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I don't have a ton of love for politicking, but security researchers and staff engineers, a lot of the time, are people who either have a career in a really int
by verandaguy 3y ago
I don't have a ton of love for politicking, but security researchers and staff engineers, a lot of the time, are people who either have a career in a really interesting area in infosec and can bring a lot to the table as teachers/presenters, or people who want to get into that area and who'd benefit massively from a place like DEF CON considering how accessible its talks, demos, and villages are to people of all skill levels.
Socialising, learning hacking history, and getting to know the traditions is always a great side effect that the DC crowd's been good at passing on to new generations. Goons still give people shit for misbehaving, speakers still take shots, TOOOL still has some of the best workshops and tutorials on the conference floor and usually has some people who'll talk about breaking open Medecos or Fichets to anyone who'll listen.
I'd venture to say it's against the spirit of the con to try and gatekeep it.
Having said all that (and the irony not being lost on me) -- linecon's definitely getting worse, and I'm worried that DC's becoming a victim of its own success, with its accessible pricing and subject matter being counterbalanced by having to manage a 20-30k person crowd. I don't have a solution for this outside of decentralization, but I don't know if that's a good solution.
- merlincorey 3y ago> TOOOL still has some of the best workshops and tutorials on the conference floor and usually has some people who'll talk about breaking open Medecos or Fichets to anyone who'll listen. While you're over there look around for the Tamper Evident Village and we'll happily demonstrate and allow you to try removing Tamper Evident Seals of various kinds.
- verandaguy 3y agoAlso very cool stuff. I always see TEV bogged down with tons of people so after 4 cons I still haven't had a chance -- and while I have to miss this year, I'll hopefully swing by next year and check it out!
- verandaguy 3y agoI can't edit my original comment anymore, but I'll add: OG DEF CON stuff still happens, too. Parties, secret parties, parties that take a full day or two of codebreaking a badge to get to, demoscene stuff, drinking, public art, you name it, it's there -- it takes a back seat because DC does have to focus on mass appeal these days (I believe, because of its accessibility promise coupled with the number of people coming out). I forgot these when I wrote my original post at 1AM :)
- throwawaaarrgh 3y agoI have always hated the secret parties. As soon as I found out about them, I set about infiltrating them just to fuck with them. One of the reasons I left the hacker community was the toxic elitism and posturing.