Boerejongens with a kroket

If you're Dutch you know what that headline means. It is food related and not a particularly good combination. Still, I had a pancake with "boerejongens" (raisins that have been sitting in a liquor for a long time) followed shortly by "twee kroketten met brood" (two meat-filled, cylinder-shaped, deep-fried mini-logs on bread.) It was great, especially since I had it on a patio at a restaurant in Holland accompanied by my closest family and with a cup of great Dutch coffee (though I wish they did free refills in Holland.)

You've guessed right, I have been neglecting my blog because I have been working on my waistline in another part of the world. Seriously, it is impossible to go home and not gain weight. All my friends thought I'd go fat in the U.S., the opposite is happening. My lifestyle here is pretty healthy, but when I spend time back in the Netherlands I end up eating appelgebak (apple pie), saucijzenbroodjes (bun with sausage), amandelbroodjes (almond filled pastries), patat met (fries with mayo) and much more almost on a daily basis. Being in Holland is almost like being in a candy store. (And I didn't even mention the beer!)


At least it gets compensated somewhat. In the 10 days that I was there I played tennis twice, went on a three-hour bicycle ride and a hike in the woods. Also, we strolled a lot through the lovely downtown areas of towns such as Kampen, Middelburg, Goes and, of course, Haarlem.

Now that I am back, I will also be able to enjoy riding a Dutch bike. It took a bit of effort, but I now have a Sparta bicycle in the U.S. With help from my dad, friends Michael and Anne Marie, Continental Airlines and a friendly cab driver here in San Francisco I was able to bring my Sparta home. I unpacked it tonight and rode it around Burlingame. It rides really well and made the trip unscathed!

There's too much to tell from my trip. Suffice it to say that it was fun to see the family and I was happy to be able to spend a day with my longtime friend Merel as well. Apologies to all my other friends, who I was unable to see. Most of the time was spent with family in Overijssel at Landal Greenparks de "Witte Bergen," that's why you didn't see me. I'll do better next time.

Bad rep for DEF CON?

NBC's Dateline may have gotten just what it wanted today when the organizers of DEF CON decided to "out" a reporter who had registered as a regular person, instead of as media for the annual hacker event in Las Vegas.

DEF CON organizer Jeff Moss (also known as Dark Tangent) climbed on stage in a packed room at the Riviera Hotel and Casino and announced to the crowd that an "undercover reporter" was among them. He stated that press is welcome at DEF CON, but needs to apply for special credentials and wear a different colored conference badge. "We like to know when we're speaking to the media," he said. (DEF CON does traditionally have strict media policies, such as not allowing reporters to film or take pictures at free will.)

Moss/Dark Tangent then proceeded to announce a new DEF CON contest: "Spot the undercover reporter." The crowd roared. He asked what should happen to the reporter if she was spotted, should she be ejected from the event? The crowd roared "Yes!"

What happened then shocked me. Moss pinpointed the reporter, an associate producer at Dateline NBC who was in the room. She was subsequently chased out of the room, out of the hotel, all the way to her car and off the Riviera property by about 150 overheated DEF CON attendees and the properly-badged media contingent at the show. (Okay, maybe she decided to leave the room herself first and was subsequently followed by a running mob, but what would you do if a large hall full of people had just roared for your removal?)

So, what did the hidden NBC cameras capture (if there were in fact any) and what did their reporter experience? They captured a large crowd of "hackers" in a dark room and most of them in dark clothing. These all roared to protect their elite club from the prying eyes of a reporter who doesn't want to be identified as such. Also, they showed the crowd will go through extremes to call out the reporter and chase her down to the parking lot and off the terrain. Quite a scary scene.

That's one great image for DEF CON and the security community at large. If the community and DEF CON had gone a bit mainstream in the past years and shown their softer side, now Dateline has the imagery to show the group as everything but welcoming. Maybe hackers are indeed a scary bunch of people with a lack of social skills? (That's at least what the NBC video could show.)

Analyzing this situation with my new PR hat on, this could ultimately be bad for DEF CON and the hacker community in terms of perception and public relations. Unless the folks at DEF CON planned it that way to show that the organization is still as bad-ass as it was reputed to be years ago--they turned this into a media stunt by inviting all attending, properly-registered journalists to come to the ejection ceremony.

We'll have to see if NBC decides to go that route.