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More HOPE |
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Gregory Morris, 7/10/04 9:31:56 pm |
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learning about "bypassing corporate restrictions from the inside". Theres a panel on hacker chicks at 10. its in the "C" area, which is for people who want to sign up to speak. i could go give a talk on parallel computing if i wanted... just have to sign up.
I figure there will be mostly guys at the hacker chicks panel, but hey, whatever. the ratio here is probably about 20 to 1, if not worse. the cool thing is that maybe a third or more of the speakers have been women. mostly in the politically fuelled talks.
the more this guy talks, the less i think i'm going to be able to learn. it seems that some of the speakers don't know much, but mostly, they don't communicate well to the crowd. for instance, last night's talk/demo on nano technology sounded like a science fair project mixed with some mr. wizard demos. There was nothing particularly cool about it.
i learned a lot from the lock picking panel, got some good info from the cdc panel, and some useful/funny info from some of the wireless/radio talks.
wozniak's keynote, as i think i mentioned in the last entry was badass. he is a funny man. he is a real hacker, and he has better stories than anyone else here, even mitnick  He's also been actiive in the hacker culture, and helpful to lots of people. he teaches kids about technology, he says he doesn't care about money, and i really believe him. certainly some of his pranks (in the hackish tradition, he loves pranks) wouldn't have been possible without some money, like convincing people he uses his hummer to track tornadoes.
power point is not used as often as i'd figure it would be in these talks, but i guess its the easiest way to display slides. not so much of the hardcore linux/open office fans as i'd expect, although over half the PCs i've seen run linux. some bsd. more windows than i'd expect. lotsa script kiddies trading stuff... who knows what, probably pirated software and passwords to porn sites mostly.
i'm trying to figure out if i want to hang around for some more of the technical talks, since i've mostly seen the political stuff so far. even the technical ones are half politcal, like i predicted, but thats the 2600 culture i guess. i think the most hackish thing i've seen so far is the lockpicking.
anyway, i guess i need to figure out if i'm going out or not. i'm getting tired, but i figure some caffeine might counteract that long enough for us to hit the bar.
i'm still suprised how well orchistrated this conference is. very few equipment failures, except that verizon sucked for most of friday. no microphone squealing. good lighting. working computers and networks. the "security" here is made up of a handful of volunteers that were given walkie talkies and orange tshirts. they check badges, and make sure that people don't get too crazy trying to get autographs from famous hackers. they also had to kick people out of the isles during the keynotes, because there isn't enough room here.
the guy speaking right now is an aussie, and seems to like making fun of americans. mainly our "accents".
there are big red flags saying "Big Brother is Watching" with a classic orwellian style image. these are all over the place. behind the podiums. there are red hope 5 flags with the con logo (a fist with "hope 5" on it) topped with golden eagles on each stage.
2600/hope knows the power of propaganda. They use it, and poke fun at it at the same time. I appreciate the irony there. our badges to give us entrance to the con are black arm bands. that wasn't unexpected. at the same time, nobody here seems to be a crazy militant extremist who would actually form an organization that wears matching armbands and flies big red scary flags. most of the arm bands are pinned to shirts, around ankles, around necks, hanging on belts, etc. everyone appreciates the point of the armbands, but insists on not conforming, which is, of course, encouraged.
I commented last night that i'd like a soundtrack from the con. its mostly techno that i've been listening to since high school. and some less popular stuff i've never heard. and some stuff from the movie hackers.
I need to go see if anyone still has the hope limited edition lockpicking set for sale. I doubt i'll ever practice enough to be good at lock picking, but they'll be collectors items some day
i'll write more during or after the hacker chicks panel.
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