1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,420 I'm deviant. Many of you may have seen me at the lockpick area over the years. I've spoken at 2 00:00:06,420 --> 00:00:11,640 roots about lockpicking in the past. I'm not here to talk about lockpicking. I'm here to talk 3 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:16,620 about other types of hands-on activities, though, working with other kinds of tools and other 4 00:00:16,620 --> 00:00:23,100 kinds of projects. As Tara and other people who know me can tell you, I build a lot of stuff. I 5 00:00:23,100 --> 00:00:30,420 create a lot of stuff. I fix a lot of stuff. And it occurs to me that there's one theme that I 6 00:00:30,420 --> 00:00:36,020 always keep coming back to if you want to try to get kids and all of you kids want to get into 7 00:00:36,020 --> 00:00:41,220 making and building and fixing things. It came to me when I was looking at this really old ad. 8 00:00:41,580 --> 00:00:48,240 I've worn Doc Boots for a while, growing up as like a punky kid. So this old ad, really 9 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:53,080 prominent on this ad is the word withstand. And that's going to be our theme across the 10 00:00:53,100 --> 00:00:58,760 world. Because what you do and what you create has to be able to withstand the conditions and 11 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:03,080 the ways you're using it. I remember like the three little pigs story, right? The different 12 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:08,280 houses. The house of straw, the house of wood, the house of bricks. Which one could withstand 13 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:13,640 the wolf? Well, you need to be stronger and withstand. And it's going to be, believe me, far 14 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:18,880 less frustrating when you make things and build things if they withstand what you're trying to 15 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:23,080 do. You won't get frustrated if your project doesn't fall apart. I remember when I was a kid, 16 00:01:23,100 --> 00:01:29,200 I used to play with scotch tape. It was my favorite thing to make stuff with. But scotch tape 17 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:35,340 isn't that strong. And a lot of times my projects, I'd make something out of paper and put sticks 18 00:01:35,340 --> 00:01:40,640 together, but it would just kind of fall apart. And I'd say, oh, well, that wasn't so good. But 19 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:45,520 then I got allowed to like play with glue. As long as I didn't make a complete mess. And glue was 20 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:50,300 much stronger and better. And my things would stay together longer. And eventually, you know, I 21 00:01:50,300 --> 00:01:53,080 was trusted with tools. And you start nailing things together. And eventually, you know, I was 22 00:01:53,100 --> 00:01:53,420 trusted with tools. And eventually, you know, I was trusted with tools. And eventually, you know, I 23 00:01:53,420 --> 00:01:58,840 had my own little tool set. And you can really start creating things that will withstand what 24 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:04,800 you're doing. Now, speaking of interesting uses of tools, this is where being a hacker really 25 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:10,440 comes in once you start using tools. You don't have to use everything the way it says to on the 26 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:17,480 box. For example, who can tell me why this person is using two wrenches? What are they doing? 27 00:02:17,620 --> 00:02:23,000 Shout it out. It needs more torque. It needs more leverage. This is a 28 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:28,120 cool little hack that you can do just by putting your tools together in a different way. Let's say 29 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:33,320 you need to fill some fluid into something and you don't have a funnel. This person right here, he or 30 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:39,180 she is pouring this oil right down a screwdriver and not spilling it all over this engine. This 31 00:02:39,180 --> 00:02:43,460 person is sharpening a woodworking chisel by using a belt sander. I don't know if I would recommend 32 00:02:43,460 --> 00:02:49,160 that, actually, if you're a kid. But it's using things in different ways. This is the kind of 33 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:52,980 stuff that really inspires me. So we have over here, let's see. This is the kind of stuff that 34 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:58,840 we have. Let's see what we have. Come on, map top. Here we have using towel bars to, like, store 35 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:11,900 things because this is better than the storage rack this person had in their home. Come on. This is 36 00:03:11,900 --> 00:03:16,300 how we store stuff in our home, in our lab. This is just a metal plate on the wall, a steel 37 00:03:16,300 --> 00:03:21,720 plate. And we put a bunch of heavy duty magnets on all of our wires and things. And you can see, 38 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:22,980 what did I use to? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't 39 00:03:22,980 --> 00:03:23,000 know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't 40 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:24,920 know. But this is how we store stuff. I used to put my magnets on with that... What's that 41 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:30,900 blue stuff, do you think? That's just tape, right? Well, the tape wouldn't withstand. The tape 42 00:03:30,900 --> 00:03:36,220 would get gummy and gunky and fall off. So all the rest of them we actually use heat shrink. If 43 00:03:36,220 --> 00:03:40,680 you're allowed to do anything with, like, heated tools... Oh, man, heat shrink is fun stuff in all 44 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:46,560 different sizes. So that's our cable wall. Now here's the part I really want you to think about, 45 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:52,160 though, when you're going to the store, when you want to get supplies to make a project work, it's 46 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:52,960 not always a kind of walk-through in the store. The thing I really want you to do is, when you're 47 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:58,520 easy to explain what you're trying to do if you're a hacker. Because everything has its 48 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:03,580 original purpose, right? Like there's this product and it does X. But you're not trying to do 49 00:04:03,580 --> 00:04:07,660 X. You're trying to do something completely different. And you sort of are doing this dance 50 00:04:07,660 --> 00:04:11,820 at the store where you're like, well, I'm trying, I need something that's about this tall and 51 00:04:11,820 --> 00:04:16,720 it needs to be round, but I'm going to put some nails into it. And instantly people in the 52 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:21,540 store always want to ask you, well, what are you making? What do you need to do? You're 53 00:04:21,540 --> 00:04:27,600 usually going to be doing something outside of its regular purpose. Try to get good at 54 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:32,940 explaining the properties of the thing you need. You don't just walk up to the electric 55 00:04:32,940 --> 00:04:37,360 department and say, I need a really bright light. You say something like, well, I need 56 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:43,220 something that will be really bright, but it will also fit in a small space and I'm not going 57 00:04:43,220 --> 00:04:47,060 to be plugging it into the outlet. I'm going to try to run it off of a car battery. And 58 00:04:47,060 --> 00:04:51,520 then someone says, why? By the way, your best answer ever, and as a kid, you've never 59 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,660 thought you could do this, school project. The instant you say something is for a school 60 00:04:55,660 --> 00:04:59,800 project, instantly people, they're just, okay, I guess it's for a school project. That's strange. 61 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:04,920 And they'll let you, they'll just let you buy stuff. It's great. So here's a great example of 62 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:11,260 using something not the way it was intended. My wife really loves to take baths. Like every 63 00:05:11,260 --> 00:05:15,900 bathtub, though, you've seen that, like, overflow valve, if you fill the water up this high, it 64 00:05:15,900 --> 00:05:21,260 can't get any higher. And that valve is always ridiculously, that drain is just too low in every 65 00:05:21,260 --> 00:05:25,640 tub, ever. I don't know why it's that low. It, you know, you can't really get in the nice big 66 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:31,680 bath. So this product exists, right? This is a thing on the store shelf. You can buy it. It's 67 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:36,820 supposed to cover up the overflow drain. Yeah, there's just one problem. You've bought many of 68 00:05:36,820 --> 00:05:43,380 them. It totally stinks. This is a terrible product. It's leaky. It collects mold. It can't 69 00:05:43,380 --> 00:05:48,480 withstand. It can't do the job. So we said to ourselves, all right, well, what can we do? 70 00:05:48,580 --> 00:05:51,240 Let's, let's look at this problem. We've got an overflow drain. We've got an overflow drain that's 71 00:05:51,260 --> 00:05:54,540 leaking. We've got a tub. We really want to use this. So I started looking around Home Depot, 72 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:59,600 and I said, well, let me look in the plumbing department for other products, and especially, 73 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:04,780 like, products for sinks. Kitchen sinks, they have these big stoppers. Now, that's a pretty 74 00:06:04,780 --> 00:06:09,060 good product. It needs to be really tight-fitting. It needs to be a good seal. It needs to 75 00:06:09,060 --> 00:06:15,520 withstand mildew and, you know, conditions like that. So I found this. I found a universal 76 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:20,180 stopper disposal thing, just by kind of asking, I said, hey, do you have something about this big 77 00:06:20,180 --> 00:06:21,240 and rubber? And I said, yeah. And I said, yeah. And I said, yeah. And I said, yeah. And I said, yeah. 78 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:25,440 Not trying to explain, well, I want to take my bathtub apart, because that's just a recipe for 79 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:30,760 someone telling you, no, don't do it that way. But sure enough, I took it home. It even had a 80 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,880 little, little hole right in the middle of it, because there's a handle that I popped off. I 81 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:40,280 just screwed this right in behind the valve cover. And now that overflow drain looks pretty darn 82 00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:44,860 good. So let's, let's see. Does it pass the test? Let's see what happened. Will it withstand the 83 00:06:44,860 --> 00:06:50,940 conditions? Yes, absolutely. Beautiful. Tub filled all the way up. Doesn't leak. It's 84 00:06:50,940 --> 00:06:59,180 perfect. She's very, very happy with me. Make sure your budget, your wallet, can withstand your 85 00:06:59,180 --> 00:07:05,180 experimentation. This is something I want to also hit for you. You're going to possibly buy seven 86 00:07:05,180 --> 00:07:11,000 different things, trying to figure out which one is the right one. Parents will teach you early 87 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:16,920 on. It will serve you well. Learn to return. Absolutely learn to return. Don't just let parts 88 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:20,920 sit around that you don't need. Take them back to the store. Get money back. You don't have to 89 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:24,760 go back and store credit, because that's going to be your budget for your next project. We have 90 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:30,000 Amazon Prime, and I think we return 80% of the stuff we buy, because we, I don't know which one is 91 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,780 the right one. Click, add to cart, add to cart, add to cart. Get 20 things in the mail. And 92 00:07:34,780 --> 00:07:39,880 you're like, oh, these two are nice. I'll keep them. 18 of them going back. Also, learn to 93 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:44,480 repair. Learning to keep your things running, because I'm going to talk to you in a minute 94 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:48,400 about getting tools of your own and keeping things of your own. You're going to really care 95 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:50,900 about that investment. You're going to want to keep it running. Learn to repair. Learn to keep your 96 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:55,340 things running. Learn to do things like sew. I was taught to sew from a very young age, and I was 97 00:07:55,340 --> 00:08:00,640 fixing and changing my clothes. I learned to repair electronics with my mother. She and I 98 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:04,860 actually repaired the plug on this iron when it had shorted out. That was one of my first 99 00:08:04,860 --> 00:08:09,740 memories of, like, repairing things with tools. Learn plumbing. You can save tons of money in 100 00:08:09,740 --> 00:08:15,080 your life. Maybe even when you're old enough, learn to weld. Oh, my gosh. There's very, if I 101 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:20,820 show of hands, who can weld in this room? That's not a lot of hands. It is, it is an awesome 102 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:26,040 skill if you can get good at welding, man. So here we go. You're going to build your own 103 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:30,020 toolkit sometime. And I'm going to recommend that parents support you in this. And I'm going to 104 00:08:30,020 --> 00:08:34,340 say that, you know, you can borrow, like, parents, you know, here, you can borrow this tool. 105 00:08:34,500 --> 00:08:40,760 But I encourage everyone in this room to let your kids build their own toolkit that is theirs and 106 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:44,360 theirs alone. And they have to take care of it. They have to pay for it. And it's theirs for when 107 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:49,420 they need it on projects. You can basically, I'd say, about seven things are what you need in a 108 00:08:49,420 --> 00:08:50,000 good toolkit. 109 00:08:51,940 --> 00:08:56,640 Screwdriver, right off the bat. A six-way screwdriver is super cheap. It's going to be one of the 110 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:00,800 best investments you have. And it teaches responsibility because they say, hey, where's the 111 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:06,060 screwdriver? The answer is, it should be in your toolkit. Did you lose it? Go find yours. Now, 112 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,640 you can get better and better. One day you'll get, like, nice electronic screwdrivers or some 113 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:14,040 tamper bits. I recommend them for getting interesting fasteners off. But right off the hop, 114 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:19,900 screwdriver. Next, pliers. Pliers, especially with a little nipper on them somewhere. Basic 115 00:09:19,900 --> 00:09:24,980 pliers are fine. Maybe one day you get a Swiss Army knife that has pliers and a nipper or, frankly, a 116 00:09:24,980 --> 00:09:31,400 multi-tool. But as long as you can grab something, yank it, twist it, turn it, and nip it, good. My wife 117 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:36,760 grew up on a farm. Why do you need those nippers? Bailing wire. A lot of people in this room just 118 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:41,180 grew up in urban areas. You don't know bailing wire. It belongs in your toolkit and it has a million 119 00:09:41,180 --> 00:09:46,760 uses. What goes along with the old two sayings, you can fix everything with two things, bailing 120 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,880 wire and what else? I heard it back there. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't 121 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:57,280 care. Duct tape. I prefer gaff tape myself, but yes. Gaff tape is awesome, isn't it? And if you 122 00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:03,120 take your room key when you go home from DEF CON, you use that to roll your gaff tape flat over 123 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:07,980 your room key. You have a length of it. You can keep that in your small toolkit. Get a good 124 00:10:07,980 --> 00:10:11,800 flashlight. You never know when you're going to need it, but it belongs in your toolkit for a lot 125 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:17,600 of reasons. Number six, throw in something for measuring because when you're trying to develop a 126 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:22,000 project, it's really nice to have a quick tape measure to figure out how it's going and one day 127 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:27,020 you get yourself some little approximators as you do tiny stuff. But a measurement tool. And 128 00:10:27,020 --> 00:10:32,040 lastly, don't discount sewing. I swear to you, I've repaired so many things. Get a sewing kit. 129 00:10:32,060 --> 00:10:38,580 It's probably free at the hotel. Those things belong in every kid's toolkit. And it can be theirs 130 00:10:38,580 --> 00:10:45,700 and it can tackle a billion projects. I am a big advocate of this sort of environment, of letting 131 00:10:45,700 --> 00:10:47,580 people learn, of letting people try, of letting people learn, of letting people try, of letting 132 00:10:47,580 --> 00:10:51,480 people try things that other parents might think are, oh, that's too dangerous. Oh, your kids 133 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:55,800 might get hurt. No. Like, we've got people on soldering irons. We've got people physically using 134 00:10:55,800 --> 00:11:00,000 the lock picks over there. I have a friend of mine. Her name is Lenore. She has this site, 135 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:04,460 Free Range Kids, for all the parents. If you've never heard of Lenore Skenazy, check it out. Free 136 00:11:04,460 --> 00:11:10,140 Range Kids kind of parenting would definitely encourage the idea of having your own toolkit. So 137 00:11:10,140 --> 00:11:17,560 absolutely. Get your own toolkit. Build it up. Because in the end, hacking isn't a skill set. It's 138 00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:24,120 a mindset. It's being able to say, I can tackle this problem. It gives you great perseverance from 139 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:29,060 feeling empowered. Everything you work on, every endeavor you work on is a chance to do something 140 00:11:29,060 --> 00:11:34,280 you couldn't have done before. It's a chance maybe to fail or maybe to do better. There's this 141 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:39,220 little comic here that I threw in, this guy. This poor guy is sitting here and he's so angry. The 142 00:11:39,220 --> 00:11:42,860 world really hates him, right? Oh, man, why am I getting wet? There's nothing I can do about 143 00:11:42,860 --> 00:11:47,540 this. You don't want to be that guy. You don't want to be someone who can't withstand this. You 144 00:11:47,560 --> 00:11:53,020 want to be able to stand up to the things that are wrong. Just like the person who says, I'm so 145 00:11:53,020 --> 00:11:56,960 angry. And someone says, well, here's something that can fix your problem. And you say, I don't 146 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:02,720 want to fix my problem. I just want to be angry. Don't be that person. Don't be the person who 147 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:08,240 can't withstand difficulty. And the sooner you start trying to build projects and they don't 148 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:12,280 work and then you've got to fix them and try again, the sooner you're overcoming obstacles 149 00:12:12,820 --> 00:12:17,380 with tools that you put together yourself and your own toolkit, you'll be able to withstand a 150 00:12:17,380 --> 00:12:22,940 lot of conditions. Why do I want you to think about this? Again, hacking is just a discipline 151 00:12:22,940 --> 00:12:29,240 that you hone over time. Everything that you try that doesn't work is a chance to learn how to do 152 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:35,960 it better. Failure is an amazing teacher. You keep attempting over and over until you succeed. I 153 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:40,300 guarantee you everyone you've ever looked at and admired, oh, look at that thing they built. Oh, 154 00:12:40,340 --> 00:12:46,120 she made this awesome project. What you're not seeing is all the stuff that didn't work before 155 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:51,820 they got to the point they're at now. Failure will teach you. And if parents trust their kids to 156 00:12:51,820 --> 00:12:57,280 try things, trust them with the tools, trust them with a little toolkit, then the kids will trust in 157 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:02,760 themselves and you'll be on your way as long as you know what to do in the face of adversity, 158 00:13:02,980 --> 00:13:07,540 which is keep persevering and try to withstand your problems. Thank you very much. Go create.