🚀 go-pugleaf

[Updated Announcement #2 - December 4, 1992]


dFx International Digest and cDc - Cult Of The Dead Cow proudly present :


                              The Third Annual


                               X M A S C O N

                                    AKA

                               H 0 H 0 C O N


                             "G0T ANY K0DEZ?!!"


Who:   All Hackers, Journalists, Security Personnel, Federal Agents,
               Lawyers, Authors and Other Interested Parties.


Where:                         Allen Park Inn
                             2121 Allen Parkway
                           Houston, Texas  77019
                                   U.S.A.
                            Tel: (800) 231-6310
                            Hou: (713) 521-9321
                       Fax: (713) 521-9321, Ext. 350


When:      Friday December 18 through Sunday December 20, 1992


Fee:                  Five Dollars (Optional Donation)


                          Two Weeks And Counting!
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's starting to creep up on us...  HoHoCon '92 is right around the corner
and it looks like we're going to surpass our attendence expectations in a
BIG way. We figured we were going to lose a lot of people when we had to
change hotels, but such was not the case. All the designated HoHoCon rooms
at the Allen Park Inn were called for by the third week of November.
Luckily, the hotel opened up another wing for us. That means it's not too
late to reserve a room and make plans to attend. Another big plus for
everyone is that the airlines are engaging in a price war again which will
hopefully help some people make it.

This update contains some of the new conference revelations as well as
general information from the last announcement. Believe it or not, we are
still in the process of getting everything finalized so we're not able to
give every exact detail of the conference as we don't know them all yet. If
you need additional information or a question answered, just contact us and
we'll try to help you out.

Which brings me to something. Unfortunately, our voice mail system
automatically deletes messages on a three day basis so we weren't able to
get back to some people who wanted us to call them. Before anyone had a
chance to write the phone numbers down, the messages were erased. If you
left a message asking us to call you and you haven't heard from us yet,
please call back again.

On with the new info...


          Will HoHoCon Get Raided Like PumpCon & The 2600 Meeting?
          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've not only been asked this a million times, but I've recently seen
messages across Usenet and smaller bbs nets from people stating they
wouldn't be attending to HoHoCon because of the recent happenings on the
east coast. Those who say they're not coming because they know the fEdZ,
Secret Service, bUnk0 sKwaD, CIA, SPA, Twinkie Police, CERT and Sha Na Na
are planning to arrest everyone in attendence, are not only stupid but also
the ones who'll be missing out as the feds are not coming to take anyone
away. You can believe what you wish but the following is taken from a
conversation we had with a fairly high ranking federal computer crime
investigator (a.k.a the FeDs themselves) -

"There's a big difference between your conference and what was going on up
 North. First of all, the 2600 thing was handled by mall cops, not the
 government and the PumpCon people attracted attention to themselves by
 doing some really stupid stuff and not thinking. There was no pre thought
 in that anyhow.. nobody drew up a game plan beforehand to sweep the hotel.
 Plus, those were private little meetings where the people really didn't
 have the means of fighting back even if they thought the interruptions were
 unjust. Hopefully, nobody within this organization is going to be stupid
 enough to break in the doors of a very well known public meeting of 400
 potential witnesses, a nice percentage of whom are the two people feds hate
 most - Journalists and Lawyers. And we do know about the ones who are going
 to be there waiting for us to show up, guns in hand. They'll be waiting a
 while. You're talking about the weekend before Christmas, if I'm not at the
 mall, my wife's gonna kick my ass. You can tell your people to sleep easy,
 we're not coming."

Direct from the source.


                                  Speakers
                                  ~~~~~~~~

The big question on people's minds seems to be "Who will be speaking at the
conference?" There are currently twelve speakers slated for Saturday, and
that number is undoubtedly sure to increase within the next two weeks. We
have a number of proposed speakers who are still in the "trying to make it"
stages. Definite speakers at this time include Scott Chasin (Doc Holiday)
and Chris Goggans (Erik Bloodaxe) of LoD/Comsec, John Draper (Cap'n
Crunch), Ray Kaplan, Byron (Louis Cypher), Mike (Bootleg), Steve Ryan
(Brian O'Blivion), and a host of others including representatives from a
fair share of today's computer underground related publications.

Hardly anything is etched in stone, and some of the speakers are still
deciding exactly what they're going to talk about. Proposed topics at this
time include "The Federal Government Taught Me How to Counterfeit", "The
Computer Underground of the Former Soviet Union", "The Implementation of a
System and Network Security-Related Incident Tracking and Vulnerability
Reporting Database", and, of course, "bLiNKeEZ!"

We are still entertaining offers from anyone who would like to speak.
Please contact us if you wish to do so.


                       Will Bruce Sterling Be There?
                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We've received a few dozen letters from people asking if Bruce would be
attending and speaking (and if he'd also sign their books). The honest
answer is nobody knows. I haven't heard a definite answer yet. Bruce did
speak last year and he does live in Austin, so there is a decent chance he
may attend. Although.. a few people think he may be wary of coming due to
the fact that he was hit in the head with a flying 'partyball (tm)' last
year. Karl says "Sorry about that Bruce."


                       Who Was That Guy On Dateline?
                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't ask me why, but we've also received a large number of letters from
people asking this particular question. The social engineering extrordinare
was Scott Chasin and, yes, he will be attending and speaking. A few of you
asked us some other questions about Scott that were very odd. As far as we
know, he is from Earth and has never been abducted by aliens. You may want
to ask him yourself though.


                             A Conference Fee?
                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes, but not exactly. There is no designated cost to attend, but we are
gladly accepting donations. We talked to a number of the people coming and
everyone seemed to agree that five dollars ($5) was a reasonable figure to
ask for. Of course, this is completely optional, but there will be definite
benefits to those who donate such as better seats, better service, cheaper
shirt prices, and... prepare yourself... raffle tickets. That's right, a
raffle! It'll be more fun than bingo with Granny! Everyone who donates five
dollars gets a raffle ticket, and anyone who donates over that will get
more. We'll hold the raffle during the last part of Saturday's conference.
Anyone wishing to donate prizes (or really stupid items) for the raffle
should just let us know or bring it with you. Prizes at this time include
shirts, an autographed copy of Bruce Sterling's 'The Hacker Crackdown',
autographed copies of Steve Jackson's 'Hacker' and 'Gurp Cyberpunk' games,
an autographed Comsec brochure (woo!), Chris Goggans' UofH parking sticker,
SunOs 4.1.3 on CD, a year's subscription to Mondo 2000, some screwdrivers, a
photocopy of Omar and E.T., and other assorted gOOdeez.

Anyone planning on selling shirts, buttons or other items should also plan
on giving up two of each item. One to myself and one to the raffle.


                          Where Does The Money Go?
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A reasonable and expected question. Some people don't realize how much time,
effort and $money$ it takes to put on a conference of this size. It's no
secret that hotels will sometimes increase conference room costs in December
because so many businesses hold their Christmas parties in them. Given that,
and the fact that we had to practically call every hotel in town and haggle
like hell to house the con after HoJo's backed out, you can rest assured
knowing we're dropping a nice amount on the conference room. Anyone doubting
this should feel free to call some hotels in their area and inquire as to
what their room rental is for the same weekend. The going rate in town is
about $300.

We've also spent a bit of money on calling not only the media and speakers,
but everyone else who requested we call to answer questions or fax
information to them. Other people wanted us to mail the information to them.
Mail needs stamps. Stamps cost money.

Then there is the fact that immediately after we released the first
announcement, our local Unix site (the only local free site) changed over to
a pay-per-minute scale. We're still receiving and sending endless letters
regarding the conference. We were finally able to set up our own site last
week, but the previous charges still remain.

The only possible way for all of us to be compensated for what we spent in
time organizing this whole thing would be to charge what some other security
conferences do... about fifty times what we're suggesting.


                                Transcripts
                                ~~~~~~~~~~~

Those not able to attend have inquired about obtaining transcripts of the
conference. Written transcripts would not only be huge, but next to
impossible to produce and audio transcripts would take up too many tapes.
So, we will be offering "HoHoCon '92 : The Movie" starting the first week of
January. The conference footage will be shot and edited with professional
equipment and will include not only what happened on Saturday, but Friday
and Sunday as well.

You can also get the official HoHoCon '92 T-shirt even if you can't make it.
The shirts are black and have the following on the back:

                             dFx & cDc Present:

                                HOHOCON '92

                               December 18-20
                               Allen Park Inn
                               Houston, Texas

There is a keen, elite message on the front that we're waiting to unveil at
the conference. The shirts will be available at the same time the video is.
Anyone needing additional information or wishing to purchase either item
should contact us (e-mail is best).


                              How You Can Help?
                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some folks, most from the Houston and Austin area have offered their
services and we've had a hard time thinking of exactly what we needed. The
following is a list of items we are currently in need of :

A *large* tv for use in the conference room, a tripod, blank Hi-8 and VHS
tapes, volunteers to help work the door on Saturday morning, interesting
items for the raffle, and countless other things I can't recall.

We're also looking for someone in Houston who may wish to spend a day with
the infamous Cap'n Crunch (John Draper). John is arriving a day early and
needs a place to stay on Thursday night. I can guarantee you'll hear many
interesting stories about the very early days and telecom and phreaking.
You'll probably pick up a few swell exercising tips too!


                               Starting Time
                               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                            
Saturday's conference will not start like last year where we opened the
doors and everyone sort of piled in. The door will be open at approximately
10 a.m. at which point you can sign the conference registrar, make a
donation if you wish and enter the conference room. The conference starts
promptly at 11 a.m. (no renditions of SummerCon please). Plan for this in
advance as we won't be moving the starting time like last year.


                                Ending Notes
                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything after this paragraph is taken from the last announcement. If
anyone wants it in full just mail us and we'll send it to you. The "Howard
Johnson's Story" is attached with it in CuD 4.45. If, for some reason, you
can't get CuD and want to read about, we can send that to you too. That
should just about wrap everything up. You know what to do if you need
anything else. Hopefully, we'll see you at the con!


dFx of cDc

----------

                          What Exactly Is HoHoCon?
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HoHoCon is something you have to experience to truly understand. It is the
largest annual gathering of those in, related to, or wishing to know more
about the computer underground (or those just looking for another excuse
to party). Attendees generally include some of the most notable members of
the "hacking/telecom" community, journalists, authors, security
professionals, lawyers, and a host of others. Last year's speakers ranged
from Bruce Sterling to Chris Goggans and Scot Chasin of Comsec/LoD. The
conference is also one of the very few that is completely open to the
public and we encourage anyone who is interested to attend.


                           Hotel Information
                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Allen Park Inn is located along Buffalo Bayou and is approximately
three minutes away from Downtown Houston. The HoHoCon group room rates
are $49.00 plus tax (15%) per night, your choice of either single or
double. As usual, when making reservations you will need to tell the
hotel you are with the HoHoCon Conference to receive the group rate.

Unlike our previously chosen joke of a hotel, the Allen Park Inn is not
situated next to an airport and this may cause a small inconvenience for
those of you who will be flying to the conference. The hotel is centrally
located so you can fly in to either Intercontinental or Hobby airport but
we are recommending Hobby as it is 15 miles closer and much easier to get
to from the hotel. Here's where it may get a little confusing -

If you arrive at Hobby, you will need to take the Downtown Hyatt Airport
Shuttle to the Hyatt, which departs every 30 minutes and will cost you
$6.00. When you get to the Hyatt, get out of the shuttle with your luggage
(for those who may not of figured that out yet) and use any of the nearby
pay phones to call the Allen Park Inn (521-9321) and tell them you need a
ride. It's just like calling Mom when you need a ride home from glee club!
The hotel shuttle will be around shortly to pick you up and take you to the
aforementioned elite meeting place, and that ride is free. If all this is
too much for you, you can always take a cab directly to the hotel which
will run you about $20.

If you arrive at Intercontinental, you will need to board the Airport
Express bus and take it to the Downtown Hyatt ($9). Once there, just follow
the same instructions listed above.

Check-in is 3:00 p.m. and check-out is 12:00 noon. Earlier check-in is
available if there are unoccupied rooms ready. Free local calls are
provided, so bring dem 'puterz. I don't know if cable is free also, so
those who wish to rekindle the memories of yesteryear may want to bring
their screwdrivers. The hotel has both 24 hour room service, and a 24 hour
restaurant, The Nashville Room. Call it a wacky coincidence, but the hotel
bar is called the ATI room and like most of Houston's similar
establishments, closes at 2 a.m. Good thing Tony still works at Spec's...


                                 Directions
                                 ~~~~~~~~~~

For those of you who will be driving to the conference, the following is a
list of directions on how to get to the hotel from most of Houston's major
freeways that bring traffic in from out of town:

I-45 North or South: Exit Allen Parkway on the inside (left side) of the
freeway. Take the Studemont/Montrose exit off Allen Parkway, then make a
U-turn at the bridge and head back towards downtown. The hotel will be on
the right hand side.

290: Take 290 to 610 South, then take I-10 East towards downtown. Exit
Studemont. Right on Studemont, left on Allen Parkway. The hotel will be on
the right hand side.

I-10 West: Exit Studemont. Right on Studemont, left on Allen Parkway. The
hotel will be on the right hand side.

I-10 East: Take I-10 East to I-45 South and follow the same directions from
I-45 listed above.

US-59 North or South: Take US-59 to I-45 North and follow the same directions
from I-45 listed above.

Call the hotel if these aren't complete enough or if you need additional
information.


                             Conference Details
                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HoHoCon will last 3 days, with the actual conference being held on
Saturday, December 19 in the Hermitage Room, starting at 11:00 a.m. and
continuing until 5 p.m. or earlier depending on the number of speakers.

We are still in the planning stages at the moment, primarily due to time
lost in finding a new hotel and getting contracts signed. We have a number
of speakers confirmed (yes, Goggans will be speaking again) and will try to
finalize the list and include it in the next update. We are definitely
still looking for people to speak and welcome diverse topics (except for
"The wonders and joys of ANSI, and how it changed my life"). If you're
interested in rattling away, please contact us as soon as possible and let
us know who you are, who you represent (if anyone), the topic you wish to
speak on, a rough estimate of how long you will need, and whether or not
you will be needing any audio-visual aids.

We would like to have people bring interesting items and videos again this
year. If you have anything you think people would enjoy having the chance
to see, please let us know ahead of time, and tell us if you will need any
help getting it to the conference. If all else fails, just bring it to the
con and give it to us when you arrive. We will also include a list of items
and videos that will be present in a future update.

If anyone requires any additional information, needs to ask any questions,
wants to RSVP, or would like to be added to the mailing list to receive the
HoHoCon updates, you may mail us at:

                            dfx@nuchat.sccsi.com
                       drunkfux@kidporn.freeside.com
                           drunkfux@freeside.com
                            359@7354 (WWIV Net)

                           or via sluggo mail at:

                           Freeside Data Network
                             Attn: HoHoCon/dFx
                             11504 Hughes Road
                                 Suite 124
                               Houston, Texas
                                   77089

We also have a VMB which includes all the conference information and is
probably the fastest way to get updated reports. The number is:

                                713-866-4884

You may also download any of the conference announcements and related
materials by calling 713-492-2783 and using the user name "unix", which is
unpassworded. The files will be in the "/pub/h0h0" directory. Type "biscuit"
if you wish to gain an account on the system. You can find us there too.

Conference information and updates will most likely also be found in most
computer underground related publications, including CuD, Informatik, NIA,
Mondo 2000, 2600, Phrack, World View, etc. We completely encourage people
to use, reprint, and distribute any information in this file.


                Stupid Ending Statement To Make Us Look Good
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HoHoCon '92 will be a priceless learning experience for professionals and
gives journalists a chance to gather information and ideas direct from the
source. It is also one of the very few times when all the members of the
computer underground can come together for a realistic purpose. We urge
people not to miss out on an event of this caliber, which doesn't happen
very often. If you've ever wanted to meet some of the most famous people
from the hacking community, this may be your one and only chance. Don't wait
to read about it in all the magazines and then wish you had been there, make
your plans to attend now! Be a part of what we hope to be our largest and
greatest conference ever.

Remember, to make your reservations, call (800) 231-6310 and tell them
you're with HoHoCon.