Just as the geeks begin to disperse, Viacom sues YouTube for over $1 billion in copyright damages. Hey! Everybody come back so we can discuss it in person!

Had Viacom's announcement preceded this panel, how different it might have been. As it is, my heart's still with the audience member who quite reasonably pointed out to MTV's David Gale (whom I couldn't help but call "Henry Gale" in my notes, though he seems like a nice-enough guy and meant us no harm) and others that Joe and Jane America already have Internet TV in their living room: TiVo, which is a Linux box.

Of course, badge-holders have been hitting the SXSW party scene, so we'll give a quick shout out to the organisers of last night's The Futures of the Past steampunk party. Not only did they do the honorable and provide attendees with the one thing every SXSW attendee seems to crave (BBQ, baby!) but they also laid on the entertainment thick and fast. With a genius performance by Austin's own diva of despair Luna Tart, tumblers, theremin concerts, mad creations from the Austin Robotics Group and a frickin' Tesla coil (Coolest. Piece. Of. Electrics. EVER), it was the future as HG Wells told us it would be, where men with large moustaches and women with parasols canoed to the moon and met tin Venusians.

"Who's here to find out about libel?" asked publishing law expert Dineen Wasylik. She used that line to kick off her quick guide to reporting on the web (Journalism in the Blogosphere: A Legal Guide to Internet "Press") this afternoon If you thought you could get away with saying anything on a blog, just because it's on-line, think again. Oh, and just because you're a blogger, doesn't mean you get the legal protections afforded journalists. So tread careful.

Legal conundrum time: it's probably better to be a blogger, because if Joe McBloggington throws a bad-tempered hissy about MegaSupaCorps, they're not very likely to be sued for libel. Why? Because blogs aren't taken very seriously. If that same blog was printed in, say, The Wall Street Journal, then they would get sued, because they're a publication of record, and people take what they say seriously.

BUT!

On the other hand, it's better to be a real journalist who happens to also blog, because then you get to take advantage of nifty things like shield laws and the Communications Decency Act.

Confused? Wait 'til you find out that, as a blogger, you might be legally liable for anything that people write on your comments board. Depends if the court thinks you're a publisher or a service provider.

While the crowds at the Screenburn Arcade were obviously drawn by the pimped-out Yaris games-mobiles, and or pit their talents against all-female pro-gamers the Frag Dolls, they were also looking for cool kit. Hands down that still went to Shadow Garden, an interactive projection game where your shadow is the controller. Created by local IT genius Zach Simpson, it's more intuitive than a Wii-mote, and a better interface than Vista. there were cues of kids, teens and adults wanting to spend time crushing the color out of sim-sand, or attracting virtual butterflies.

If you missed it, it's part of the the Austin Children's Museum permanent collection, about five minutes walk from the ACC.

Sunday, March 11: Oh, it seems it was only a few short years ago that I sat in on a SXSWI panel on online confessionals. The agony and ecstasy of realizing different versions of one's self online was heady and scary, and freaky for those new to the concept. Today, we have LonelyGirl15 and the Plain Layne blog. Now, the question is not about if, but how, why, and by whom are online characters created. In other words, what is the range of the continuum between a lie on one end and good fiction on the other? What are the ethics of fictional blogs? These were a few issues addressed at the all too short panel led by Liz Henry of Social Text and Odin Soli of Aveso, Inc (aka Plain Layne).

As a writer, Soli took on the character of a 20-something year-old woman, seeking to immerse himself in a persona, not to create a hoax. He was the last to expect that his fictional Layne would draw so many readers. Some suspected early that Layne was not all that she said she was, but continued to participate in the fiction, while others were shocked to discover that Layne was not a young woman, but a 30-something year old man who. This was revealed one day when his face was splashed across his morning newspaper.

What's the maddest, most brilliant piece of free crap anyone is giving away this year?

The wonderfully stabby (and surprisingly heavy) necklace being given away by Bigfoot Networks to pimp their new Killer K1 network interface cards. Now even first person shooters can have their bling.

What's it like in Room 19A (or is it 19B), the extremely well-hidden lair for panelists awaiting deployment? Nobody's huddled on the floor around the available outlets, for one thing. There's a TV that isn't even on.

But it's the little touches--the abstract sculpture, the potted plants, the tiny Perrier--that makes a visitor sad to leave through the back exit and travel deep into the bowels of the Convention Center, only to emerge on a different floor in some far-flung arm of the building.

Planning on seeing a film or go to a panel on Sunday? Well, don't forget to push those clocks ahead an hour for Daylight Savings Time. Remember, spring ahead – or face a harsh landing.

The panelists: Journalist Laina Dawes, Writing is Fighting. Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Editor of Feministing.com. Jason Toney, Lead Producer, Disney Online (formerly blogster of Negro Please), and Lynne D. Johnson, Senior Editor of fastcompany.com

Wow. All black and brown faces on this panel. It makes me happy and sad to say that. Happy because diversity is good and necessary. Sad, because all the brown folk are lumped here in this one room, on this one day. The very special SXSW Interactive panel.

Here is a slice of the opening comments by panel moderator Laina Dawes who was kind enough to send them to me. This should give you a flavor of where the panel started.