Layer 8

A Confederacy of Somethings.

I am going to Black Hat,
I am going to Black Hat,
I am going to Black Hat,
And that means DEFCON too (yeah!).

As you might recall, I’ve been given the chance to go to one out-of-state conference this year. I finally decided on Black Hat, because it didn’t seem like a vendor pimpfest, I can get into DEFCON for the same price, and hell, I’ve never been to Vegas. I’ve never been the least bit tempted by gambling, but I sure do want to catch me some more live Penn & Teller (it’s been ... damn, nearly a decade).

So now I find myself pondering the essentials: which t-shirts to pack? Crackberry under the clothes, or in the fanny pack?

I’m actually a little worried that I’ll find the attendees at DEFCON annoying. I’m envisioning a bunch of self-proclaimed badass geeks who are really just young punks who don’t know the ‘net existed before 1992. Yes, this officially means I’m old. But nobody would mistake me for cool anyway. I can be frumpy anywhere, so it might as well be Vegas.

Oh, and I’m going to the Lone Star Information Security Forum again this year, which I’m very much looking forward to. This year I will try not to drive back from Dallas during Tornado Night.

* Did you parents know that Steve Burns came out with some pretty cool indie rock after he left Blue’s Clues? Check it out.

Posted by shrdlu on Thursday, April 17, 2008
(7) Comments • Permalink •

Next entry: Of course, some people do go both ways.

Previous entry: How to keep a darknet in your own data center.

Comments

on 04/17 at 03:38 AM:

What a HUGE mistake. Black Hat is just as much a vendor-fest as RSA, and both Black Hat and DEFCON have now become so crowded with civilians that they’ve become thoroughly unenjoyable experiences. Plus, if you’re going to Black Hat already, you’re going to see 90% of what you’ll see at DEFCON, or vice versa - and 90% of *that* can be seen online.

You’d find a much more congenial atmosphere and much more interesting discussions/presentations/papers at smaller cons such as HITB, LayerOne, ToorCon, ShmooCon, USENIX, HotBots, et. al. My advice to you is to choose another conference immediately; Black Hat and DEFCON aren’t like they used to be, and will likely prove to be a miserable, annoying, smelly (B.O. is terrible at these cons due to all the smelly, hot male geeks in confined circumstances) waste of time.

Alex Hutton

on 04/17 at 06:32 AM:

“* Did you parents know that Steve Burns came out with some pretty cool indie rock after he left Blue’s Clues? Check it out. “

My brain just exploded.

on 04/17 at 01:41 PM:

Wow Roland - bitter much?

I think you will enjoy Blackhat and Defcon. Blackhat is good for one or two runs but there is a lot of repeat talks year after year so I’ve stopped going (plus I don’t have a big company backing me anymore). And I still enjoy Defcon. Its one of the few (only?) events where I’ll can old colleagues and reconnect. And Vegas has tons to do outside of gambling. I’ve been to regional cons like ShmooCon and have been underwhelmed (read: bored). Although its true you will see many talks at Defcon that were at blackhat but its done in a more “casual” atmosphere and it can be a bit more interesting.

Plus you have the guarantee that you won’t see Roland there.

LonerVamp

on 04/17 at 02:03 PM:

I also will be at DefCon this year with a buddy of mine. I’ve never been to one either, but I feel a bit naked in the infosec circles for never having gone. I’m going with very little expectations beyond seeing lots of geeks (even nerds!) and seeing some informative talks. It’ll be my first time to Las Vegas as well, and I plan to hate every hellishly hot minute outside!

I kinda feel like I need to go and experience a DefCon at least once, even if it is far different than it was in the first anarchistic decade of the event.

on 04/18 at 03:48 AM:

Blackhat has an upside in that you can meet and greet senior vendor representatives, but from the perspective of learning, exchanging info, getting up to speed on latest and greatest techniques and ideas, Defcon is excellent.

I’m not a fan of Vegas, but definitely a fan of Defcon. You should have a good time:-)

arthur

on 04/23 at 09:59 AM:

@Roland

Well I’m glad to hear you won’t be there, that should make it more enjoyable for the rest of us.

*smooch*

-Arthur

on 05/23 at 02:15 PM:

This will be my 7th Defcon. I’m not sure whether I can honestly recommend the con or not. My big reason for coming back is that it’s become a de facto reunion for a bunch of my college friends. The talks are a mixed bag at best, though after a few years you start to figure out how to pick which ones to go to (and which ones to avoid like the plague) by the capsule description in the program. Hacker Jeopardy is usually fun times, but only with copious alcohol. Upon reflection, I’d say it’s worth your time to come to the con at least once, just for the experience of it. Seeing 5000 hacker-types in one place, and in particular in the middle of Vegas, is pretty worthwhile.

PS: Don’t pack any t-shirt you bought from ThinkGeek (if you own such)—you’ll see 5 other people wearing it.