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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

#341

Post by huytersd »

SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #334
huytersd wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, tropical beaches are generally considered nice and those approach 100F pretty much around the year.

> tropical beaches approach 100F pretty much around the year. Checking climate for Barbados, I rate that as factually incorrect. And of little relevance.

The highs get above 90F in August which is approaching 100F. I can also think of lots of popular beaches in Mexico that do get above 100.

It’s very relevant because that’s what qualifies my “considered generally nice” statement.

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

#342

Post by SideburnsOfDoom »

huytersd wrote: post #341
SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> tropical beaches approach 100F pretty much around the year. Checking climate for Barbados, I rate that as factually incorrect. And of little relevance.

The highs get above 90F in August which is approaching 100F. I can also think of lots of popular beaches in Mexico that do get above 100. It’s very relevant because that’s what qualifies my “considered generally nice” statement.

And 40C is _over_ 100F.

Your useless pedantry about beaches is becoming boring now.

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

#343

Post by Arrath »

bawolff wrote: post #316
Sebb767 wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Or maybe it was some sort of ongoing agreement and canceling it was effectively "not renewing". The announcement effectively calls it "no-notice cancellation" and overall it reads like they were already deep in the planning phase when it happened, which seems unlikely if a renewal was pending.

Its odd though - i would assume a conference of this size would have penalties in the contract if the venue decides to pull out without cause or sufficient notice.

To a point yeah but the venue also has the power not to sign the contract in the first place (ime the venue is the side typically negotiating from the position of power) if they think the penalties are too high on their end.

In all likelihood they ran the math and figured it was worth it to yank the rug out from under Defcon, penalties be damned.

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

#344

Post by _delirium »

tptacek wrote: post #311
busterarm wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair enough. BH as vendor event wasn't my axe to grind but the parent poster's. I was just complaining about the industry and the event in general as only having status-economy value. e.g., the only reason I would go is if I needed to for industry certifications. Talks aren't a reason for me to go to anything (they'll be streamed eventually and I can filter them better). I'll agree the talks are better here than most…

Again: I'm not trying to sell you on Black Hat. But re:Invent is nothing at all like Black Hat. Black Hat is a peer-reviewed research conference focusing on presentation of security research results. You pay to see Black Hat talks if breaking the encryption on police TETRA radio or defeating Apple's PAC pointer authentication is professionally useful to you. For most Black Hat talks, that stage will be the first publ…

> For most Black Hat talks, that stage will be the first public airing of that research.

I find this aspect intriguing, and seems to contribute to the buzz around the event? Used to be true in some other areas of computer science too, but outside of security I can't think of an academic conference where it still happens. Nowadays you can almost always expect talks at top conferences to have preprints posted on arXiv (or openreview.net) ahead of the talk, often weeks or months ahead. I mean not that somewhere like NeurIPS lacks buzz either, but you're not normally expecting major surprises in the talks.

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

#345

Post by brettermeier »

wodenokoto wrote: post #215
_cenw wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That settles it, DEF CON in Dubai, London or Amsterdam. I vote for Amsterdam. Frankfurt also has the most international destinations (just not volume). (Probably not Dubai, considering a few speakers would be thrown out at the border - or worse if they get though. It's also artificially inflated because it's almost all transit traffic). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_airports_by_in...

> It's also artificially inflated because it's almost all transit traffic Dubai is a center for large conferences and Expos. The row of High rise hotels along Sheik Zayed Road across from Dubai World Trade Center (the largest exhibition hall in Dubai) is astounding. Gitex, Gulfood and Arab Health are all conference that are largest in their class world wide. And while A lot of DXBs traffic is transfers, the city does…

No community which has a healthy amount thinking about ethics and stuff would want to go to Dubai. Sorry but Dubai is one of the worst rich citys in existence.

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

#346

Post by asynchronous »

gaws wrote: post #340

> We don’t know why Caesars canceled us, they won’t say beyond it being a strategy change and it is not related to anything that DEF CON or our community has done. This kind of no-notice cancellation of a contract is unheard of in the conference business. The parting is confusing, but amicable. It is absolutely related to DEF CON. Remember that Caesars suffered a massively embarrassing hack in September, and it is hi…

Yeah that is the unspoken truth here, MGM took way too big of a hit this last year from that for it not to impact the hacker summer camp.

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

#347

Post by asynchronous »

gwill wrote: post #286
merlincorey wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bomb threat wasn't even related to Defcon, though. I heard it both from Dark Tangent and several high level Goons.

what was it related to? I thought someone reported a suspicious bag in the venue.

It was someone called in “a suspicious backpack with wires” which is absolutely hilarious at DEF CON

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

#348

Post by TheCondor »

snarfy wrote: post #312
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 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 e…

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.

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

#349

Post by tekla »

TheCondor wrote: post #348
snarfy wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 e…

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…

Yes, counter-culture is counter-culture. It was meant to make normals uncomfy.

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

#350

Post by treflop »

pc86 wrote: post #331
hodgesrm wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

You don't think breaking into a secured area and removing expensive hardware from the roof is extreme?

Removing expensive hardware is crossing a line but a lot of people break into secured areas a lot.
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