Betsy Devine: Funny ha-ha and/or funny peculiar

This is a teentsy thumbnail of my virtual image of the cowboy aka Joi Ito–about 50 K, which is why it’s not right on my front page.

Thanks to Jon Lebkowsky for the original photo.

That three-headed frog discovered last week? Well, it wasn’t

It was three frogs who were , ahem–well, Ray Girvan links to a bunch of photos of other frogs engaged in similar antics.

Gosh, there goes the liberal media, trying to bust up my family by talking dirty. OK, it’s a blog–but you know what I mean.

Fortunately, we have it on good authority that the Bush administration will once again take steps to make sure that science doesn’t tell us anything we don’t want to hear.

Here, photoshopped for your viewing convenience, is the new explanation–it was a lovely frog wedding. The bride (in a veil of ethernetting) was just sharing a private moment with the groom (top hat 1), when up hopped the best man (top hat 2) and decided to try to cut in.

Nothing to see here, folks, just move along.

Wow! I met every single one of these people at SXSW, no wonder I had a good time:

• Yvonne Adams (wearenotsheep)
• Doug Bowman (StopDesign)
• Danah Boyd (danah.org)
• Nick Bradbury (FeedDemon)
• Tantek Celik (tantek.com)
• Anil Dash (Six Apart)
• Cory Doctorow (Boing Boing)
• Jeremy Dunck (dunck.us)
• Eliza Evans (U Texas)
• Dan Gillmor (San Jose Mercury News)
• Adam Hill (TheBigPixel)
• Col Dave Hughes (Old Colorado City Communications)
• Neil Iscoe (U Texas)
• David Isenberg (isen.com, Stupid Networks)
• Joi Ito (neoteny.com)
• Scott Johnson (Feedster)
• Pete Kaminski (istori.com/log/)
• Susan Kaup (sooz.com)
• George Kelly (AllAboutGeorge)
• Elizabeth Lane Lawley, Ph.D. (mamamusings, RIT)
• Kevin Lawver (Search Ninja)
• Jon Lebkowsky (Polycot Consulting)
• Adina Levin (Socialtext, EFF)
• Jonas M Luster (netwarrior)
• Cameron Marlow (Blogdex)
• Michael Moncur (Quotes of the Day)
• Craig Newmark (craigslist.org)
• Nikolai Nolan (Bloggie Man!)
• Jorge Ortiz (d-volution)
• Matt Pusateri (MattMedia)
• Mike Pusateri (cruftbox)
• Zack Rosen (deanforamerica.com)
• Chip Rosenthal (EFF-Austin)
• Sam Ruby (intertwingly.net)
• Wendy Seltzer (EFF)
• Dave Shea (CSSZenGarden.com)
• Jim Snider (New America Foundation)
• Jon Udell (infoworld.com)
• Michael Alex Wasylik (perpetualbeta)
• David Weinberger (JOHO)
• Kevin Werbach (werblog.com)
• Simon Willison (incutio)

Samuel Johnson’s great dictionary of 1755 has just been re-issued (Amazon description) and Frank brought me one as a present.

Editor Jack Lynch has usefully created an index that lists all Johnsonian insults–so beware, if you are a fatwitted finical flagitious footlicking fop of a foutra fribbling fustilarian fub.

Samuel Johnson had just the word for you.

And now I have it too.

He has lots of words no longer in use (“spraints–the dung of an otter”), tho the dairy industry might like “agalaxy,” which means “want of milk.”

Johnson’s definition of “network” is rightly famous for its badness:

Network

Anything reticulated or decussated, at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections.

But if you’re planning to look up his 1755 viewpoint on web or post or search don’t bother–if they exist, they aren’t in the abridged version.

Who challenged the sxsw electrical outlet policy, inspired Joi Ito, and set off the cries of outrage from Cory Doctorow, Robert Scoble, Dan Gillmor, et al. that resulted in the conference change in policy?

It was my friend Jonas M. Luster, hereby memorialized as a knight in shining armor, riding a white horse. Thanks, Jonas, on behalf of all the people you stick up for in your many chivalrous avatars.

If I ever need a fscking lawyer, this is the fscking lawyer that I want.

Back row: Chip Rosenthal (EFF-Austin), Eliza Evans (U Texas), Jorge Ortiz (d-volution), Jon Udell (Infoworld), Wendy Seltzer (EFF), Neil Iscoe (U Texas), David Weinberger (World of Ends).

Front Row: David Isenberg (WTF2004), Betsy Devine (Feedster), Jonas Luster (Karma Warrior), Pete Kaminski (Socialtext), Adina Levin (Socialtext, EFF).

Typical funny sxsw conference moment–first morning, waiting for Kevin
Werbach to start his talk, visiting people in #sxsw IRC, wondering when
I’ll meet some of the people I know from Joi Ito’s chat. Sitting in SXSW IRC, and jluster (aka Jonas M. Luster) asks where I’m sitting. It turns out he and I were sitting in
the front row, 3 seats apart, with Sam Ruby (whom I also hadn’t met)
between us. On the other side of me was Jon Lebkowsky, and on the other
side of him was David Isenberg. Awesome.

OK, in our last episode, we left Betsy in typical Betsy-mode, sitting with
my computer in my lap and talking back while typing to a very good talk
on spectrum by Kevin Werbach.

I then ran off to play the annual kickball game, organize by Anil Dash of SixApart.

Opposing pitcher and search ninja Kevin Lawver
rolled 100% strikes while demonstrating a high level of trashtalk–is
there a major league for adult kickball? And Flash-meister Matt Pusateri, who got me out at first–I have forgiven you, and I am sorry I threatened to tell your mom what you did.

The awesome George Kelly of AllAboutGeorge kicked a home run for my team (our clever team name was Two, altho Gnu was also nominated.) 

Others who demonstrated remarkable skill are redheaded Yvonne Adams (WeAreNotSheep),  Nick Bradbury (FeedDemon),
Simon Willison (Incutio), Michael Moncur (Quote of the Day), and Jeremy Dunck.

But my very top props go to Michael Pusateri (aka Argyle), not only for kickball skill but also for
creative writing, as witness this praise of my skill in IRC, for which
I only had to hint the tiniest bit:

Same time next year, Anil–and next year team Two will be number one!

Here I am in the wild wild west (Austin Texas–sxsw, yee ha!) sitting next to famed #joiito Texan adamhill.
Although he lives near South Fork and drives a shiny red convertible,
Adam claims not to own cowboy boots. Another illusion shattered. Four
of us sitting in a row in this corridor–Jonas Luster, Joi Ito, me, and
Adam. We’re all of us talking–in the IRC.

Kevin Werbach talked about freeing up the electronic spectrum this morning, great talk, see his blog and the Feedster search for Werbach.

He envisions a world where the electronic spectrum is no longer
auctioned off piece by tiny piece to rich monopolists–a world where
the spectrum is cleverly shared by all who want to use it–a world
where troublesome folks are dealt with by tort law and common law
rather than a complex new system of criminalizing regulations.

I wasn’t the only one to worry out loud that many powerful
companies have big investments in a scarcity model for the
electronic spectrum.  If you look at what happened to the Clinton
health plan, you have an idea of the way private money translates into
public power, and the way a plan benefiting many people can be blocked
by a determined few.

Looking on the bright side, the “Clinton health plan” example could be
a huge fund-raising issue for groups promoting an open spectrum.

Gosh, I’m tired. And I didn’t even get up to Anil Dash’s kickball game, or the
interesting things Dan Gillmor and Lisa Rein said about small media….
Read somebody else’s blog, I’m sure it’s out there!

I’m inside that tiny, peaceful moment of just-before-a-journey.

I have printed three copies of my itinerary–there’s nothing now I want to re-plan or re-do. The stuff I’ll be packing tomorrow is lying piled up on my suitcase, trying to stay unwrinkled.

The kitchen clock ticks, and the fridge softly hums. I will miss this kitchen, my dear old kitchen computer, my pots of grape hyacinth next to the sink.

Last night, I saw my little winter mouse run across the floor when the kitchen was quiet like this. He is my winter mouse because I have shared the house with him for the cold weather. Now that spring is arriving, his days of eating my ramen and tacos are numbered.

Some lovely spring day, soon, I will lure him with peanut butter into my little havaheart trap, and drive him two miles to some trees near a BurgerKing dumpster.

But that won’t happen tonight, or even tomorrow. My sense of responsibility is already riding a plane headed south to Austin.

Bzzzt–oh, there goes the dryer. Time to fold clothes. So much for my moment to stop and smell the grape hyacinth!