I'm in DC at the Free Culture Phase 2 conference in DC, meeting some friends again, and some internet heroes for the first time. It's an interesting mix, a good group. I haven't been in this part of the country in years. It's an interesting scene. Striking experiences seem to focus around cabs.

You might run into Zack Exley while you're bumbling into a taxi to head home from a strange and soulless bar on one of the hip strips outside the city. You might have an energetic driver from Trinidad with a sign on his dashboard that said "I AM COVERED WITH THE BLOOD OF JESUS" who's got big dreams of learning to fix computers and going back home to make it big. You might find yourself talking about hopping freight trains crammed in the back of a hired station wagon that's hauling nine people away into the night.

Now we're seated around in a great horseshoe