4 ms·

I attended an earlier DEF CON (5 or 6?) where the attendees: 1) Hacked the in-circuit TV system and broadcast their own pirate show 2) Gained roof acce

by snarfy 3y ago

I attended an earlier DEF CON (5 or 6?) where the attendees: 1) Hacked the in-circuit TV system and broadcast their own pirate show 2) Gained roof access and removed the satellite dish 3) Spilled hookah coals onto the bed starting a fire 4) drove the janitor's golf cart into the pool and that is only what I witnessed firsthand. I can only imagine what else went on. Maybe the attendees low spend was only part of the equation?

NegativeK 3y ago
There are still shenanigans, but all of the wildness has calmed down -- both via goon enforcement and casino staff knowledge. For example, the ATMs on casino floors are probably some of the most secure in the nation during the con. Harassment is also taken actually seriously.
EvanAnderson 3y ago
That sounds like DefCon 7 at the Alexis Park. I think I remember seeing a photo of a golf cart in the pool. I quit going after 7. It seemed like they partying had vastly I overtaken any actual technical content. I don't drink and I'm not super social, so it just seemed like it wasn't "for me" anymore. Edit: It has probably changed in the intervening years but every time I looked into it it seemed like more spectacle than tech. DerbyCon filled the niche for me for a few years but then it got impossible to get tickets for and imploded. (I know there's a lot of backstory about DerbyCon that I don't know, too. For me it was just a fun way to feel a little of the DefCon 3 vibes again.)
hodgesrm 3y ago
Other than the first item, this does not seem especially extreme by Vegas standards.
- pc86 3y ago
  You don't think breaking into a secured area and removing expensive hardware from the roof is extreme?
  - RIMR 3y ago
    Remember, this is the Las Vegas strip. The frame of reference for normal is a bit different.
  - treflop 3y ago
    Removing expensive hardware is crossing a line but a lot of people break into secured areas a lot.
RIMR 3y ago
I was at DEF CON 26 & 27 and people had punched/torn holes in the drywall in several places, and at one stairwell where you could reach up and slap the ceiling, chunks of ceiling were falling off from where people were gouging it. DEF CON is a hell of a party, and I hope to go this year, but the attendees are a force to be reckoned with. Even I ended up fucking up a homemade badge, and tossing a failing lithium battery into the trash in the middle of a casino, only to learn later I created a trash fire, so I know firsthand that we're a problematic bunch.
- smcin 3y ago
  Well you know you shouldn't put lithium batteries in the trash, worse still indoors in a hotel. DEF CON didn't have a contact for e-waste recycling?
TheCondor 3y ago
Among some other really cringey behaviors. I've seen bottles of alcohol passed around doing talks and heard more than a few really off color jokes about criminal sex acts and such. Vegas waitresses have seen it all also but there was over the top behavior. We're in a victim dominant culture now, "it's not you or what you've done, you're just a victim of evil or something" but at more than a few Def Cons and more than a few times, it was really uncomfortable to be there and see some of the stuff that was happening.
- tekla 3y ago
  Yes, counter-culture is counter-culture. It was meant to make normals uncomfy.
  - queuebert 3y ago
    Guess what? Hotels are run by normals.
    - tekla 3y ago
      And they are perfectly fine with the crowd. I've chatted with many hotel staff and almost all of them are happy with the DC crowd. Generally tips well and are polite even when drunk, some assholes, but thats normal with any crowd. Worst case scenario is usually they tell people to disperse, but otherwise, they always seemed to laugh when they saw shenanigans (except for people fucking with Casino machines, thats a fast way to make them mad)
      - MichaelZuo 3y ago
        So how would you explain the original cancellation of DEF CON 32?
        sgift 3y ago
        Probably, because of what mrandish said at the start of the thread. Management thinks they can earn more money from others. If hotel staff is treated well and/or gets good tips doesn't factor in the decision process which event is hosted. As long as someone spends enough for managers to get their bonuses management is happy.
anon23908203 3y ago
I attended Def Con 7 and witnessed people pick the lock of a utility room on my hotel floor and change the phone wiring. Also, I was a 17 year old girl at the time, and I felt sexually threatened several times during the event. That is the only place I have visited where I would make a statement of that nature.
collyw 3y ago
Sounds pretty fun. Maybe not if you are an organizer though.

by snarfy 3y ago

NegativeK 3y ago

There are still shenanigans, but all of the wildness has calmed down -- both via goon enforcement and casino staff knowledge. For example, the ATMs on casino floors are probably some of the most secure in the nation during the con. Harassment is also taken actually seriously.

EvanAnderson 3y ago

That sounds like DefCon 7 at the Alexis Park. I think I remember seeing a photo of a golf cart in the pool. I quit going after 7. It seemed like they partying had vastly I overtaken any actual technical content. I don't drink and I'm not super social, so it just seemed like it wasn't "for me" anymore. Edit: It has probably changed in the intervening years but every time I looked into it it seemed like more spectacle than tech. DerbyCon filled the niche for me for a few years but then it got impossible to get tickets for and imploded. (I know there's a lot of backstory about DerbyCon that I don't know, too. For me it was just a fun way to feel a little of the DefCon 3 vibes again.)

hodgesrm 3y ago

Other than the first item, this does not seem especially extreme by Vegas standards.

pc86 3y ago
You don't think breaking into a secured area and removing expensive hardware from the roof is extreme?
- RIMR 3y ago
  Remember, this is the Las Vegas strip. The frame of reference for normal is a bit different.
- treflop 3y ago
  Removing expensive hardware is crossing a line but a lot of people break into secured areas a lot.

RIMR 3y ago

I was at DEF CON 26 & 27 and people had punched/torn holes in the drywall in several places, and at one stairwell where you could reach up and slap the ceiling, chunks of ceiling were falling off from where people were gouging it. DEF CON is a hell of a party, and I hope to go this year, but the attendees are a force to be reckoned with. Even I ended up fucking up a homemade badge, and tossing a failing lithium battery into the trash in the middle of a casino, only to learn later I created a trash fire, so I know firsthand that we're a problematic bunch.

smcin 3y ago
Well you know you shouldn't put lithium batteries in the trash, worse still indoors in a hotel. DEF CON didn't have a contact for e-waste recycling?

TheCondor 3y ago

Among some other really cringey behaviors. I've seen bottles of alcohol passed around doing talks and heard more than a few really off color jokes about criminal sex acts and such. Vegas waitresses have seen it all also but there was over the top behavior. We're in a victim dominant culture now, "it's not you or what you've done, you're just a victim of evil or something" but at more than a few Def Cons and more than a few times, it was really uncomfortable to be there and see some of the stuff that was happening.

tekla 3y ago
Yes, counter-culture is counter-culture. It was meant to make normals uncomfy.
- queuebert 3y ago
  Guess what? Hotels are run by normals.
  - tekla 3y ago
    And they are perfectly fine with the crowd. I've chatted with many hotel staff and almost all of them are happy with the DC crowd. Generally tips well and are polite even when drunk, some assholes, but thats normal with any crowd. Worst case scenario is usually they tell people to disperse, but otherwise, they always seemed to laugh when they saw shenanigans (except for people fucking with Casino machines, thats a fast way to make them mad)
    - MichaelZuo 3y ago
      So how would you explain the original cancellation of DEF CON 32?
      - sgift 3y ago
        Probably, because of what mrandish said at the start of the thread. Management thinks they can earn more money from others. If hotel staff is treated well and/or gets good tips doesn't factor in the decision process which event is hosted. As long as someone spends enough for managers to get their bonuses management is happy.

anon23908203 3y ago

I attended Def Con 7 and witnessed people pick the lock of a utility room on my hotel floor and change the phone wiring. Also, I was a 17 year old girl at the time, and I felt sexually threatened several times during the event. That is the only place I have visited where I would make a statement of that nature.

collyw 3y ago

Sounds pretty fun. Maybe not if you are an organizer though.