The Internet at DEF CON 33 (and BOM to make your very own)

 And it came to pass that the Pope of the Church of Wi-fi, yeah, even Renderman, didst bless and consecrate The Internet in this the 2025th year of the common era (and 35 years after Tim Berners-Lee invented it) on August 8th, the second night of DEF CON 33.

And lo, DuncanYoudaho didst capture the consecration thereof in an image. In the self-same breath as the consecration, the Pope did also pronounce a holy quest upon him as a teacher doth chastise the student that readeth not the book but kind of fumbles through the book report anyway.

Yeah, he was admonished with much reproachment to not share the graven image of the consecration until such time as the quest was fulfilled. That all the world wouldst see and hear and follow in the path. And this was the quest:

"DuncanYoudaho, if ye be a loyal servant of The Internet, teach those who see the image of this blessing how they also might obtain an Internet of their very own. Yeah, promulgate and proclaim the BOM that thou didst fulfill when making The Internet."

And so if thou wisheth to make this Thine Internet, obtain the shards of circuitry, and resistors, and switches, and hookup wire, and make ye an earthly copy of what is now The Blessed Internet!

Instructables

I made The Internet thanks to a great Instructable. The parts list has atrophied a bit with time, so I’m reproducing a BOM here with more modern selections. When in doubt, they’ve probably got better step by step instructions, so head there. What I did not do (and wish I did) is take the advice to make curly LED hookups and stand-offs.  Making the wires as tight as they are has lead to almost every solder joint breaking. The Internet has required constant maintenance which various users have graciously done and received stickers in return, most recently, Chip from Aviation Hacking Village.

Parts List

• Hammond 1591XX Series enclosure in a chosen size (Mouser/Digikey) or a similar looking enclosure - The plastic enclosure of The Internet uses a Radio Shack ABS project box. As these are no longer available in large quantities, I found a similar project box in the Hammond 1591XX Series enclosures.  These come in black, have a detachable bottom with rounded exterior edges, and come with PCB mounting holes inside the case for easy attachment of the strip board components.
• Red LED inside chrome-plated enclosure (Mouser/Digikey) - Pay particular attention to the voltage. Higher voltage LEDs will need more batteries.
• NE555 Timer (Mouser/Digikey) - The through-hole TI model is linked here. This is the grand-daddy of them all. The IC that birthed all other blinky lights. Kneel and say thanks. And provide at least 4.5V to power it.
• Resistors: 330Ohm, 2x 1M Ohm - The 330Ohm resistor can be changed to tune the blink to your liking.
• Battery Holder(s) for at least 6V power. 
• Hook-up Wire, Solid Core.
• Strip Board sufficient for mounting the components and attaching inside the case.

Equipment

• Wire Strippers
• Soldering Iron and Solder
• Double-sided Tape
• Screw Driver for case and PCB Screws

Steps

• Get circuit working on Strip Board or Bread Board.
• Cut 8mm hole in case for light
• Cut hole in case for switch. I put mine on the side of the box 
• Make stand-offs and long curly q's for LED, switch, and batteries
• Make final solder joints to hook everything up
• TEST IT 
• Screw down the Strip board to the box
• Affix the batteries to the strip board (I had to wire the 4x AA holder down as it kept breaking loose)
• Close it all up and test it again
• Get it demagnetized by the Elders of the Internet, or find another Pope of the Church of Wi-fi to bless it for you. 

Pinout stolen from NE555P Datasheet

 

Circuit Design

 

Pictures of The Internet

 

And the Lord did grin...

Currently, The Internet was handed off to members of DC404 for an East Coast Adventure. If Flat Stanley returns to DEF CON 34, I'm sure it will come with plenty of stickers. 

The Legend of the Murder Hobos

Spoiler alert: The real prize is friendship.

At R00tz Asylum, an official DEF CON event for kids, Facebook’s security team was running a CTF. The scene matched most rooms at DEF CON: intense staring at screens, poking at punny challenges, and no one really talking to each other. We chatted up our neighbors, Sodapop and p0wnyb0y about the con, the badge, and the contest. We realized the organizers encouraged teams, but no one else was talking. Pooling our resources, a 7 and 9 year old shot to the top of the leaderboard and took home the prize: 2 Chromebooks, and a con-friendship.

A chat at Toxic BBQ in 2018 lead to another team-up. Tinribs and I were Vegas locals looking to change up our DEF CON experience.  We took on the inaugural Dungeons@DEFCON with our 12 year old kids. Styled as the Murder Hobos, we won the Psychoholics-lead, D&D themed, CTF-style classic crypto challenge through cooperation, luck, and shenanigans, and we came away with the win and a black badge for our team of four. As far as we can tell, the kids are the youngest black badge holders in history. Grifter commented to The Dark Tangent during closing ceremonies, “What I like about a couple of kids winning a black badge is how much it’s going to cost Jeff. For life, baby!”

But we had a problem: only 4 of the 6 Hobos had a black badge, and so the next chase began. The very next year, family obligations took me away from DEF CON, so the Murder Hobos stormed Dungeons@DEFCON again but fell to the inimitable Fellowship of the Token Ring. Post-Covid, another run at D@D (with FOTTR contributing puzzles and CrookedFingers our Dungeon Master) ended with a second place finish. FOTTR decided to host their own contest, and Spy v Spy was born. With a thrilling finish, CamelCase bested the Murder Hobos by unlocking the dead drop minutes before P0wnyb0y arrived. Victory was elusive, but we couldn’t give up.

At DEF CON 33, I was trying to play it cool and relax. When we absorbed ourselves in a contest, we’d look up on Sunday afternoon at closing wondering where the weekend had gone. I was thinking I should take it easy. But it was not to be so. Spy v Spy had returned, and it had a compelling hook: souvenir slabbed playing cards when you completed incremental challenges. Sodapop and P0wnyb0y registered right away, and we were at the top of the leader board the most of the con. We cracked crypto, fabricated loaded dice with other teams, and chased dead drops for two days.

When the final round started, we made the cut, but didn’t know what we were up against. It was rumored one team had 12 people! So we unwrapped the challenge code book and got cracking. Sat at the disused Warlock Gamez booth, we were right in the walkway and kept getting interlocutors asking what we we’re working on (some of whom, we found out later, were actual spies from other teams), and they got a gruff reply. It was serious. Tinribs and Sodapop cracked numbers stations, P0wnyb0y decoded RTTY, and we found the spy. The final answer was phoned in over Discord while I walked back from the other end of the conference.

As I approached, I saw a confluence of people around the contest table. Tinribs was walking towards me shaking his head.

“Too late, we were a minute too late.”

Crestfallen.

“Just kidding. We got it.”

Elation. Joy. I screamed several expletives at him.

Around table was an excited mix of teams and organizers asking about clues and solves, tips and congratulations. Fox from the Whiskey Pirates may have teared up a bit, but so did we.

These contests and conferences are largely excuses. To get us off screens and in front of each other. Make friends and build community. Share skills that are weird and unique and unavailable in any concentration. Sometimes through competition, but also cooperation and conversation. With the win in hand, there was one final question.

The news came the next day: be at the main stage at 3pm. Victory, finally, after a 6-year chase, the Hobos all had black badges. After a whirlwind weekend, we were back on the main stage. None of the kids are children anymore. But we’re already planning our next escapade rather than retirement. FOTTR wants us to make our own contest. And I really want to share how we got here again. And maybe hang out with other puzzlers outside of one weekend per summer.

Cheers,

DuncanYoudaho

How I Juice Limes in My Countertop Cast Iron Citrus Juicer

 Got a question on Reddit as to how I juice limes using my generic countertop cast iron juicer. I picked this up from a McMenamins bartender in Kalama, WA. Speeds up the juicing, gets more juice out, and makes it easy to press every last drop out.

First, cut a coin off one end:

Then add a small slice across the line about a quarter of the way into the lime. This opens it up a bit:

Stand your lime up on the juicer plate and crank it:

That’s it! You can also press the lime shell a bit to make sure all the juice gets got. I’ve only ever observed a teaspoon or so left behind, however.

Edit: I tested the above remaining juice on several limes. Between 1/6 and 1/3 oz Lime juice is left behind on thin skinned limes. Thicker varieties leave almost nothing.

Jacking It, and by It, I mean Cider

I made Applejack from cider I laid down 3 years ago from local SW Washington fruit. Its destination is a Jack Rose cocktail (included below).

These days, Applejack is basically Apple Brandy distilled from cider (Lairds Bottled in Bond is the best), but it started back in the olden times being “jacked” from cider by leaving the barrels outside in the winter and skimming off the ice. Each freeze would remove water and leave behind alcohol and tailings.

Over the past month, I used the same mug I use for making clear ice to deep freeze, top down, an 8-pack of leftover apple-marionberry cider (thus the color). Each day, I took the frozen slush, dumped it into a shaker, and strained it using a Hawthorne strainer with a tight coil. It took about 4 days per 16 oz to get it down to where it would no longer freeze, about 2 oz remaining each time. A final trip through a coffee strainer removed remaining sediment from the collected product.

That process resulted in 375ml of rocket fuel you see here. A a final test, I tried freezing it one last time. As every child that tried to replace a tipple with water in their parents’ freezer vodka has learned, high enough ABV stops freezing. This one didn’t even have ice crystals after 48 hours. Tastes like a strong liqueur. Hoping I got it above 35%.

The destination cocktail is a grenadine-lemon-applejack combo, the Jack Rose. Have some leftover cider of your own? Give it a shot. Toast the pilgrims as you tip one back!

1. 1 1/2 oz Applejack (Lairds Bottled in Bond or homemade, adjust based on ABV)
2. 1/2 oz Homemade Grenadine (Morgenthaler recipe)
3. 3/4 oz Fresh squeezed lemon juice

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled coup

Garnish with a lemon wheel

Patchwork Board Overlay - Workflow and Testing Ideas

BGG user panicz1982 asked if there was a board frame for Patchwork, and I could not find one. Therefore, I made one. This simple project shows my workflow from 3D printing idea to reality. The key is to test your ideas in reality!

First, I pulled out a ruler and collected the board dimensions:

• Board with 9x9 grid is 191mm
• Play area grid as printed is 181mm
• With a 2mm margin around the entire board, the frame is 195mm
• Board thickness is 2.5mm. Doubled that makes the overlay 5mm thick
  

Tinkercad is my next stop. A few rectangles, some whole, some hole, made the basic shape. It exports directly to an STL as well.

Then I loaded it into Cura. Checked that my printer could handle the large object, and printed a test run. I printed it upside down so the lip was facing upwards. No supports needed. Only 20% infill, and maybe that was too much.

This is where I ran into a problem. The play area required to hold 9x9 is larger than the printed play area grid. How much larger? Well two single-row pieces like the 1x5 are substantially wider than a 2x2 piece like the square. It's even more of a discrepancy over 3, 4 and 5 squares. And since play dictates fit and not the other way around, it wouldn't do to just leave the board with less room while also satisfying the need to keep panicz1982's pieces on the board after a bump or two.

To fix this, I found a measurement that worked for even the most generous arrangements by fitting as many single row pieces and patches together so the bottom faces (sharp corner) of each cardboard piece was aligned across the board. This is a worst case scenario fit. Most players would be fine without the extra room, but the added safety factor would mean any arrangement would work across all 9 columns. Then I measured the overlap and added it to my overlay. Turned into a really tight 2mm margin between board size and playing area. Fortuitously, this matched the 2mm margin for overlay to board.

Missed it by that much

I expanded the play area to fit this new width and printed it again.

 

Bottom row is all singles

 

The new measurements are:

• Board with 9x9 grid is still 191mm
• Play area grid as printed is now 187mm
• Frame is still 195mm
• Overlay thickness is still 5mm thick

Et voila! A simple board game overlay. With a straightforward path to reality, testing helped me fine-tune the initial idea into something that works. And as a bonus, I discovered the overlay also fits in the box fr my printing! Now to see if it actually helps keep pieces in place by playing it a bunch. See you at game night!

BGG User Link dvhill