Lie #1: "We learned our lesson last time. And we're going to cash out before this bubble pops."

Is this list Fost's way of saying "It was my editors that made the Web 2.0 spread so nauseating! I'm a cynic just like you!" or is the man just sharing his personal demons?

The Top 10 Lies of Web 2.0 [SF Chronicle; photo by Scott Beale]
Earlier: Digital fellatio: The SF Chronicle's slobbery tribute to Web 2.0 [Valleywag]

The spread (ambiguous illustration shown here) comes, of course, just in time for the Web 2.0 Conference, held by Tim O'Reilly (who coined the phrase) and his company O'Reilly Media at SF's Palace Hotel.

Dan Fost writes all five chapters of this psalm. Here's a rundown.

• DIGITAL UTOPIA: A new breed of technologists envisions a democratic world improved by the Internet: Fost gives the usual run-down of this glorious future — "the wisdom of crowds," "citizen media," and other gagologisms. Fost's piece is light on heavyweight sources, instead opting for quotes from up-and-comers like consultant Chris Messina, former visionary for the troubled makers of social browser Flock. His most relevant source is Nick Carr, the author of "Does IT Matter?" and always good for a contrarian quote.
• What exactly does Web 2.0 mean? Well...: Ugh, this question again? It's like 2001, when every article about blogs began with a definition. But this time reporters aren't content with one paragraph; no, they need a whole second article. So what is Web 2.0? It's just what the Internet looks like now compared to six years ago — Google Maps vs. Mapquest, YouTube vs. Ebaum's World, blogs vs. homepages, and Yelp vs. the local alt-weekly's restaurant reviews. It's more social, it's prettier, and you can add shit to it.
• Web 2.0 words — from ajax to wiki: Hey, this is helpful. Some of the definitions start with vapid histories ("Podcasts: The iPod portable music player created a boom in the once-sleepy world of Internet audio...") but most are as clear as dictionary entries.
• The people who populate Web 2.0: After Dan Fost chides Newsweek in "What does Web 2.0 mean" about trying to rename the movement "The Live Web," he uses another failed name, "Digital Utopians." (How 80s!) This is a decent guide to the people Fost didn't source in his other articles.
• Key Web 2.0 sites: The tricky thing about this list is that some entries (MySpace, Wikipedia, YouTube) dominate the Web, whereas others (Dodgeball, YouthNoise, Blogger) are non-starters or dying brands — even if the core San Francisco crowd uses them. Not sure if that's a flaw — because I'm not sure what use this list is.

In this piece about Silicon Valley's Guynn pulls telling quotes from high-level sources. A former SEC chairman, for example, tells her, "People are spending more time with lawyers than they would like to." She adds her own quips, like "White-collar investigations just don't go over well in a place where so few people wear collars." But the soul of this article is in its metaphors. Guynn compares the Valley to hamsters running in NASCAR, a foreigner getting a green card, and an overloaded buffet plate. One source tells her:

Silicon Valley had an incredible honeymoon. It enjoyed virginal capitalism and a period of exemption unlike any industry I have ever seen. But most industries have to face allegations of rapaciousness at one point or another.

Silicon Valley loses its sheen [SF Chronicle]

After the usual "there's a lot of buzz!" lede and the traffic stats roundup, the Chron focuses its lust on YouTube founder Chad Hurley:

With all that buzz, it was no surprise that it was standing room only when the man of the hour, YouTube co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Chad Hurley made a lunchtime appearance at the conference, tucking his dark blond hair neatly behind one ear and wearing his usual faded jeans and black pinstripe sports coat on top of a white shirt with the top buttons undone.

True, the sight of Chad, grinning like the cat that ate the $12-million canary, luscious locks flowing, eyes gazing into the distance or right into your heart...it's enough to make anyone a bit dizzy. The Chron ran the photo above on the front page of its business section, embedded in a screencap of YouTube — because the vids may be pretty, but that priceless Chad face deserves center stage.

YouTube gets its close-up [SF Chronicle]

This past weekend, Chris and I (as well as a huge number of other people) were behind a very successful WineCamp, yet, when reported by the media, Chris was the only one mentioned as being behind it.

Funny, Tara, that sounds familiar. Kinda like Fost's note before heading to Winecamp:

The event is part of Chris Messina's Bar Camp un-conferences.

Oh really, Dan? So Barcamp's founding fathers —

Andy Smith (back left), Ryan King (back right), Tantek Celik (front left), Matt Mullenweg (front right), and the Eris Stassi (founding mother, not pictured) — Chris (center, squinting) didn't mention them when you fact-checked with him?

You...you did fact-check about Barcamp, right? I hear fact-checking separates real journalists from unreliable blogs like Valleywag.

Sometimes, being a PiC really sucks [Tara Hunt]
TECH CHRONICLES [Dan Fost at SF Chronicle]
Photo: BarCampPlanners, where are you now? [Ryan King on Flickr via the ryan king]

Just because a conference has no organized agenda and no featured speakers doesn't mean it will devolve into chaos. Instead, groups formed instantly with verve and enthusiasm, and discussions ranged from highly geeky topics like the Drupal open source software to how to help nonprofits use technology.

Maybe I'm lowbrow, but normal people don't call that a successful conference. They call it a lousy camping trip.

Survivor: Winecamp [Dan Fost at SF Gate]
Photo: Wine Camp Calaveras [Tara Hunt on Flickr]

• San Francisco PR firm Bite interviews the San Jose Mercury News senior web editor about the Merc's new media offerings. Sez the editor about the popularity of the Merc's American Idol blog, "Compelling content still rules the day." And by "compelling content," he means "celebrity trash." (Gawker Media heartily agrees.) [Bitemarks]
• A reader responds to the Apple shared bathroom incident: "SCO (a.k.a. Santa Cruz Operation), when it was still in Santa Cruz, posted similar signs after customers on a late tour of the facility suprised a group of nude hot-tubers. good times."
• USA Today manages to sound like it reads books, and it gives tepid approval to Douglas Coupland's JPod, a novel about game developers that outclasses his '95 novel Microserfs. [USA Today]
• SF Chron tech blogger Alan Saracevic asks about the $100 laptop (meant to put a computer in the hands of every child), "Why does everyone need a laptop?" So we can get more blog traffic, Alan. Geez, catch up with everyone, okay? [SF Gate]
• The Boob Nazi battle on LiveJournal — where militant breastfeeders fight LJ's abuse team — gets attention on the LJ Abuse Blog, which calls the affair "Nipplegate." [Exposing LJ Abuse — NSFW]

Q: What are your strengths and weaknesses as a team?

A: (Pause.) The real issue is what are the strengths and weaknesses of the company as a team.

Poor guy — just can't face the breakdown. It's like "Lethal Weapon" in reverse. After the jump, more evidence.

A: Xbox 360 has been extremely well received. I think we're off to just an unbelievable start with that.

Q: Sony's helping you out there, too.

A: (Loudly:) We're off to a great start! We're happy for the runway we've been given! (Voice returns to normal.)

Try as you might, Steve, you cannot outshout the voices in your head.

Q: I thought [watching TV] was a solo activity. You're saying it's a social activity?

A: Well, I don't know how you watch TV. I watch with my children a lot. Maybe you don't. If you want to be by yourself.

Q: There's not much interaction going on. You're watching TV.

A: I don't know, maybe everybody watches TV differently.

"Maybe we can just agree to disagree. Maybe I have my OWN SPECIAL WAY, okay? Maybe I SIT ALONE IN THE BASEMENT WATCHING TV. AND NOW I'M AFRAID OF DOING THAT FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. Er... Developers! Developers! Developers!"

The first is a basic link seller — he sells ads on a high-Pagerank site, thus boosting ad buyers' search engine rank. This was special in, like, 2002. Now? Just another bottom-feeder business.

The second, well, helps companies buy Google ads.

Come on, Chronicle! If you want to cover sketchy dot-com part-timers, there are all sorts of fascinating businessfolks to cover:

• Craigslist hoe
• Tech blogger
• Launch party planner
• Specialty favicon designer
• Googleplex snack room filler
• Mobile app carpal tunnel syndrome tester
• Steve Gillmor interpreter

There! Free profile ideas! Can we get these in "Datebook" by June? Thanks.

Web 2.0 offers niche careers for a clever few [SF Chronicle]

Highlights:

• Craig opens with the "I'm a customer-service rep" line. It'd be a tired quirk-note by now if he weren't actually doing customer service 40 hours a week.
• It's cute when Craig says "ain't."
• It's less cute when Alan says "adjunct."
• Craig doesn't want to kill the papers, he wants to live in happy harmony where everyone wins. Can you tell he's from San Francisco?
• "I do enjoy the sound of my own voice," says Craig. So do we, Craig, so do we!
• Editing out intentional disinformation on the forums is, says Craig, a "pain in the butt."

Killer Craig comes to The Chron [Tech Chronicles]

In the press release, Backfence touts itself as "a vital gathering place for local information and discussion that's not available anywhere else."

Except, of course, for the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News (well, until it dies), SFist, Metroblogging SF, Craigslist, Craig Newmark and Jeff Jarvis's upcoming site, local blogs, Upcoming.org, Laughing Squid, and every restaurant, cafe, conference room, college campus, and office in the Valley.

But hey, it's the new hotness, so gorge on the press release after the jump.

Welcome to Backfence [Backfence.com]

Backfence launched its first sites in McLean and Reston, Va., in May 2005 and has since added sites in Bethesda, Md., and Arlington, Va. Consisting entirely of content contributed by readers, the sites provide hyperlocal news coverage of the communities, as well as event listings, reviews and ratings of local businesses, photo galleries, free classifieds and other services.

"Backfence provides local community members with a vital gathering place for local information and discussion that's not available anywhere else," DeFife said. "It has been exciting to watch as each community creates a place that reflects its unique personality. We look forward to being part of the Bay Area and watching as it brings its own voice to Backfence."

DeFife said Backfence chose to launch its first Bay Area hyperlocal site in Palo Alto because "it is the linchpin of Silicon Valley. Its broad collection of community organizations, strong business and commercial base, high Internet penetration and its population base are the kinds of things we look for in deciding where Backfence should open local sites. We're looking forward to becoming an important part of the Palo Alto community and then launching additional sites in Bay Area communities over the next few months."

Both Backfence and Bayosphere received funding from Omidyar Network, the mission-based investment group founded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar to foster social, political and economic self-empowerment. Bayosphere also received funding from technology entrepreneur Mitch Kapor.

Backfence also announced today that Merrill Brown, the founding editor of MSNBC.com and a leading new-media consultant, has been elected to the company's Board of Directors.

Brown, who had been a member of the Backfence Advisory Board for the past year, brings a wealth of media experience to the company's Board of Directors. He is a principal in MMB Media, a consulting and investment firm and was recently named National Editorial Director of News 21, the content development component of the news initiative launched by the Carnegie and Knight foundations. In addition, Brown was the founding Editor-in-Chief of MSNBC.com and a founder of Court TV. He also has been an executive with RealOne, Channels magazine and The Washington Post Co., and is a member of the advisory board of Gillmor's Center for Citizen Media.

"I'm very excited by the potential for Backfence to reinvent the way that local communities get and discuss local news and information. The company's concept for hyperlocal citizens' media represents a powerful new form of advertising-supported information, and I'm looking forward to helping the Backfence management team bring their concepts to fruition," Brown said. "I'm a longtime admirer of Dan Gillmor, and am pleased that he's working with Backfence. I'm confident that Bayosphere will be a vital part of Backfence's westward expansion."

About Backfence
Founded in 2004 by Mark Potts and Susan DeFife, Backfence (www.backfence.com) has headquarters in Vienna, Va. Backfence is building advertising-backed, hyperlocal community Web sites in which members of the community create virtually all of the content. Backfence sites bring together user-generated content tools such as blogs, photo galleries and events calendars, as well as do-it-yourself advertising tools. Backfence is designed to be easy for participation by everyone in the community. Access to the sites is free, and all that is required to post information is a simple registration. Backfence is supported by local and national advertising, including display ads, enhanced Yellow Pages listings and business classified ads—all priced low enough to make purchasing an ad to reach the Bay Area community a "cash-register decision" for local businesses. The company raised $3 million in funding in October 2005 from SAS Investors of New York, Omidyar Network of Silicon Valley, and a group of Washington-area private investors. The company has 10 employees.

About Dan Gillmor
Dan Gillmor is founder and director of the Center for Citizen Media, a project to enhance and expand grassroots media and its reach. The center is an affiliate of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University Law School and the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. Gillmor is author of "We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People" (O'Reilly Media, 2004), a book that explains the rise of citizens' media and why it matters. From 1994 until early 2005 Gillmor was a columnist at the San Jose Mercury News, and wrote a weblog for SiliconValley.com. He joined the Mercury News after six years with the Detroit Free Press. Before that, he was with the Kansas City Times and several newspapers in Vermont. During 2005 he worked on media projects at Grassroots Media Inc., which was funded by Omidyar Network and Mitch Kapor. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Vermont, Gillmor received a Herbert Davenport fellowship in 1982 for economics and business reporting at the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

In February 2002, with things at rock bottom, a former dot-commer brought a truck full of tumbleweeds to South Park and let them roll across the lawn.

Dan, if you're reading this — can we get a little backstory? Were they filming the opening credits for "The Big Lebowski 2: San Francisco"?

Dan gets reactions from South Park workers, but they only deepen the mystery:

"It was a punch in the gut," Margaret Mason said. "It was a representation of everything everyone had been feeling."

"It was a perfect metaphor," said [Max] Applegarth.

"It was dumb," said people in general.

Web 2.0 has a local address [SF Chronicle]

Too sexy for his software? [Technology Chronicles]
Shai Agassi: Hot or Not? [Hot or Not]

Web-and-mobile design firm Rubyred Labs held its regular Cereal Bar breakfast this morning. This week's cereal social (held every Monday at Rubyred's office in SF's Soma district) was documented by camera-not-for-hire Scott Beale.

Also present was SF Chronicle writer Dan Fost, doing a piece on Rubyred Labs. Will the article be long, insightful, and feature large photos of the beautiful people at Rubyred? Of course. The only question is which section the piece will dominate: Business and Tech or the Datebook?

Neighbor Adaptive Path's Amanda Willoughby: "It's the only startup with a dress code and a two-drink minimum."

Co-founder Jonathan Grubb: "Damn it, we always run out of Fruity Pebbles."

After the jump, Rubyred dumps the whole "web design" deal for a catering gig.

Photos: Rubyred Labs' Cerealbar Photos [Laughing Squid]

Co-founder Thor Muller: "We're switching our business model to 'classic diner.'"

Thor: "More accurately, we're switching to a 'party venue' model."

Final co-founder Amy Muller: "Actually, we're all going to model. We're shooting for the next American Apparel catalog."

As hard as everyone tries to party, a meeting breaks out.