…flashing lights, extravagant hotels, hoochies, and the slot machine wheels keep spinning… (Vegas intro)
I was hoping to have the photos along with the story, too busy though. Currently redoing the Shifting Creations site and will add the latest galleries then so check back!
As for the trip, what happens in Vegas, stays indoors, because it’s too damn hot to go outside (that’s the french-canadian in me speaking). Not that it matters; each hotel was like it’s own enclosed theme park, interlacing with all the other casinos on the strip so there’s not a lot of time spent outside.
We stayed at Caesar’s Palace, the best of the bunch, in my opinion. You can get lost in this place, and that’s what they want. No windows, no clocks. The main floor consists of food joints for all tastes, bars, shopping (we’re talking Armani, Berdini, Lacoste, not to mention the largest Victoria’s Secret I’ve ever seen), live music everywhere, gambling, a trio of the coolest pools to swim in… there’s no reason to leave. Basically, if you want to live like a king, you can. All it takes is money. And the desire to have a kindom in fricken Nevada.
BlackHat, one of the conferences we attended was held in the Caesar’s conference centers, and kicked ass. DefCon was the other conference, also very cool and informative, but BlackHat was much more formal and organized. Johnny Long’s presentation on Google Hacking was very good. Lots of other cool stuff, also very eye-opening and makes me wish everyone who owned a computer was forced to go attend some security sessions. Bottomline: credit card numbers and other private information do not belong on the internet, so don’t put ‘em there!
As for DefCon, I’ve never seen so many muscled up, well-tanned, athletic computer users in my life. I mean, just the opposite. I hope mom’s across America took advantage of having their 30-year-old sons breach basement boundaries to sport their high school Transformers t-shirt and bring along their favorite girl, whether she be Dell, Apple, or AlienWare. The presentations weren’t as good as BlackHat, but certainly more shady and less monitored (which also teaches you a lot). The Wall of Sheep was fun to keep an eye on, a projector view of all the IPs, passwords, and other info that has been hacked for all to see. The lock-picking contest was also fun to see, the winner taking a mere 6 seconds to unlock the contest door.
Lastly, Circue Du Soleil performing the new Ka show was undoubtedly one of the coolest events I’ve ever witnessed. Take the mind-wrenching gymnastics and talent everyone knows Circue to create and combine with a martial arts theme, ninjas, bows and arrows, and sweet fight scenes. Rock on.
Sounds amazing. If you go next summer, let me know because I would be more than willing to go see it all! Also makes me a little more hesitant about online purchasing.
Comment by Trav — August 17, 2005 @ 3:09 pm
Crcue Du Solei is one of the coolest things anyone will see. I suggest everyone to see it at least once in their lives.
It’s cool that you went, I can’t wait for stories!!
Comment by Jason — August 17, 2005 @ 3:37 pm
It was pretty sweet, I’ll have more on the trip when we get back to school.
Comment by Adrian — August 17, 2005 @ 4:24 pm
Ah you go Vegas for Defcon but ditch me for the Olympia, ah I see how it is…
Comment by Anonymous — August 17, 2005 @ 7:17 pm
Oh god dammit! Who know who said that!
Comment by JUnit — August 18, 2005 @ 9:56 pm
haha, I’m sure Arnie will forgive me. Gotta wait til i’m huge to show up there
Comment by Anonymous — August 19, 2005 @ 7:03 am
Just uploaded V4 of Shifting Creations. Still a couple unfinished parts but have had enough with dial up and am callin it quits, for today atleast. Blog changes soon to match the new layout and updated with the latest photo galleries. later!
Comment by Adrian — August 19, 2005 @ 5:21 pm
Finished adding most of my 2005 works to the portfolio page today so if you checked out the new design in the past couple days, check it again.
Comment by Adrian — August 23, 2005 @ 3:20 pm
That trip sounds like fun. I need to get my self out to Sin City. Defcon sounds awesomely nerdy.
Two and a half more weeks until we room together.
We gotta figure out how to set up this room.
Comment by ChrisHP — August 23, 2005 @ 10:18 pm
The room should be pretty easy. i remember when i stayed there, the beds were best stacked in the back right corner and desks and media stuff line the left wall, but we can arrange it however. gotta run, e-mail me if you have any ideas or wanna talk about this more.
Comment by Adrian — August 25, 2005 @ 6:31 am
I like the new site.
Very neat, very organized, very professional.
Roomwise, I wish we could do something different, each year those McKean rooms look the same. Maybe we could get a hamock system so we could free up floor space? Or not.
Oh yeah, we need a trash bucket. I dont have any place to dispose of waste!
Anyway, time to go rock out!
Later!
Comment by ChrisHP — August 27, 2005 @ 12:41 pm
Thanks chris.
Yeah, we’ll do something cool with the room. I’ll look around and see what I have.
Working on web stuff, talk to you later
Comment by Adrian — August 27, 2005 @ 1:37 pm
Hey man, I might have found you a job with my local supplement supplier, Advanced Nutrition. I am friends with the owner (who is currently looking to take his store to the web) and gave him your url. So if you get an email from a bodybuilder named Shawn dont be suprised.
Comment by JUnit — August 28, 2005 @ 12:12 am
Hey, thanks a ton man, you know I appreciate it. If your friend’s lookin for a site, I can do it no problem, cheaper than anyone else too.
Did you get my e-mail? check if you haven’t already, hoping to catch up with you soon. take it easy J
Comment by Adrian — August 28, 2005 @ 12:16 pm
The house looks great man! Its the only thing I could imagine the Pelletiers living in. I am at school now so feel free to make any plans for a visit it would be greatly appreciated.
Comment by JUnit — August 28, 2005 @ 2:07 pm
We have about 5 more days. Sweet.
Comment by ChrisHP — September 6, 2005 @ 12:26 pm
Should be cool. I’ve decided to bring as little as possible for the first week and decide from there what we need. Got my second monitor and fixed the shuttle (well, nothing was wrong, but cooled it down a lot with another fan) so I can’t wait for fast internet again. What time are you getting there Sunday? later
Comment by Adrian — September 7, 2005 @ 7:57 am
In theory I will arrive at school at noon. In practice I’ll be there at 2. I’m always late and it’s a 3.5 hour drive. I’m trying to minimize how much I am going to bring, as this year I actually get a closet at home to leave things in. It’s wild. A closet.
See you soon. 3 days and counting.
Comment by ChrisHP — September 8, 2005 @ 3:27 pm
Sounds good, I’m ready to go back. All stocked up on my muscle shakes, ready to build some sites, hang out, take 5 plates of food at dinner and ice cream with every meal. mmmmm
Comment by Adrian — September 8, 2005 @ 4:30 pm
I, too, am ready for a rearrival. Time to learn me some art.
By the way, I have two rugs in the CSC storage shed, so we have rugs if needed.
Comment by ChrisHP — September 10, 2005 @ 2:50 pm
Adrian,
Whats up? Yes, this is your old roomate, and not the slurping gremlin one. Just seein’ what’s going on as I suppose most everyone is finally back at school. As for me, I’ve been down here in sunny and rainy Miami for about 3 weeks. Yes, that’s right, I decided against coming back, Im sure you aren’t too surprised, but hey, life in the Tropics can be very, very good. What can I say? Very impressive site, I wish I had half the willpower to learn to design this stuff, or at least learn how to do photoshop. Anyway, I’m trying to get jacked and play football down here, so my days consist of eating, going to class, working out, and eating right before bed. My AIM sn is cjmoney36. Hope school goes well, and McKean stays classy.
The word from the Dirty South.
Chris
Comment by Chris — September 11, 2005 @ 1:43 pm
Hey Chris, it’s good to hear from you. I moved in today, just finished unpacking. Took a summer of driving 3 hours to and back from my internship but was well worth, learnt a ton, and that’s why the redo of the site. What sucks is the drive and long days never left me enough time to lift but I’m all stocked up on my whey shakes now, still trying to get as big as you, ha. I went to a Pats preseason game a couple weeks ago, awesome time, wish I had known more about football when you were here. Goodluck down there and keep in touch. I’ll IM you when I see you on, later
Comment by Adrian — September 11, 2005 @ 3:01 pm