I flew from Defcon in Las Vegas directly to Philadelphia, where I'm covering the GOP convention. Right now I'm out at the convention site in one of the four towering white tents designated for the press. I'd call them circus tents, except they're sized to fit not elephants but jumbo jets. They are, sadly, more interesting, at least in a structural-engineering sense, than the convention itself, which so far is more forgettable than a Ross Perot speech. Even the protests have been largely placid, though there's some hope that'll change with "direct action day" tomorrow. Some protest sites: http://www.thepartysover.org/ http://www.libertynet.org/kwru/index.html http://www.r2kphilly.org/ http://www.billionairesforbushorgore.com/events/index_march.html http://www.shadowconvention.com/ http://www.wilpf.org/ -Declan http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,37903,00.html GOPconvention.com Hits the Web by Declan McCullagh 2:40 p.m. Jul. 31, 2000 PDT PHILADELPHIA -- For the first time, the Internet is coming to a presidential convention. Dozens of online reporters have plugged in their laptops alongside traditional media in tents the size of aircraft hangers at the site of the Republican National Convention. Informally dubbed "Internet Alley," the corner of one tent is home to about 40 companies like voter.com, freedomchannel.com, grassroots.com, and women.com -- none of which covered the 1996 presidential conventions. Some, like msnbc.com and abcnews.com, have set up complete broadcast sets. America Online, which sent a tiny delegation in 1996, went even further and rented an imposing skybox in the convention hall alongside CNN and NBC News. In 1996, the online press included a handful of reporters with laptops. In 1992, Net reporters were nonexistent. This year, Voter.com teamed up with Excite.com -- the companies sent a combined total of about 30 people -- to handle interactive chats, kiosks in downtown Philadelphia, and news coverage. [...] http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,37896,00.html Defcon: The Hacker's Bacchanalia by Declan McCullagh ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) 7:45 a.m. Jul. 31, 2000 PDT LAS VEGAS -- What do you get when you mix 6,000 hackers and hacker-wannabees with booze, gambling and some of the hottest temperatures in the history of Sin City? Defcon, an annual gathering that holds the Alexis Park Hotel's all-time record for the most alcohol consumed by one group in a weekend. Defcon has always been an event known as much for its intensive technical content -- talks on "advanced buffer overflow techniques" are de rigueur -- as its social opportunities, but this year it seems to have become more party than conference. Call it the new American geek holiday. An example: Some 6,000 paid attendees showed up -- organizers ran out of badges at 5,000 -- but the hotel reports the three conference rooms used for Defcon hold a combined total of just 2,800 people. The rest of the attendees seemed to be content occupying their time with poolside lounging, private parties in hotel rooms and, naturally, beer-tinged teenage high jinks. Hotel staff patiently spent Saturday evening clearing smoke bombs and bubble bath from the three swimming pools -- as well as concrete that reportedly was poured in at least one toilet. [...]
