July 2013

DefCon Projects

Defcon 21 : Down to the Wire

So it’s Wednesday now. I’m sipping my coffee while admiring last nights war zone, which is still strewn across the dining room table. Red dixie cups filled with components, plastic bins of surface mount parts, discarded chunks of tape,  lap tops, empty margarita glasses and more are all stacked on top of one another like the abandoned scene of a rape. The brutal part is that we aren’t even half way done and the gigs up tomorrow. The wild card was drawn this past Sunday. Jeff and I went out for a nice breakfast so that we could fill out tummies before starting down our long check list of things to do for the day. When we arrived home, about an hour and a half later, upon walking through the front door I heard something no one should hear inside their house. Rain. I ran through the kitchen and into…

DefCon Projects

The Road to DefCon 21

I have been so busy this past month in preparation for Defcon that my deltas have gathered a thin layer of dust and my mannequin torso, Tiberius has started sneaking off at night in search for what I’ve been neglecting to give him. It seems like we all put too much on our plates these past couple months, but I’m glad I was given the chance to help out as I have and can’t wait to experience the fruits of our labor (in less than a week!!). So here’s what Jeff and I have been up to… Crash and Compile This year, Jeff (Krux) is in charge of the infamous drinking while coding game that I’ve been hearing stories about since last summer… that’d be Crash and Compile. Jeff has spent pretty much every night at his computer working in preparation for this event, from overseeing registration to welding together…

General Stuff

Geeky Freaky

For the sake of branding, Mark and I decided to switch the name of our podcast from TACO Time, to Geeky Freaky before we were too far along in the game to make such a huge change. After all, how well does “TACO Time” describe two wash ups who create artistic amalgamations of tech and mind warping perversion? Not very. You can now find our podcast at our new youtube channel : SM Geeky Freaky. …And as promised, here is the third episode, “Just the Tip”

Pony Mods

Defcon Pony

What two things could possibly fit together more uncomfortably? For a long time I had little comprehension of what Defcon was actually like. Anyone I met who had gone to the conference seemed bent on preserving this allure about it that only added to my aw and curiosity towards the hacker community. It wasn’t until I met a true seasoned Defcon veteran, Jeff (Krux), that the veil started to lift. Though I have a better idea what Defcon itself is all about, my perception of its attendees is still unclear. Now that I am reading Daemon, the quintessential hacker novel, my imagination is struggling between accepting the somewhat raw and sexy “hacker” identity the book promotes which is cloaked in secrets and at it’s very core, an homage to intelligence…. and my previous impression of the few unapproachable neck-bearded douchebags I’ve met in the past : Regardless, the idea of…

SM Taco Time

SM Taco Time : E2

We learned a lot this time around (by making a gross amount of mistakes). Among those things : 1. -how close we need to be sitting to one another for the sound to pick up well. Even with the snowball… it was like we filmed next to a jet engine. Should have tested that first! 2. -not to film the entire segment 3 times… because that gives you more to review and no one wants to look at their own face that much… except for maybe Mark. 3. We learned that improving our topic list is ok because the conversation flows more organically. 4. -adding in support footage after the fact usually works out better anyhow… and again, you have less clips to watch and sort through when editing. 5. We also learned that baking after drinking and filming a podcast is a horrible idea… you’ll ruin Mark’s kitchen and…