AUSCERT

Went to AUSCERT. It was great! Over 900 delegates turned up and I got to meet a lot of interesting people and some old friends, like Ben and this guy from computer forensics class who got a job at AUSCERT straight after he graduated. How I envy him!

Most of the speakers that I listened to were good, some were great, like Bruce Schneier, Simon Singh and Jesper Johansson. There was one really interesting speaker that I have to talk about. She nearly picked a fight with another speaker at the panel session, but she is one smart cookie; she's in her mid 30s (I think), had 15 years of experience in IT, started her own company (research based at a uni) 10 years ago and got her PhD in 94. But the most funny thing about her is how fast she talks. She told us how she was at another conference and the person doing the transcription is one of the best and can keep up with the fastest talkers. That person couldn't keep up with her and she was clocked at 280 words per minutes. That's roughly 4.5 words per second!

Apart from the talks, there seems to be an endless supply of food there. All-can-eat ice-creams, nice lunches, morning/afternoon teas, and an abundance of alcohol at night. And then there were the freebies and competitions. No wonder why the lecturers want to publish papers because they get to go for mini holidays.

Pity I have to go to work tomorrow. The conference finishes on Thursday. It was a great experience and I would love to go there again next year. (Not for the eats and drinks of course :P )