DEFCON was bitter-sweet this year. Once again I was unimpressed both by the average quality of the talks and the complete lack of organization or forethought. However, I was lucky to have several friends visit Las Vegas at the same time, and so the trip out was not a complete disappointment.

DEFCON has one fatal flaw: it does not require registration. That's right, when DEFCON opens, nobody has any idea of how many attendees will arrive. Presumably this is due to the fact that the first Def Con attendees included a large percentage under indictment.  At that point in time, anonnymity was paramount.

At that time, Def Con also only had 150 attendees.

Pure anonymity is a problem. DEFCON's laughable attachment to this idea is even more obvious when watching the awards "ceremony" for one of their many contests. To make sure the right person gets credit for their work, submissions in contests must contain a "secret word." If you don't know the secret when you claim your prize, you don't win. Why does DEFCON use a simple registration process such as this for contests, but not for the conference as a whole? Beats me.

DEFCON needs to allow people to register. It's OK if they register using an alias, or a "secret word." Hell, if security is that much of a problem, I think DEFCON could come up with a system that could encrypt your registration confirmation to a provided public key. That way, when I arrive on Thursday, they won't be out of badges, or there will at least be one waiting for me.

Oh yeah, they ran out of the much-desired DEFCON badge halfway through the "preliminary events" day. I have a story.

I arrived in Las Vegas at about 1:00pm on Thursday afternoon, about when the conference opened. In the time it took to check into my hotel, walk across the street (literally) and withdraw cash from an ATM, DEFCON had run out of enough badges that they gave me a paper substitute. At most, two hours. Two hours before there is a shortage of literally the most anticipated product. Bad planning doesn't seem to do it justice.

Even more frustrating is the fact that my roommate, who checked in 5 seconds earlier, received a badge. Apparently, my line at the registration desk was out. Just mine. And no, they wouldn't trade me. Even the next day when additional badges "showed up" (qué?)  I was not allowed to trade for a real badge.

Now, ultimately, I got a real badge, but only because @vandalswang was kind enough to trade the two Ninja Networks invites I had won for his badge.

Overall it was fun, but I won't be doing it again. Not unless I'm press, a speaker, vendor or a goon. They're guaranteed badges.

Note: For those of you unfamiliar with Twitter, the @ sign identifies another person on Twitter, i.e. when I say @BluePlasma I'm indicating that BluePlasma is also a Twitter user, and it ensures that he will see that particular update. The hash mark (#) identifies a tag, which allows Twitter users to search for similar Tweets regardless of the source. RT stands for Re-Tweet, and is simply me reposting something someone else wrote, to spread the word. Every update with #defcon would appear in the global defcon search. The few posts from other users are prefaced by that user's name in brackets before the update.

Wednesday

• Packing for DEFCON. Where did all these transformers come from?

• Pre DEFCON movie of choice? Swordfish, naturally.
• Toothbrush: check. Soldering iron: check. Drill press & corrosive chemicals? Check. #defcon

Thursday

• Truck is loaded. Gassing up, then picking up @BluePlasma.
• Tank is full, windows clean, tripometer reset. Vacation has officially begun. #defcon
• Just left kingman, hoover dam here we come! #defcon

• Finally here, photos to come. #defcon

• I know you haven't been out of your cage in a while #defcon attendees, but fanny packs went out of style in 1985...
• Waiting for the FPGA talk to begin, supressing urge to stab geeks who talk out of their @$$.
• Just missed out on an FPGA giveaway because I didn't keep the signs of my exponents straight #defcon
• FPGA talk a dissapointment, #defcon is out of badges now, glad I got mine ealy.

• #defcon badge made hackable. @BluePlasma has the bootloader working.

• At #defcon Toxic BBQ, center table.

• Back from the bbq, almost got to beat the crap out of an asshole. There's always tomorrow...
  • [leahshanker] @zanfar What happened? You too? Lol
  • @leahshanker Pretty sure it was the same asshole. You're missing all the solder fumes over here
  • [leahshanker] @zanfar en route to the electro palace lol

Friday

• Back at the Riv. Not enough sleep & the coffee isn't working. Free breakfast nice, though. #defcon
• Hanging out at the hardware hacking village. Riv skybox 210. #defcon
• Change of plans, checking out the badge talk with @leahshanker
• Thinking of moving the Electro Palace "Lite" to the HHV this afternoon. Watch #hhv for details #defcon
  • [leahshanker] @zanfar That's what I've been saying! Catch ya at HHV later
• I know you love anonymity #defcon, but its time to grow up and require pre-registration.
• #defcon : a charlie-foxtrot hasn't been this well reported on since Vietnam
• Back to #hhv, now with tools! #defcon
• RT @Blueplasma: @zanfar @blueplasma on the way to the #hhv at #defcon. We're bringing equipment and here to help, the Big Scott and the Skinny Asian
• Thanks to @BluePlasma 's superior situational awareness, we avoided the #defcon hallway of death. RAWK!
• Back from #hhv @ #defcon. Now its time to write some C...

• Naps good. Walking to the riv. Fences are higher than they look #defcon
• Just played with a real-live PDP-11/70. Three-phase-powered computing = geekgasm!
• is declaring tomorrow officially "tweet in hex" day. #defcon
• Benihana open until 10 #defcon #thegreatfoodsearch
• Hilton fail, I shouldn't have to search for an ATM in a casino. #thegreatfoodsearch
• @leahshanker @shankmasterzero Start thinking of alternate food ideas.
• Benihana was delicious #thegreatfoodhunt was a sucess. Next up; hacker karaoke
• Android flashlight app makes decent replacment for a lighter #defcon #hackerkaraoke
• There is something very right about singing Frank's My Way while in Vegas #defcon #hackerkaraoke

Saturday

• Done for the night. See you bright and early tomorrow (today) #defcon
• [leahshanker] @blueplasma Brekkist?
  • [blueplasma] @leahshanker Yahar, awaiting RedBeard's shower completion, then we be plundering our inn's hot breakfast line
  • I'm up, I'm up. Breakfast, then #defcon. Coffee too. Lots of coffee.
• @leahshanker in track 1, save you seats?
• #defcon parking meter talk was well done, almost enough hardware content
• Quadrotor talk is awesome. "We started with a minipc, but needed real-time data, so switched to a MCU" #defcon improving.
• Quadrotor talk the best of #defcon. Real-time X, Y & Z control with heads- up display and inertial nav. #defcon awesome.
• @leahshanker @shankmasterzero We have saved seats, and are camping Adam's talk. 4th row, center chairs.
  • [blueplasma] @zanfar omw Thank you!!!
  • @leahshanker just kicked us out we have line space now, though.
• 6th row center for Adam Savage, close enough to see his bad haircut. #defcon
• Just found a ttl-compatible gps reciever with external panel-mount sma connector that outputs nema messages and a 1hz pulse for $30! #defcon
• A. Savage talk too short, nothing I haven't already heard. Heading to "Hacking the Smart Grid" in 18 min. #defcon
• Humor? From a #defcon presentor? Laser keylogging promises to be good.
• Laser Keylogging: best talk at #defcon, even if the presenters have girls names...
• Step 1; go to laser keylogging talk at #defcon. Step 2. Step 3: profit!
• Calling yourself "social engineers" makes you neither less of a grifter nor an engineer #defcon
• Back from #defcon for the day, at the hotel eating homemade spaghetti. Tomorrow @BluePlasma and I will be at the #HHV helping out.

Sunday

• Turn on TV to see the opening credits for Lethal Weapon 4. Awesome! #ImTooOldForThis #defcon
• Hanging out at the #hhv. Helped @joegrand solder, so we're #defcon approved now If you want to learn hardware, see @BluePlasma or I.
• #defcon is over, little disappointing, but not bad overall. Next year: real attempt on a black badge. Cigars & The Strip tonight.
• #defcon tricks to gain followers: insult @donttrythis 's hair or that @joegrand needed your help (sorry Mr. S, it was just the camera angle)