DEF CON 21: Best in Show

The Electronic Frontier Foundation had a popular table in DEF CON 21's vendor hall, and posed for this excellent action shot. This year, EFF had a new "Encryption is Key" t-shirt for DEF CON 21, which kept hackers obsessed long after the conference was over.

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The conference, with benefit parties and contests, raised over $100,000 for the EFF.

Over $100,000 raised for the @EFF at #DEFCON this year! Woohoo!

— Tony Arcieri (@bascule) August 5, 2013

A Bitcoin ATM briefcase made its way all over DEF CON and its attached parties. Pictured below at the extravagant, crypot-puzzle-for-access #LOLBitcoin party (thrown by Exploit Hub and Rift Recon), its maker led me through a demonstration while a small crowd of partygoers waited their turn to try the machine.

Once the briefcase is plugged in and booted up, the customer inserts change through a coin slot located on the side of the case.

Dual Core poses for an action shot on the DEF CON 21 vendor floor.

Awarded and much-loved rap duo Dual Core and crew held court at a vendor table during the day at DEF CON 21, selling CD's and generally delighting everyone with their presence. At night, Dual Core lit up the con's parties, with a highlight performance at EFF fundraiser theSummit.

Actor Will Smith briefly visited DEF CON for around 20-30 minutes researching a part for an upcoming film, and the loyal Scientology donor purchased two Dual Core CD's.

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Kids of all ages learned the hobby of locksport on the vendor floor, from morning 'till closing. The sport is especially embraced by kids, and kept many of DEF CON's hacker munchkins busy learning how pin tumbler locks work, and practising careful hand-eye coordination. These demo 'doors' allow the hobbyist to practice on upright, real-life locks.

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Photo by (c)HackerPhotos.com/AST Cell used with express permission via DEF CON Press Office.

If there was too much of a good thing on the DEF CON vendor floor, it was the crowded arena of selling locksport/lockpicking tools and practice sets. An extremely popular pasttime and hobby (especially for hacker kids), the vendors were all busy, nonstop - but it took some detective work to sort out the reputable vendors from the sea of sellers.

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Highly respected by the community, SEREPICK had a busy and informative booth that sold its custom tools nonstop to Def Con 21's thousands of attendees, presenters and staff.

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Photo by (c)HackerPhotos.com/AST Cell used with express permission via DEF CON Press Office.

The DEF CON 21 contest Pimp My Rascal invited attendees to modify "Rascal" electric driving carts, typically used by elderly and handicapped to increase mobility. The contest's funds went to the EFF; meanwhile, some hackers took pleasure in using the carts to navigate the conference's crowded halls and ease traveling the long casino distances between conference events and talks.

Pleasure was also taken at annoying fellow conference goers with the dressed-up carts in general, most notably in absence of any statewide Rascal-related, indoor drunk driving laws. 

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The Electronic Frontier Foundation brought a full-size phone booth to DEF CON 21, complete with a Batman-style emergency red phone within, so attendees could easily call their political representatives and voice their support to change the Comupter Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).

EFF encourgaed hackers to "Call Congress at the CFAA DC Dialer Booth" in the DEF CON Contest & Event area, "so you can make a toll-free call to your representatives to speak out on Aaron's Law, the bill designed to bring some much needed reform to the CFAA."

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A close-up inside the EFF's CFAA DC Dialer Booth.

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DEF CON 21 vendor Hackers for Charity had a sprawling piece of real estate on the vendor floor, and enough attention to make it worthwhile. The organization serves as a matchmaking service for nonprofits (especially food and aid organizations) and hackers, security researchers, or anyone who falls under the 'hacker' banner and can provide professional services.

Hackers for Charity explained to me that they also work to provide tech training and education to nonprofits and the people they serve, with a banner goal of bringing conputer education and tech literacy to the world's poorest populations. And they're always looking for more hackers that want to help.

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DEF CON 21 vendor: Hacker University.

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Edward Snowden t-shirts were on sale by SnowdenShirt.com.

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DEF CON 21 vendor: Hacker mugs, another product that sold out.

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Pwnie Express was another crazy-popular booth on the DEF CON 21 vendor floor, and when the company wasn't showing famous actors how to pwn their colleagues, it celebrated the resease of its newest product, Pwn Plug 2.

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DEF CON vendor: Simple WiFi's coveted indoor antennas.

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In a rare moment of quiet at the Rift Recon and Exploit Hub booth, a DEF CON attendee joins a vendor for another terrific action shot.

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Hacker web show Hak5 had a busy corner of the vendor floor and showcased its incredibly popular wifi hacking gadgets, including its highly desired Pineapple.

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Hacker web show Hak5 also brought its spyplane, the SpyHawk.

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The Blade RF radios by Nuand were available on the DEF CON 21 vendor floor. "Starting with basic radio architecture and spanning into modulation techniques, high throughput USB Linux kernel driver design, basic telecommunication coding schemes, and MIMO, the platform aims to be the perfect tool for learning modern software radio design."

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A common theme seen across the DEF CON 21 vendor floor was the notion of watching the watchers.

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In the film Hackers, the pirate TV radio show was "Hack The Planet" - and this was the cry shouted in the film by character Dade Murphy (former child hacker) when he was unjustly arrested and put into a police car. It's an important phrase to the communities DEF CON serves for those reasons, and more.

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