notacon 4

Too many kids, and a fair share of old farts, think the world runs on cat-5. It just ain't so! From the first smoke-signals and drumbeats of prehistory, to modern muti-gigabit optical links, there's a lot more to communication than just Ethernet frames riding twisted pair. This contest aims to celebrate the long and varied history of communication.

For up to date rules and information, see the Notacon Wiki AbE page.

A list of items and clues will be available at the registration desk. Sign up to be eligible either by yourself or in teams of up to five. Prizes for the top 3 winners will be substantial and not every item on the list will be easy to get. Creativity in the face of uncertainty may be rewarded.

Can you complete the list during Notacon and still manage to catch a few talks. and maybe a few hours of sleep? Can you do so without getting your lame ass thrown in jail (we sure hope so, at least). Test your mettle and find out.

Judging will be done on Sunday prior to closing ceremonies. Information will be available at the registration desk.

This year Notacon will have it's own special event Ham Radio station, N4C. Please see the Notacon Wiki Ham Radio page for more information on the station and how to get involved.

The station will run the entire weekend of Notacon. Anyone interested in Ham Radio or already licensed is invited to participate.

WE NEVER SLEEP. AND NEITHER WILL YOU.

Notacon Radio continues its third year of existence, broadcasting during Notacon 4. Surely the greatest radio station ever to broadcast at this particular Holiday Inn, NOTACON RADIO invites you to take your big shot at the airwaves. Read the rules of the station and start downing those cough drops in preparation of our non-stop audio calvacade!

Past year's recordings and writeups can be found here.

 

Lock picking is a safe and fun sport that can be shared by anyone. The Packet Sniffers will be hosting a lock picking pagoda where people can buy lock picks, learn how to use them, and try out a large variety of locks. Typical American locks that will be available consist of Master Lock, Brinks, ABUS, American Lock, along with various cabinet locks and chinese knock-offs. Also at the table will be a selection of high security locks and cut-aways including but not limited to: Abloy, Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, EVVA, DOM, Fichet, and a lock that hopefully no one has had to encounter before. We will also have mounted door locks available so people can try out bumping and other lock opening methods. Lastly, a mounted Group 2 Sargent and Greenleaf safe dial will be available for people to inspect and try their hand at safe cracking.

This event is for demonstration and educational purposes only. FTS Conventures and Notacon do not condone breaking state or federal law.

This year at Notacon we will have a video camera set up in one of the consuites. Anyone interested can sit down and talk to the camera. We will also have a selection of questions available to help spur conversation. The topics are meant to be open ended. We suggest speaking of personal history, what Notacon means to you, or how art and technology have affected your life. Under the Notacon motto, the video will be what you, the participants, make of it.

The contents of the recording will be edited together to be showcased at Ingenuity in Cleveland under the Notacon name. The recording will then be made available for download under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.

The winner of the Notacon 3 Talent Show is back! Even though he won a free admission last year, he wanted to show his appreciation with a set of new music. His first album will be released at Notacon this year, and so we're giving him a little time in the spotlight before this year's talent show.

Dual Core consists of an mc, int eighty, and a producer, c64. Creating and performing Nerdcore: a fusion of hip hop influences combined with smart, witty lyrics about a broad range of topics. The songs cover subjects such as Star Wars, Mega Man, MySpace, and hacking.

This performance complements the release of Dual Core's first album, Zero One. Featuring 17 tracks, the first single, "Hostage Down" is an upbeat, enjoyable song about the popular game, Counter-Strike. "Hostage Down" is currently making it's way around college and online radio stations.

Contestants will have 3 to 5 minutes to perform the talent of their choice. Groups may also compete, with a maximum number of 3 people per group. Sign-ups will occur at the registration desk on Friday and Saturday prior to the event. All Notacon participants are encouraged to participate.

As for talents, the sky's the limit. Can you sing? Play an instrument... maybe even in an unusual way? Regurgitate Windows XP CD Keys by heart? Maybe you're good at drawing caricatures? Whatever your talent (or lack thereof), compete with fellow con-goers for prizes and recognition. Embarrassment is almost assured, and those watching have just as much fun as the contestants themselves. On the other hand, you may also realize that some of your friends have talents you never even knew existed.

Depending on participation, we may we set up a bracket system, or otherwise have semi-final and final rounds.

All attendees of Notacon are welcomed to join in as we see how many people and instruments we can cram into one mixer, all performing live.

Some instruments will be provided (guitars, keyboards, turntables and who knows what else). However feel free to bring your own instruments, voice, weird electronic toy, bongo drum or whatever else you have lying around that could theoretically play music of some sort. It will be our goal to provide a MIDI sync for digital instrumentation. Please bring extra cables, mixers, etc. and make sure to label everything if you expect it to be returned!

We intend to break the session into different parts to allow each session to have it's own time and space and, hopefully, its own unique feel.

After the jam session, we will open the stage and turntables to DJs wishing to spin records or perform a live set. A sign-up sheet will be provided.

Picture yourself about to give a presentation in front of hundreds of people... lights shining in your eyes, microphones tuned to amplify your every utterance, video and audio recordings to prove that you in fact did just say that. Imagine that your audience is itching to heckle you or otherwise make your life difficult. Realize you have never before seen the slide show you are about to present on, nor know anything about the topic!

Sound like your worst nightmare? NO! This is "Whose Slide is it Anyway?" Borrowed from the Chaos Computer Club's "Powerpoint Karaoke", and loosely from the show of a similar name, where the points don't matter!

Random personalities, presenters, and maybe even YOU (if you are brave enough), will be put on stage and have 5 minutes to successfully present a small random PowerPoint slide show on a randomly chosen topic. Audience members will vote via boos, hisses, claps, shouts and other utterances.

Come for the laughs! Stay for the embarrassment! We have no idea if this is going to work, but it's worth a shot. Hey, if the CCC can do it, why can't we?

Jason Scott reprises his crowd-pleasing collage of video clips, Flash movies and other foolishness from the past year and beyond. You never know what to expect...except that you will be amazed, entertained and laughing by the time it's done.

After three tireless days working the event, Froggy will clutch the podium for dear life and hand out awards to the remaining Notacon attendees for whatever categories he comes up with at the last minute.

Traveled the furthest to get here? Had the funniest hack of Notacon? You name it, he'll likely think of it, if he's still awake and sane. Prizes will be handed out at his discretion.