bring... + you don't really want to go by the pool with your full tower and 21" monitor... But i beleive most ppl that do have a laptop bring it...

For:

Laptop are alwais cool to post your picture on your site or send them to your friend while your partying to defcon...

Checking your mail, and organising meeting with ppl you are suposed to meet at defcon...

Exchanges stuff and notes...

Check the powerpoint of the presentation on the CD before desciding if you'll go or not to that talk...

DO you really think you can pass 3 day without a computer?

Agains:
Getting throwed with your laptop in the pool...(I did't saw a laptop in the pool yet, must be more carefull with smaller gear that fit in your pocket)

Getting so drunk that you forget your laptop on the table(note that you should never get drunk with your electronic gear)

Getting your name and password on the wall of fame for checking your mail using a unsecure channel

Getting your laptop hacked

[blackwave]

Re: should i bring my laptop?

Originally posted by uglyb0b
im hoping ppl who have previously attended a defcon can tell me if i should bring my laptop.

It all really depends on what you plan on doing at defcon.... if you foresee long hours of diddling around, surfing on the net during slow periods, checking your email (baaahh), wardriving, checking out the uberl33t defcon cd, wanking to pr0n in your room (beats the non-pr0n they won't be serving at the AP)...

though if you just plan on carrying around a heavy piece of junk just to fit in leave it at home, or in your room... no need to dress to impress... it is too damned hot to walk around with something weighing you down.... whatever you do, don't leave it in the corner recharging and expect it to be there when you get back (sigh yes there are still "opportunists" that lurk around)...

[uglyb0b]

well i think i will certainly most bring it then. hopefully i can find ppl to hang out with and just talk computers. cant wait!

thanks for the input.

[blackwave]

Originally posted by uglyb0b
ppl to hang out with and just talk computers

Tip: It helps if you are fluent in binary, octal and hex... base 10 is not preferred but tolerated. ;) :D

[vitamin]

Ummm... yes.... I want to come... Please let me have the money I am skint... at the mo... I am gonna have to sell my body o well that mean's I wont be there LOL:):)

[Merciless_Mike]

I bring mine, and on the advise of a friend: I take HD out and put in a fresh one with fresh patched install (if I choose windows) or latest version of F-BSD... That way, anyone that wants to "look" at my laptop aint gonna see much :) I will say, I am thinking of putting up a WEB server on my laptop securing the heck out of it and seeing what damage can be done to it.... just a though at this point!?!?!

[euro12]

One of my friends who's been to DC a few times gave me this advice:

"Bring your laptop. Then when you get home, reformat the hard drive." :D

[encrypt31945]

Always make sure to have all the security patches downloaded and firewalls running before you log into your email or something else. If you dont there will be another password on the wall of shame.:p

[astcell]

Watch for my laptop, it's name on the network will be Hack-This

[Merciless_Mike]

Mine will be WEB-4-U-2-OWN

[hYdE]

If you're going to bring your laptop, don't forget your wireless card!

I never leave home without either one of those, so naturally, they come with me to Vegas.

I would recommend bringing it, but not letting it leave your sight.

[astcell]

If I bring two PC Card wireless cards, and a couple of those USB wireless cards, and hook them all up and once, will I have four 11mbps connections or ????