The Whiskey Pirates have once again unveiled a perfect electronic badge for the DEF CON 29. It’s not official, of course, but it’s in fact on the list of traditional gems noted so far this year.
I can’t attend the scam in person, but the Pirates still sent one of those badges for them to see for the first time. It’s beautiful, and looking at the circuit board, it would be simple to think that the chip shortage has nothing to do with it. see with this badge. But this was only imaginable thanks to a source of very artistic portions and a massive dose of encouraged design work.
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To say that 2020 was a transformative year would be something of an understatement. The COVID-19 pandemic completely changed the way we worked, learned, and lived. Despite all those jokes about how much time people spend on their devices rather than interacting face-to-face with other humans, it turns out that when you can’t get more than a few people together in the same room, it throws our entire society into disarray.
Our network had to reconsider how we got here, and major events like HOPE, DEF CON, and even our own La-Tecnologia Supercon had to temporarily shift to virtual events that tried, with varying degrees of success, to capture the experience to a large extent. or thousands of hackers. locate yourself in genuine life. While few would say that a virtual hacker conference will ever upgrade a physical conference, we’ve learned that there are undeniable benefits to taking advantage of the merits that cyberspace offers. At the very least, the virtual hacker meetings of 2020 featured a much wider and more varied diversity of participants and presenters than ever before.
As we begin to see the first rays of light at the end of the long, dark tunnel we’re stuck in, it’s becoming clear that some of the changes COVID-19 has imposed on our network are here to stay. While we’re all hunting for a return to the epic hackfests of yesteryear, no one wants to close the door on anyone who can’t physically finish now that they’ve had a chance to pull back the curtain.
With this in mind, this year’s DEF CON is being presented in physical and virtual form. If you’ve been to Las Vegas, great. Otherwise, you can limit yourself to chat rooms and video streams from the comfort of your home. Following the theme, the DC29 badge is not only a convenient tool for virtual assistants, but also an electronic puzzle for those who can physically gather a few. Let’s take a closer look at this socially distanced badge and the generation associated with it.
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For years, I’ve eagerly awaited seeing every new unofficial hardware badge that came out of the #Badgelife powerhouse known as AND! XOR. A combination of new and attractive components, swapping real games and memes, you never know what they’re going to release.
A pack of bubbles arrived on my table on Thursday with the newest offering, AND!XOR designed for DEF CON 29, which is being presented this weekend as a hybrid in-person and online conference. While each past year has upped the ante when it comes to complexity and the manufacture of magic tricks, it’s no surprise, given the uncertainty of the global pandemic and the global chip shortage, that they’ve taken another approach. What we have here is a badge hack puzzle that demands you figure out how to put it all together!
Continue “The DEF CON 29 electronic credential from AND! XOR is a meeting puzzle,” →
Year after year, the Queercon badge continues to be impressive. I think the most impressive thing about those badges is that they seem to reject all of last year’s design concepts and start from scratch, while still noticing an exclusive and addictive aesthetic. each and every time.
This year, two hardware flagships are produced through the team consisting of Evan Mackay, George Louthan, Tara Scape and Subterfuge. The one shown here is nicknamed the “Q” badge due to its resemblance to the letter. Both allow access to the conference. Both are electronically interactive, but this one is like a panel for a truth-sharing game (ARG) that encourages interactivity and meaningful conversations. The other badge is the “C” badge. It’s more passive, but acts as a key in ARG: you can’t progress by interacting with just one type of badge, you have to paint with other people wearing any type of badge so Queercon participants who haven’t purchased the Q badge can still access. Pleasure.
The most striking feature of this badge is a traditional membrane keyboard designed to play interactive play on all conference badges. But I find that the eInk display, RJ12 connector for connectivity, and LED and bezel designs come in combination for the best balance between capability and artistry. Join me after the break for a closer look at what makes this curtain so special.
Continue reading “Practice: Traditional Membrane Keyboard With Queercon 16 Hardware Badge” →
Yesterday we posted a first look at the uncovered curtains on the DEF CON 27 badge. Having a magnetically coupled wireless communication formula instead of an RF-based formula, as well as an attractive way to connect the cable without delay, caught my eye. But the gemstone front and LED diffuser have their own amazing story that you shouldn’t miss.
Continue “DEF CON 27: The Badge Talk; Or that time Joe Grand discovered 30,000 gems →
The first big surprise Vegas had in store for everyone is that the DEF CON badge is an electronic badge this year. It’s traditionally been the DC practice to alternate years between electronic and non-electronic badges. Last year we had a fantastic electronic badge designed by the ToyMakers, so I had expected something more passive like the vinyl LP badge from a few years ago. What a pleasant surprise to learn otherwise!
Second place on the list of wonders is the badge maker itself. The design is a throwback to the good old days when Joe Grand takes the helm. Veterans know him as the Kingpin, and his legacy in creating badges runs deep. Let’s go ahead and take a look.
Continue reading “First Look at the Official DEF CON 27 Badge; The king is back! » →
The Y! XOR has managed to outdo itself this year. Its new unofficial hardware badge for DEF CON 26 has arrived. It’s a delightful creation in terms of hardware, software, and demanding interactive situations built into both.
They call this the “Wild West of IoT”, a name that draws from the aesthetic as well as the badge-to-badge communications features. Built on the ESP32-WROVER module which brings both WiFi and Bluetooth to the party, the badges are designed to form a wireless botnet at the conference. Anyone with a badge can work to advance their level and take more and more control of the botnet as they do.
Watch the video presentation and then register below to dive deeper into everything this badge has to offer.
Continue “Video Review: AND! XOR DEF CON 26» →