I took Friday off and headed to Las Vegas last Thursday night for Defcon. It’s a hacker convention that is more networking opportunity and party than convention. The talks are usually pretty good, though most people go to just meet up with birds of the same feather and have a good time. Though the conference itself was a little disappointing due to over-attendance, it was still great to meet up with friends I haven’t seen in a few years.This year’s conference was a little disappointing in that there were so many people in attendance that we couldn’t get in to see the talks in person. Fortunately for us, the sessions were broadcast on the Alexis Park’s closed circuit cable channels. Most of the time we watched the talks from the comfort of a couch in one of our hotel rooms. Those folks who didn’t have have a room at the hotel were out of luck.I wasn’t originally planning on going this year. I had been planning on going on the Pugsley family camping trip in the Sylvania Wilderness in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan, but due to the craziness at work I was unable to take the week off. When I realized there was no way I was going to be able to go, I looked into taking just Friday off and getting a last minute flight to Las Vegas.Defcon proved to be a great opportunity for many of the people that I chat with on IRC to synch up. Most of the guys I knew from back at the University of Michigan or I had meet before at other gatherings. But there were a few that I had only known online and got to meet them face-to-face for the first time.We didn’t do much “hacking” while there. We pretty much just hung out, sociallized, played video games and migled with the rest of the hacking community. A few of the guys in our group who are the masterminds behind the wigle.net online wireless ethernet access point database participated in the war driving contest and won.Overall, it was a decent long weekend. Much sociallizing was done. Much Red Bull was drank. I’m not sure if I’ll attend next year (I went to Defcon two years ago but skipped last year). I guess I’ll play it by ear.