Speaking of which, the crowd included Chuck Phillips, the president of Oracle; Accel Partners' Jim Breyer; Google angel investor Ram Shiram; Gavin Newsom; former California governor Jerry Brown; Jessica Guynn of the Los Angeles TimesBarron's; AllThingsD's Kara Swisher; former Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein; MarketWatch's Therese Poletti; Craig Newmark; and renowned San Francisco socialite Denise Hale, who rather liked my tie.

Zittrain's book is about the tradeoffs between freedom and control, security and creativity. New devices like the iPhone provide a safer, smoother experience than the uncontrolled Web — but at the cost of having a gatekeeper, Apple, dictating what can and can't run on the device. That kind of chokepoint, in turn, makes it far easier for government regulators to get involved. The alternative, though, is not particularly attractive: an Internet ruled by spammers and hackers.

Like his counterparts in politics, Zittrain is seeking a third way. I couldn't help but think this impulse is driven by an early experience he related at the party: Getting beaten up in high school. (He thanked the hostess, Melanie, "for not beating up on me.") Having been bullied, Zittrain doesn't want revenge: He just doesn't want anyone to bully, or be bullied. This moderating impulse is seen in a passage where he discusses how neither governments nor citizens ought to be able to wholly circumvent the law through technology:

Perhaps it is best to say that neither the governor nor the governed should be able to monopolize technological tricks. We are better off without flat-out trumps that make the world the way either regulator or target wants it to be without the need for the expenditure of some effort and
cooperation from others to make it so.

And yet Zittrain's career could well exceed Lessig's. That he was able to fill a room — an impeccably furnished, tastefully modern room in one of San Francisco's wealthiest enclaves, at that — speaks to his draw. Liberal San Francisco politicans, self-made entrepreneurs, and the Web's wacky fringe can all find things they agree on in his work.

The danger for Zittrain is that his work might be nothing more than a justification for compromise and tradeoffs. Will he find a third way for the Web — or just point out the middle of the road? His calls for a "generosity of spirit" are reminiscent of the assumptions that turned eBay, a marketplace of strangers, into a very profitable community of traders. Hoping for the best really can pan out, as it happens. But the answers Zittrain will have to find, or inspire, are far more complicated than asking someone to be on their best behavior.

And for CNET's editors and reporters? The departure has to be unsettling, coming on the heels of Jeff Gerstmann's ouster as editorial director of Gamespot, amid charges that the videogame site issued advertiser-friendly reviews. Singh himself was charged with investigating the mess at Gamespot. If Singh is not replaced by an executive with similar clout and independence, many will take it as another sign CNET management on the business side is exerting a tighter grip on its editorial.

Pop quiz — who was up at 2 last night trying to get on the TechCrunch Party guest list?

TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington himself signed up at 1:48 AM and added VC David Hornik atop the list. From then on, anyone was allowed to add their name. Prashant Sarkar, a man from a Singapore entrepreneurial group, was the first guest to sign up at 2:36 AM. Probably in another time zone, so that's forgiveable. [Update: The group, NUSEA, is based in the Bay, so he is refreshing TechCrunch at 2:36 AM.] But #4, Justin Smith from a group called Social Intelligence, has no excuse. That hard charger listed himself at 2:39.

But the hardest chargers of all? The five people who signed themselves up (or got moved by Arrington) above Prashant, Justin, and several other guests. That includes Fox Interactive head Ross Levinsohn and ZDNet editor-in-chief Dan Farber.

At 8 AM, about 170 people had signed up. Would have been more if the list didn't keep locking up. See, the TechCrunch party list is built as a wiki, with an automatic 15-minute lock. That means that if I go and edit my name in, I need to tell the wiki to unlock so other people can edit. Otherwise, the wiki can't be touched for a quarter of an hour.

Give ya two guesses whether everyone remembers to unlock.

Meanwhile, attendees are getting bumped off and on the list, optimizing their edit times, or banging their heads against the wall in frustration. Get a grip, people. This isn't the Black and White Ball. (But while you're at the wiki, can you sign me up?)

TechCrunch Party 7 guest list [Wiki]

"Looks great, doesn't he?" says Melinda Gates. "I left him alone at Bath and Body Works, and he picked himself a moisturizer."

Damn it, if Walt Mossberg hears one more story about that stinking John Markoff, he's switching to hard liquor.

Jean Louis Gassee: "I worked at Apple for nine years, and honestly, Steve's feet are this huge."

Martha's only smiling because she thinks that's Daler Mehndi.

After the jump, Mr. High Fidelity looks for a cooler conversationalist.

ZDNet king Eric Hippeau to serial entrepreneur Josh Felser: "Oh, my unbuttoned shirt is no accident, Josh. Let's dump this dump and go...share some war stories."

Lotus founder Mitch Kapor tells Answers.com founder Bob Rosenschein: "There's the 98-pound Dictionary.com guy. Let's go throw wine in his face."

Martha Stewart and her boyfriend, the man who built Word and Excel, Charles Simonyi. (They really are dating.)

The crowd was delighted as Walt and Kara performed a scene from A Streetcar Named Desire. "Listen, baby, when we first met - you and me - you thought I was common. Well, how right you was. I was common as dirt."

"Walt. WALT. Put down the Jack Daniel's and let's stop the 'I'll kill that ass Markoff' talk."

AOL exec Jason Calacanis pulls the Kawaii Anime Girl sign we all know and love. Meanwhile, the extinguished body of VC Yossi Vardi slumps in its chair.

"And we'll have a farm...with ethanol-fueled vehicles...and I can pet the rabbits! Tell me about the rabbits, Vinod!"

Dan's schwag. That damn Long Tail gets EVERYWHERE.

John Cusak pulls the over-the-shoulder glance, made easier because Kara Swisher is half his height.

Photos: D Conference [Dan Farber on Flickr]

Well, not really. It's still painfully dull, even with the presence of Jason Calacanis (the AOL exec who calls out all bullshit — whether it exists or not). After Steve's opening commercial (skip it) you can hear the painfully unedited recording of a special Gillmor Gang. The first lines: "Hello?" "Hey, it's Jason." "Who is it?" GRIPPING INTRO, STEVE.

Highlights:

• Part 1. Steve greets Jason and ZDNet reporter Dan Farber: "Well, I'm gonna finish having some cereal. So I'll be back in a minute."
• Dan to Jason: "You're great.... At that." Nice save Dan! Now hide your shrine.
• About two minutes in, Jason realizes how stupidly boring this show will be. After the jump, so can you.

• Jason: "Half the pages on Wikipedia will be locked in two years."
• OMG boring. Skip two-thirds through part 1, where Steve acts like a clumsy amateur porn director: "I'm recording everything. Keep going. I'm in the background."
• Part 2. Jason says cool things about his Weblogs, Inc. network — which, you know, is a groovy network if you're into that.
• The awesome part: End of the Part 2. Steve to Jason about something that matters: "Who cares?" Ohhhhhh irony.
• Jason compares himself to Quentin Tarantino. Sounds accurate, really. (Pictured)

Don't bother listening to Part 3.

Oh, and Jason insulted TechCrunch, and Michael Arrington got huffy about it. Which is a shame, because ragging on your competitors is no way to run a blog.

Gillmor Gang [Official site]
On Conflicts of Interest and TechCrunch [CrunchNotes]
Earlier ragging on a Gawker Media competitor: Jason Calacanis, secret king of AOL [Valleywag]

Hacks and flacks wished Andrew Orlowski (pictured, the one with his hair on top) farewell last night with a calm happy hour at the Edinburgh Castle Pub. His exit dilutes the pool of Valley journalism, as the Register reporter was a long-time snarker and Google hound (one confident enough to snub Google Press Day). Now, after five years in the Valley, he's headed back to England.

At Orlowski's goodbye party last night, the crowd included John Gilmore (Sun employee #5 and the creator of alt.* on Usenet), long-time Apple troll John C. Dvorak, and ZDNet reporter Dan Farber. Even the NYT's John Markoff broke away from his crowd of screaming fangirls to raise a glass for Orlowski. Spark PR picked up the tab and fixed the guy-girl ratio. As 'wag readers know, PR ladies are the coolest.

After the jump, more photos from Farber.

"Hey Dvorak, make that face you made when you finally got spam today."

"And how many times have you awkwardly commented on Leo Laporte's delivery during This Week in Tech?"

With the death of TechTV, Screen Savers host Patrick Norton had to trade his leather briefcase for a Jansport backpack.

Photos: Andrew Orlowski Send Off [Dan Farber on Flickr]

Most of you should just turn away right now.

Yes, that's Tom Green crawling from his hole and, Coke bottle in hand, blinking at the largest audience he's had in years. "I used to be big," thinks Tom as he prepares to speak. "I used to be a star. Eating roadkill, filming classics like Stealing Harvard. Ah, the good old days of classy gigs..."

AOL blogging exec Jason Calacanis says something smug.

More coverage after the jump.

VC Jeff Clavier stops the conversation: "Wait, I really need to trip to some slow jams right now."

Valley flack Renee Blodgett couldn't attend, but she kindly sent a life-size cardboard cutout in her stead.

"Clearly, the reversal of the publishing paradigm forces a reanalysis of the wisdom of crowds vis-a-vis the niche market, and if we monetize...you're sleeping while standing, aren't you."

For hints of what actually went on (or at least a spin other than sour grapes), read:
Tony Perkins's insight: The 13-30 demographic is worth watching. Who knew? Tony Perkins opens the show [Down the Avenue]
Hollywood didn't tell Stowe Boyd anything new, but at least they're "clueful." OnHollywood: The Suits Are Clueful [/Message]
A VP from EMI says the industry's done suing and is now "monetizing" the Net. Good to hear that EMI is almost up to date. (According to calculations, they're now up to 1998.) Is the Web the new Hollywood? [ZDNet]
If the Web is the new Hollywood, why was Hollywood so bad at the web? A sketchy wifi setup hurt livebloggers and demoers. OnHollywood [Marketing Begins At Home]

One last blind item: Which attendee ended up passed out poolside last night?

Photos: Set: OnHollywood [Dan Farber on Flickr, CC]

Tired of camps about actual from-scratch products, Valley developers, pundits, and businessfolk mixed it up at Mashup Camp, the two-day "unconference" about remixed tech. Laughing Squid tentaclemaster Scott Beale kindly let me abuse his pics from Monday.

Blogger Doc Searls rocks out the Microsoft-lanyard-Firefox-shirt mashup: business in front, party in the back.

"You'd think I'd shave it off, but when I'm in my bowler and three-piece it looks divine."

White-hat lawyers, Mucho Camp invasion, and the hippest user-experience expert in the Valley — all after the jump.

Technorati's Niall Kennedy: "Seriously, you say it through that thing and I'll pay you ten bucks." David Berlind: "For ten bucks? You're on."

"Larry Lessig totally hearts the RIAA!"

He didn't even see the hand until his face was firm in its grip.

The goatse-ing of an entire audience proves disappointing.

Scott visits the nearby Meebo headquarters. "I don't know how he got in here, but I need him evacuated before he takes a photo of the blank whiteboard."

Preserved for posterity, a dot-com geek.

Lawyer Larry Lessig cannot believe you asked about the Eldred case.

Members of the nearby Mucho Camp join the Mashup crowd. But they are still indie, so they will code standing up.

When it's time to blog the camp, everyone cheats off ZDNet's Dan Farber.

Doc Searls: "Hey, my award, don't touch!"

"Psst. You. Wanna buy a mashup of Marilyn Manson and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir?"

That's not even special ice. That is the bioluminescence of Jonathan Grubb's face.

Mashup Camp photos [Laughing Squid]
Mashup Camp [MashupCamp.com]