Cackalacky Con This Week!

Did you miss the last 3-day weekend? Well, I think we have here a reason for you to make it happen!

If you live or are near the NC Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) this week, on Friday May 5th the Cackalacky Con conference begins at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Raleigh-Durham Airport at Research Triangle Park. It goes on until May 7th and will contain lots of events (besides the talks) such as CTF, hardware stuff, lockpicking, and much more.

Videos from previous conferences such as this one
can found at the CackalackyCon youtube chanel.

I should warn you that I will be giving a talk. So, if you happen to land on it, please act terrified.

Still, lookie at the fancy badge I got!

Help the Diana Initiative

We interrupt our normal shenanigans for a serious post. For those who have not heard of them, first of all do not confuse it with NATO's Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA), which was created (and appropriated the name) in 2021. The Real Diana Initiative is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization was founded in 2016 and runs a security conference focused on women, diversity, and inclusion in Las Vegas (for reference, DEFCON 31 takes place on Aug 10-13 2023, BSidesLV 8-9 2023, and the Diana Initiative on August 7, 2023). So, if you play your cards right you will have a full week of nothing but security and privacy talks!

Here are some videos from last year's conference:

And now the bad news, which with your help can become but an example of the community rising to the occasion: recently all the gear they use in their event was stolen including their Weller soldering irons which are used in their workshops, and now they need help. If you can donate gear, little pieces of green paper, or become a sponsor, do contact them either through their website or Twitter account. They are already considering canning their CTF; let's see if that is that is the worst thing they will have to sacrifice.

Reason I am making this post is to ask those who read my blog to see if they can help in any way. If you can, thank you! If you cannot, just pass the word to others.