CongressChecklist

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List of things to do, to pack and tips on attending a congress, especially Chaos Communication Congress.

This list is irregularly updated (and pushed). You may want to refresh regularly. :-)

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Humans

General considerations to make the congress a worthwhile experience for everyone, humans, robots and aliens alike. You'll also find a list of all the nice humans who have contributed to this list at the bottom.

Manners

• Be excellent to each other
• If you spot somebody not being excellent to someone else, remind them to be excellent and have them apologi(s|z)e to the insulted part(y|ies), but only if the insulted wish to be apologi(s|z)ed to. Sometimes the insulted party will just want to move on and not have any further contact with someone who was unexcellent to them.
• If you don't want to be called $swearword, don't behave like one.
• Help each other out
• Read the “Anti Harrassment Policy” and live by it :-)
• Ask if it is ok to take a picture BEFORE taking the picture.

Things to do before travelling

• Charge ALL the batteries!
• Make backups
• Bonus points for even testing restore
• Update all the software on your devices
• Send a pull request to this list for all the things I did not think of.

Things to pack

Documents

• Train/plane tickets (including verification documents for self-printed DB tickets, like your credit card or Personalausweis)
• Congress tickets (printed or in iOS 6 passbook)
• Passport or other kind of photo ID (Personalausweis)
• Driver's license (even an international one)
• Hotel booking
• Ham radio license (CEPT license)
• Hackerspace passport

Payment stuff

• Some cash (€uros)
• CreditCard
• Coins (€uros, for automated vending machines, like public transport tickets)
• Bitcoin wallet
• Emergency numbers for your bank so you can lock your credit card/debit card/Bankomatkarte in case it gets lost/stolen/left behind.

Emergency information

In case of an accident or other emergency condition carry a piece of information whom to contact or any special medical inforation that might be viable to your survival/first aid/medical staff.

Emergency Information for 30C3:

If you're in an emergency shout HELP!

If you need help, just call for help, there are many, many people around to help you.

• 29C3 Conflict helpers: Call local DECT/GSM 113
• 30C3 Medical Emergency or in case of fire: Call local DECT/GSM 112 (CERT)
• 30C3 Security: Call local DECT/GSM 110
• 30C3 organizers: 30c3-orga@cccv.de
• Local law enforcement in Hamburg: 110 or +49 40 4286 - 51410
• Local sexual assault hotline in Hamburg: +49 40 - 255566 (http://www.frauennotruf-hamburg.de)
• Hamburg Fire Department: +49 40 42851-0 (BETTER USE 112 ON YOUR non-30C3 PHONE)
• Hamburg Ambulance: +49 40 228022 (BETTER USE 112 ON YOUR non-30C3 PHONE)

Personal hygiene

• Tooth brush (plus charger if it is an electrical one)
• Toothpaste
• Shower gel
• Shampoo (To avoid bad hair days)
• Conditioner
• Tampons
• Sanitary Towels
• Condoms, Dental Dams and other protective gear (Make sure the condoms are not beyond their usage date! (Yes, it really happens…))
• Lubricant (water based to be compatible with condoms)
• Disinfectants
• Soap
• deodorant, antiperspirant
• Hairbrush/comb (to avoid bad hair days)
• hair-band (Zopfringerl) to tame your mane
• handkerchiefs
• Towel. Never hitchhike the Galaxy without one.
• Contact lenses
  • cleaning fluid
  • contact lens container
  • replacement contact lenses
  • replacement glasses
  • eye drops
• glasses
• spectacle case
• cleaning cloth
• Oropax or other things to plug into your ears for a good “night”'s sleep.

Cosmetics

• Make up
• Nail polish
• Nail scissors
• Nail file
• Razor (with spare blades)
• Lipstick/Lipgloss
• Lipbalm

Medication

Generic medication

• Patches (Pflaster)
• Aspirin (If you partied too long…)
• Thomapyrin
• Parkemed
• Clarityn (or other Anti-allergic)
• Neocitran (Just in case hacker pest strikes)
• Contraceptives
• Caffeine pills (In case you don't like Mate and nobody knows if you can actually drink the coffee served there.)
• Something for your stomach (if you've got a nervous digestive system when under stress, while flying or generally travelling)
• Bepanthen

Personal medication

Your personal medication does not belong on the public interwebs for your privacy. This is just a reminder to pack it. Please do not include your personal medications in pull requests. :-)

Schedule

• Have a look at the conference schedule and maybe make a preelection of talks you really "have to", "want to" or "would be nice to" see
• be sure to schedule a period of time to get your T-Shirt or pullover(when preordered in the first two days)!
• have a sense of how the trains are going from the station near by, enter Dammtor here: http://geofox.de/jsf/stationSchedule.seam direct connections to the airport, enter Dammtor at start and Airport

Clothing

• At least ONE clean shirt for each day you stay, plus two for travelling to and from congress. (nerdy print is always welcome)
• At least ONE set of clean underwear for each day you stay, plus two for travelling to and from congress. (Doesn't necessarily need to be in matching pairs, but that is up to you.)
• At least ONE pair of clean socks/stockings/tights/overknees for each day you stay, plus two for travelling to and from congress.
• Enough pants/skirts/trousers/dresses/etc. so you can wear clean clothes every day you attend congress. (Even if somebody accidentally (or intentionally) spills a beverage all over you!)
• Sewing set (needle, thread, spare button for your trousers/skirts/shirts/blouses/etc.)
• Long sleeve shirts
• Hoodies, Pullovers
• Jacket (wind proof, at least somewhat water resistant)
• Cap, wool cap
• Umbrella
• Comfortable shoes (You'll make a lot of distance-units during your stay)
• Plastic bag to separate laundry from clean clothes in your luggage
• Gloves
• Scarf
• Swim suit, Bikini, trunks (In case your hotel has a pool)

Gear

• Laptop (with a working battery)
• Charger for Laptop
  • Mac: Small Duck-head and long (Schuko Plug) cord
  • Mac: MagSafe to MagSafe 2 Adapter
  • Mac: There are also cords that you can plug directly into the MagSafe charger (when removing the duck head) that end in a Euro Plug. These cables are also often used on electric shavers.
• Plug adaptor from your country of origin to Schuko Plug
• 3* or 5* Extension (230V≈ @50Hz) with Schuko Plug (and optional switch)
• Simple extension cord (230V @50Hz, Schuko Plug)
• USB Sticks
  • Put an OWNER.txt file on them with information on how to contact you in case one gets lost accidentally. (Twitter, phone (for example DECT, 30C3 GSM extensions), email, name of the assembly you're well known at, owl, raven)
  • For devices with private information be sure to encrypt them! (TrueCrypt, GPG, FileVault)
  • make note of the filesystem used so you know if they will work on the system of the person you want to exchange data with. (FAT32 is a safe bet to work everywhere.)
  • Mac: NTFS, ZFS, Ext can be read, but not written to without 3rd party software. FAT, ExFAT, HFS+(J), HFSX are fine for current OS X versions.
• Ethernet cords (Cat5e) of multiple lenths. Maybe have a spare to tether a friend.
• Cat5 o'nine tails
• Torch (Have spare batteries or rechargables and a matching charger that works with 230V≈ @50Hz)
• LED throwies
• Phones
  • Mobile Phone (GSM) One each
    • For your day-to-day SIM card
    • For an optional SIM card of the country you travel to
    • For a local GSM network at the venue
  • DECT phone (for the local wireless phone network)
  • Be sure to register your extension number at Eventphone
• DVB-T dongle, there might be local DVB-T transmitter for the streams
• Chargers for all those phones, or at least matching wires if you can charge over USB.
  • iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad, iPad 2, iPad 3 (The new iPad)
    • USB-30 Pin dock connector (one each)
  • iPhone 5 (or newer), iPad 4, iPad mini
    • USB-Lightning (one each)
  • Most Android phones
    • USB-micro USB cable
• SIM cards (your usual one, local german SIM, CCC SIM)
• Apple certified SIM eject tool (aka bent paperclip) to swap SIM cards
• A portable battery pack so you can charge on the go. (And the necessary cable to recharge that battery pack overnight.)
• WiFi Router/Firewall (to connect to the hotel Wifi/Network)
• Photo camera
  • batteries
  • charger
  • memory cards (CF, SD, SDHC, xD, memory stick, etc.)
    • freshly formatted
  • card reader to import pictures (if your laptop doesn't have a matching built-in card reader)
  • camera bag
  • camera strap
  • lenses with lens caps
  • lens cleaning cloth
• RS232 cable
• USB A-B cable
• mini USB cable
• tesla coils
• micro USB cable
• Firewire (400, 800) cable
• Antenna wire for WiFi or ham radio equipment
• 3.5mm jack splitter (so you can watch a movie together on the train)
• Headphones (so you don't have to talk to other carbon units while travelling)
• r0cket, fully charged (needs a micro USB cable for charging/programming)
• Monitor adapters (VGA, DVI, mini Displayport) (Especially for the Mac users. ;-) You may need them for your presentation or lightningtalk.
• Remote control for your presentation / lightning talk
  • Also check the batteries in the remote
• Tablet computer, iPad, Android tablet, Microsoft surface
• Kindle
• Ham radio equipment, portable
• Infrared, Bluetooth or radio remote (for presentations)

Other gear

• Swiss knife
• Victorinox cybertool
• Leatherman
• Screw drivers, pit set
• soldering iron
• any other tools you may need (even if unlikely)
• analog notebook (dead tree style)
• pen, pencil, quill
• rubber ducks
• musical instruments (guitar, trumpe, grand piano, laser harp, cajón, gameboy, ukulele)
• Electronic Tuner (with fresh batteries)
• cable ties
• duct tape or gaffer tape
• knitting needles and yarn (for guerilla knitting/yarn bombing)

Securing your devices

Read the How to survive guide in the Congress Wiki. There are many excellent tips in there.

Backups

Make fresh backups of ALL the devices you bring to CCCongress.

BIOS/EFI Password

Make sure you do have set a BIOS or EFI Password to prevent booting from a live CD to attack your system.

Full disk encryption

Activate full disk encryption with pre-boot authentication. (Mac: Activate FileVault.)

Backups

You did make fresh backups of all your devices, did you?

VPN tunnel

Have at least one trusted, working and tested VPN endpoint available for tunneling out of the congress network.

• OpenVPN
• L2TP/IPSec
• SSH
• SSHuttle
• iodine (DNS tunnel for those pesky for-pay captive portal WiFi networks)
• Tor/Vidalia

Also have those tunnels configured on ALL the devices you intend to use, and have it tested. That includes your Laptops, phones, tablets, servers, fridge, etc.

Phones

It is not recommended to connect your smartphone to the congress wifi, if you still can't resist, here are a few things to consider:

• make sure that it's not a 802.11b device, as it would slow down the complete wifi network.
• disable all synchronization services, as they might be using plaintext
• disable all auto-discovery services (network music players, remote control apps, etc...)
• make sure there are no known exploits for your device (not that unknown-to-you exploits wouldn't be a possible risk as well…)
• Turn off push notifications
• update your apps, especially your browser
• use a VPN tunnel if possible
• use a Firewall and only allow the (few) services you trust.
  • DroidWall for Android (root required)
• If you don't have a VPN tunnel available, you can use OnionBrowser to surf via tor (which may be it's own kind of risk)

If you are unsure that there might still be some services running and transmitting plaintext data, do not connect.

Thanks for being awesome

These people have contributed to improve this list for everyone. In no particular order.

• @Astarioth
• @N4mes
• @towo
• @michaelem
• devdsp
• @meep_VIE
• MarioVilas
• schwindp
• oe1rfc
• @bekassine
• Monikae
• @fin
• @RedPlanetAT
• kjellski
• @uliwitness
• @anked
• badboy
• nic_ko

Links