<![CDATA[Gawker: valleywag, meghan asha]]> http://tags.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gawker.com.png <![CDATA[Gawker: valleywag, meghan asha]]> http://gawker.com/tag/valleywag/meghanasha http://gawker.com/tag/valleywag/meghanasha <![CDATA[NonSociety Becomes Even Non-er]]> The separation of microcelebrity nontrepreneur Julia Allison, the dating columnist turned egoblogger, and vapid handbag designer Mary Rambin has finally happened even though everyone has known for a month.

NonSociety, a group blog detailing Allison's, Rambin's, and Silicon Valley heiress Meghan Asha's daily misadventures, has always promised to be more than just a stream of the trio's daily trivia. "It's just the three of us... but not for long! We're bringing on other contributors," the site has promised since it launched last year. Only now, with Rambin's exit, is Allison looking seriously for more people. The site was never about the three of them, Allison now argues. Well, of course, it was never about anything at all.

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<![CDATA[Julia Allison to Air on Most Obscure Channel Possible]]> Relentless egoblogger Julia Allison took a break from hurling ladyparts labels at bloggers to inform us of breaking news: Her videoblog, TMIweekly, has been picked up by NBC's New York Nonstop. How appropriate!

Appropriate, because New York Nonstop is as close as one can get to the Internet in obscurity, and yet still claim to be on television, making it an appropriate home for the contentless musings of Allison, an inappropriately well-known dating columnist Time Out New York, and her two friends, Silicon Valley heiress Meghan Asha Parikh and vapid handbag designer Mary Rambin. (Or perhaps just Rambin: Rumors are spreading that Parikh may have quit, though Allison denies this.)

Episodes of TMIweekly, a videoblog, have featured the three talking about uninteresting aspects of their lives. (Imagine Twitter, but videotaped.) It's part of a pseudo-business called NonSociety. Allison recently informed me that NonSociety had taken in $60,000 in revenues in all of 2008. Using the advanced business metric known as earnings before expenses, that would give NonSociety's three foundresses a living slightly above minimum wage. Parikh's family fortune must surely throw off more interest than that in a month.

The 24-hour news channel broadcasts in Manhattan, sort of, on digital channel 4.2, and Time Warner Cable carries it on channel 161. So if you avoid triple-digit cable channels and haven't upgraded to a digital converter — since the government has pushed back the deadline for the digital transition, you probably haven't — you can remain blissfully Allison-free. New York NonStop claims a theoretical reach of 5.7 million, though, so it's possible someone, somewhere, in the New York area might accidentally be exposed to her work.

Whatever NBC is paying Allison for this 24x7 filler, it's surely too much. As NBC officials themselves seem to realize! Meredith McGinn, senior manager of special products for NBC4, explained to the New York Daily News:

You'll get your meat — your news, weather and headlines — every 15 minutes. In between those 15 minutes, you may have a two-minute segment, a two-minute pod, a five-minute pod. So the shows we're looking at are in little bits, not your traditional half-hour newscasts.

So the news is the meat, which makes TMIweekly, what, exactly? Shredded lettuce? Mayo? Anything, surely, except relish.

Rather than force you to watch TMIweekly, we will show you Gawker videographer Richard Blakeley's much funnier parody, "NomSociety":


Welcome To NomSociety from Richard Blakeley on Vimeo.

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<![CDATA[Google Sees Right Through Julia Allison]]> NonSociety, Julia Allison's experient in making macro bucks from microcelebrity, hasn't come up with a clever way of paying the bills. So she's running cheapo Google AdSense ads! Do they ever tell a story.

Google's ads pick up on keywords in NonSociety, a collection of egoblogs maintained by Allison and two friends, vapid handbag designer Mary Rambin and insecure Silicon Valley heiress Meghan Asha Parikh. The search engine's ad-placing algorithms are mercilessly insightful. The current selection:


Davos, debt, and digestion. Pretty much sums up the threesome, doesn't it?

The other day, Wall Street Journal editor Robert Thomson opined about Google on the Charlie Rose Show:

But one of the — Google — I mean, the harsh way of just defining it, Google devalues everything it touches. Google is great for Google, but it's terrible for content providers, because it divides that content quantitatively rather than qualitatively. And if you are going to get people to pay for content, you have to encourage them to make qualitative decisions about that content.

As much as we hate to disagree with Thomson, we think Google has made an excellent qualitative judgment on NonSociety.

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<![CDATA[Global economic collapse actually Larry and Sergey's fault]]> Davos, baby! The partying at the World Economic Forum, the annual conference held in a Swiss resort town that has become synonymous with the event, was "out of control," organizer Klaus Schwab now admits. The Wall Street bosses and Beltway bandits were too busy having a ball to keep their eye on it, even as the economy lurched towards the abyss. This strikes me as revisionist history; the Times reported on the nervous mood at this year's Davos So who kept the event festive?

Why, Google did, according to Davos party correspondent Meghan Asha, the sometimes girlfriend of TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington, who got her in. Google's affair included Norman Jay, a British house-music DJ. There you have it: Larry and Sergey are at fault for distracting the world's best and brightest from preventing the meltdown we now face. If Schwab is serious about keeping thing's serious at the next WEF, we recommend disinviting Page and Brin. And Arrington and Asha.

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<![CDATA[Correct out-of-touch New York style rag's Internet gossip!]]> It's complicated. God, is it ever. The same October Details story that follows around New York's "Internet playboys" and their bicoastal hangers-on runs with this chart of who dated, funded, or hated in this overdocumented side of the Web scene. So sweet to know we're not the only ones keeping a scorecard, but one of its subjects, Caroline McCarthy, claims there's inaccuracies! Let's do Details and the kids recently fanning their fameballs from the coverage a favor and fix it up then. Ready? Let loose in the comments with your errata.

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<![CDATA[Julia Allison pal's Cisco ad fails Wi-Fi test]]> Bay Area-raised biotech heiress Meghan Asha, who now lives in New York and egoblogs for fired Star editor-at-large Julia Allison's NonSociety, appears in an endorsement video for Cisco. The "Digital Cribs" lifestyle shoot has a brief product placement of a Cisco Linksys wireless router. Asha claims that she uses the Linksys for her home Wi-Fi network, which she calls "Geeking Out." Wait for the blooper which shows the whole setup's a fake, 23 seconds in:

Did you catch it? Asha claims that her network — presumably run by the Linksys router — is called "Geeking Out." But the shot of her Apple laptop shows that she's connected to a computer-to-computer network — most likely a wireless link to Asha's iMac, which can easily be configured to broadcast its Internet connnection via Wi-Fi.

Much easier than configuring a Linksys router, and a great ad for Apple technology — so easy, even a trust-funder can use it! As a promotion for Cisco, Asha's video utterly fails. We won't even get into her claim to have "wireless speakers," when the wire housings on the wall are obviously visible.

Remind us, what's the point of a celebrity endorsement? Ah yes — to have some of the endorser's qualities rub off on the product. If Cisco wants to be known for a glossy surface hiding technical ineptitude, it's found its star in Asha.

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<![CDATA[Justin Kan, raw and undressed, in kerfuffle at TechCrunch afterparty]]> Can't get enough of this weekend's TechCrunch party? Valleywag's camera was on the scene as Justin.tv's Justin Kan shed his shirt and got into a heated altercation with OpenHulu creator and Ustream.tv employee Matt Schlicht over accusations of content poaching.

As a nearby source explains:

Justin got introduced to some guy sitting down and quickly started yelling and waving his arms. Justin accused the guy of stealing his broadcasters, using words like "incessant" and "out of control". Justin then said something about "staying off his fucking site" or that he'll just "break the guy's face", with his fists clenched. The guy just sat there pretty calmly and simply asked Justin for more than 1 example of content poaching. After Justin stumbled to answer the guy continued to say "this is not worth my time." Stumped, Justin kind of gave up, apologized, and walked away embarrassed.

More photos of Kan, Julia Allison, Sarah Lacy, and other afterpartiers:

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<![CDATA[Julia Allison: HTML tutor to the nonstars]]> It's been just a little over a year since Julia Allison touched down in Silicon Valley, strutting past the hand-stampers at an arts fundraiser and informing anyone who would listen that she was looking for a boyfriend to help her with her website. It hasn't exactly paid off. The so-soft-it-hurts launch of her new startup, Nonsociety.com, is a technical tour de farce. The rumored-to-death project wraps glamour shots of Allison and friends like comrade Meghan Asha Parikh, TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington's ex-girlfriend, around sideways-scrolling feeds ("lifestreams"!) of their Tumblr blogs. Meghan, a former hedge-fund analyst, shows off her tech creds here. She's the only one who seems to have a functioning "lifestream," even on launch day. Allison's and a handbag-designing ladyfriend's came up 404. We salvaged the launch video, in case the whole thing collapses:

Allison's quest for a geek boyfriend paid off in two regards. Nonsociety's design is strongly reminiscent of Iminlikewithyou, the casual-games site run by her current beau, Charles Forman, and the teaser video is hosted at Vimeo, the online-video site founded by Jakob Lodwick, Allison's ex. Too bad she didn't hook up with a boy more experienced at handling back ends.

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<![CDATA[Are Michael Arrington and Meghan Asha off again, and will Calacanis pick up the rebound?]]> Meghan Asha has been tied to notoriously workaholic TechCrunch publisher Michael Arrington over the last few months. But could she be tiring of a beau with no work-life balance?

I need more dinners out with Jason Calacanis, rarely do you see a successful entrepreneur with such balance in all aspects of his life.

Just idle speculation, granted. Calacanis may have proper balance in his life, but the workaholism he demands of employees is another matter. We know for a fact that Sean Percival, an early Mahalo employee, has moved over to startup DocStoc.

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<![CDATA[Digg meetup more like a concert in a land without women]]> The line to get into Digg's meetup and live filming of Diggnation last night in Brooklyn went around the block. Inside, the joint was packed with dudes drinking beer, waving around iPhones, and wearing T-shirts. There were maybe like 10 or 15 women. Just as rare: Microsoft Zune users. Despite Microsoft's sponsorship, when Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback tried to give away Zune T-shirts, the crowd only booed. Julia Allison's entourage, Kevin Rose, and more in our photo gallery.

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<![CDATA[Details of Randi Zuckerberg's bachelorette party in Vegas]]> We hear that friends of Randi Zuckerberg, better known as nerd chanteuse Randi Jayne, are surprising the Facebook marketer with a bachelorette party in Las Vegas this weekend. The place: the Hard Rock Hotel, where they've secured two suites. (Zuckerberg is set to wed Brent Tworetzky, an associate at Shasta Ventures, in May.) The bacchanalia's expected to last all weekend, including a dinner at Tao and a night out at Rain. Who's going?

Attendees include fellow Facebooker Meagan Marks as well as Zuckerberg's sisters. What about Julia Allison, the New York Web personality who tagged along for an '80s-themed photo shoot with Zuckerberg? She's been known to attend the opening of an email, and Zuckerberg's bachelorette is considerably more momentous. Allison's also bringing sidekick Meghan Asha Parikh, the Silicon Valley heiress, and that annoyingly vapid handbag designer whose name we forget. (Surprisingly, Allison didn't leak her own social calendar to us this time, though she confirms by IM that she's "looking forward to the adorable, ineffable, indefatigable Randi's bachelorette party.")

As for Mark, Randi's younger brother? The Facebook CEO is not invited, as he is (a) a dude and (b) no fun at parties. He is, however, going to Tworetzky's bachelor party in New York. More on that as we get the details. (If you have them, send it in.)

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<![CDATA[Allison: I'm not a gold-digger and if I were, I wouldn't go to San Francisco]]> Ever since Julia Allison and Meghan Asha visited the Valley last summer and said in front of various cameras that they intended to find themselves a geek boyfriend, people have described the pair as golddiggers. We know Asha isn't one — why marry for money when you come from it? — but yesterday, Allison told CNET's The 404 that she isn't staking out San Francisco riches either. "If I'm gold-digging, why would you go to San Francisco? There are hedge fund managers right here," Allison said. "And they're getting cash instead of equity in a company that isn't worth anything," b-school graduate Asha chimed in. After the jump, Allison digs a deeper hole:

Allison has a beef with Ruby on Rails, the popular if controversial programming framework behind sites like Twitter. We can't tell if she's putting Patricia Handschiegel's tips for women entrepreneurs into practice — or making all the mistakes Melissa Gira Grant warned against committing when picking up geek guys.

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<![CDATA[Page Six's full scoop on Julia Allison's "IT Girls" reality show]]>
Valleywag commenters hate the idea, but the New York Post's Page Six loves IT Girls, the proposed reality TV show with New York umtrepreneurs Julia Allison, Meghan Asha and Mary Rambin.

These three are more career-driven and have more to say than their L.A. counterparts, which should only lead to more drama. Even when they're not hitting Waverly Inn for dinner or flying cross-country for exclusive Silicon Alley [sic] events, this clique is never boring. They get Restylane injections for fun, own pocket-size dogs, and never go anywhere without blogging about it. What's not to love?
In the full-spread pic below, the Post speculates, and we can confirm, the show will air on Bravo, if the pilot's picked up. (One correction: Meghan Asha, née Parikh, is the heir to her father's Silicon Valley fortune, but it didn't come from Sun Microsystems.) Set your DVR now.

PageSix.jpg

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<![CDATA[Allison, Asha and Rambin dump the Web, embrace TV]]>
It's unclear if wanterpreneurs Julia Allison, Meghan Asha and Mary Rambin will cancel their Silicon Valley tour entirely, but word is the trio has wised up to venture-capital realities. Valley angel Ron Conway, an early backer of Google and Ask.com, "has a list of 200 things he'd invest in and nowhere on there is content," Allison's friend David Karp, the founder of Tumblr, advised her. She got the same advice from Valleywag commenters. Undaunted, Allison, Asha and Rambin are already onto funding plan B. The New York Post reports the trio will star in a pilot for a reality TV show named IT Girls about creating their Web company. The difference between exposing every detail of their lives to Web viewers and TV audiences? The latter actually gets them paid.

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<![CDATA[Allison, Asha and Rambin receive Pittsburgh private-jet pitch]]> A Mr. John French forwarded us a poorly punctuated invite. He seems to be extending it to the "Three Musketeers" — Julia Allison, Meghan Asha and Mary Rambin — for an all-expense paid trip to Pittsburgh and the Bahamas on the private jet of inveterate gambler Jeff Tott, who sits on Pittsburgh Financial's board of directors. Presumably they would want to explore "investment opportunities." Why not offer the getaway to Pittsburgh's own iJustine for her birthday? That seems easier. Update: And the answer is, um, no.

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<![CDATA[Manhunting no more, Allison, Asha and Rambin plan Sand Hill Road tour]]> AllisonAshaRambinThumbs.jpg Julia Allison, Meghan Asha and their friend, bag designer Mary Rambin, are planning a mid-April trip to Silicon Valley. This time, they say they're after funding for their new startup — Oprah on the Web! — not geek boyfriends. The three met with some New York VCs last week and it went "well enough," Allison told me, that their next stop: Menlo Park. Ah yes: Broadway has become the warm-up act.

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<![CDATA[Julia Allison and Meghan Asha, live on the Internet]]> AshaandAllison.jpgBelow, watch as startup wantrepreneurs Julia Allison and Meghan Asha tell Pop17's Sarah Meyers about their plans to stop blogging, take over the tech world and renounce dating men who work in tech. Rumor has it they're planning a startup with the blonde you people are so crazy about, Mary Rambin.


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<![CDATA[Arrington's ex likes to spy on her boyfriends]]> Meghan_asha.jpgWhy couldn't TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington and world class financier Meghan Asha make it work? Maybe it had something to do with Asha's habit of spying on her boyfriends. We don't know which one she's talking about here, but check out this post from her gadget blog
My ex-boyfriend used to hide all his cell phone activity from me like there were plans for the next nuke on it. His behavior was a precursor to his cheatin' ways. The whole situation could have been avoided if only I had the Cell Phone Spy Data Extractor. This handy little device allows you to tap into ALL files (even the deleted ones) on cell phone SIM cards.
A video demonstration of Asha's handy spy-tool, below.

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<![CDATA[Who is Meghan Asha?]]> Blurry IDMeghan ParikhA curiousity in our inbox: Meghan Asha, the Silicon Valley heiress who formerly dated TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington, may not actually be Meghan Asha. A tipster says Asha's last name is actually Parikh, and her father is Mihir Parikh, a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur. One piece of evidence that suggests Asha is actually Parikh: A friend congratulated Asha on running the New York Marathon last fall. But no one by the name of Asha ran in the marathon. Instead, a Meghan Parikh did. Asha's — rather, Parikh's — close friend Julia Allison also changed her name. But one wonders if Parikh was doing more than just following a friend's fashion. Update: More evidence, courtesy of the enigma herself:

In this picture of Parikh with YouTube cofounder Chad Hurley in Davos, look closely at "Asha"'s name tag:

qfdCLT0Y94nidaoe3a206G5m_400.jpg

Ready for her closeup?

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<![CDATA[Meghan Asha's family friend on Michael Arrington — the 6-word version]]> Who's going to read 476 words about Meghan Asha, Michael Arrington's ex? Screw that. Here's my six-word version of the interminable email: "Arrington ... is such an unattractive offering."

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