Went to DEFCON in Vegas 3 weekends ago. For those who don't know, this is the world's largest underground hacking convention, and a sister to the Black Hat conference. The entire conference spanned over the weekend with a variety of tracks to go to. My co-worker and I attended quite a few of them. This was our first time at DEFCON, and it was overwhelming. There must have been at least 2500 - 3000 hackers all under one roof. This is one place you do NOT want to take your laptop to. It WILL be hacked, and you won't even know it. There was a barrage of tutorials and hacking tools available that now I feel I've come back much smarter in this area than ever before. SQL injections, cookie hijacking, captcha breaks and exploiting them, "man in the middle" hacking technique, DNS re-routes, etc. Yeah - exposed to all of these things. I know this may sound like a bunch of technical jargon, so let me make it simple. How smart does this experience make me? Let's just say that if I find you in a Starbucks somewhere plugging away on your laptop, I can see what you're doing, read your email, even log in to your email for the next few days without you even knowing, and send jibberish to a bunch of your friends. I am now just THAT smart. :)
Considering this was my first trip to Sin City, I had to go around and explore it while I could. I ended up checking out almost every casino, walked the entire strip, took a bunch of pictures, and absolutely loved it. We went up the Stratosphere rides which simply rocked. Being swung out on the edge of the tower and spun around at that height was exciting as hell. We watched Seinfeld and Blue Man Group on the same night. Seinfeld was just hilarious, as he always is. When Blue Man Group performed, they had some of the same acts I had seen on TV before, nevertheless, mind blowing. Of course, I took my chances at gambling, but let's not go there, although I will say that I lasted an entire weekend with my winnings. We did end up going to The Bank at Bellagio, which was pretty BA. Also checked out the fountain and took a video too. Pretty good trip overall. Here's some pictures:
Next destination: Minneapolis.
Here's a trip I was really looking forward to. I went to visit Paresh and Tams for the week to help 'em move into their new house...wait...my NEW spot. Congrats to you guys. Seriously well deserved - in fact, overdue. I can't begin to describe their place. It is in every way perfect for the two of them. I really like every nook and corner of the place. They've got me thinking now.
In that week, I think we did a pretty superb job at loading stuff up from the old apartment and moving it into the new house. Tams was working during the week, but took Monday and Friday off. Karishma was in town and her and I kicked some butt at unpacking and moving boxes around. Guys, we make a good team. Moving business on the horizon? Maybe? No? Ok.
We did find some time to chill everyday and just have a couple of drinks, joke and talk. Here's something to jerk y'alls memories - HELICOPTER! 'Nuff said.
One of the best parts of the trip was meeting with Nikhil. The awesome one year old son of P's older brother. I had a blast with him. I think it took him a little while to get comfortable with me around as the new face in the house, but in no time he overcame that and played with me. We took him out on the deck, danced with him and just being goofy in general. I really miss him - can't wait till I get to see him again.
To close the week, the four of us decided to dine at Houlihan's. Tams and I celebrated the 10 year mark here in the US. Like wow. 10 years. This needs a post of it's own. I might write one up. Next morning Tams, Pari and I catch a bite at Ikea's restaurant before I flew out.
The hardest part of the trip - leaving! I always hate that. I have to say, I enjoyed a LOT more in Minneapolis than I did Vegas. Yeah I know I was in Vegas for work and not with a crowd on a vacation, and I know that I had family in Minneapolis...but regardless, I miss being in Minneapolis now. Minneapolis - what have you done to me? New York. New York. New York. Heh. Overall though, I am at my happiest when around family. I simply feel free.
More posts coming.
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Published on 8/25/08 at 7:01 PM.Considering this was my first trip to Sin City, I had to go around and explore it while I could. I ended up checking out almost every casino, walked the entire strip, took a bunch of pictures, and absolutely loved it. We went up the Stratosphere rides which simply rocked. Being swung out on the edge of the tower and spun around at that height was exciting as hell. We watched Seinfeld and Blue Man Group on the same night. Seinfeld was just hilarious, as he always is. When Blue Man Group performed, they had some of the same acts I had seen on TV before, nevertheless, mind blowing. Of course, I took my chances at gambling, but let's not go there, although I will say that I lasted an entire weekend with my winnings. We did end up going to The Bank at Bellagio, which was pretty BA. Also checked out the fountain and took a video too. Pretty good trip overall. Here's some pictures:
Next destination: Minneapolis.
Here's a trip I was really looking forward to. I went to visit Paresh and Tams for the week to help 'em move into their new house...wait...my NEW spot. Congrats to you guys. Seriously well deserved - in fact, overdue. I can't begin to describe their place. It is in every way perfect for the two of them. I really like every nook and corner of the place. They've got me thinking now.
In that week, I think we did a pretty superb job at loading stuff up from the old apartment and moving it into the new house. Tams was working during the week, but took Monday and Friday off. Karishma was in town and her and I kicked some butt at unpacking and moving boxes around. Guys, we make a good team. Moving business on the horizon? Maybe? No? Ok.
We did find some time to chill everyday and just have a couple of drinks, joke and talk. Here's something to jerk y'alls memories - HELICOPTER! 'Nuff said.
One of the best parts of the trip was meeting with Nikhil. The awesome one year old son of P's older brother. I had a blast with him. I think it took him a little while to get comfortable with me around as the new face in the house, but in no time he overcame that and played with me. We took him out on the deck, danced with him and just being goofy in general. I really miss him - can't wait till I get to see him again.
To close the week, the four of us decided to dine at Houlihan's. Tams and I celebrated the 10 year mark here in the US. Like wow. 10 years. This needs a post of it's own. I might write one up. Next morning Tams, Pari and I catch a bite at Ikea's restaurant before I flew out.
The hardest part of the trip - leaving! I always hate that. I have to say, I enjoyed a LOT more in Minneapolis than I did Vegas. Yeah I know I was in Vegas for work and not with a crowd on a vacation, and I know that I had family in Minneapolis...but regardless, I miss being in Minneapolis now. Minneapolis - what have you done to me? New York. New York. New York. Heh. Overall though, I am at my happiest when around family. I simply feel free.
More posts coming.
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