TechEd locked down tight as a coffin
TechEd locked down tight as a coffin
TECHED - Arriving this morning at the TechEd 2004 conference in San Diego, I made my way to the Sail Pavilion,
an impressive auditorium with about 600 computers, tables with ample
amps and wep-less, wire-less web. So far, so good. I sat down, hooked
up my trusty Compaq Battery Extender, and got to work. Or tried to.
It turns out that my first "breakout session" (the one where I try to
break out to the external network and check my email) ended in
frustration when I learned that the local network engineers have
nearly everything except port 80 walled off. Apparently, even most
normal email ports are off limits to conference attendees.
Anyone who runs any kind of webmail system can still check their mail,
but I wonder how many in the crowd of developers and conference
attendees shared in my initial frustration and will have to go without
this week. In a brief discussion with one of the network technicians,
I inadvertantly learned of a dark conspiracy. What any red blooded
'Merican would describe as an evil, headless terr'ist group of l337
h4x0r infidels has *allegedly* offered a bounty to anyone who can
break into the conference network and run amok. I can't verify
anything, but I'd be willing to bet Microsoft's got snipers perched
strategically around the conference center to pick off local
warwalkers.
I have been unable to substantiate this rumour, but it makes sense. We
live among bloodless heathens, and they must be dealt with.
I've since learned that my hotel room offers inexpensive high-speed
internet connection, so I can still make my CVS commits and check my
email normally. In this regard, I've managed to duck out of the Vole
versus h4x0r dance (a good thing, since my feet are already sore from
hoofing it around San Diego).
But, while considering the dance from waaaaaay up in my ivory tower
hotel room, with my comfy high speed connection, a couple of
unfortunate and ironic conditions crossed my mind. First of all,
whether or not the hackers succeed in their mission, hundreds of folks
here might have to live without email access for a week. That's just
plain frustrating, and I can't imagine it will do much to improve the
public image of the hacker as a benevolent, overly curious explorer of
the digital frontier.
A second consideration is that Microsoft's solution might be a little
extreme. Crippling the network for anyone who doesn't have webmail
might be a bit like cutting off the toe to clip the nail. Or throwing
the baby out with the bathwater. Or putting the fire ants in
the--anyway, you get the drift. It might cause more trouble than it
solves. Something tells me there'd be enough coffee and more than
enough eager network admin types here willing to have a patch-a-thon
if things got wiggly.
If I were an innocent bystander caught without email in the middle of
this mess, I'd start looking for nearby wireless cafes. I'll let you
know if I kick any up.
More interesting tidbits as they develop.
