After Hours Activities

Free beer and pizza, courtesy of the Shmoo Group, were provided on Saturday night. For those who didn't want to wait, the Gaslamp district with its many restaurants and bars was only a short walk away.

A couple of the talks scheduled for Sunday were cancelled because the speakers were missing. Apparently some speakers trekked into Tijuana Saturday night and never came back. We can only hope that they eventually found their way home.

Vendor Area: Lock Picks And Caffeine Mints

Just like the Defcon Convention, the vendors at Toorcon sell an amazing variety of items. For those who want to increase their computer knowledge, two booksellers were offering 20% to 30% off the major hacking books. As an added bonus, some of the authors were available to hold book signing sessions.

Looking for vintage Sun, Cobalt or Big IP box? One vendor had an assortment of retired server and router boxes at low prices. Wouldn't it be great to put a nice blue Cobalt box in your 19 inch rack? The same vendor also had a bunch of Apple Newtons for $15 each.

The Irvine Underground booth was selling lockpicks. People could test their lock opening skills by trying to open several locks on a practice board at the end of the table.

Having trouble staying awake? Irvine Underground was also selling various caffeine pills and mints. Two to three pills equal a cup of coffee, and some people ate a whole box of pills. No wonder I saw some were so amped up that they were litterally vibrating as they walked.

For the fashion-minded hacker, many shirts with cool sayings and drawings were available. Don't expect to see a wide variety of colors, as black is always the preferred choice at these conventions.

Conclusion

Toorcon is an inexpensive conference where you can learn new computer security concepts, get great training and hang out with some very brilliant people. You get the first peek at many new hacking tools. You can pick the brains of experts for tips that can help you on the job. For any computer security professional, attending Toorcon is highly recommended.