31C3: A New Dawn (2014) on CCC Event Blog

The YouTube and stream dump problem

Sat, 03 Jan 2015 17:12:40 +0000

In the past the CCC has decided to not run its own YouTube account as we didn’t want to advertise this service. Despite the growing success and continual improvements to media.ccc.de as a streaming platform, people still want to watch CCC talks on YouTube. Unfortunately, many YouTube accounts have shown up which claim to be official CCC accounts. We ignored this for a long time as it was a nice service for the viewer and hey – it’s CC-BY content. However there are some problems with these accounts which we will address later.

To understand the problem we need to discuss another topic, stream dumps. In the past when the release of congress talks sometimes took a few days, stream dumps have been a nice way to watch a talk that you have missed before the final releases where available. But stream dumps have lower quality than the final releases – because the streams also have a lower quality for bandwidth reasons. They also have a watermark applied to show clearly that they are just stream dumps. Stream dumps often contain audio / video from breaks between the talks which can be anything from private conversations near an open mic to just noise.

To remove the need for stream dumps we have built a video on demand portal for your convenience and everything is now instantly available on our own video platform http://media.ccc.de/.

And here is the problem with the rogue CCC YouTube accounts: we politely ask every year for stream dumps to be removed; not only for the reasons above but also because the stream dumps miss the correct metadata, and are often published under the wrong license. This is also true for final releases that are published by these rogue CCC accounts. A look at the view counts of these stream dumps shows a huge number of people are watching ugly SD stream dumps from events that are available professionally edited in crystal-clear HD.

We recently learned about another problematic point: some of these accounts participate in the Youtube advertisement program, which means they display ads next to our videos. We do all of our work as a non-profit and want our viewers to get the content without ads and in case of media.ccc.de without any retention of their personal data. Running a YouTube account with high viewer counts and ads is basically profiting unfairly from content that is provided free of charge by our speakers, produced free of charge by the CCC orga team and brought to you free of charge by the video team.

To mitigate this we have decided to open an official media.ccc.de YouTube channel to at least make sure users don’t have to suffer advertisements, incorrect licenses and incomplete metadata. This account can be found on https://www.youtube.com/mediacccde.

As all attempts to contact the account owners have failed we ask you to not use these channels, feel free to leave a comment on the video that they need to get in touch with the CCC. From now on we will publish everything we are allowed to on YouTube so these accounts will have no reason to exist.

We are aware that we could have chosen a stricter license for the streams in order to have a stronger legal basis. We would very much like to avoid doing so. Due to the new Video-On-Demand feature it should no longer be required to publish stream dumps.

We strongly encourage you to use http://media.ccc.de/ or if you like a more simple view http://cdn.media.ccc.de/; and if you link to a video on your twitter / facebook / diaspora / you name it, think twice which platform is the best to watch a talk about ITSec, digital surveillance or building a rocket.

The VOC team

Einmal Agent sein! – Agent for a day!

Sun, 28 Dec 2014 20:58:12 +0000

For the authentic 007 feeling it’s not necessary to apply at your nearest agency. On Day 3 the “Schwarzbeutel” Challenge (20:30, Hall A) as part of our “Know Your Enemy” initiative offers you the possibility to peek into that noble profession. As a team of up to thee individuals you get a black bag with all the required tools.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
Open the door of the target persion’s room without the alarm going off. Reach his PC before the screensaver activates. Steal the gpg secret key and take photos of secret documents in a locked briefcase. Find information on the mobile phone. And if you’re an UBER agent: take the hot wire device and unplug the PC without it losing power, carry it out running.

So: find up to two friends and register by mail to sec@42.org.
Or just arrive on site to watch or participate last minute if there’s still space.

Your local three letter representative, p.p, Ray

Bus-Parking-Lot at the CCH

Sat, 27 Dec 2014 10:48:36 +0000

Note for everyone parking on the bus-parking in the basement of the CCH:

This parking-lot is reserved for busses only and regarding to the experiences of the last year, there is a high possibility for cars parking there to be towed away. To avoid high fees and problems to get the car back, you might consider to remove your car as soon as possible. There will be tour busses tomorrow that might arrive at the CCH during the day and cars will most likely be removed, if the busdrivers do not find a place to park.

Assemblies at 31C3: Map available

Thu, 25 Dec 2014 16:41:29 +0000

Please go and have a look in the wiki (or direct link to the .png). Please be aware that this is only a beta version. Keep an eye on the version numbers, we’ll be updating from time to time.

Also there are now the lists of clusters in the wiki available. Please contact us on c3-assemblies (at) lists.ccc.de if you have any serious problems with your group. Please don’t forget that we can not fulfil every single wish in total, and tried to give everyone in average the best possible experience and place.

Feel free to give us some less serious feedback after Congress at the above mentioned address.

Capture the Flag on 31C3

Wed, 24 Dec 2014 13:04:19 +0000

Dear Congress Visitors,

For the 3rd time during CCC you can take part in the CTF competition, proving you are a worthy hacker. Grab a bunch of friends and knock on our ports, smash some stacks, corrupt some heaps and get yourself some shells. Servers are expecting your exploits from Dec. 27 at 21h00 CET for 48 consecutive hours.

The CTF will be in “jeopardy style”, requiring no setup on your part and it will be open to everyone, online or on-site. Register your team at 31c3ctf.aachen.ccc.de and visit our assembly to bribe us with beer or mate. There will be a couple of easier challenges, so if you have never played before, this is the time!

Good luck and have fun!

Brew-it-yourself mit den coffeenerds

Tue, 23 Dec 2014 21:39:54 +0000

Dear Coffee lovers,

At the last congress a lot of you already found their way to our assembly of the Coffeenerds, where you could brew your own delicious coffee.

We are a group of nerds, that like to share our passion about good coffee and we want to offer as many visitors as possible the taste of unique coffees. Following our brew-it-yourself concept, a lot of brewing methods like Aeropress an V60 can be tried out.

Last year you already donated lots of coffee beans and brewing equipment, so everybody could try and drink for free. Thank you for that! We will bring our own equipment again, but still hope for donations.
So bring your equipment and your beloved beans or just ask your local roaster!

We thank you in advance,
the Coffeenerds

Simultaneous translations at 31C3

Tue, 23 Dec 2014 20:34:56 +0000

_31C3 is getting closer, and the translation team is once again at the ready to translate all German talks into English, and also a selection of English talks into German.

You can listen in on the streams by either selecting the appropriate stream, or by changing the stream audio channel (if your player allows). If you are on the Eventphone DECT network, you can dial in to various streams: 8011 for Saal 1, 8012 for Saal 2, 8014 for Saal G, and 8016 for Saal 6.

Call for translators

If you are multilingual and fluent in German and English, please consider joining the translation team. Simply send an email to “translate-subscribe(at)lists.ccc.de” and mail a quick intro to the mailing list after subscribing. Also sign up as a translation angel at the Engelsystem.

Don’t be shy. If you are uncertain whether your English or German is good enough, chances are that you’ll do just fine. If we believe you might be struggling, we will talk it over, no harm done. So please, take this chance and help us bring C3 to an even wider international audience.

For more information, you can contact us on Twitter @c3translate or via mail to translate(at)lists.ccc.de (after subscribing).

See (and possibly hear) you at 31C3!

Assemblies at 31C3

Mon, 22 Dec 2014 21:06:44 +0000

Assemblies are categorized by their topics this year, based on our experience and the info you gave in the form for the orga. We want this to be a further step towards decentralization of the organisation of the Congress.

Assemblies won’t get specific tables assigned, instead they form clusters with other assemblies. Space is assigned to the clusters. This means that you have to coordinate with the other Assemblies in your cluster, agreeing who gets which tables of the allocated space. At Congress you will find a stack of assembly signs in your cluster area and it’s up to you how you spread them in the area. As usually, “Shared Spaces” are the exception: These tables are not for permanent use, they are temporary space for workshops as well as participants of Congress who don’t have a permanent space.

Some clusters are a combination of Assemblies that share the fact that they all cover unrelated, unique topics. Of course, some Assemblies in one cluster might not have a perfect thematic fit, especially if the Assembly descriptions were sparse. We hope you will look past our errors and nonetheless create a nice area together.

Unfortunately, due to the high number of registrations, we were not able to assign the space you asked for to most of the over 200 assemblies. On the other hand: We didn’t have to decline any Assembly requests! When assigning the space, we had to prioritize. The most relevant criterion was the visibility of your assembly: Congress is a place for communication and exchange, so Assemblies trying to showcase something were assigned space first.

The long term idea behind the cluster concept is that we hope for clusters to form themselves before registering together. Noisy Square and Chaos West show how to do so: Several different groups or hackerspaces connect, register, gather and organize a large area under one name. This can include a shared area for talks and workshops, cosy corners for discussions and areas for showcasing their projects.

Welcome to HHackertours – your provider of sightseeing tours for technical enthusiasts!

Mon, 22 Dec 2014 00:00:35 +0000

Visiting the 31C3 and wondering what the city has to offer? Try one of our tours! Our goal is to show Hamburg to the visitors of the 31C3 like no other tour guide would. We’ve selected fascinating tours showing the behind the scenes of our most fascinating technology related sites.

Save a seat for a tour on our webpage.

Here’s a list of our tours:

DESY
If you’ve ever wanted to stand next to a particle accelerator, DESY is the place for you. One of Europe’s leading accelerator research centers, our tour will give you an idea of how particle physics and a host of other sciences are advancing with the help of scientists from all around the world. No special physics background necessary!

Container-Terminal
The harbour tour “eye to eye with giants” takes you directly onto the container terminals of the second largest harbour in Europe. You will visit CTA (Container Terminal Altenwerder), with semi-automated container bridges and fully-automated transfer and storage of containers. The onsite container transport is done by fully-automated container transport vehicles. The only drawback is, you have to stay inside the tour bus.

Cap San Diego
The Cap San Diego is the largest seaworthy, civil museum ship in the world. Its elegant silhouette is part of the Hamburg harbour panorama like the Michel. Tourists love it and its crew of 38 honorary retired sailors keeps it in good shape with dedication. The Cap San Diego is the last surviving ship of a series of six fast general cargo ships, which were built in 1961-62 for Hamburg Süd and which has preferably sailed to South America until the end of 1981. The tour will take you to the Cap San Diego and you’ll take part in an behind the scenes tour on the ship.

U-434
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, more than 150 submarines have been decommissioned, the most in 1995. Only very rarely are they handed over by the Russian government, in consultation with the intelligence, into museum operations. As a spy submarine U-434 (Russian B-515) was used for special purpose secret spy missions off the east coast of the US and long patrols in the territorial waters of the Soviet Union.

Laser Tag
Equipped with a phaser pack, consisting of an electronic phaser (lamps) and a sensor vest, you move through a slightly foggy, maze-like game arena. You are trying to score by shooting the other players with your phaser. But pay attention to your shields, because when you get hit too often yourself, you’re going to be disabled for a few seconds. In addition, there are interactive arena components such as energy gates (computer controlled light doors with special features), base stations (e. g. make more points if they are captured) or “targets” (there are power ups like “hyper shield”, etc.).

See you soon!

Did we get your preorder payment?

Sun, 21 Dec 2014 21:02:56 +0000

Do you have a preorder for 31C3 and it is not marked as paid yet? Did you transfer the money already?

Often, banks mix up or lose payment references, and we have little to no chance to find out which payment belongs to which order. Therefore, we need your help (and data) to match those transactions.

If you have already paid for your ticket, but it has not been marked as paid on the website within 2 business days of your payment, please contact us (be sure to provide identifying information about your payment, like your(!) IBAN, account holder’s name, payment reference etc.).

If you did not pay already, do not send us money via bank transfer anymore! It will not arrive in time. Any payments made via bank transfer have to be on our account by December 23. You also may still pay for your open order via credit card (until December 25). Otherwise, you can still buy a ticket on-site. Be aware that we can only accept cash at the venue.

As a general guide to troubleshooting any possible issues with our preorders, see the attached 31c3 preorder troubleshooting flow chart.

A Respectful Goodbye for your Beloved Old Hardware

Sat, 20 Dec 2014 20:00:41 +0000

Do you also have that one piece of hardware,

that you just can’t say goodbye to?

You sadly can’t use it anymore
and it’s been collecting dust for a while,
but you don’t want to just bin it
because it still has some meaning to you?

Bring it to 31C3 for a majestic farewell ceremony!

Whilst mechanically destroying your hardware
you can indulge in memories
and share them with your friends
at 31C3.

Our facility can fit hardware
from the size of a microSD up to a desktop computer.

Things that might break in spectacular ways are especially welcome.

Please don’t leave behind
the remains of your valued hardware,
remember to bring a bag
suited to collect the remainders
so you can dispose of them respectfully.
We don’t have the capacity to take care
of the loved hardware
of all 31C3 visitors.

Hackerschnitzelcloud: What a wicked game to play

Sat, 20 Dec 2014 16:31:47 +0000

One week to go until the Congress starts and with it the games from the Hackerschnitzelcloud. You can download an Android app from the Play Store and test the games you created so far. If you want to test the iOS application, send us an email at 31c3(at)toto.io and ask for an invite link.

With these QR codes you can also start a test game to get an impression of how a game on a phone works. So get your app and register at Toto-Website. To get your first game going, simply scan the QR code.

You want to create your own game? Find all the information needed here:: Welcome to the Hackerschnitzelcloud at 31C3!. If you need any help or answers to whatever question comes to your mind, write to: 31c3(at)toto.io

31C3 Lightning Talks

Wed, 17 Dec 2014 10:46:17 +0000

Did you think that the thrill of sharing your ideas in front of a huge audience at a C3 was something you’d never do? Do you work on a cool project and want to get the word out? Was your talk one of the hundreds that got rejected? Did you come up with an awesome hack that you need to share? Well, you’re in luck because there will be Lightning Talks at 31C3.

Taking place at 12:45 on Days 2, 3 and 4, these fast paced sessions are perfect for pitching new software or hardware projects, exploits, creative pranks or strange ideas you need to get out to a global audience. Even if you don’t have an awesome idea or project to share, a Lightning Talk is perfect for pitching your self organized session, assembly, or even a longer talk you’ll give at the speaker’s corner.

There will even be a special 180 second express round for those of you who don’t need fancy slides or a full five minutes to share your ideas.

Registration is now open for the Lightning Talk sessions at the 31C3. Act fast to reserve your slot. The last couple of times, lightning talk slots filled up on Day 1, so better hurry!

More Lightning talk information can be found at

https://events.ccc.de/congress/2014/wiki/Static:Lightning_Talks

The submission form is at:

https://events.ccc.de/congress/2014/wiki/Form:Lightning

Welcome to the Hackerschnitzelcloud at 31C3!

Tue, 16 Dec 2014 22:41:27 +0000

Symbolbild Hackerschnitzelcloud

There will be a new, even better version of last year’s famous game: The Hackerschnitzelcloud. And there will be not just one game, but many, hunting through the CCH.

The Hackerschnitzelcloud is a magic platform for scavenger hunts. You can submit riddles and missions of all degrees of difficulty and shape them into mind-blowing games playable on mobile phones. You can submit single puzzles or game-like chains of puzzles on the platform.

You don’t have a specific idea for a game? Here are some inspirations:

Place an encrypted box somewhere in the CCH and let your players search and decrypt it to get further instructions.
Let your player find the piece of the first ever built beamer, printed with a hidden 3D printer hidden somewhere in the CCH.

Are you part of an assembly or project? Are you simply the best puzzle designer of puzzles and want to bless the Congress attendees with your unrivaled games (or rather, drive them crazy?) Then join in and try our platform!

We are happy to help you with building and extending your game ideas or with the translation of your game instructions. There is also a how-to manual (pdf) that will help you to easily construct your game on the platform and test it with a mobile app.

Join us: Register at https://platform.toto.io
Questions: Mail us at 31c3(at)toto.io with a username, so we can prepare your game prototype to start with.

Join the fun!

Video live-streams and recordings at 31C3

Mon, 15 Dec 2014 17:02:55 +0000

Like in the previous years, we’re going to supply everyone, and especially those of you who cannot attend 31C3, with live streams (also see the wiki for more information) and recordings of (almost) all of the talks in the four lecture halls of this year’s Congress. In addition, we’ll also support the Sendezentrum, the Lounge and the ambient Chillout Area with their streaming efforts.

Like every year, we’ve been working on a lot of improvements for our setup, some of which will be directly visible to you, while others will mainly help us with the releasing process, prevent us from going insane during those four days or were just fun to try out.

For your benefit, here are some of the things that will be new/different this year. There might be more coming, but we won’t spoil the surprise yet:

After the successful test run with HD in Saal 1 during 30C3, we’re going to deliver HD streams and recordings from all the lecture halls during 31C3.
We’ve been experimenting with multicast streaming within the event network for quite some time, but this year we actually managed to clear it with the NOC beforehand. We’d like you to participate in this experiment and tell us how it worked for you.
In preparation for CCCamp 2015, we’re going to test a new DVB-T setup. We’re going to set up three 500mW DVB-T transmitters to cover most of the CCH.
Please do bring your DVB-T receiving devices!
Our friends from the subtitles team will be trying their hands on live subtitling this year. There will be a website which will allow you to view those subtitles on your mobile device. In Saal 1, they’ll also be shown on the projector in an effort to raise awareness for this topic.
To further aid those with impaired hearing, the audio induction loops of the CCH will be active in all main lecture halls.
Due to popular demand (and because they’ll land there anyway) we will publish all talks and their audio translation not only on the media.ccc.de website but also on YouTube. You can subscribe to our channel to suggest the platform that you might like to get notified on new recordings.

We hope to give a great Congress to all those who can’t be on-site as well as to those who like to watch the streams while hacking. Follow @c3streaming on Twitter for Congress-related information and @c3voc for general news from the CCC video universe.

– The 31C3 Video Operation Center
A joint venture of AGS, c3voc, FeM.