< cskaterun> burtonator finds chicks by snooping their AIM screen names at internet cafes < burtonator> it only works some of the time

< burtonator> its called wardating... and I invented it :)
< burtonator> if Winer claims credit for RSS then I claim credit for Wardating!
< burtonator> thats what I want to go down in history for

< adamhill> burtonator is the creepy guy you always see hanging out at SBux
< burtonator> though thats not a good thing for your current girlfriend to find
< burtonator> :-/
< burtonator> good thing it shows far down on my google query

Lesson learned: Don't say something you'll regret in an internet chat where anyone could log it.

(Photo: Scott Beale of Laughing Squid. Disclosure: I met Kevin on IRC in 2005; I know him in person. Good luck on the Google query, Kevin.)

J.P. Wain says the identity SFdigitalboy2 from our earlier Craigslist post is Newsmonster creator and Rojo co-founder Kevin Burton. Asked if the CL M4W was his, Kevin denied posting it.

J.P. found sfdigitalboy on Consumating, though Valleywag is suspect Kevin's profile is fake, we couldn't help but note three tags added by others.

mayhavebitchtits
reallyreallyreallywhite
creepy

So you didn't want to post a photo as you're 'well-known in your industry' or because your standard pic looks like a mugshot, hence the creepy tag. And remember Kevin, before heading to Stonestown Mall to get a new photo—turn down the thug, turn up the smiles.

SWM, 30, Not So Bright [Valleywag]

Digg partner Stamen Design won Best Costume by dressing as a team of dapper carpet salesmen.

Upcoming.org founder Andy Baio just licks the salt off these things and puts them back on the bar.

Diggers Daniel Burka and David Prager celebrated the launch with a day lying sideways on the beach. They do not regret getting these bizarre sunburns.

After the jump: "They call me....Mister Digg!"

One Tic Tac watch, Tic Tac iPod case, and Tic Tac flashlight later, gadget geek Philip Torrone's mouth smells like a mint factory.

Digg founder Kevin Rose can't run a site and shave at the same time.

Fucked Company founder Philip "Pud" Kaplan shows his no-nonsense version of "the shocker."

Diggnation podcaster Alex Albrecht: "We're hoping to get Mark Wahlberg to play me in the film, but I'm willing to do his stunts."

And that's how star power gets you written onto a guest list.

Digg co-founder Jay Adelson just thought of the perfect joke about midget sex, but he struggles against the inappropriate urge to blurt it out on stage.

OMG screenshot!

SF Chronicle writer Dan Fost to Microsoft manager Niall Kennedy: "Look, I'd like to make you the next Robert Scoble, but I don't have that kind of power."

Tier 1 founder Andy Shroepfer about gigablogger Om Malik: "Om said I could make fun of his John Travolta hair if I funded his next blog."

Digg v3 party photos [Laughing Squid]

Everyone's famous on the Internet! And the webstars really shine in Scott Beale's Wednesday photos from O'Reilly ETech 2006. In this edition, Ted Rheingold of Dogster, 3/4 of the Boing Boing crew, and an episode of escalating violence.

Ed Batista, attention pimp.

Dogster's Ted Rheingold and ex-Technoratian Niall Kennedy give the white man's gang sign.

Simply Hired's Dave McClure, moments before shrieking "Your sun! It burns me!" and running back to his Gevil lair.

After the jump, it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye.

"Dear team: kicking into high-gear networking mode. Send more striped shirts."

Mark, Xeni, and Cory of Boing Boing rest between glamorous international spy missions.

Geek-hobo proliferation reminds O'Reilly what they left out: "Oh damn! We always forget the CHAIRS!"

"Hmmm, I just might have a 'project' I could fit this pipe into, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN."

Ted didn't actually use his laptop — just sat there all day posing. It's tough being pretty.

"Sure, you could use these gadgets for their intended purposes, but where's the fun in that?"

Tech writer Annalee Newitz blasts away at MAKE Magazine's marshmallow shooter.

And she stood there for an hour, waiting for something to happen.

This would've been the perfect moment for Ted's "I play trumpet in a ska band" hat.

The marshmallow projectile beaned a bellhop and neatly severed the Internet connection. Only the latter got noticed.

MAKE Magazine pits Roombas in an armed fight to the death.

"House meeting, everyone. Okay, have we learned our lesson about shooting and fighting today? Now I want you all to make Annalee a nice 'Get Well' card."

ETech 2006 Photos [Laughing Squid]
Earlier: Geeking out: ETech 2006, Tuesday [Valleywag]
And: Geeking out: ETech 2006 [Valleywag]

ETech 2006 rolls on, and Scott Beale keeps photographing the folks who make the Internet. Tuesday's highlights include Tim Bray's Indy outfit, Esther Dyson's spelling, and Jen King's primal scream.

Wired futurist Bruce Sterling Sun Microsystems demigod Tim Bray pops in from his Indiana Jones 4 audition.

Tribe.net's Chris Law isn't a friend of Kevin Burton. He just plays one on the Internet.

After the jump, Gob Bluth visits ETech. (Not really.)

ETech 2006 Photos [Laughing Squid, used with permission]
Earlier: Geeking out: ETech 2006 [Valleywag]

"And my Starbucks? Can you merge a tag folksonomy into my Starbucks?"

Simply Hired's Dave McClure: "Does your Google interview story involve a Rubik's cube and an attack dog? Yeah, everyone has that story."

Flickr'ing futurist "Esthr" Dyson: "A pleasre to meet you, I'm chrmed."

Designer Derek Powazek looks like a younger, taller Paul Giamatti. Just sayin'.

Technorati engineer Kevin Marks: "Well, if you don't like the new bubbly look, we'll just change the — no — no, shut up, I'm doing it now — we'll just change the site right back."

Weblogs Inc's Jason Calacanis is not just making a sign; he's worried and would like some peace, please.

Metafilter founder Matt Haughey: "If you bought the Segway to get laid, um, why'd you bring it to a tech conference?"

At the Yahoo party: "Heehee...hi, Mr. Semel? Mr. Terry Semel? Do you have Prince Albert in a can? WELL YOU'D BETTER GO OUT AND CATCH IT. Wait, wait, I messed up. Can we start over?"

Scott says, "[Berkeley student] Jen King's reaction to hearing web 2.0 for the 1000x time."

"Going Overboard Hair Club for Men.com. Works wonders, and it uses Ajax."

It's an old photo. But now it appears at fancytrousers.com. Kevin explains why the next-generation Internet crafters put their resources toward the above.

Kevin Burton: we were giving them crap about how you can't call them knickers and trowsers
since fancy pants != fancy trousers

Valleywag: them? the brit contingent?

Kevin Burton: y[es]
"them"
we were giving htem shit since British sounds so funny
knickers, bollucks, trousers, etc
minga
shiite

The most brilliant minds of emerging tech converge on one space, and you get...knickers and bollocks.

Fancy Trousers [fancytrousers.com]

The O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference (or ETech for the impatient) is in full swing today, after a rousing start on Monday. The event sold out ages ago, but through the magic of Scott Beale's photography, we can pretend we made it in. (If you want to pretend you met Cory Doctorow and he loved your sci-fi story idea, have that fantasy on your own.) Here are highlights from Scott's meticulous Monday photojournalism.

BBC blogger Ben Metcalfe is so tired of your bullshit.

"Just stand very still and do not make eye contact, and Tom Coates will walk away."

After the jump, Doc Searls kills a man with one bare fist.

UI designer Ben Cerveny chills with, I assume, a White Russian in a coffee cup.

Gavin Bell to Cal Henderson: "For the last time, I know that you are Cal. Now stop. Saying. It."

Cory Doctorow: "Ohhh man, this post is gonna need a unicorn chaser."

"I am pleased to see my 'impress the ladies with the clever nametag job title' plan has succeeded."

Moments later, Technorati's Kevin Marks tragically rolled over and was crushed by a surprisingly heavy inflata-chair.

"Look, it's okay if you want to wear a kilt too, but bow to the superiority of my tartan, okay?"

TailRank's Kevin Burton waits for the perfect "So, wanna buy me?" moment.

Blogfather Doc Searls answers all dumb questions with a jab to the face.

ETech 2006 Photos [Laughing Squid]

Congratulations on the sale of Tailrank! I should have seen this coming after following you through TechCrunch. This must be a very exciting time for you. Due to the success you may have enjoyed from this transaction, a conversation with our team may make sense.

I lead a [name redacted] practice and we advise and manage assets for a select number of high net-worth individuals/families.

No fair, Mr. Asset Manager, teasing Kevin about the dough he ain't rolling in.

Comment by Kevin Burton [TechCrunch]

This is both seriously cool (w00t! flash mob!) and a pain in the ass (to, you know, the regular paying customers).

So as going to a cafe becomes yet another planned-out networking event, those of you who actually like chilling out at cafes can abandon these future reluctant incubators. On the other hand, it'd be fun to see the silent customers at Mission Creek Cafe faced with a loud crowd of Web 2.0 tourists.

San Francisco Wifi Bedouin Flash Mob [Kevin Burton's Feed Blog]

Time to predict who sells first. We'll pick our top three favorites to win the race to flip (and show you some other flip-ready companies).

Then you pick three of the companies below and e-mail them, in the order you think they'll sell, to editor@valleywag.com with the subject "Flip trifecta." The contestant whose top three picks sell first, in the order they choose, wins a prize. In the case of a tie, the winner's chosen randomly.

Flip Trifecta: the race to sell out

1. Digg: Kevin Rose denies a Yahoo buyout, but commentators (like TWiT's Leo Laporte) say "if he sells, he's buying dinner."

2. Newsvine: The citizen-journalism-slash-real-journalism site hasn't even publicly launched, but it's already earning accolades from beta users. Already fresh, but still ripe, this would make a trendy purchase for Yahoo.

3. Tailrank: Kevin Burton's tiny aggregator could become a one-man merger — but only if Kevin drops his dream of a user-funded startup.

4. Odeo: A natural acquisition. None of the portals have a good podcast play. And it's not taking off all by itself. Biz Stone just left Google to work at this startup; could he find himself back on campus?

5. Riya: The facial recognition software is a perfect technology to complement Flickr. On one round of funding, Riya has already developed smart recognition algorithms — for example, it recognizes founder Tara Hunt. But one search giant already took a look at Riya and passed.

6. Six Apart: The blog platform developer is suffering downtime as it struggles to handle a growing user base. Would anyone buy a company that's a mishmash of publishing software, hosting services and a free community site? Or will Six Apart patch itself up and run solo?

7. Technorati: CEO Dave Sifry told the Red Herring two years ago to "watch this space" for the blog tracker's exit strategy. This year, BusinessWeek predicts a flip to Microsoft. But in those two years, Technorati's piled on a lot of VC funding. Will its investors force it to take a lowball offer?

8. Napster: Not selling any time soon, and definitely not to Google. This sucker's losing money fast.

Make your pics and mail them in. The usual Gawker Contest Rules apply.