Colorful Times » Technology

Dispatches from Defcon (Part 3)

Evan Arnold — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 10:38:36 +0000

“It’s weird…you know the end of something great is coming, but you want to hold on, just for one more second…just so it can hurt a little more.” – Jan Denise

I met the following dawn with a sombre feeling. This was it, the end of Defcon 18. I spent the day relaxing, resting from the tiresome but fun affair that was the con. After getting up late, I browsed the casino floor at the Rivera and played slots. I approached the machine nervously, but I kept my cool as I sat down in the chair. I relaxed and spun the dial. Watching the lights and sounds flash in rhythm, doing an eternal melody that meant that eventually the casino would in fact be getting a new Amazingly, I won ten dollars and decided to quit while I was ahead. While I was exchanging the worthless slip of paper in my hands for cash that I heard a high pitched electronic buzzing sound. My initial thoughts were that someone must have broken a slot machine somewhere, but no…I was wrong.

As I rounded the corner back to my room, the buzzing got louder. I heard a comical ‘beep-beep’ from behind me, coming from the penny slot machines. I turned around and saw a column of people riding mopeds each of them coiffed up with an Elvis jumpsuit and sunglasses to boot. I was caught between the riders, a section of wall and a slot machine. Due to the sheer surreality of the scene, I failed to take in what was really happening. The riders bore down on me faster. I could see the headline now ‘Press-man crushed underneath half horsepower wheels, Defcon unavailable to comment.’ Nowhere else to go, I pressed myself up against the machine and watched as they buzzed passed, nicking the tips of my sneakers. I couldn’t help but admire their insane behaviour.

Before mid-day, Defcon attendees starting leaving the hotel in droves. Even then, there must have been at least five thousand of us crammed into four different rooms for closing ceremonies. For those not in the room where everyone was gathered, a live video hookup was displayed on a massive projector. As the closing ceremonies wore on, goons tossed swag into the seated attendees. At some point, someone inflated several beach balls in our room, and we smacked them back and forth amongst one another, a few being caught unaware when they bounded down, hitting a few attendees in the head. As the last awards were given, last notices read, last speeches given, we were shown our target next year, the luxurious Rio hotel. With that final slide, Defcon was over. I found two books nearby, part of the swag that the goons had been throwing out. I looked over the covers, one was about living in a Nudist colony, and the other was another John Sundman book, ‘The Pains’. I didn’t see any owners around, so I pocketed the Sundman novel. I gave the nudist colony book to a fellow con-goer. “Free literature for those who feel the need to keep informed.” I said, handing the book over. Before he had time to look at the title, I sank back into the crowd again.

The Riveria glinted like a blemish jewel in the Vegas heat. To quote Hunter Thompson I was in my right place. ‘…just another freak, in the freak kingdom.’ I would miss my time here, but even more I’d look forward to the next Defcon.

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Evan Arnold

Dispatches from Defcon 18 (Part 2)

Evan Arnold — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 14:55:21 +0000

I slept soundly as I adjusted to the peculiarities of Nevadastan. When I woke the next morning, I had twenty minutes to get ready for my first panel. Before I came to Defcon, I had picked out a schedule full of panels that I thought would carry the interest of any possible readers. Dressed in a much more reasonable vintage Hawaiian t-shirt and shorts, I bounded out the door, said goodbye to Dougan and Sean who were currently trying to decode the badge and headed downstairs. The talks at Defcon are as varied as the convention goers. Titles ranged from ‘How Hackers Survived the Zombie Apocalypse’ to ‘Weaponizing Lady Gaga’, a However, a good portion of your time is spent waiting in line as you are filed into the panel with the speaker, sometimes as much as just the talk itself. Initially I waited in line just like everyone else did, going to as many talks as possible, still unsure of how to cover Defcon.

DefCon 18: Nights like days; days that seemed more like nights.

The ‘real’ press was out in full force, as men burdened with camcorders loomed in hallways, giving panoramas of the event. I couldn’t help but feel a bit minuscule with only my notebook and pocket camera. Congestion too and from panels was terrible. The aging Riveria was taxed by the sheer number of convention goers, as shoulder to shoulder traffic stretched from wall to wall, this quickly heated the confined spaces that we were trapped in to that of a sauna. Among the most common topics for panels of discussion included the assaults on internet privacy by both corporations and government, and the nature of cyber-crime/terrorism. The emphasis on these topics is no doubt fueled in part by the internet kill-switch bill, and the attacks on net neutrality. Near the end of the second day, I had a revelation concerning the talks. The lectures there-in were already provided on the cd given to me along with my badge at registration. This would then be shortly leaked to the internet as free information. It was only after exhausting myself by moving from room to room for the duration of the day had I realized this. Instead, I decided to salvage the notes I had made by using the points therein as ‘diving boards’ to future articles. When the evening came, I decided to tour my first Vegas casino.

No clocks. No windows. Only the unending series of lights above me, the dull and aesthetically displeasing carpet beneath me, and the endless stretches of one armed bandits, and same colored walls before me. Being on the casino ground floor was like being in a dream, nothing felt very real. I suspect that I wasn’t the only inhabitant of the Riveria to feel that way, from the rate people were pouring money into the casino. The elevators to my room were through the very center of this no man’s land, and it wasn’t well until the next day that I’d learn the layout of the place. In the mean time I had to stick to the walls, which would ultimately lead me to the proper set of elevators. It might have been slower, but it was preferable to being lost. Although ultimately I knew that it wasn’t getting lost that bothered me; I too heard the siren calls of the slots like so many others, and preferred to avoid the temptation to ‘win it big’ and save some of my money. For the time being at least.

In lieu of throwing down money to pay for a second Faberge Egg for the hotel, I attended my first Defcon contest with Sean, called Hacker Jeopardy. Hacker Jeopardy played out much like you’d expect Jeopardy too, except that Alex Trebeck (whom I always thought looked like a crooked Methodist minister) was absent, being replaced by a Lewis Black-as-a-game show host impersonator. Oh, and whenever a daily double got answered right, the card-girl dubbed ‘Vinyl Vana’ would remove a piece of clothing. Get an answer wrong, and you are at the mercy of her and her cat-o’nine-tails. The added bonuses being that you get points added to your score as you drink beers, which are expected of contestants in order to support their team. It wasn’t exactly Sean’s show, as he averted his eyes every time ‘Vinyl’ discarded another layer of clothing. Should you be a lucky audience member and get an answer right, you got some Defcon 18 swag to show for your efforts.

After it was over, Sean headed back to the room. But I wasn’t quite finished with the evening yet. There was a meet for people from the forums that I intended to go to. Despite the fact that I hadn’t actually signed up for the forums, it seemed like a good opportunity to do some ground work. The party was being held in a skybox that was above the room that held Hacker Jeopardy. While loud techno music blared, lights strobed in rhythm with the beats. Club-Mate was a common drink for those who had had enough alcohol. Being a caffeine injected mate based extract, the slogan ‘One gets used to it’ was more than appropriate. I looked around me, as people clumped together into little groups. I still stood rather awkwardly by myself. I had never been good with just meeting people. I downed the drink I had and thought about taking off and calling it a night. I looked down at my shoes; I was a failure as a newsman. Did I really think I could get a better scoop than the pros? ‘Excuse me,’ a female voice said. I looked up and saw a red-head woman, somewhat shorter than I was. She smiled. ‘It seems you’re just as lost as we are.’ She said, indicating towards a man wearing a black kilt with frazzled brown hair that would do Carrot-top proud. It was then that I met ‘Mystique’ and ‘Quality’.

Those of course weren’t their real names but handles, a protective bubble that most people never consider having around them. While Defcon attendees might have differed on many issues, privacy was something they could all agree on. In a world with shrinking anonymity, they felt pressed to exercise what shreds of secrecy they could hold on too. After giving them my real name and identifying myself as press, we talked. Mystique and Quality were students from Oklahoma State, and were both computer science majors. Bemoaning the lack of things to do in Tulsa, they were astounded by what Vegas had to offer as I was. They came to the con as so many others did, for fun, but also to pick up a few tricks along the way. A man wearing a Hawaiian t-shirt and bearing a backpack with a bottle of Grey Goose happened by. He asked to join us and we obliged. He identified himself as Jarett. Jarret is a Director of Datacenter Operations by trade; a photographer by hobby. And what a photographer he is. When pressed to see some of his work, he pulled out his ipad and displayed his photographs. You can see his work here. Someone bumped into the volume knob and turned it up. I suddenly couldn’t hear our group anymore. Unwilling to leave my new acquaintances, I regulated myself to the old standby – the smiling and nodding role, downing drinks to remain sociable when able.

As the meet wound down, we decided to hit the chill-out room. The chill-out room was open at all times of day and night. Loud electronica blasted from the speakers as a projector displayed psychedelic images. A massive paper-mache dragon hung from the ceiling, and occasionally the projector would produce gout of pastel Colours aimed towards the dragon’s open mouth so it looked as if it produced flame. We got on the miniature dance floor, the tiny piece of ten by ten laminated wood standing against the otherwise carpet floor. It is no secret that I am a terrible dancer. My methods of strutting my stuff aren’t improved much either when I’ve had a few drinks. Electronica is different though.

With Electronica there are no rules, even the moves that would get you laughed out of many a club such as the old man two step, the sprinkler, and even the worm are accepted. You move like how you want to move. The embrace of individualism seen in ravers and people who let the music move them is a quality held by the ‘hacker fringe’ in high esteem. I bobbed my head at first, letting myself feel the beat as I closed my eyes, avoiding some of the more painful strobe patterns as I adjusted to the dark. Soon I found myself moving with everyone else on the floor, my body going where the music guided me, perhaps not as gracefully as some, but moving me all the same. Tipsy, sweaty and tired, I bid adieu to my new friends and went back to the room.

Third Day:

“Looks like there was quite a party on the roof.” Dugan said. “Hmm?” I asked, reaching for my press badge. There was quite a scene beneath us. On the roof below, it was apparent that someone found a roof access. A laptop, smashed to smithereens lay below, along with several bottles of alcohol, some chairs, and a table. As we watched we took relish in finding new things on the roof that shouldn’t be there. It was just about this time that who I can only assume were hotel security took in the scene just moments after we arrived at the window. We watched as he used his shoulder mounted radio to call in for back up, and soon there were three of them standing there on the roof, shaking their heads. The things that great recession workers have to put up with, no?

I was tired of panels. I treated myself to sleeping in that morning. I decided I’d take a serious tour of the lock pick village, and the vendor room. I had peaked in before, but I hadn’t bothered to buy anything yet, believing the prices would drop substantially by the third day. I realized that I hadn’t done any events personally yet. I had my eye on the Gringo Warrior competition when I initially saw it, in my wilder and woollier days I had an interest in physical security which ran rather deep. Furthermore, I doubted that journalists covering the event would be attempting any challenges at the con. Ready to seize the day, I headed downstairs. Finding the lock picking room disappointingly closed, (holding a baby shower instead of the lock pick village) I turned to the Vendors room. From CB radios to electronics, lock picks to livery, the Vendor room had it all. Even if the items in the Vendors were a bit pricier. As soon as I came upon the frame with the locks on it, I made a bee line for the stand. I waited eagerly to try out the tumblers, curious to see how secure they were. The table that the frame stood upon had various picks and tension tools on it, begging to be used. After picking out one of the shorter tension wrenches and a reasonably undamaged full hook pick, I went to work.

My efforts were fruitless however, and frustrated I put the tools back, walking over to the front of the stand where a vendor explained that the locks were nearly pick-proof; a locksmith replacing the normal cylinder pins with spindle and mushroom type pins making it very difficult to tell which pins had been picked. The locks were also tension resistant, requiring just the amount of effort to turn a key to open. Any more or less and the cylinder would freeze. I started to head out of the room, a little disappointed that I was unable to open the locks when the stand near the door caught my eyes.

Stacks of books entitled ‘Acts of the Apostles’ with a medieval tapestry motif on the cover caught my ever roving eye. That was how I met John Sundman; a recipient of the Society of Technical Communication’s Award of Distinguished Technical Communication and Brazil’s Rei do Lixo medal, self published author and a rather interesting individual.

‘That’s a rather unusual cover for a book at a security convention.’ I said, indicating to a nearby copy of ‘Acts…’ “Ah, I find it works well to attract attention.” John responded. We held a short conversation over the nature of Defcon, publishing, and the world of words we enveloped each other. Before we parted ways I slammed a ten on the table, he passed me a copy of ‘Acts’ and autographed it. Just as I was taking it, he gave me his business card, asking me to tell me what I thought about it, even if it was rubbish. I grinned telling him that ‘if nothing else, it would make a very effective coaster’ before heading over to register for Gringo Warrior.

Putting my name down on the list, I waited my turn to take to the stage a bit nervously. It was in between my time of watching people clear the course that they all had their own tools. I, by contrast, had none. I watched as a contestant with spiked blue hair who called himself ‘Konrad’ used a set of picks very similar to mine that I have at home. He passed the course, but didn’t do good enough to get into the finals. Letting himself into the crowd, I approached him and explained my pick-less situation. Without as much as a second thought he loaned me the set. I thanked him and picked out my favorite tools from the set, handing him back the rest. My moniker was called. I took to the stage. I had around sixty sets of eyes upon me, one pair of handcuffs, one guard to subdue, two doors to get through and five minutes to do all of it in. The clock started, and I was off.

I struggled against the handcuffs, looking down at the dull green pair of ‘easy’ cuffs. I took my tension wrench and immediately began to probe around them, testing them this way and the other. It was to no avail however, and at the 2:30 mark I required someone to undo the cuffs for me. I had no time to fool around with any medium locks. I dived right into the easy door lock, working quickly to make up for lost time. I opened the door and with a ‘Judo Chop!’ I stopped the guard dead in his tracks. I approached the next lock another easy and within a few seconds that too was open. Grabbing the guards disguise and pulling him back to where I started, I made a go for my passport when I started to run out of time. With five seconds left on the clock, I dashed across the stage at the last second, my victory met with applause.

My score was tallied up, and while I fell considerably short of any contestants who placed in the top five, I still managed to at least break 50 points. After getting thanked for playing and being encouraged to get my hair chopped in a show of support for the EFF that would add bonus points to my score, I returned to tools to Konrad, thanked him and decided to find out more about the EFF. Certainly if it could explain so many hawked up people running about, it may very well be worth checking out. As I approached the room for the EFF (or Electronic Frontier Foundation) I heard the sounds of a police trainer. I watched as a Defcon attendee assumed a firing position with a mocked up M1911. Having a little experience with handguns before, I decided to give the game a try. After forking over twenty dollars, I played a round. When I was thanked for donating to the EFF, I resolved to learn more about the organization.

The EFF is a non-profit organization based around digital rights advocacy for the user and to stop infringements on these rights. To these ends, it provides funds for legal defence in court, challenges legislation that threatens digital rights advocacy, defends individuals and new technologies in court, and sponsors new emerging technologies that preserve personal freedom. I learned that they had won the court-case to make jail-breaking your smart phone of choice perfectly legal. It occurred to me that in such times where privacy was dwindling rapidly and user rights were being infringed upon by corporations that nothing would be more important that an organization such as this. I joined straight away, and walked out of the EFF room wearing one of their T-shirts.

Leaving the EFF room, I fought my way back against the horde of people lying up for the next row of panels. As I finally got out of the bottlenecked section of the crowd, I saw a man emerge five or six feet away from me. A Caucasian with flattop style hair, he wore a black suit and tie against a white shirt. His dress shoes, also black, were spit shined. I couldn’t help but giggle. Was this a joke of some sort? Why would a federal agent wear something so obvious? So cliché? I got close enough to him to verify that this wasn’t some bizarre Wight brought on by the desert heat or my lack of sleep. I muttered ‘Fed’ underneath my breath in a teasing tone. I watched as he turned and scowled at me with such ferocity that I decided I should walk at a somewhat faster clip to my room.

That evening, was the officially held Defcon party. It was just my luck however, that the event was only for 21 and overs. Despite my best efforts at sneaking in, it was to no avail. There were at least six people checking ID’s at the front. While I waited though I met a man named ‘Chuck_B’ a participant at FAWM.org, we discussed the recording business, both agreeing that it was biased against ‘corporate artists’, compared our tastes in older country music, and a desire to see copyright laws be shredded. Finally as we approached the entrance, I said I’d meet him inside and that I had left my ID in the room. With a ‘nice to meet you’ and a ding of an elevator, I said goodbye to Chuck_B.

It was then that I realized that I had nothing to do for the rest of the evening. I had nothing planned out, getting into that exclusive party was really my only goal. I went back up to the room to meditate over what to do and grab the cigar I bought before I left. The victory cig was a Rocky Patel Connecticut, and was quite a few levels above the swishers I used to smoke back in my freshman college days. I headed outside to the pool area where people who weren’t in a party upstairs were congregating. After lighting up I took the scene in. Aside from the music, you could hardly tell any festivities were in place. People drank and talked calmly, no one was dancing although there were a few who were floating about in the pool. It was then that I wandered over to a group of fellow smokers.

‘Hey man, mind if I give that cigar a try?’ One of them asked me. ‘Nawh, go right ahead.’ I said, and offered him the Patel. In turn he gave me a drag off of his black, which had an interesting flavor that I didn’t like too much either way. ‘Man, that thing is smooth.’ He said. I nodded, giving him the black back. One of them asked if I was upstairs, and I replied that I couldn’t get in, security was too tight. The lot of us shared a laugh about that then. Defcon people like defiant types pushing against the man, even in little ways. It’s part of who they are. I saw my entry for an impromptu interview and took it; after introducing myself as press. The lot of them were college students off on a school sponsored trip to Defcon, all were pursuing computing or technology degrees in the M.A. or higher levels. They all enjoyed the ‘con thoroughly, all were first timers. ‘Hey teach’ said one of them casually as a bespectacled man with a buzz cut and muted, toned muscles strode over.

He introduced himself as ‘Griffin’. He was a regular, having attended the convention for the last seven years, this being his first as a civilian. I asked him how things had changed during the history of the convention. He said that the convention had gone more mainstream, and that this Defcon was immeasurably tamer than those before it, some people even bringing their children now. Those original people that started the con were basically ‘ageing hippies’ and make up the core of the convention. There was a wide age gap and philosophy gap between the older con goers and the newcomers as far as Defcon went. He told me to be on the look out for people dressed in Elvis jumpsuits riding mopeds throughout the hotel. I said that I would, taking him only half seriously. He further said that the rumor that the satellite TV dish that was taken apart and had the scavenger hunt item hidden inside it was absolutely true. He pointed to a line of large antiquated satellite dishes, claiming that one of them had the scavenger hunt item recovered. The guts of the satellite scooped out and put on an endless loop of sending and receiving data, so it looked like it was functioning, even though it wasn’t.

I then endeavoured to ask him what branch of service he was involved with. He replied with Army with a history of counter-terrorism. When pressed with what why he would take a job in technology at a university over counter-terrorism, he revealed that colon cancer rendered him unable to do his job as an interrogation specialist. So, he went civilian and as he always did, attended Defcon. After making a joke that ‘it’s easy to spot the spooks, they wear crew cuts and shorts’ he took a call and was off. I finished my cigar, and that was when I ran into Jarett again. I apologized for the smiling and nodding routine that I pulled on him and explained my lack of hearing due to experimentation with firecrackers as a child. We spent the evening talking about several subjects from the nature of humanity, to religion, to the supernatural, quickly followed dissertations in mental illness and people watching. I would happily write about the conversation we shared, but the very personal nature of our talks forces me to self-censor our dialogue.

Suffice to say, I went back to the room with many things on my mind, a sunnier outlook on life, and feeling the subtle changes from our conversation. So if you are reading this, thank you Jarett.

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Evan Arnold

Dispatches from Defcon 18

Evan Arnold — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:26:56 +0000

When I first heard of Def-con, I must admit, I was not terribly interested. A security tech-convention held in the wastes of Las Vegas did not sound like much of a good time. Aside from some fiddling I did with Python in my younger years, I didn’t have much experience with computers on that level. However, the deeper I delved into Defcon, the more interesting it became. Upon viewing the footage from Defcon 15 where a press agent was ousted in spectacular fashion for recording the con illegally and not wearing a press-badge, I had an epiphany.

Defcon 18 - July 30 - August 1, 2010 at the Riviera Hotel & Casino (Las Vagas)

Technology background or no, I would fit into this crowd just fine. So with that, I booked my ticket eager in anticipation. On the morning of July 29^th, we took off to parts unknown. Attending with me were two friends of mine, Sean, who had initially introduced me to the convention, and Dugan, who we coerced into coming with us. I had dubbed Sean the ‘Puritan Hacker’ for a very simple reason. He certainly had the knowledge to lay waste to an open computer, but ethics and morals kept him from doing so. Meeting up with us in the sinful city was Dugan, our mutual friend. Dugan was too smart for the community college racket; too smart for south Texas. As a high strung genius with a penchant for adventure, it only took a little cajoling from both Sean and I to get him to come with us.

The drive to the airport had been short and harrowing, I had woken up a little too late and it was with a rush that I put on the formal wear I’d laid out for the night before. We reached the airport just as they were closing the gates, and I had yet to either get my ticket or reach security. Needless to say I was awash with a mix of panic and excitement. The bright fluorescent lights of the airport rattled my brain, groggily driving sleep from it. Sean had arrived ahead of me. He held in his hand that magic slip of paper that would take him to parts untravelled, giving me my own. With a hasty goodbye we booked it for the airline gates. We had five minutes to go through security.

A hurried security check later (if you dress nice, they don’t give you very much trouble) we were almost home free. At the far end of the gate I could see the airline employee locking the door. I hadn’t retied my dress shoes yet, time was the precious commodity I was running out of. I had to act quickly. I carefully picked my feet up in a half-hopping motion. I moved one after the other as fast as I dared, going at such a speed that threatened to spill my bags all over the airport corridor. Sweating I made it without incident. Sean not trailing far behind as we made a mad dash towards the counter. ‘Wait! We’re here!’ I said, the calm and official ‘Final boarding call for….’ rang from the PA system in my ears. With a moment’s reluctance, she unlocked the door. Before I could breathe a sigh of relief we were on our way. We settled in the cramped plane (no doubt partly due to the size of the turboprop, and partly due to Corpus being America’s fattest city) and I went off to an uneasy sleep. Sean, refusing to take the Benadryl I told him would put him out stayed awake, gripping the cheap plastic armrests with white-tipped fingers as we took off. He remained bolted to the floor until we landed in Houston. Our Red-eye flight out of Corpus gave us plenty of time before Defcon began to meet up with Dugan and check in at the El Cortez Hotel and Casino ahead of him.

I had just enough time to grab a coffee and feed Sean a few facts to calm him down about flying before we boarded our next plane. The 737 which carried us out of Houston was a much nicer flight than the cramped and stuffy turbo-prop which had taken us out of Corpus. We settled in, as I realized how out of place I looked; bedecked in my 30’s era suit, carrying my appropriately ageing Samsonite, and wearing spectators shoes. Each seat came equipped with a miniature DirectTV implanted into the front. I poked around the channels and saw that Manhattan Melodrama was just starting. Clark Gable was giving his best John Dillinger; which for John Dillinger for was the last film he enjoyed before being shot. I secretly mourned that not more criminals had the same sense of panache and flair of Dillinger or actors as Gable. I floated between Manhattan Melodrama and a History Channel expose of Sodom and Gomorrah, nudging Sean and telling him ‘look, that’s where we’re headed!’ He shook his head, giving a snort of amusement. Upon take off the DIRECTV became available at the low, low price of $9.95 for the duration of the flight, and I decided along with most of the passengers that not even Clark Gable in this day and age was worth$ 9.95.

When we touched down in Las Vegas, it was like we stepped off another planet. Already in the airport, the ringing of slot machines could be heard. The heat, while excessive, had no humidity, and was extremely tolerable. The surreality of the scene crept upon me like E. Coli on room temperature beef. This was Nevadastan. This was a place separate of the greater American experience, my own little Sodom and Gomorrah. Not knowing better, we took a taxi to the El Cortez hotel and casino.

The El Cortez had seen better days. It was off the strip in the shabbier part of Vegas. It was part of the decaying core behind the glitz and glamour that was the gilded strip, part of the rotting heart of Vegas. Buildings lay in disrepair, construction workers are absent from their sites, decrepit hulks lurch skywards. Women, hock themselves for profit as shady figures lurk in alley-ways and the pitifully old hunch over beeping machines, hoping for that lucky break. Our room was tiny, had no air conditioning, and was less than comfortable after a day of travel; needless to say it looked and was nothing as advertised. Coupled with the fact they wanted to charge me a hundred dollar security overhead which they notified me only after we arrived and the room for every night after our original stay was close to two hundred bucks made me feel rather duped and irate. I planned on calling Dugan only to find that my phone battery was missing. After tracking one down across town at the tune of 39 dollars, we ate in a café across the street. I had noticed that with my choice of dress several woman in various stages of undress were giving me quite a bit of attention. “Good morning sir!” one of them cried. I fumbled for an answer, saying “errr…Hello.” rather quietly. They laughed and moved on down their way.

After a quick meal at the greasy spoon, we spent the rest of that morning baking in the Nevada sun. (Me, especially baking with my poor fashion choice) and looking at different hotels nearby, whose prospects for our stay were also slim. We passed by the infamous 14 dollar a night Western which I pointed out to Sean. It was nearly one in the afternoon. Defcon would be starting soon. For the third time that day, we took a taxi. For the third time that day I cursed under my breath as I paid $3.00 for the first twelfth of a mile and .20 cents for every twelfth out of that. I hadn’t even gambled yet and I was already losing money like a sieve.

There was a tangible sense of excitement in the air, the line for registration stretched down the length of the main hallway, and well into the foyer before stopping. I felt uncomfortable, unsure, and full of unease. At the same time, excitement sprung up in me like a well. How would I report on this event and make it accurate? My unease wasn’t helped by being the only person that I could see in a suit. I thought of the uniqueness of my position given my age, and pride tinged in to mix with all those other feelings. I took in the crowd, studying them as we slowly shuffled along in line.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0GGq9jZc4M

Defcon attracted a wide swath of people as far as attendee demographic was concerned. Punkers and Polo-shirts were shoulder to shoulder, as young and old, women and men formed an orderly mob to get their badges. I realized then, that I was among them. All the hackers, crackers, computer aficionados, techies, and feds I could handle were jammed as Defcon assistants and staffers known as ‘Goons’ tried to keep some semblance of order. Half an hour later, I finally made it to the head of the line. Asking where press-registered got me sent down the hall-way where I was previously. The double-breasted wool suit irradiating me from the body heat of hundreds of attendees baked in the Las Vegas sun.

Sweltering in the heat, I found the press room, and signed myself in. It wasn’t without some measure of pride that I put a circuit board with a lanyard around my neck. The ‘P’ stamped in the corner ostensibly standing for press. I fiddled with the badge, pressing the buttons and watching what happens on the LED screen. Shortly thereafter, Dugan arrived; Sean and I explain the situation with the room at the El Cortez. Dugan upon hearing of the palace that awaits him in the Cortez, he opts out. Renting a room in the Riviera for the duration of the con, in doing this however, he is late to receive a badge. In lieu of the circuit-board badges, he receives a paper one. Sean and I board a taxi for the third time that day. We cancel our stay at the El Cortez, pack up, and speed back to the Riviera. By the end of the day, over 150 dollars has gone to taxis.

Later that evening, Dugan is hard at work putting a phallus icon on my badge after learning he can make his own icons for the circuit-board badge. I tell him it’s indicative of my personality, and he laughs before going back to work.

This is Defcon. Are you ready? Was I?

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Evan Arnold

20 Useful WordPress Plugins

Paul Boakye — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:24:12 +0000

WordPress is probably the best and most versatile blogging system available this side of anywhere.

For those of you who don’t already know, WordPress is a web publishing platform (also known as a content management system) written in PHP and backed by a MySQL database. It is used to manage frequently-updated Web content, especially Weblogs. WordPress is distributed under the GNU General Public License and is available free of charge.

WordPress for Business Bloggers: Promote and grow your WordPress blog with advanced plug-ins, analytics, advertising, and SEO.

Now, I know that “free” is always good to hear, but the best thing about WordPress is not necessarily the price tag or the platform itself. The best thing about WordPress is the way in which legions of bloggers everywhere have taken to the brand, creating their own add-on programs to plug the software’s limitations and inadequacies, which could be described as many and varied.

The other great thing about WordPress is that most its Developers and Bloggers really don’t mind sharing their knowledge and ideas with you, which is probably not what you’re used to–if you come from a background where every man is his own island, like crabs in a barrel, so to speak. But the collaborative nature of blogging and the Internet is what makes for real success online–but more of that later in another post.

This collaborative working has in turn spawned what we now know in the bloggersphere as Plugins. A plugin (or plug-in) is a program written specifically to interact or integrate with another application. The program plugs into the application, and in this respect, provides additional functionality that is not available in WordPress. Plugins are enhanced and developed based upon the feedback of their many users and are generally made available free of charge by Developers who work tirelessly on them as a labour of love because he or she can.

Plugins have extended the popularity and usefulness of WordPress. There is very little as a result that you might want to do with your WordPress blog that a plugin has not already been created to accomplish. In fact, there are often several competing plugins doing roughly the same thing. So, if one plugin conflicts with your chain of other plugins, you can generally find something else to replace it that works just fine.

1. Akismet
Checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not.

2. Ajax Spell Checker
Add a spellchecker to your blog.

3. Ozh’ Admin Drop Down Menu
Drop Down Menus for WordPress Admin.

4. All in One SEO Pack
Out-of-the-box SEO for your WordPress blog.

5. Popularity Contest
Rank your posts by number of visitors who visit it.

6. Dagon Sitemap Generator
Generates a customizable sitemap containing all posts and pages.

7. Event Calendar
Display future events in a dynamic calendar on a listings page or as in the sidebar. Subscribe to the calendar from iCal (OSX) or Sunbird.

8. Get Recent Comments
Display the most recent comments or trackbacks with your own formatting in the sidebar.

9. My Page Order
Lets you set the order of your pages.

10. podPress
Everything you need for Podcasting in one easy plugin.

11. Protected Downloads
Restrict and track downloads from your blog.

12. Redirect Old Slugs
Change your post slugs without breaking the old ones (which redirect to the new ones).

13. Related Posts
Return a list of the related entries in your WordPress powered site.

14. Role Manager
Assign access roles to your blog users.

15. Share This
Let your visitors share posts and pages with others. Supports e-mail and posting to social bookmarking sites.

16. ShowOnFrontPage
Prevent selected posts from showing on your front page.

17. Simple: Press Forum
A simple way to add a customisable forum integrated into your theme like the one used here.

18. Ultimate Tag Warrior
Tag your posts and pages with this tagging plugin.

19. WP-ContactForm
A drop in form to let your visitors contact you from a page or a post.

20. WP-Translate
Let your visitors translate your site to any language using Altavista.

That is the beauty of WordPress – finding your selection of plugins coupled with your WordPress enabled Search Engine Optimised (SEO) theme that will give your blog the edge and its distinctive look, feel, and flavour.

The great thing about all of this is that it’s all largely made available free on the Internet by WordPress enthusiasts and Bloggers like you and me. So with freeness uppermost in mind, this is my list of 20 WordPress plugins to add essential functionality and flexibility to your new Weblog.

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Paul Boakye

Writer, editor and marketing specialist who sat on The Power Inquiry. Former editor and CEO of the consumer lifestyle magazine, Drum (UK), and author of five plays published for an academic audience by Alexander Street Press, USA. Recipient of business and writing awards, including prestigious accolades such as advising British government, BBC radio and TV commentator, and invitation to meet Queen Elizabeth II in 2007. Currently works as a communications professional, creating contagious ideas to help great brands change the conversation to their advantage, across the entire Central and West African region.

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How to Make Money Blogging

Paul Boakye — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:07:22 +0000

There was a time when the only way for you to make money on the Net was by selling porn. Then along came Amazon and Google with their very own brand of successful affiliate marketing techniques and pressing the flesh was no longer the only way for you to make money online.

Email Marketing and Online Surveys make it easy to connect with your customers. Try it FREE for 60-Days. You will wonder how you lived without it.

Porn is still big business as any teenage schoolboy will testify, but it is only for those prepared to take the risks. You won’t have to get that sleazy because now even your average Blogger can now make big money online with a choice selection of legitimate products and services from reliable affiliate programs that work.

Listed below are the top earners that successful Bloggers use to make money from their website(s). But first thing’s first, to run any successful online presence, you’ll first need to have a web address that says you are a professional contender coupled with a great web hosting package.

Promote Affordable, Reliable Web Hosting

Get properly hosted yourself (including a FREE domain name) from a top notch customer service team. Offer your visitors high-powered web hosting services at a fraction of the cost, and earn $65.00 for every signup you generate from your website. Signup or switch today–it’s never too late to start saving money!

Google AdSense

The multi-national conglomerate’s contextual advertising program that lets you add a piece of code to your site to help them analyse what your pages are all about, Google will then serve Ads on that topic.

Google AdWords

You’ve got to spend money to make money, or so the old adage goes. And you can earn cash by using Google AdWords to target specific types of visitors to your site. Naturally, you will want to encourage those that add the most value. Now advertising that works is no longer only for the big boys with Google AdWords.

Join Amazon Associates

The web’s most popular and successful affiliate programme has a 15-year track record of developing solutions to help website owners make money. Amazon Widgets, for example, are rich, interactive mini-applications that bring Amazon functionality to your website and helps you monetize your website with a range of products from electronic goods to clothes. And there’s a whole lot more besides. Not just your average bookseller.

Sell Text Link Ads on Your Site

Your fees will depend on your Google and Alexa page ranking. New advertisers are eligible for $100 in FREE Links, and Text Link Ads will pay you $25 for every referral visitor from your site that signs up with them. If you sell ad space to your referrals, then your fee is paid up and in your account within 24 hours. That can’t be bad now, can it?

PayPerPost

Get paid to blog about the things you love! Write about web sites, products, services, and companies and earn cash for providing your valuable opinion and feedback to advertisers at PayPerPost.

Review Me

Earn ca$h to review and promote products. ReviewMe allows you to generate great revenue reviewing the products that interest you.

Let Chitika eMiniMalls Monetize Your Blog

Cost per click program that can perform well for product promotion type web sites. Offer retailers new channels of communication and give consumers better access to a broader base of independent experts.

Show Text-Ads on Your Website or Blog with BidVertiser

Display the BidVertiser text ads on your website or blog, get paid for every click and have the payments sent directly to your PayPal account. Simple!

Open Your Eyes to In-Text Advertising

With Kontera ContentLinks publishers can generate incremental revenue from contextually relevant keywords on their site while advertisers reach their most targeted audience on a Cost-Per-Click basis.

LinkShare Referral Program

Get Free LinkShare Membership! Enjoy the benefits of partnering with over 400 top online merchants all in one place. Earn revenue through email, textual, banner & newsletters links placed on your website.

Get Paid to Surf the Net

Help build a Global Community. Sign up, refer your friends, download the free Viewbar software and make money while you surf the Internet as normal. It couldn’t be more simple.

So there you have it. A few good ideas worth stealing, eh? What are you waiting for? These are the top performing affiliate marketing programs that will help you earn a real sizeable cash income from your website or blog. But don’t just take my word for it. Give them a run for their money!

This page is regularly updated, so bookmark it, and check back often to make even more money online.

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Paul Boakye

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Top Ten iPhone Apps

Paul Boakye — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:01:58 +0000

Forgive me. I may have just become an iPhone bore. After years of waiting for the ‘Jesus’ phone to be able to shoot, edit, and share video, I have finally fallen for the charms of the latest 3GS model.

“But what is the fastest, most powerful and stylish mobile phone on the market without apps?” you ask.

So, here: Try a selection of my ten must haves. Click on the names to check them out in iTunes (most of them free). Trust me!

Scrabble
The classic word game on the move (US spellings)
Facebook
No1 social networking site
Google Mobile App
Fast access to all things Google, Mail, Voice, Photos, Earth, Reader, etc
Last.fm
Listen to 5 million tracks for free
Movies
Flixster is the No1 movie app for iPhones
Simplify Music 2
Access your computer’s digital music on the go – fab!
Skype
Free and cheap calls worldwide
WordPress
Create and edit content on your blog from your iPhone
ShoZu
Upload photos to Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Picasa, Photobucket, Blogger, Ovi, WordPress, Windows Live Spaces, Photoshop
PayPal
Send money to friends and family.

Some 1.5 billion iPhone apps have been downloaded to date, and still counting. Did I miss out your favourite? Got a tip to tell? Or a gripe to share? Leave a comment.

Paul Boakye

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