FROM TOP LEFT

1. I knew I was at the right hotel when I saw the back of this car.

2. As noted by some of the e-mail we've received, some people aren't happy with this year's DEFCON. One person with a blank piece of cardboard and marker adequately summed up the feelings of many first-day attendees in a sign.

3. Still others were happy to see Phil Zimmermann speak on PGP (left) and (4) Kevin Mitnick not only appear at DEFCON but watch him win "Hackers Jeopardy" and a cool black leather jacket. The woman standing to his right is his girlfriend, not his parole officer.

4. You can find lots of cool stuff in the vendor areas, from t-shirts to surplus military equipment.

5. Pictured here is a surplus U.S. Navy hydrophone that could be had for $250. What you'd do with it is a mystery, since you'd need at least 15 more plus a helo or patrol plane to deliver them into the aquatic area you wish to find submarines – it's a bit of an overkill for tuna fishing. This reporter got a good deal on a surplus Civil Defense radiological detector for $20, a piece of kit that got my luggage carefully inspected on the trip back.

6. "Capture the Flag" is the longest-running DEFCON event and was run by the Ghetto Hackers. Look carefully at the picture at the roof of their pagoda and you can see it is made up of old circuit boards.

8. Most of my pictures of the esoteric "Root-Fu" awards ceremony are mysteriously blurred (likely due to the reflection of the bald head in front), but one can clearly see the winning team tying on their awarded black belts in the one snapshot I was able to take. µ