Gawker: valleywag, meg hourihan

Silicon Valley's baby boom

Owen Thomas — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 10:45:23 EDT

I never intended for the blogger-baby story, which began with the birth of Ollie Kottke to A-list bloggers Jason Kottke and Meg Hourihan, to become quite such a saga, but news has a way of happening. Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield are no longer expecting a baby — they have a daughter, Sonnet Beatrice Butterfield, according to fellow Yahoo executive Bradley Horowitz. Here's the rundown on the rest of the couples mentioned in yesterday's baby poll, which — well done, readers — you guessed correctly.

Alaina Browne and Anil Dash The foodblogger and Six Apart executive are not pregnant, though Dash has been looking a little chunky.

Heather Powazek Champ and Derek Powazek: Flickr's community manager and the famous Web designer are not pregnant.

Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield: Flickr's cofounders made no secrecy of Fake's pregnancy, which ended yesterday with the safe delivery of a newborn daughter.

Jennifer Granick and Brad Stone: The lawyer and New York Times reporter are expecting, and are telling people about it.

Maryam and Robert Scoble: Would you really expect Robert Scoble, whose blogger wife, Maryam, is pregnant, not to blog about the fact?

Now we all know: Ben Trott proved so irresistably hot that his wife and fellow Six Apart cofounder, Mena, found herself in a family way. Until recently, she'd been trying to keep the fact private.

To the pregnant couples: Heartfelt congratulations and best wishes. To Fake and Butterfield: Mazel tov! To Browne, Dash, and the Powazeks: Get cracking! Valleywag is going to need readers in 2025.

(Photos by Anil Dash, edyson, granick, jacksonwest, Scott Beale / Laughing Squid, and simoncast)

Let's play hide the baby

Owen Thomas — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:26:02 EDT

Last week, the birth of a son (and future blogger) to Jason Kottke and Meg Hourihan reminded us of another famous Web personality who ~~tried~~had a colleague try, bizarrely, to claim that the mom-to-be's pregnancy was "off the record." (Memo to other would-be secret-keepers: "Off the record" is always a matter of mutual agreement between reporter and source, not something you can declare unilaterally.) We asked for guesses on who it was, and you had lots of good ones. Now it's time to vote, picking out the baby-hiders from among these glamorous A-list bloggers. Pictures of the people you've speculated about, and a poll, after the jump.

The contestants: Alaina Browne and Anil Dash, Heather Powazek Champ and Derek Powazek, Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield

Jennifer Granick and Brad Stone, Maryam and Robert Scoble, and Ben and Mena Trott

(Photos by Anil Dash, edyson, granick, jacksonwest, Scott Beale / Laughing Squid, and simoncast)

A bouncing baby blog

Owen Thomas — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:54:21 EDT

Jason Kottke, who was blogging long before anyone called it that, and Meg Hourihan, the cofounder of Pyra Labs, maker of Blogger, are the proud parents of Ollie Kottke. Mazel tov to the new mom and dad! We can't wait until Ollie starts IMing us tips about his A-list blogger parents. For those of you as thrilled as I am by news of the next generation of bloggers, here's a question: Which other famous A-list blogger couple is set to have a baby very soon — but who are going around telling people, absurdly, that the mom-to-be's very obvious bump is "off the record"? (Photo by jkottke)

Serious Eats Recruits the A-List

lock — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 18:30:43 EST

LOCKHART STEELE — You might not have heard of the new foodsite Serious Eats yet, but at the rate that noted food journalist Ed Levine is stockpiling blog talent, you probably will sooner or later. (Or, if you choose to keep reading, now! Thirty-second backstory: Levine, recognizing that his vision for a next-generation version of foodie message board Chowhound would require some serious tech and editorial chops, brought in Blogger.com founder Meg Hourihan as a consultant a few months back alongside popular food bloggers such as Adam Kuban and The Amateur Gourmet, each of whom contribute to the site and participate in an ad network on their personal blogs. Serious Eats formally launched earlier this month.)

Today, we hear Levine has hired Alaina Browne, a MuleDesign vp and one of the first food bloggers, to be Serious Eats' general manager. She'll be moving back to New York City from San Francisco at some point soon. Which means what for her husband, blogging software Six Apart vp/good guy Anil Dash? Well, the slug on the top of the native New Yorker's personal blog today reads, "I'm coming back like Jay-Z." Hmmm.

Serious Eats [seriouseats.com]

Remainders: The first rule of Silicon Valley fight club is, squeal like a girl

Nick Douglas — Tue, 30 May 2006 21:18:26 EDT

The New Yorker publishes a followup six years in the making — the wedding of designer Jason Kottke and Blogger co-creator Meg Hourihan. [New Yorker; Photo source: Kottke]
Mini-Microsoft blogger stops writing; Microsoft now allowed to be huge and ungainly again. [Mini-Microsoft]
Publisher Tim O'Reilly writes a lengthy response to the Web 2.0 (TM) shitstorm. The upshot: Yes, O'Reilly wants to own the name "Web 2.0 Conference." He's also disappointed in you all. [O'Reilly Radar]
Blog mogul Jason Calacanis answers Michael Arrington: Jason meant to defuse the rumor that Arrington's TechCrunch reviews are for sale. But since Mike wants to make a public spat out of it, Jason's only too happy to oblige. [Calacanis.com]
PR Agency Idea Grove wants to ~~cheat~~ test Technorati. Here's some help, just 'cause their site is pretty. [Idea Grove]
"In McKinsey space," says VC blogger Paul Kedrosky, "no one can hear you scream." The consultants that told eBay not to worry about Google's PayPal killer, now invites other dot-coms to a bull session. [Paul Kedrosky]
See, it's funny because Google bought GoogleMastercard.com on the eve of MasterCard's IPO. PayPal is screwed. [Simple SEM]
Someone forgot the first two rules of Fight Club. [USA Today]

Geeking out: The Kottke-Hourihan wedding

ndouglas — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 12:19:33 EST

Wasn't that New York blogger wedding so grand? Oh dear, you weren't invited? No worries, neither was I. But we can peek at the wedding of Blogger founder Meg Hourihan's wedding to designer Jason Kottke. The highlights of Meg's Flickr set:

Jason to Meg: "I rented it at half-price. But at 6, we need to let a film crew through for 'Bruce Almighty Two.'"

Jason considers wearing this to the ceremony.

Who invited Jack Nicholson?

After the jump, Kottke and Meg catch Saturday night fever.

Photos by Eliot Shepard: Wedding [megnut on Flickr]

"Who's the dude?" "Some guy she found on the Internet."

Blogger Alaina Browne to husband and Six Apart VP Anil Dash: "Perfect, the photographer's here. Shut up and look noble."

Meg's dad will bust some caps in yo' ass, cracka.

It's somewhere between the Electric Slide and the Chicken Dance.

Actually, he was just checking if she'd spilled some wine.

Flickr's Stewart Butterfield, overcome with emotion, needs a hug and a good sit down.

Jason Kottke and Meg Hourihan wed: Most Flickr'd ceremony ever

ndouglas — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 22:34:43 EST

The blogging power couple that conquered Metafilter (and some rag called the New Yorker) makes it official. Ex-SFers Jason Kottke and Meg Hourihan say "I do" tomorrow in NYC.

In lieu of wedding gifts, the couple suggests charitable donations. A good idea — unless you want to buy them a $160 saucepan.

[Update: wedding page removed.]

Ancient history: Pyra Labs in '99

ndouglas — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 20:54:09 EST

Meg Hourihan dug up a pic (640x480 original) of her partner Evan Williams at Pyra Labs in their pre-Blogger days — ages before Google snapped up the little development company, and in the first golden age of idea whiteboards. Haven't tried calling that phone number at the top, but special love (and a comment account) to anyone with the nerve to do it.

Pyra olden days [Flickr, CC A-NC license]