I survived the trip to Vegas. I had a good time and I am in nominally the same condition now as when I left. The main thrust of the trip was of course DefCon. I was both pleased and disappointed to have gone to Defcon. I can clearly recall being a young computer nerd with windows HyperTerminal and BBS door games. I thought that it would be the coolest thing in the world to attend DefCon. Now after a bachelors in CS, a masters in CS with concentrations in crypto and networking, and 6 months working at a computer security company I have to say that the majority of the presentations were either (1) remedial or (2) non-technical. There were some very interesting and technical talks however the signal to noise ratio left much to be desired. A given 12 hour day at DefCon would likely yield 3 hours of excellent talks if you were lucky enough to get in (there were often long queues to enter the best talks).

Of course I didn't make it out of Vegas without consuming my share of entertainment. I saw Blue Man Group for the first time. Which is good because I have been listening to their first CD Audio since 2000 or so. They put on a great show as long as you are neither epileptic nor claustrophobic. I also had a chance to see Penn & Teller two of my favorite performers on the planet. The show was witty and well done as I knew it would be. They preformed the always amazing double bullet catch for the grand finale. I shook hands after the show and got my copy of Sock autographed.

Fine dining was also an integral part of the Vegas trip. On Thursday night we ate at Prime in the Bellagio. It is a truly excellent steak-house decorated in the style of an upscale 1930s speakeasey. I had the most excellent truffle mashed potatoes with my roasted chicken. We also had a very nice Bordeaux and a truly excellent Zinfandel with our meals. On Saturday we ate at Valentino's in the Venetian. E.B. was gracious enough to arrange a private room for the Arxan folks.

Booze is an absolute necessity in Vegas and we consumed at least twice our daily recommended value. Two outstanding places to drink in sin city are Nine Fine Irishmen at New York and The V Bar at the Venetian. The ladies highly recommend the Sunsplashes which were served to them at the Bellagio.

As for gambling... well I did none of that. I just can't get excited about playing a game that I know I will ultimately loose. In case anyone is curious about what it costs to party like a rock star in Vegas for 4 days or so consult the following table:

Pictures of the trip can be found here.