81–90 of 187 posts
DEFCON’s response was posted on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/s/NVw5T4LXQR Unsurprisingly, it contradicts some of the claims Entropic has been making. Entropic admits to having exceeded agreed upon budgets by a significant amount, which DEFCON corroborates. There is some disagreement about what has been paid, though, as DEFCON believes they have paid for the hardware development. Some of the other claims al…
As per usual nobody comes out of these things looking good. To really understand who is right and who is wrong here we would need to read the letter of the agreements between these entities, and cross reference them with facts. Of course neither the contracts, nor the facts are available to us. As is, the best I can do here is to put all participants on my personal “do not work with” list. Who needs the drama. In par…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do a lot of hiring, and the moment I have to take race, gender or sexual preferences into account, is the moment I will give a big fuck you. I will not discredit the competencies of anyone that I hired or will hire in the future.
The thing is, there is a lot of unconscious bias where race and gender are taken into account already, in a way that reduces hiring changes for people who are not white cis hetero males. At least that has been the case in the past sadly. So companies are now sometimes over-correcting by applying positive bias towards minorities
Nice one.
Edit: Also, do you ask candidates their sexual preference and if their current gender was the gender they were born with? WTF???
As per usual nobody comes out of these things looking good. To really understand who is right and who is wrong here we would need to read the letter of the agreements between these entities, and cross reference them with facts. Of course neither the contracts, nor the facts are available to us. As is, the best I can do here is to put all participants on my personal “do not work with” list. Who needs the drama. In par…
I think this is a very balanced take and probably one that most people should follow. However, I do slightly favour defcon in this mess - why did Entropic take on a project that was nearly "impossible". Why did the firmware engineer add a crypto beg for a "joke".
If it's true that DEFCON wanted dirt cheap badges produced in record time, then I think the fault lies not in the project's management & execution but in the client's expectations & resourcing. No accomplished vendor would accept such a low price point, so that just leaves the unaccomplished. Vendors who overpromise and underdeliver, who would accept payment in terms of "clout", or who would be too afraid to pushback on crazy or high pressure expectations until it's too late.
A classic set-up-to-fail situation.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just here to point out that security is generally made of random goobers volunteering for shirts, and other things.
Not sure about this event but in Europe you have to hire a professional security company. I've been involved in organising a computer event and we simply wouldn't get a permit without it. Volunteers doing security is a big NO. Parking assistance (guiding), first aid, entrance checks etc yes. But if someone doesn't comply you get the real guys. And it makes sense. At one camp we had a drugged up visitor going ballisti…
Defcon is completely insignificant compared to the scale and size of the events that occur in Las Vegas, there are more people partying on the strip on any average Tuesday.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just here to point out that security is generally made of random goobers volunteering for shirts, and other things.
Not sure about this event but in Europe you have to hire a professional security company. I've been involved in organising a computer event and we simply wouldn't get a permit without it. Volunteers doing security is a big NO. Parking assistance (guiding), first aid, entrance checks etc yes. But if someone doesn't comply you get the real guys. And it makes sense. At one camp we had a drugged up visitor going ballisti…
This is not universal across Europe.
I've been part of organizing computer events in the 5k participant range without any hired security or medical staff. I think it greatly depends on the standing and culture of volunteer work in your country.
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It's DEI bullshit, but the biggest problem I have with DEI is the rejection of competence in favour of pandering - and here, they managed to both pander and hire people competent enough to do the actual job. It seems far less toxic to me than most DEI based decisions. Aside from skipping out on the bill, the biggest problem I have here is the incompetence (the same problem I normally have with DEI based decision maki…