I don't know how to
Hack, but I feel totally
Ninja typing here.
In the middle of the desert, in sunny Las Vegas, NV, I'm learning about computer security. There've been some neat talks. One about war ballooning (see: war driving), there's one coming up about hacking the LCD billboards that seem so popular now, there're some about lockpicking, etc., etc. All these people are either totally ninja or total posers (I guess I'm a poser, but whatever). It's neat to be here, though.
Even the badges for the con are sweet. They have LCD lights and an infrared transmitter. They're totally programable! I can't wait to play around with the light settings and stuff.
Oh, as a sidenote? Evan picked up some beater frickin laptops for us to use this weekend. We didn't want our real laptops getting pwned. (There's a thing here called the "wall of sheep" that continually displays the logins and passwords and stuff of everyone who's too lazy to block out hackers.) So I'm writing this post in w3m. I think that makes me a badass. ;) At least, a little bit.
Anyway, I know it's been a while since I've written anything, but I have to just glaze over the things I've done in the interim. I went to Yosemite (Evan, Mike, and I hiked to the top of the mountain and swam in an amazing, frigid, spring-fed pool) and whitewater rafting (class IV! woot!) last weekend, had a birthday party for Evan (with delicious cheese), saw Venus (did the touristy thing), went to Chicago for a couple days (weird to be home), didn't sleep enough (I'm at about 26 hours for the last week), and saw my host for the last time (sadness!).
I can't believe next week is my last at Google! GAH!!
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
8.10.2008
7.07.2008
Taaahho!
Natural beauty,
Plastic and metal speed, both
Part of big weekends.
Cramming 12 college kids into a passenger van for a three day weekend lends itself to a lot of fun. We managed to get a sweet cabin just off Lake Tahoe (Nevada side). From it, we could see the mountains, the lake, the stars... oh, it was amazing.
For the 4th, we bummed around the beach. We got schooled in volleyball, threw a Frisbee, kicked a soccer ball, barbecued (which was super exciting for me, since we got free-range chicken! yum-o!), and watched the fireworks. Woot!
The next day, we managed to leave the house by 2:30 (pathetic, I know) and get to Tahoe City to rent jetskis and a motorboat. Evan and I showed everyone how it was done. :P The bruise hasn't showed up on my hip yet, but when it does...
More barbecue that night, and then a trip to Reno. I feel I deserve a medal of some kind for driving that damn van through the mountains. But anyway, we scoped the casino scene (ca-scene-o?) and then meandered (read: slowly moved to the car and had Valkyrie and Garrett drive for 45 minutes through intense mountains at 2 in the morning) back to the cabin at Incline Village.
It was truly a star-gazing, jetskiing, barbecuing, volleyballing, van-driving, swimming, casinoing, hiking, picture-taking, boating, wandering, chattering, not-enough-sleeping, chess-playing, billiardsing good time. :D
Plastic and metal speed, both
Part of big weekends.
Cramming 12 college kids into a passenger van for a three day weekend lends itself to a lot of fun. We managed to get a sweet cabin just off Lake Tahoe (Nevada side). From it, we could see the mountains, the lake, the stars... oh, it was amazing.
For the 4th, we bummed around the beach. We got schooled in volleyball, threw a Frisbee, kicked a soccer ball, barbecued (which was super exciting for me, since we got free-range chicken! yum-o!), and watched the fireworks. Woot!
The next day, we managed to leave the house by 2:30 (pathetic, I know) and get to Tahoe City to rent jetskis and a motorboat. Evan and I showed everyone how it was done. :P The bruise hasn't showed up on my hip yet, but when it does...
More barbecue that night, and then a trip to Reno. I feel I deserve a medal of some kind for driving that damn van through the mountains. But anyway, we scoped the casino scene (ca-scene-o?) and then meandered (read: slowly moved to the car and had Valkyrie and Garrett drive for 45 minutes through intense mountains at 2 in the morning) back to the cabin at Incline Village.
It was truly a star-gazing, jetskiing, barbecuing, volleyballing, van-driving, swimming, casinoing, hiking, picture-taking, boating, wandering, chattering, not-enough-sleeping, chess-playing, billiardsing good time. :D
5.05.2008
It begins...!
California.
The land of sun and summer.
And cockroaches, too.
So my flight touched down at about 9:55 yesterday morning. It was a pretty cool flight; I met a couple of marketing execs from Silicon Valley on the way. The one sitting next to me for most of the flight actually had a dog with him in his carry-on luggage! But, anyway, I got to the airport and had some time to explore. It was a pretty standard place, actually. I saw a couple of crazy people with neon hair and crazy awesome piercings, but most people were normal. :P
We managed to make our way to NASA Ames, via a shuttle, two trains, and a taxi. The Valley is a much nicer place than San Francisco. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, plus we were able to take off our jackets (I was sort of surprised how cold it was in SF!). Our first room at Ames was a little bit of a nightmare. There was a cockroach living in our shower drain. We got a new room.
We also met Steven, our soon-to-be apartment mate. He's a cool guy. Very into IKEA. :) Definitely awesome, though, and I think he'll be fun to live with and keep us organized. I can't wait to meet Sam when he moves in next week. I'll be living with Sarah, Steven, and Sam... hmm...
Anyway, we're checking out of Ames this morning, and we're hoping to do some more exploring in Mountain View. We had dinner at an awesome Mexican restaurant yesterday (hunger is the best spice, surely, especially after about 15 hours foodless, but I think that their veggie quesadillas would've been awesome anytime) and found a clothing store with some super cute stuff. I'm hoping to post pictures in here soon, but we have to go catch a cab.
The land of sun and summer.
And cockroaches, too.
So my flight touched down at about 9:55 yesterday morning. It was a pretty cool flight; I met a couple of marketing execs from Silicon Valley on the way. The one sitting next to me for most of the flight actually had a dog with him in his carry-on luggage! But, anyway, I got to the airport and had some time to explore. It was a pretty standard place, actually. I saw a couple of crazy people with neon hair and crazy awesome piercings, but most people were normal. :P
We managed to make our way to NASA Ames, via a shuttle, two trains, and a taxi. The Valley is a much nicer place than San Francisco. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, plus we were able to take off our jackets (I was sort of surprised how cold it was in SF!). Our first room at Ames was a little bit of a nightmare. There was a cockroach living in our shower drain. We got a new room.
We also met Steven, our soon-to-be apartment mate. He's a cool guy. Very into IKEA. :) Definitely awesome, though, and I think he'll be fun to live with and keep us organized. I can't wait to meet Sam when he moves in next week. I'll be living with Sarah, Steven, and Sam... hmm...
Anyway, we're checking out of Ames this morning, and we're hoping to do some more exploring in Mountain View. We had dinner at an awesome Mexican restaurant yesterday (hunger is the best spice, surely, especially after about 15 hours foodless, but I think that their veggie quesadillas would've been awesome anytime) and found a clothing store with some super cute stuff. I'm hoping to post pictures in here soon, but we have to go catch a cab.
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