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DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it

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Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it

#71

Post by ncallaway »

serf wrote: post #61
smt88 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first thought was that GP was saying DefCon attendees would be counting cards, which is an effective and legal way to beat the house[1] (until you're caught and banned from the casino). 1. https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/nightlife/2016/04/...

'legal' has no meaning here when it's against every single casino policy in the world.

Uh, yes, it does?

There’s a huge difference between: “if you do X, you will be asked to leave” and “if you do X, the police will arrest you”

Like, when I invite someone over to a dinner party, it is against my policy to insult my dog. If you do that I will kick you out (not actually, he’s a dumb klutz, you can insult him all you want), but that doesn’t make it illegal to insult my dog.

Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it

#72

Post by kortilla »

mrandish wrote: post #4

I suspect Caesar's dropped DEF CON because the DEF CON attendees likely have a fairly low "avg revenue per attendee" yield because fewer of them gamble compared to the avg Vegas conference attendee. They also probably spend less on high-end restaurant dining and bar drinking inside the hotel. Since the pandemic Vegas has had a pretty strong resurgence in general and this may be a sign that Caesar's is doing well enou…

Gambling isn’t the big margin for the casino and hackers aren’t immune to gambling. Most people who gamble know the odds aren’t in their favor.

Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it

#73

Post by andy800 »

jrockway wrote: post #68
andy800 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's say Caesars states, "we just got hacked and, as has been reported in every major newspaper, paid $10 million as ransom. We have reason to believe one or more attendees of DEF CON were part of that group." How does making this statement this benefit Caesars in any way? Now DEF CON can demand some proof of this claim, or sue for defamation, or state that without proof, Caesars isn't acting in good faith, whatever…

I mean, attendees of DEFCON can hack Caesars even if someone else owns the projectors used for the Powerpoint presentations.

Yes, most likely. That's why it would make zero sense for Caesars to state anything publicly that would antagonize members of the community. Saying nothing (or even praising DEF CON, and claiming it was a "change in strategy") is the smarter route.

Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it

#74

Post by kortilla »

rdl wrote: post #58
fortran77 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They also probably spend less on high-end restaurant dining and bar drinking inside the hotel. I'm not so sure. There's a _lot_ of drinking at DEF CON

It's mostly with liquor bought from offsite and drunk in rooms/private parties, not via Caesar's venues or catering (there's a lot of that too, and this is summer dead period, so it still may be good).

I explicitly remember them tapping out every keg at a bar there by 2pm about 10 years ago.

Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it

#75

Post by quickthrower2 »

kortilla wrote: post #72
mrandish wrote: post #4

I suspect Caesar's dropped DEF CON because the DEF CON attendees likely have a fairly low "avg revenue per attendee" yield because fewer of them gamble compared to the avg Vegas conference attendee. They also probably spend less on high-end restaurant dining and bar drinking inside the hotel. Since the pandemic Vegas has had a pretty strong resurgence in general and this may be a sign that Caesar's is doing well enou…

Gambling isn’t the big margin for the casino and hackers aren’t immune to gambling. Most people who gamble know the odds aren’t in their favor.

What is the big margin? Rooms?

Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it

#76

Post by rpmisms »

cratermoon wrote: post #69
mrandish wrote: post #4

I suspect Caesar's dropped DEF CON because the DEF CON attendees likely have a fairly low "avg revenue per attendee" yield because fewer of them gamble compared to the avg Vegas conference attendee. They also probably spend less on high-end restaurant dining and bar drinking inside the hotel. Since the pandemic Vegas has had a pretty strong resurgence in general and this may be a sign that Caesar's is doing well enou…

I heard a joke a tech conference people in Vegas many years ago. It goes something like "people who go to tech conferences in Vegas bring one shirt and a $20 bill and never change either." So yea, programmers generally aren't gamblers because they know enough math to know the house always wins.

In my experience, programmers like poker, but not games of chance. This also describes me. Poker is a data-heavy game of skill and memory, Craps is about the opposite.

Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it

#77

Post by tptacek »

rockskon wrote: post #30
tptacek wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are dozens of other conferences that do anything else you want a security conference to do. The point of Defcon at this point is to be the giant annual social event.

Well it's not going to do so well for that at the LVCC given the distance away from hotel parties.

It was famously at Alexis Park for years, which might as well be the moon if you're at Caesar's.

Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it

#78

Post by xmprt »

kortilla wrote: post #72
mrandish wrote: post #4

I suspect Caesar's dropped DEF CON because the DEF CON attendees likely have a fairly low "avg revenue per attendee" yield because fewer of them gamble compared to the avg Vegas conference attendee. They also probably spend less on high-end restaurant dining and bar drinking inside the hotel. Since the pandemic Vegas has had a pretty strong resurgence in general and this may be a sign that Caesar's is doing well enou…

Gambling isn’t the big margin for the casino and hackers aren’t immune to gambling. Most people who gamble know the odds aren’t in their favor.

What's the big margin for the casino if not gambling?

Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it

#79

Post by kstrauser »

rdl wrote: post #58
fortran77 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They also probably spend less on high-end restaurant dining and bar drinking inside the hotel. I'm not so sure. There's a _lot_ of drinking at DEF CON

It's mostly with liquor bought from offsite and drunk in rooms/private parties, not via Caesar's venues or catering (there's a lot of that too, and this is summer dead period, so it still may be good).

I can think of plenty of in-hotel bars packed with DEF CON attendees 24 hours a day during the conference.

Re: DEF CON 32 Was Canceled. We Un-Canceled it

#80

Post by quickthrower2 »

o11c wrote: post #60
paxys wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An HN front page “DDoS” is like 20K hits. This isn't some complex scaling challenge. Any website on the internet should be able to handle it, especially a purely informational one.

As a reference, 10K simultaneous hits was an achievable challenge back in ... 1999.

Now you just front it with a CDN. Easy.
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