Looks like Hacker Jeopardy might be more Mac-focused this year ^_^

[TheCotMan]

Yes, I can confirm that Hacker Jeopardy is indeed the game show planned for this year's Defcon.

But why plan for it? I thought DefCon 13 was cancelled!

[astcell]

Yes, I can confirm that Hacker Jeopardy is indeed the game show planned for this year's Defcon.

YES!!!!!!!

[nulltone]

HJ is listed, and LL is not but what does that mean? Things can change at the last minute.

Yes, I can confirm that Hacker Jeopardy is indeed the game show planned for this year's Defcon.

[Kai]

Dev,

WebTV for your home user issue. I'm told it quite simple and hard to fuck up.

I wholeheartedly believe in neutered thin client end user functionality in most cases.

[Voltage Spike]

"look, you bought the fucking thing... if you don't know how to use it and don't have any friends who can help you that's your own goddamn fault."

You bring up some very good points against this mindset, but I'd like to add that people complain partly because we can make changes to simplify computers. In the end, it is all software, and we should be able to implement anything we can dream.

[TheCotMan]

So does this mean HJ is back and no leetest link? Or both?

HJ is listed, and LL is not but what does that mean? Things can change at the last minute.

[hackajar]

So does this mean HJ is back and no leetest link? Or both?

[TheCotMan]

While we're all (i would think) very joyous at the return of Hacker Jeopardy to DefCon, does this latest article by Winn Schwartau entitled "Mad as hell, switching to Mac" mean we'll be seeing lots of Macintosh related questions?

Anything is possible, but from what I've seen of HJ, the questions may not even be his, even if he is asking them. I remember people who were not Winn Schwartau, who defended the choice of questions. I had a feeling the questions where theirs.

I primarily considered him the game show guy that we associate with HJ. (Though I seem to recall that he has not always been the host.)

if i went out and bought surgery implements and tried to operate on my dog, would i have much of a right to cry when he dies? should advocacy groups start lobbying for more simplified scalpels and so forth?

i don't know. i'm just sorta thinking out loud. maybe this post belonged in the more generalized Computer Security forum. feel free to move it there, dear admins.

In the U.S., people have a right to complain and are often rewarded. (Squeaky wheel gets the grease.)
There are valid complaints (shoddy work and dangerous products like a Pinto with an exploding gas tank.)
We know that "ease of use" is usually in direct conflict with "security" and consumers tend to avoid things that are not "easy to use."
Are the OS of today "shoddy" or "dangerous" ?
An advantage Apple has is one of "security by obscurity" which usually is not genuine security at all.
Security won't be "good enough" in an OS while people are not willing to pay for it, and this includes costs such as "ease of use."

[Deviant Ollam]

While we're all (i would think) very joyous at the return of Hacker Jeopardy to DefCon, does this latest article by Winn Schwartau entitled "Mad as hell, switching to Mac" mean we'll be seeing lots of Macintosh related questions?

an interesting read, albeit in Winn's well-established vein of "security should be dropped down to the most basic user's level". while i agree that one of the most significant problems in the tech world is the fact that users have to be involved, i'm still pretty tied to the model of "hire the right experts to set things up, lock down all the settings so they can't be changed, stuff the users in a corner, and tell them to shut the fuck up and just work with the computers they way they're configured."

yes, there is much effort that needs to be focused on the abilities of the basic user (see the paper Why Johnny Can't Encrypt) but the fact that users can't do everything is what keeps me employed.

as for home computers, i just don't know anymore... i'd love to hear other people's opinions on this, actually. i think my current mindset could best be summarized with the notion "look, you bought the fucking thing... if you don't know how to use it and don't have any friends who can help you that's your own goddamn fault." i mean, hell, if i went out and bought surgery implements and tried to operate on my dog, would i have much of a right to cry when he dies? should advocacy groups start lobbying for more simplified scalpels and so forth?

of course, the flip side of this is that being online and having access to the web and electronic messaging in your home is becoming more and more of a requisite in our society, whereas my in my hypothetical example, i'm not that compromised as a citizen by having to rely on a veterinarian when my dog is ill.

i don't know. i'm just sorta thinking out loud. maybe this post belonged in the more generalized Computer Security forum. feel free to move it there, dear admins.

[EDIT: URL tag fix]