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Black Hat D.C. 2008 begins

WASHINGTON--On Wednesday, Black Hat D.C. 2008 gets under way, after two days of intense training sessions. The D.C. Black Hat security conference is much smaller than the summer Black Hat USA in Las Vegas. But what D.C. lacks in size, it makes up for in sessions and talks.

On tap for Wednesday is a keynote speech from Jerry Dixon, former director of the National Cyber Security Division, Department of Homeland Security. Following the keynote address will be two parallel tracks of programming--Web app and wireless--including presentations from Chuck Willis of Mandiant on forensic challenges of cross site … Read more

Hot springs make any day better

ARROYO HONDO, N.M.--There are few things in life I enjoy more than soaking in a natural hot spring.

That's why, despite my being late getting started with my day and having hundreds of miles to drive to get to my next stop on Road Trip 2007, I couldn't resist stopping in at Black Rock hot springs near this tiny town.

These are two stone pools on the edge of the Rio Grande, and with amazing views of the Rio Grande Gorge. During my visit, in early August, the pool farther from the water was a perfect … Read more

Rio Grand Gorge: Water 1, Rock 0

TAOS, N.M.--Wow. That's almost all I had to say after walking across the Rio Grand Gorge Bridge near this popular city.

And why? Well, the bridge is suspended over the river, which is 650 feet below, and what you see from the span is the outrageously beautiful effects of one of America's most powerful waterways having carved its way into walls of the basalt flows from the Taos Plateau volcanic fields over the centuries and millenia.

The rock looks like it was just chipped away, and the view almost trivializes the scale of what you're … Read more