So I dropped my TS-80 portable soldering iron on the tile kitchen floor last week, and broke the glass covering the OLED. It still works, but it spooked me, because of #badgelife and the upcoming Defcon trip. Very bad timing. I wanted to make sure I had a backup in case we need to fix anything on the fly, or solder new stuff, etc.
I looked into getting another one, because I’ve been pretty happy with it, but then I found some posts touting the PINECIL. At about 1/3 the price of the TS-80, supports open firmware and custom logos just like the TS-80 and TS-100, and pretty well-reviewed.
So I got a PINECIL. It showed up last week. I plugged it into the same battery pack I’ve always used for my TS-80 (since fall 2018!), and it reported low voltage. Looked into it, and it turns out the PINECIL needs more juice than something made in 2018 can push. From multiple sources, the PINECIL really works its magic when it’s getting 60W at 20V. So now I need a new battery to power my new iron.
I spent a couple hours looking at battery packs, specs, reviews, the whole bit. I finally settled on the EasyLonger model. 65W USB-C PD, 10000mAh. It’s important to stay below around 30000mah if you want to take it on a flight with you.
First test, fires right up, pumps the iron right up to the optimal temperature.
You should totally buy one, it’s about $55. https://amzn.to/2VhXpIj
Also get a high-capacity USB-C cable. The one I got is rated for 5A.
It’s time to tell the tale of how the DC540 “Tree of Life” badge came to be and memorialize its compiled history into one grand telling.
The badge had humbled beginnings as all great ideas do. Our crew had long wanted to conceive our own glorious badge. A badge that was both aesthetically beautiful but also offered more. We played around with several different themes that stretched from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Lovecraft, an Escape Room to Ham Radio.
One of Our First Conceptions
We quickly learned the importance of identifying which hardware we wanted to use early on. Initially we played around with the ESP8266, found that it wasn’t robust enough for our grandiose plans, moved to the ESP32, and then abandoned all for the pico. Our OLED screen changed quite a bit as well, with us at one point using a 1.8 inch SPI TFT LCD Display module. While lovely, cost and other practical implications kept us from pursuing a larger OLED. We were loath to have the badge burdened down with batteries and needed to keep it light.
The beginning
It was the end of May where we finally got serious. At one of our in-person meetings, the whiteboard came out and we started scribbling. In the next two hours, we had more forward progress than the last 6 months. We made some guesses on how much parts would cost, our general “theme” and some potential games. Shockingly, we were pretty on point with our cost estimations and were able to keep our final product at the $50 mark per badge.
A lesson on hardware
Bob played around with many ideas for the badge design and finally had inspiration with the “Tree of Life” theme, in a fit of creativity, he quickly produced one prototype after another, making each one a bit better. He used KiCad for the board designs and then gave us all a lesson on how he did it. Our imaginations went into high gear as we started planning our future badges and Shitty Add On (SAO) we could make.
Taking a closer look at a suspiciously complex program
Our first prototypes came in unexpectedly quick which was a relief, we were a month in and had little more than a month to finish up the project. Kevin worked hard, rewriting the libraries and code, each time one of us fortuitously had another good idea that resulted in more work for him. Critiques included morse code had too much fade when flashing, the badges didn’t just need to send messages to each other but also have default messages hidden inside, badges had to flash in a spectacular manner when paired with a Boss, and I needed more menus! Oh, let’s not talk about the great hash wars where we debated the merits of each encryption and nearly stopped talking to each other. At one point, I swore Kevin hadn’t slept for a week and had developed an uncontrollable twitch and would yell “no more” every time I spoke up, even when it was just to say hello.
The development of the games was especially frustrating as the goal was for the games to be very achievable by new DEFCON attendees, offer a way for people to interact with each other but still be challenging. I learned a lot about steganography, stegdetect, githubs Steganography online, using WordPress, a member helped by created a Hitchhiker’s themed crossword puzzle, the intricacies associated with morse code (using ‘dah’ and ‘dit’ over ‘dash’ and ‘dot’ and so much more.
The Final Boards
One particularly important lesson was learning to speak “developer”. What made sense in my mind didn’t necessarily make sense to our developer and how he envisioned code. There was many nights of butting heads, exasperated sighs and outright frustration over the lack of communication.
Final Assembly
Finally we had the boards, now it was just time to solder and assemble them. In these desperate times, we called everyone together and had one large soldering party, troubleshooting any connections that just weren’t right, cursing, and drinking more whisky to sooth our burnt fingers.
I made sure to tweet- from my sweet mountain overlook
Now the last step, playing the games, traversing the rooms in the badge and seeing what would break. I hid away in a the Shenandoah Mountains for a weekend and did nothing but drink more coffee, try and break the badge and code, and debug away. With only five days before we would leave for DEFCON, we had a product we all agreed was magnificent. Our last Monday before we left, we double checked each bag, wrapped them in bubble wrap and carefully placed them in a baggie with batteries, stickers and a lanyard.
Our last task would be to hand them out at DEFCON and enjoy.
Well, except we ordered 50 more badges just a week ago, so it seems we will be packing those up and shipping them out once we get back.
Oh, and our war-torn developer just happened to ask about our next big product…..he’s already got a suggestion and we’ve begun to brainstorm away.
****** DO NOT PLUG IN THE BADGE TO A USB IF THE BATTERIES ARE INSERTED ****** If the power switch is off, it is probably fine, but use your judgement.
The DC540 Tree of Life badge has ten interactive games that can be played during DEFCON. The games vary and some can be played on the badge (morse code, ham radio questions) while others are interactive (conducting a scavenger hunt, lock picking, decoding ciphers). An explanation of games and more detailed instructions will be posted on the DC540 website Friday morning August 6th at 00:01.
Overview
The games do not need to be completed in a specific order.
Five of the games will require you to send us proof of completion. These games are: – Game 1 (Crossword Puzzle) – Game 2 (Lock Picking) – Game 5 (Scavenger Hunt) – Game 9/10 (Boss Pair)
For Games 1, 2, 5, 9, and 10, the game instructions will provide direction on how to obtain the answer but make sure to always include your badge number in your correspondence.
The other five games do not require interaction with a DC540 member to complete. Completing the game will either automatically unlock the badge or provide you with the answer.
Include the following hashtags on anything you post on Twitter when you solve a challenge. #dc540 #badgelife #dc540scavengerhunt
Alternatively, you can post on our DC540 Discord Channel “dc540-tree-of-life-badge” or message us on Twitter or Discord (preferably both).
Twitter Handles: @skullsinblack and @dc540baab Discord: ‘Lyra the Damned#5380’ and dc540#3865
As the game progresses, hints and other updates will be dropped on the dc540 Twitter page (and that of the two main characters) if certain challenges are proving too difficult.
When all ten spheres are completed, the badge will FLASH RAPIDLY FOR 5 minutes. Be advised, that it is intense, and be cautious if you are nearby other people as this has the potential to trigger seizures or epilepsy. Send us a picture of all ten rooms lit up from completing the challenges. We will announce winners on our Twitter DC540 Page.
Understanding the Badge:
There are six buttons on the badge. – The four buttons on the left function are: Up, Down, Left and Right – The Left Button allows you to erase a previously input character. – The Right Button will allow you to “lock” in each character. – Up and Down scroll through the characters and numbers.
Button Assignment
There are two buttons on the right. The top button allows you to submit, and the button has a surprise but IT is also there for you to get creative.
Entering Answers:
When you complete each game, you will get a case-sensitive answer. – Go to http://dc540.org/question.html, select the question number, the answer, and your badge number. – You will get back an eight-digit number that is unique to your badge. – Write down or save that number. – From your badge, go into that corresponding game, and enter that eight-digit number. You will need to “lock” in each digit and then submit. If you for the answer correct, the badge will correctly flash and blink for that challenge.
Sample SubmissionSample Output
The answers are case-sensitive. Once you complete a challenge and put the answer into the badge correctly the “room” lights up.
Prizes: We do have prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. More information to come. First Place: 100K DEFCOIN Second Place: 10K DEFCOIN Third Place: 5K DEFCOIN
When we chose our badge design, we were cocky and full of ourselves, and went with surface-mount pads on our prototypes. Because our badge is based on the RPi Pico microcontroller, and had castellated edges, we figured we would minimize soldering, maximize space for silkscreen artwork, and up the cool factor by mounting on the pads using solder paste with the castellated edges.
Well, that turned out to be too hard. We don’t know what we’re doing, and didn’t have time for a learning curve, and kept running into bridging below the surface, which is hard to correct after it’s soldered down.
So we decided to go back to thru-hole with the finals. We soldered about half of them with thru-hole headers, which, let me tell you, is a pain. 40 header pins soldered to the board, and 40 soldered to the Pico. It’s tried and true, and any screw-ups are obvious and visible, but we were disappointed.
I was assembling the last of batch 1 earlier today, and decided on a whim to try headerless soldering directly to the pads with regular solder instead of paste. I used a 20-pin header temporarily on the left side to hold the pico in place on the board, soldered down the right side, then removed the header and soldered down the left. It worked great. It’s the best of both worlds. It saves wasted time with headers, cuts soldering in half, and keeps unsightly pins from poking out the bottom of the board. Just like regular thru-hole soldering, problems are visible. Bridging is not usually a problem, the solder tends to stick to the pads on the board as well as the generous copper pads on the Pico. All I need to do is make sure there’s a nice ramp from the upper pad, waterfalling over the castellated edges and onto the board pad.
If you ever have the urge to base a PCB around the Pico, consider this option.
Yes, we’re aware you can get the RP2040 chip on its own without the Pico, but one of our members bought a whole REEL of Picos, so it made sense for us to do this.
We added guided breathing to our badge. Whether you use it to control your heart rate, raise your kundalini or simply de-stress, that’s up to you. But the badge now includes three levels of guided Vagus breathing. Just follow along with the pretty lights, sync yourself up, and get ready.
I first learned how profoundly breathing can affect the mind and body when I encountered a book in the 80s called Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality. It’s the kind of thing that has pretty much instant results, and makes you want to come back for more.
I was recently reminded when reading Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex and Death in a World that’s Losts its Mind by Jamie Wheal.
I thought I’d bring this to the badgelife folks for consideration and feedback, so we included it in our badge for this year.
And no, the Vegas/Vagus puns are not lost on us at all.
I just realized we’ve been so focused on getting them out on the Twitterverse that we haven’t posted an updated view of the final badges here.
With the green prototypes, we found we couldn’t flow most colors through the substrate perfectly, because all of the “cool” colors were too close to the green solder mask, and basically made large green clouds behind the board. Nice effect, but we wanted more flexibility.
We thought it would work better with black, allowing us to take advantage of the RGBs on the second board, but we weren’t expecting it to look THIS good. Kevin’s working hard on visual effects, and the challenge games, and implementing a Vagus breathing exercise (what happens in vagus stays in vagus) assistant to help you de-stress during and after the con. I don’t think that’s been done on an indie badge before, LOL. There’ll be a separate article on that later. Or you could just google it.
The badge will come with a custom lanyard and a little bit of swag. Hopefully we’ll find time to add an instruction manual. We’ve got the anti-static bags, the shipping boxes, and all the swag. We’re just waiting for the lanyards and the final firmware. We will definitely have some at the con*, but we’ll have more ready to ship within a couple weeks after the con, unless miracles happen and heaven and earth and international shipping bend to our will. Stranger things have happened. Stay tuned. Follow us on twitter @dc540_nova for the latest updates. Join the Discord if you want to hang out with us. We’re usually online Monday evenings, although this Monday we’ll be a bit distracted soldering a bunch of stuff.
[*Assuming the con still happens. From this viewpoint, it appears things are heating up in the west. My plan is to go if I can, i.e., if the con isn’t cancelled, if travel isn’t disrupted, and if restrictions don’t make it impossible. If plans get disrupted, ours or yours, everyone who ordered badges for hand delivery can have them shipped, we’ll figure it out.]
Also, Kevin created a stellar hype video to get your blood pumping (before we slow it down again with the Vagus breathing exercises).
While numerous LEDs, an OLED screen, and a stunning design on a completed badge are all commendable achievements in their own right, the DC540 does nothing in moderation. For our first badge, we would not stop there, we wanted to stress ourselves unnecessarily, develop new skills by constantly troubleshooting and redoing processes, test to the max our patience and group dynamic, all in designing a game for the badge.
So, I’m rather excited to announce that the DC540 badge comes with an interactive game that can be played during DEFCON. This game is meant to be a way to enjoy DEFCON while still experiencing the conference. It is a path to make the whole experience more fun for those who are completely new to the scene. This game does not require any serious skills and some challenges are just meant to be a way to get out there and experience Las Vegas, DEFCON, meet fellow hackers, and have a good time.
The game begins Friday, August 6th at 0900 and ends Saturday, August 7th at midnight. We will be around Thursday and throughout the CON for anyone who wants to purchase a badge and play the game.
What To Expect:
The game consists of ten challenges (one for each Sephiroth (sphere) in the Tree of Life). A detailed list of the challenges will be posted on the website early Friday morning (6 AUG). As you solve a challenge, you will receive a code that must be manually input into the badge using the buttons. The code will unlock the challenge which then lights up the corresponding sphere on the badge.
More information on the game will come in the following weeks as we continue to perfect it.
I was made aware of this book very recently on Twitter in one of the many, many threads calling out shitty behavior, specifically shitty behavior at cons, more specifically shitty behavior at Defcon.
As a person who runs a space and attends cons, it seemed exponentially important for me to read it.
I’ve been around a while. I’ve seen shitty behavior. I’ve seen shitty behavior at Defcon. Combine people who have never had their bad behavior challenged with the Vegas factor and the perception of anonymity, and it’s easy to see how things can go off the rails really quickly.
Going into this book, I felt like I had done the work. I’ve worked on myself over the years. I’ve intervened and confronted on behalf of others. I’ve been that person that discreetly notifies staff that a problem might be brewing. After reading this book, I know there’s even more to do. I was surprised. In fact, I was surprised at how surprised I was.
Shawna (Twitter: @ShawnaPotterWOW) does a fantastic job at describing the problems faced by marginalized people — people of color, women, LGBTQIA+, etc. — and then takes it farther by giving real world examples of both shitty behavior and legit strategies that can be employed by community space staff, allies and even bystanders. None of it is extreme or difficult. In fact, 99% of it costs nothing, and much of it aims for not only de-escalation of a situation and how to support the victim in the moment, but also changing the behavior using confrontation, education and specifically targeted strategies on dealing with the person who has been harmed as well as the person causing the harm.
I feel like this book is a great starting point for anyone who manages a group or opens up a space to the public. I still have questions, of course, but as the book points out, these behaviors and their reactions can be nuanced and require thinking outside of the box, and there will be situations that come up that feel like gray areas. But the book does a fine job of guiding the reader into the mindset of a victim-centered approach.
The important thing is that it makes situations that may seem unmanageable seem more manageable by providing you with a toolset for dealing with them.
Going forward, there’ll be a copy in the DC540 library. Members who are interested are encouraged to consider reading it. Or get your own copy:
Better to find out you have a faulty OLED before it’s soldered to a PCB, right?
All of ours passed testing. These are the things you fill your time with to ease anxiety while waiting for the boards to show up from across the sea.
Ordering ESD bags. Designing custom lanyards. Making sure you have enough header connectors. Testing components. Ordering battery holders or LIPOs. Figuring out battery logistics. Can you take the batteries you chose on the plane?
Packing materials. Did you know you can get free flat-rate shipping boxes from USPS?
Stickers. It’s always cool to throw some stickers in there for good measure.
