Question(s) on Def Con:

Hello All;

My college is trying to talk me into going to Def Con this year (the
NSF is going to pay for it, of course.) I'm less than thrilled about
going to Las Vegas, NV at the end of July. Actually, I can't think of
anyplace I'd less rather go *any* time. (The good residents thereof
shouldn't take offense.)

So... what's the scoop on Def Con? I hear wildly conflicting stories
that it's 1) cutting edge computer security and 2) adolescent hackers
drinking beer and getting laid for the first time in 'Vegas. I
suppose that it could be both depending upon one's perspective.

Has anyone been to Def Con? What is your take on it? Does anyone
have any links to critical information? (I have
http://www.defcon.org/, of course.) How do I learn to speak CyberPunk
by then? Do I have to smoke pot or anything? I tried it in the '60s
and wasn't impressed.

Jones

!Jones

On 16-Mar-2005, !Jones <> wrote:

> Do I have to smoke pot or anything? I tried it in the '60s
> and wasn't impressed.

Just FYI, it has gone thru many upgrades and patches since then, it is
almost a whole new product.

--
Don't Panic!

ArtDent

On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 22:17:40 GMT, in alt.computer.security "ArtDent"
<> wrote:

>
>On 16-Mar-2005, !Jones <> wrote:
>
>> Do I have to smoke pot or anything? I tried it in the '60s
>> and wasn't impressed.
>
>Just FYI, it has gone thru many upgrades and patches since then, it is
>almost a whole new product.
>

Well, I'm too far gone to be "cool", so I'll pass. It's OK for a
20-something to be that; however, a 50-something just looks pathetic
if he tries. Face it: sooner or later, you gotta grow up. It sucks,
but it's true.

Jones

!Jones

!Jones wrote:
> On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 22:17:40 GMT, in alt.computer.security "ArtDent"
> <> wrote:
>
>
>>On 16-Mar-2005, !Jones <> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Do I have to smoke pot or anything? I tried it in the '60s
>>>and wasn't impressed.
>>
>>Just FYI, it has gone thru many upgrades and patches since then, it is
>>almost a whole new product.
>>
>
>
> Well, I'm too far gone to be "cool", so I'll pass. It's OK for a
> 20-something to be that; however, a 50-something just looks pathetic
> if he tries. Face it: sooner or later, you gotta grow up. It sucks,
> but it's true.
>
> Jones
You mean I have to grow up next year...sigh That just isn't fair.

Winged

winged

I quit going to computer "meetings". You get to sit and
listen to some snot-nose kid use jargon, or worse, you
get to sit and listen to some CS major preaching 20
year old hog-wash about Linux, and running down
MS Windows. Neither of them is going to come out
of the 80s, and every thing they tell you doesn't work,
or has been replaced by something that works better.
Only thing you might get out of a computer conference
is there might be one or two gamers in the group. Get
with them, and catch up on all the new developments
in case design, and the best chipset for the AMD 64.
The game market is driving the AMDs, and all the
me-toos are "finally" beginning to wonder what all the
noise is about. They haven't a clue, but at the same time,
they are dropping everything and redesigning all their
network devices around the game boxes ... and then
taking credit for everything ( like Sun Microsystems
is doing ). They don't know squat, and a couple days
with the gamers will fill you in. Maybe get some pointers
on tactics in Far Cry ... best hardware.

johns

johns