I saw the story on Slashdot, being the multi-geek wench that I am, and just had to chime in there.... "This is going to be waaaay too late to be noticed, I'm sure, but I've gotta chime in. Why in the hell would the BSA pick a *ferret* (not a weasel, although that might be more appropriate) as their new mascot? Anyone who has ever spent any time around ferrets (such as myself as a long-time ferret-mom) knows that ferrets are the *last* creatures on Earth who would make good representatives for an IP watchdog group. The subspecies designation of their scientific name, Mustela putorius furo, comes from the Latin furonem, meaning "thief". And they are fuzzy little thieves: shoes, socks (bonus points if you manage to steal it off of a human's foot!), toys, CD jewel cases, loaves of bread, wallets, car keys, ("Quick, while Mom's not lookin' - shopping spree at PetCo!"), jewelry - if it's not nailed down, they'll make off with it, chuckling the whole time. In short: ferret (n.), a free-spirited, furry little animal with a joyous disregard for individual property rights. Not exactly the best ambassador for the Software Goon Squad. What the heck were they smoki- (line through) drinki- (scribbled out) thinking?" ~Becca, the Geek Wench: causing mayhem among the (mostly male) nerd population at the Web's foremost tech (and other geeky pursuits) newsblog... [Posted in FML issue 4603]