ShmooCon 2013, Last Carnival Update and Dorner's Death

Yesterday I told you guys that I was going to attempt to get into ShmooCon 2013 after work, even though I didn’t have a ticket. I am happy to report that it was a huge success. Not only was I able to buy one, but I was able to resell it at the end of the night to someone that planned to go for the whole weekend. I also had the opportunity to talk with some really great guys that I have followed on Twitter due to their expertise in the information security field. This was my first security convention, and I found it very entertaining to see fellow geeks come together and attempt to be socialites. Overall, it was a blast and I saw some neat vendors, great talks, and outstanding people. I want to thank everyone who organized and participated in the event. If you were not able to go and would like to watch the presentations live, visit http://www.shmoocon.org/news-shmoo_streaming.

We all know that the story about the Carnival cruise ship Triumph is over, but we all also know that the media is going to drag it on as long as they can to maximize their advertisement profit potential. When I came into work today, I noticed on the "tube" that a news anchor was interviewing a woman whose health was at risk during the episode because she needs dialysis multiple times per week. At first I felt sorry for her, but then I actually started thinking with my own mind, instead of feeling the way that the interview was supposed to make me feel. Why was she on a two-day cruise if she needs dialysis three times a week? I was so curious about this that I did a bit of research and found out that there are many cruise lines out there that run special “dialysis cruises” for those that require the procedure. Now I know that this woman was not a victim of bad luck or neglect, but rather a victim of poor choices and irresponsibility. I can’t even say that this is all Carnival’s fault, even though I have a deep bias against the company (no, I will not elaborate). Things happen. They reacted in a satisfactory way, in my opinion. The company had food delivered, distributed a means of dealing with human waste, and offered compensation for the inconvenience. I am tired of seeing people complain about the cucumber and onion sandwiches. Boo hoo, you didn’t die from starvation. The lines were long? It was a good thing you didn’t decide to go to Disney Land. To compare this story to a similar situation, do you think there would be this much “hoopla” over some people trapped in a hotel elevator for a few days? We certainly don’t see this type of coverage about trapped miners, even though the situation is far more serious. Am I being dramatic, or are you guys sick of the media dragging this one out as well? Let me know in the comments.

Many of you already know about the Christopher Dorner news, so I will keep this short. Investigators confirmed yesterday that the body found in the cabin was that of the manhunt subject and today the coroner said that he died from a single shot to the head. There were many witnesses that said they thought he took his own life, and it is certainly looking that way. As I said in my video, he got what he wanted with the reopened case that got him fired five years ago, so I have no doubt that he knew the story would eventually end in his own death. Witnesses who had contact with Dorner over the last few days of the manhunt stated that he assured them that he would not kill them and treated them fairly, given the situation. I am still in shock about the police scanner recordings, where you can clearly hear the police saying to “burn the gas” and “burn it down”. Obviously they intended to write their own ending to the drama. I can understand their intentions, even if I absolutely do not agree with them. On a side note, I noticed the media isn’t using all three of Dorner’s names anymore. Apparently they no longer consider him a serial killer, since they can get continued ratings from LAPD corruption drama by making him look “less scary”.

That’s all I have for this post, so thank you for reading and feel free to utilize the comments section. I am usually pretty quick to reply to anything posted there.

Triumph? Blade Runner and ShmooCon 2013

Great news everyone! The Carnival cruise ship “Triumph”, which has been stuck out at sea with a full passenger load for five days has made it to port in Mobile, Alabama. The ship had about 4200 passengers on board and lost power in the Gulf of Mexico after an engine fire on Sunday. Reportedly, there was a food shortage and water/human waste soaked the floors of many cabins and hallways. I really don’t understand why the human waste was an issue, since they were sitting in the middle of the ocean, but I am glad that they all made it back home. Some are worried about negative health effects from being exposed to the heat and waste for so long, but experts doubt there will be any lasting issues. Apparently the passengers are receiving a refund for their trip, $500, and free hotel and travel fare for the trip back home. Is that enough? Tell me what you guys think.

Oscar Pistorius was something of a hero during the most recent Olympic games not only because he is a world class athlete, but because he was able to compete as a double amputee. Nicknamed the “Blade Runner”, Pistorius is a sprinter and received his name by the style of prosthetic legs he used during the games. Now the great story that is the “Blade Runner” has come to a tragic end due to murder charges against Pistorius. His side of the story is that he mistook his girlfriend, Russian model Reeva Steenkamp, as an intruder in the middle of the night and shot her in the arm and head. During the trial today, he broke down into tears when the charge of pre-meditated murder was announced. Even though the bail hearing has been postponed, many believe that bail will be denied because the suspect has a history of running. Get it?

Now moving on, today I will be attempting to get into ShmooCon 2013 in Washington, D.C. I don’t have a ticket, but I know some people who do and I am planning to meet up with them. Hopefully I will be able to make some magic happen and sneak in. The chances are pretty slim, but if nothing else I will get to meet some pretty influential people in the offensive security community. In either case, wish me luck!

Edit: I also wanted to say something about the meteor shower in Russia. It looks like there was a bright flash and quite a few people were injured. There are a ton of videos out there, since (as everyone who watches YouTube knows) just about everyone who drives in Russia has a dash camera. Someone has made quite a bit of money in the video recording industry and they stand to make even more if they change their slogan to "DashCam: Good for Incompetent Drivers AND Interplanetary Debris!" We should likely see some new conspiracy theories about the whole thing in a few day. I don't know about you guys, but I find the imaginations of those silly people highly entertaining.

LAPD MANHUNT, BIEBER, TAMAGOTCHI AND LUCK OF THE IRISH

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CYBER STALKING, REDNECK PILOT AND FLACCO'S PAYCHECK

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Obama, Football, and Taxes

Hello again everyone, 

I just saw the interview with President Obama that took place before the game and it was entertaining to see the back-step about football. For those of you that don't know, last week he also said in an interview that if he had a son, he would be worried about letting him play the game. This was all due to the recent and ongoing issues with safety, which I discussed in an earlier video or blog post when I pointed out that Junior Saeu's family was suing the NFL for "wrongful death". Now the President is saying that he has nothing but respect and appreciation for football and he was not talking badly about professional football, since grown adults sign up for the possible bodily harm they may incur.

The President also spoke about more taxes coming down the pipe, which is funny because he said that was something he wasn't going to do. When are people going to realize that when you have more federal government regulations (gun control, etc.), government health care (ObamaCare), and an increase in social programs, those things require more money?

Thanks again for reading. I need to get home and try to get some sleep. Today is a big day for me.

-BurntCoffeeSucks

Super Bowl, Commercials, Etc.

Well congratulations to all you Ravens fans. It was certainly a red-and-gold sort of day in BurntCoffeeSucks household for Super Bowl XLVII due to my in-laws' residence in Northern California. Although I initially wanted Baltimore to win since they seemed like the underdogs of the playoffs along with the Ray Lewis story, now I find myself feeling guilty for it. It was a surprisingly exciting game, power issues and conspiracy theories aside. I still have no idea what it would be like to wear the shoes of Jack and Jackie Harbaugh, especially when they know that one of their sons (John or Jim) had to come home without the Lombardi trophy. Do I think that the outcome could have been different if the officials called the last two holding penalties? To quote a French soldier from The Patriot, “Perhaps… We will never know.”

I suppose I should get all the commercial discussion out of the way now, since it is inevitable in either case. The first one that I want to talk about is the trailer for Fast and Furious 6. Now I will start this off by seriously admitting that I enjoyed the first four Fast and Furious movies. The last one completely sucked, in my opinion, and reminded me of a cheap Ocean's 11 knockoff. This newest one however, really seems to be stretching it. A seemingly secret military organization that combats crime by hiring wanted felons to race cars and play a high-tech version of Mario Cart? Wow.

Iron Man 3 looks like it could be pretty good, but we already knew that one was happening, so it wasn’t necessarily Super Bowl news. I really, really enjoyed the Doritos commercial with the goat. Someone told me that when the ferocious farm animal screamed when all the chips were taken away, their dog actually jumped up out of fear and ran around the house.

There was a pretty good one for Sketchers that had a cheetah chasing a gazelle and just before dinner, the cheetah was caught and tackled by a guy wearing some super-power running shoes. Finally, there was the fantastic Budweiser ad that highlighted the life of a Clydesdale and its relationship with its original owner. Again however, this one wasn't exactly new because it was leaked a few days ago. The Taco Bell ad was a work of art that made me actually wish I was older, just so I could pretend to be young again and eat horribly fake Mexican food, that will probably result in an extra-long trip to the porcelain throne (one way or the other).

One that I did not find particularly funny or entertaining was the Oreo cookie library fight thing. It is completely unrealistic and any library that was actually that strict should be converted to an online database, its employees fired, and the building burned to the ground to be converted into a landfill for radioactive waste.

I really did not want this post to be completely about the Super Bowl, but it appears that I have run out of time for today. Thanks again for reading and please leave any comments, input, suggestions, jokes, bashes, rants, whatever in the comments section of my blog or follow me on Twitter @BurntSucks.

PS. Changed up the blog template just a bit. Let me know what you think!