Before DEF CON became the hacker pilgrimage it is today, there was HoHoCon — a small, raw gathering in Texas that lit the spark for what hacker culture would become. Organized by Drunkfux and supported by the legendary Cult of the Dead Cow, it ran from 1990 through 1994 and was part chaos, part brilliance. It was the first time many phone phreaks, hackers, and computer explorers met in person instead of behind handles and terminal screens. Talks were delivered from handwritten notes, demos were patched together on the fly, and people swapped exploits like trading cards.

There were no sponsors, no badges, and no corporate recruitment booths. Just pure underground curiosity, fueled by curiosity and caffeine. Many who later shaped infosec culture first crossed paths there, long before hacking went mainstream or profitable. In the messy glow of CRTs and modem noise, HoHoCon proved one thing: the hacker community did not just exist online. It was real, alive, and it had a voice.

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