Ross was kind enough to show me the way forward on title-less blog posts. It's going to take a little more tinkering for me to get it down, but I see the way forward now. Thanks!

Two things that I want to make sure aren't buried in the long post below. First, Susan Crawford notes that changes will be made in the way ICANN and the new .NET registry operator interact. This is a result of the new contract that ICANN will require the .NET successor to sign. Her post -- and the draft contract it describes -- are both well worth reading for folks in the ICANN community. This is the sort of important stuff that too often passes under the radar of many. Second, Milton Meuller writes about one of ICANN community's first experiences with the Ombudsman. Fascinating. I'm eager to read the report itself.

Why are you going to PC Forum? Fair question. I'm one of the few (practicing) lawyers attending. For most attendees, PC Forum is mostly about making new acquaintances, building new business alliances, making deals. That's not me, or at least not with regard to making deals. I'm under no illusion that someone is going to hire a trial attorney at a technology conference. For me, it's just fun. This is a place to hear about new technologies and new business models. I subscribe to Release 1.0 for the same reason; it's one of the few periodicals in my inbox each month that actually gets read...and usually the same day it arrives.

Speaking of periodicals, like Wendy, I'm excited about the new O'Reilly magazine "Make." The inaugural issue arrived last week. I had even forgotten I had subscribed. It's awesome (a word I don't often use). In the first issue, learn how to build your own: magnetic stripe card reader, backyard monorail, or kite-guided flying camera. Cool stuff. The story about how to hack your XM radio to make it wearable made me wish I had one.

One the presenters at PCForum is intronetworks.com, which has asked attendees to create a profile so the company can electronically introduce us to people we ought to meet in person. Apparently I should meet up with some guy named Andrew McLaughlin. heh. There must be a special sub-category for lawyer-ICANN-geeks.

I've learned how to play Pokemon (the card game, or "TCG" as its known): my son's current obsession. The rules are only slightly more complex than the inner-workings of the ICANN policy process...but this unfortunately puts learning the game beyond the reach of most parents. I especially like the names of the Pokemon: regular names, made powerful.

In the ICANN world, our Pokemon names would be things like Twomeyan, Cerfiant, Auerblast, Clawford, Meullermo, Cade-a-saur, Stubbsidian, or Palageant. You get the idea....

What's my Pokemon name? Just call me Fausetteotto.