PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

TheCotMan · January 25, 2012, 13:07

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

Maintenance cycle starting now.

TheCotMan · January 23, 2012, 21:38

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

Something came up. Maintenance postponed, probably to tomorrow morning.

TheCotMan · January 23, 2012, 15:46

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

Forums will be down for 1 to 2 hours for sotfware maintenance starting at around 10pm pacific time tonight.

TheCotMan · January 19, 2012, 11:25

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

Defcon 19 planning, Defcon 19 and beyond, and Defcon 19 contests and events have been moved to the [forum=31]Defcon archive[/forum] for review.

TheCotMan · January 10, 2012, 15:18

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

I am planning on down-time for the forums as a general cleanup after the last major upgrade.

I have no set day or time, except the weekend.

TheCotMan · January 4, 2012, 16:14

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

You may noticed a new section "Home" to the left of "Forum" and "Blogs" in the navbar area at the top of each page.

The "Home" is meant to be for articles and content of importance when sites use "Home" as the default landing point for users. Right now, the default landing when visiting https://forum.defcon.org/ is the forums. We could change that, and this would cause people to see various announcements or articles in, "Home."

To create an article, sufficient access is required. This may change, but for now I have set up permissions to allow "Forum Contest/Event Leaders/Organizers", mods, goons, goon-mods, mods, and admins to promote posts to become articles and share space on the "home" section. This is an experiment, and is really only useful if we set the default landing page for visits to https://forum.defcon.org/ to be "home" but is something we can play with.

We can create multiple categories in Home for things like "Contests/Events/Social Gatherings" and limit access to that to forum leaders/organizers. We could create another for DC Groups, and another for Forum-specific content for mods, and another for general Defcon information and links to be used by another group. For now, there is just "home" and access is open to many. There is no point investing time to configure this if there is no interest in using it.

"Forum Contest/Event Leaders/Organizers" are not moderators; the CANNOT ban, unban, and are not supposed to enforce any rules. The extra controls they have are specifically for promotion of their event, and management of posts and threads in the forums that contain content for their contest or event. Just because a person runs a contest or event does not mean they immediately get the extra tools available to a person that has been reviewed by the mods (waiting period) to be trusted enough to not cause problems with their extra controls. I do not nominate any person running a contest or event unless I've met them or have a lot of experience with them as not being likely to create more work for me or other mods. (Low drama, trustworthy people are ideal.) Also, like other things we do on the forums, this is an experiment and can be eliminated at any time. So far it has helped us and people running contests or events that have this, as they don't have to bother us to manage posts and thread in the forum for their contest or event. This has been an experiment for about 5 years and is likely to continue as long as we don't have problems with it.

TheCotMan · January 3, 2012, 19:37

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

CES = Contest, Events Social-gatherings.

I do not authorize any contests, events or social gatherings, and the existence of a forum is no indication that any CES has been given a
nod for this year. I only help with the forums and where I am wanted and want to help. It is up to leaders/organizers to submit their info
to Pyr0, Nikita, or whoever can give them the resources they need to run their CES and verify it as true. Forums provided this early are means to help support leaders/organizers with space for discussion, and links to websites, twitter accounts, facebook pages and more, so attendees can know what is being planned by leaders and organizers this year. The forums will eventually conform to the decisions of people like Pyr0 and Nikita, and I will eventually be checking with them to find out which CES are known so I can close/remove any forums for remaining CES that are unknown to Defcon 20.

CES described above in the order they were announced by leaders/organizers in this thread:
https://forum.defcon.org/showthread.php?t=12652

* DC101
HighWiz has announced his intention to bring back DC101 for Defcon 20.
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=620
Site URL: http://defcon.stotan.org/dc101/

* oCTF
livinded has stated that the oCTF (Open Capture the Flag) will return
to Defcon 20.
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=621
Site URL: http://www.openctf.com/

---------------------------------------------------
Devian Ollam has announced plans to bring back several CES and replace
one contest:
* DEFCON Shoot
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=622
Site URL: http://www.deviating.net/firearms/defcon_shoot

* Beverage Cooling Contraption Contest
(To be back under new management. Devian Ollam suggests new leaders may
include any of the following: Ad-Hoc, Sax, Spam, or some others)
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=623
Site URL: (new leaders may change later): http://deviating.net/bccc/

* Black Bag
(To replace Gringo Warrior)
(I know no description or site URL, yet.)
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=624

* Lockpicking Village
This has been a location for lockpicking mini-contests in addition to
presentations and hands-on lock picking tables.
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=625
---------------------------------------------------

* Goon Band (Recognize)
Chris has announced the Goon Band (called, "Recognize,") is expecting
to return to Defcon 20.
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=626

* The Schemaverse DEFCON Tournament (When Space elephants attack )
User Abstrct has announced plans to bring back "The Schemaverse" to
Defcon 20.
(The name of this contest this year may change to not include "When
Space elephants attack.")
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=627
Twitter URL: https://twitter.com/Schemaverse

* Toxic BBQ
Last year, after the City of Las Vegas failed to notify Londo that the
park for the BBQ was going to be closed when the Toxic BBQ was to take
place (he only found out when he called back later to ask about the
reservation) there are plans to bring back the Toxic BBQ to Defcon 20.
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=628
Site URL: http://www.toxicbbq.com/

* Scavenger Hunt
MisterVandal has stated the Scavenger Hunt is a go for Defcon 20.
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=629
Facebook URL:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/DefCon...51406414877779
Twitter URL: https://twitter.com/DefConScavHunt

* Lost @ Con Mystery Challenge
Last year, Lost[boy] announced his intentions to bring back the Lost @
con Mystery Challenge and continue the badge contest and riddles.
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=630
Site URL: (2 years ago): https://ten-five-seven.org/

* Badge Contest
Last year, LoST[boy] started a riddle/puzzle through the badges, and he
said he planned to continue this contest this year.
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=636
Twitter URL: https://twitter.com/#!/1o57
Extra URL (last year, may be old and will probably change):
Classified%3a%20DTS//FDUO

* Project #2
zephyr notified us of their plans to bring back Project #2 for Defcon
20.
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=631
Site URL: http://generalstatics.com/
Old Site URL: http://prj2.ath.cx/

* HackBus
This year, organizers has claimed a desire to expand this to cover a
few caravans heading out of the San Francisco Bay Area to Defcon 20.
For now, the title will remain HackBus until a decision is made about
it by EvilMoFo.
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=632
Facebook URL: http://www.facebook.com/HackBus
Twitter URL: https://twitter.com/HackBus
Site URL: http://www.hackbus.net/
Their old Forum URL (if still used): http://www.hackb.us/

* SkyTalks
BluKnight says SkyTalks are a go for Defcon 20 and will return.
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=633
Facebook URL: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Skytalks/193792913989520
Twitter URL: https://twitter.com/dcskytalks

* Beard and Moustache Competition
red_beard announced intentions to bring back the Beard and Moustache
Competition to Defcon 20.
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=634
Site URL: http://dcbmc.com/
Twitter URL: https://twitter.com/dc_bmc
Facebook URL: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=112456228843421

* AICC (Alcoholic Ice Cream Contest)
It was previously announced on twitter
(https://twitter.com/AICC_Defcon) this was going to return.
However, after inquiring about this with Defcon goons and planners, I
was told this was NOT going to return this year.
I state this here, because there is a post in the thread mentioned at
the top where the twitter quote is included, but the last word I
received on this is that it was not going to return.

* Be the Match registry drive
Grendel has stated intentions to bring back the Be the Match Registry
Drive (bone marrow) to Defcon 20.
Forum URL: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=635
Site URL: http://www.marrow.org/
Twitter URL: https://twitter.com/BeTheMatch
Facebook URL: http://www.facebook.com/BeTheMatch
Blog URL: http://bethematch.typepad.com/
OLD (last year) Sign-up URL:
http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now/join_now.html