fallowkevin

>I am transgender, and Google makes it quite difficult to transition one's everything to an account with your new chosen name. As part of that, I've noticed

Sorry, I saw that and misread. My bad! I wish HN had a delete posts feature.

>I know that's kind of a generic wish, even sounds to my ear like a generic platitude, but nonetheless I mean it.

Believing you doesn't make it hurt less. We had a lot of young folks from queercon pass through the village I attended last I was at Defcon.

I doubt I'll be able to afford to go back, and it breaks my heart that a lot of younger folks don't seem to realize how... violently unwelcoming... people used to be, even in supposedly queer friendly spaces.

It's not fun to spend 16 hours "volunteering" hoping someone will appreciate the gesture enough to give you a fair interview, and instead end up laid of from yet another nonprofit with no nest egg even someone in a non FAANG would have... and thus... homeless, absent support from family.

I believe you, it just makes me sad knowing you're probably being entirely truthful.

Anyways I promised this was a throwaway.

this nym has expired, folks can ping etysyfqw@sharklasers.com if they want to continue the conversation (see bio)

Who among us hasn't wondered if the BSSID attached to a phone calling itself "FBI AGENT" actually was, so they plugged it into Wigle to see if it ever also appeared at the FBI... building?

(These signals have been useful for a variety of people for over ten years.)

Peak advertising has come home to roost as folks are shedding reoccuring subscriptions to things like the N in FAANG. Companies that have intrinsic value are worth applying to, as was always the case. A lot has changed in a short time, and some seem to forget that.

tumblr

Keep two diaries. One on paper, one on the computer.

People will invade one or the other, but rarely both.

Twitter was good for this before Elon fucked it up.

I had lists of scientists, who'd share their work and that of others.

Google could go for true diversity? (Including economic diversity)

It's wonderful they're hiring trans folks like yourself, but speaking as someone who fought hard outside the org for equality, it seems like it's a rainbow of people who went to CMU or Stanford (or other top tier school), and absent having a "partner" in the romantic sense to get you in, you'll never be lifted out of the precarity that drove many of us to learn to hack in the 2000s.

(For context, I'm homeless and writing this in a coffee shop with terrible wifi over Tor. I don't begrudge those who are doing well, but I deeply regret that I sit here reading posts like these and feeling like some folks have advantages I never will because I'm "just" a queer, autistic guy from a lower middle class catholic home.)

Do they have a tiny bit, kind of like how you'd get carded for ODoul's at a self checkout in... my state... despite not having barely any uh "active ingredient"?

it's not creepy to talk to someone about mutual interests, it's when you try to get them back to your bunk that things go off the rails

>>I don't want to kiss ass to war criminals.

>Context?

Iraq was a war crime and CMU doesn't have any distinction between the FFRDC and the uni. And the security staff at Defcon, a lot are ex CIA or special forces.

>I've had someone legit tell me they didn't want to associate with me implying that it was bad for business despite the fact they helped me personally financially. The message between the lines was that somehow, they thought I was going to cause issues with attendance in their classes or association. Meanwhile, they are probably the most prominent member of the community. Absolutely ridiculous grandstanding.

No one from the so called hacker community has given me so much as a couch to crash on, I don't feel welcome in it.

I used to travel more, the "hostel people" were quite kind, but that's nothing to do with hacking per se and I'm at an age I'd be intruding if I got a bed in a dorm. (People don't use them like they used to, everything is a party now it seems -- the last place I stayed that threw people out for making noise in the sleeping areas and the like went out of business.)

> A lot of white knights in the community as well who hide dirty secrets and make big noise about other people to deflect attention from themselves.

Yeah I knew at least one guy who handed out a lot of unwanted hugs who now rolls with the so called badass army. People are performative.

Maybe I'm conflating being supportive of Trump / Trump hats at cons with literal swastikas.

(The few who donned them at Defcon were not given a warm welcome, to put it mildly.)

I was very jet lagged and had self medicated a lot due to death threats plus being in an abusive living situation (so desparately seeking employment to take me out of precarity) -- I wasn't taking detailed notes.

But it was a prominent person who made the claim, maybe they were inventing a reason to avoid DE, who knows.

There's been some dark things in the community

No.

The line between gray and black is so fuzzy it's best to keep such things offline, thanks for the lead on purely technical discussions :3

>The high cocoa bars from Lindt or other brands are definitely a different vibe. I personally think they're pretty well differentiated here though, with a gigantic 70% or 95% on the front. But if you're unfamiliar with that type of flavour it would be a shock to the system and isn't really my vibe.

Yeah, I don't know if it's that that last 5% makes a difference or one too many cake donuts demolished my sense of taste, but the one I got was 100% cocoa and... just... not good.

I'd have rather paired my quad espresso with a savory hard boiled egg.

But, thankfully, it was just one teensy square, so I guess the experiment was worth it for the price -- I'd have been much less amused if I'd dropped a lincoln on that thing ;-)

>I guess what you're saying holds true for a lot of things, like people thinking that bitter dark roasted coffee being associated with quality, when it's often the opposite.

I started getting espresso partly because I do want bitter... but I also don't really chance getting a light roast anymore, half because it'll make me too amped but also half because when I do shell out for it, it's rarely good.

(I'm a big fan of Philz, and pourover in general, but there aren't really pour over coffee shops in my area and I'd rather keep it that way than import more Californians.)

>I agree about the cortado, it bothers me how much sugar people get in their system without realizing quite how much or how bad it could be. If all the sugar you got was from an obvious dessert, you probably would have a hard time over-injesting it.

I used to have an eating disorder -- I was quite heavy, and studied book after book on how to be social because I wanted a partner... turns out you seem much more charming when you're not 240lbs. People get so... obsessed with metrics, I suspect it's why studies show sociopaths love black coffee.

I see a lot of midwesterners that I suspect have basically induced dementia by not managing diabetes. Meanwhile, if I go down to the local gas station masquerading as a grocery store and try to make a healthy decision, I literally cannot buy a greek yogurt unless it's got fake strawberry or blueberry or whatever in it.

The Wikipedia article of the day was "Nazi persecution of homosexuals" for Holocaust Rememberance Day yesterday, and it's amazing how many people who have erased "gay" as an insult will continue to view making healthy choices as some kind of tell you're queer. Maybe it is, but it's darkly hilarious to watch folks induce brain rot to avoid lookin' gay, so sorry for a bit of a rant, but this nym, much like the texts I send on coffee shop wifi, will soon disappear when 24 hours have passed... and end up on a path where they will completely lose control of their minds and bodies as they panic that no one is obligated to be caregiver to an abuser.

Anyways, sorry for the wall of text, but... I've had too much caffeine to power through some unpleasant todos, and since marijuana is not legal here I have no way to even out ;-)

(A glass of white wine can help in that regard, but I quit drinking after HOPE went online that one summer. It sure took a lot of effort to convince people Defcon was like, seriously canceled, please, no really, do not come to Defcon it is online stay in your apartments you weird ass hick-i-mori)

Well to be fair how often is chocolate actually chocolate flavor?

One of the cafés I jokingly call it the "luxury space communist café" (since it recently unionized and is next to an electronics store and a buncha designer shops, which has an... interesting effect... on the customer base.)

Anyways, when you set aside the decor and are willing to tolerate a dull roar of vocal fry until you can get your headphones in, it ends up being pretty damn conducive to getting some deep work done. (Water dispenser, power plugs, espresso as bitter as my soul ... I guess designing for the user is feminine? Insert roll eyes emoji here.)

Anyways, they were selling these little squares of 100% dark cocoa and I got one with a crossoint since I was trying to cut back on the sweets and... yeah, they weren't kidding -- it's cocoa... not exactly sweet. Not all all in fact.

Reading your post reminded me of how that felt like a rip off, when really they gave me exactly what was promised -- it's just that Americans think "milk chocolate" when others would expect... something else.

So maybe sometimes they're not deceiving people, they're just trying to give them what they've conditioned them to want.

(God forbid someone have a cortado, everyone has to have a donut the size of a newborn's head with more sugar than a can of coke and a coffee the size of a loaf of bread.)

Wait, under the logic of the article couldn't you sue because they're not macaroni and cheese flavored? Or like... at least not savory?

Those Jelly Belly beans that they rebranded as Bertie Bott's have a "popcorn" flavor, so we definitely have the technology to do butter adjacent flavorings...

>Defcon is basically run by a gang

No, Derby was run by a gang. (The 303 could probably be RICO'd)

I cannot confirm or deny that Defcon is where the event occured, especially since it was technically just an event at a casino, as many things occuring on the same days as Defcon occur.

>a gang that values loyalty and dedication above most things.. which has historically low standards of ethics for their goons and attendees

I actually was told by someone at my last Defcon they were boycotting CCC because they allowed Nazi imagery or something to that effect, which surprisede me given... you know... Germany.

I've never been to CCC.

I can tell you that Defcon is changing though. I volunteered with a village rather than as a goon since I don't want to kiss ass to war criminals.

(A lot of their security is ex Navy Seals. I will hold the goddamn door open when it comes time to batman people to the Hague, I don't like people who volunteered to do war crimes then walk around Las Vegas with a gun on their hip whining about weed.)

Anyways... I never felt welcome at Defcon, it was like being in high school at the pool table -- you can pay like anyone else to play, but... there's a line... for lack of a better analogy.

Maybe I should check out CCC but part of the appeal of Defcon was cost... for an American, it's pretty cheap for a hotel and airfare compared to going to Europe, a place I may never return to since standing up for folks in the Me Too era + standing against white nationalism has resulted in me being blacklisted from infosec.

>The USB attack used to be used in targeted attacks.

You are on hacker news. The NSA (and others) target sysadmins.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/nsa-targets-sysadmin-personal-...

>Is it many US states where such places can't sell liquor? (I know there's some areas with quite strict rules, but was surprised that wasn't explicitly referenced in the article)

[extremely Ron Swanson voice]

Not everyplace can you buy a handle of hard liquor in the CVS like it's Bloomington.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_laws_of_the_United_Sta...

He was banned ten years after I interacted with him. I actually was asked to leave a vendor party I was trying to network at for "starting drama" when I told others not to be alone with him. (Fuck you, Duo.)

To be clear just on linux? How old is "pretty old"? Are you connecting to 2.4ghz or 5ghz?

A USB is probably better, but maybe try something from a physical store so you can return it if no luck. Try getting something with an antenna, and try to stick to 2.4ghz if continuing to have issues 5 is flakier.

(Also be sure the channel you're on isn't polluted with many other networks on the same one, this can clear up issues.)

The one time I met him he told me to go fuck myself.

(I was taping his talk, pro bono for the con, and asked him to speak into the mic for a sound check since we'd had issues with the previous speaker.)

I feel like people dichotomize too much... I would never don a black hat, but the world is much grayer than some make it out to be.

I simply wish to explore friend :-)

>Almost lost it at airport security once so I keep it at home now.

You can bring tools under a certain size through the TSA.

"What's this?"

"My lock pick set"

"Why do you have lockpicks in your bag?"

"For work. They're not sharp."

And with that, after a brief eyebrow raise, I was on my way.

(Though I got the sense they thought I was with the men in black or something, but hey, uh -- be the change you wanna see in the world.)

Is IRC still a thing and if so what's a good one to join?

(I always avoided it for... uh... "opsec" but realizing I might be missing out on some things...)

>>FREE KEVIN

> PUT KEVIN BACK

Registered a throwaway over Tor just for this thread.

Kevin shouldn't be in prison, because prisons should be abolished, but be careful where you put... that. There's a notorious story about him being physically ejected from a fundraiser for refusing to pay the entry. (Redacting some details to stick to the fun parts)

On my end, I was working my way up to maybe flirting with someone I'd had a crush on for years, because I was a widdle baby hacker at my first... con... and off in the corner there's some kind of disturbance. "What was that?!" I sputter, straining to see across the smoky room, and some multicolored cyberpunk dryly drops "Oh, some asshole getting bounced"

If my timelines are correct, "some asshole" was Kevin Freaking Mitnick being physically ejected because when repeatedly asked to pay the door fee kept reiterating "I'm Kevin Mitnick!" and being repeatedly told "We know!" until one of the goons just... picked him up and carried him out into the hall.

And me? I was in the corner being aggressively hit on by John "Cap N Crunch" Draper, who seemed annoyed I kept refusing to drink from his flask. I told him dude, I'm 21 I can just buy booze at the bar and he angrily spat back "Why would I tell you if she's single, then you won't ever let me give you a massage!" and stormed off to find someone dumber and younger than me to ply.

(It was my first hacker convention, and it fully lived up to my expectations even if I didn't end up on the roof that year, lolllll)