• caption contest

    The face of a $747 strike price

    This summer, LiveJournal founder turned Google engineer Brad Fitzpatrick briefly sported a fu manchu, a facial-hair styling usually seen in old movies, gay porn, and old gay porn movies. His wistful expression seemed to capture today's end-of-an-era weltanschauung. Will his new pals at Google get trimmed away like his 'stache? Suggest a better caption in the comments, and the best one will become the post's new headline. Yesterday's winner: "Tesla's alternative energy: the tow truck," by Scalawag. (Photo by Brad Fitzpatrick)

    4:00 PM on Tue Oct 21 2008
    By Owen Thomas
    1,696 views, 25 comments

    Most discussed LychorindaAristaeus: This is the face of a $747 strike price. more »

  • brad fitzpatrick

    Six Apart exec on LiveJournal founder: "Waaaaay down the path to madness"

    Brad Fitzpatrick has a Googlephone, and you don't. And what's he doing with his amazing Android-powered toy? Using Google's mobile operating system, Fitzpatrick is coding an automatic garage-door opener, which senses the presence of his phone using Wi-Fi. He can do this because he's already hooked his garage door up to a Web server. Writes Six Apart executive Michael Sippey on this momentous occasion: More »

    10:00 AM on Tue Oct 21 2008
    By Owen Thomas
    1,095 views, 4 comments

    Most discussed tolles: Actually, having read the orginal post, the key here is that Brad rides a motorcycle...*every* motorcyclist has dreams of not more »

  • ted dziuba

    The last thing the Internet needs: more solutions

    Cherished crank Ted Dziuba, the cofounder of news-search startup Pressflip, still hates the Internet. His latest target: OpenID, a technology he accuses of being "too San Francisco" — all idealistic posturing, no practical application. OpenID is a universal user-authorization scheme created by Brad Fitzpatrick back when he was at LiveJournal. An average user, Dziuba complains, doesn't need OpenID if they want to have a shared login across multiple websites — they just use the same login and password across multiple websites. More »

    2:20 PM on Tue Sep 2 2008
    By Melissa Gira Grant
    847 views, 14 comments

    Most discussed trevo: Its initiatives like this that create unneeded complexity in software. Take WSDL - a Web Service format for services to more »

  • internet famous

    Journalists do it for the lulz

    The trolls will always be with us, because the Internet is full of insane sociopaths. Charming sociopaths, clever sociopaths, perhaps even magazine-profile-worthy sociopaths — but sociopaths all the same. Wired profiled a videogame-heavy set of Internet trolls in January. The New York Times Magazine hunted and nabbed bigger game this weekend — Jason Fortuny and the troll known as "Weev," who was photographed for the story (above). This photo in particular may draw fascinated stares. More »

    3:00 PM on Mon Aug 4 2008
    By Owen Thomas
    1,753 views, 7 comments

    Latest by Jmcl: "Weev" has never worked for Technorati. more »

  • once you're lucky, twice you're good

    F is for Fitzpatrick, and "hookers and blow"

    LiveJournal founder Brad Fitzpatrick is a prankster, as evidenced by his Halloween costume last year, when the new Googler dressed up as Facebook to mock his coworkers' fears of the social network. I'm told that in Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good, Sarah Lacy's new book about Web 2.0, there's an anecdote about Fitzpatrick submitting an expense report — successfully! — for "hookers and blow" when he worked at blog software startup Six Apart. That was likely a reference to the early days of LiveJournal, when users made ridiculous accusations that Fitzpatrick was spending money meant for servers and bandwidth on "hookers and blow." We'd love to hear more, but alas, Fitzpatrick only got 8 out of 294 pages, according to the book's index. Here's the page for "D" through "F": More »

    1:00 PM on Fri May 9 2008
    By Owen Thomas
    2,336 views, 7 comments

    Latest by BobDope: The way to do this is a naming convention where your servers are named things like hookers and blow. more »

  • geek love

    Help Leah Culver pick the right man

    Pownce founder Leah Culver has made more geeks go wild than we can count. For starters: Daniel Burka of Digg; LiveJournal founder Brad Fitzpatrick; and Justin.tv's Kyle Vogt. They're all history, however. One tipster confirms our suspicions that Culver and Flickr's Cal Henderson are "definitely dating." But another writes:
    I tried to hit on Leah Culver at a party not too long ago but that ended in EPIC FAIL. Apparently she was dating Andy Smith from Jaiku at the time. I have no idea if that has changed, but I wouldn't doubt it.
    People, we're sure you're already realize this calls for a poll to settle the matter. Please help Leah pick the right man. More »

    3:00 PM on Mon Mar 17 2008
    By Nicholas Carlson
    5,956 views, 24 comments

    Latest by tmountain: Skyler Slade from Grooveshark! more »

  • deals

    Google to buy Plaxo -- and a new pal -- for $200 million?

    Plaxo, the contact-sharing service trying to reinvent itself as a social network, may have sold itself to Google for something close to $200 million. And if the rumor's true, I think the companies may be doing it out of friendship. One could bloviate endlessly here about industry consolidation, user-data portability, and so on — and I'm sure you'll read plenty of that. I think the real reason is much simpler. Brad Fitzpatrick, the LiveJournal founder now leading Google's social-network strategy, wants to work with Joseph Smarr, Plaxo's chief platform architect. I sat with the two at lunch at the Web 2.0 Summit last year, and they got along famously. More »

    12:50 PM on Thu Feb 7 2008
    By Owen Thomas
    1,923 views, 7 comments

    Latest by vijaymv_in: Wanted to know what is going to happen to Mark Jen working with plaxo who was fired from Google for more »

  • social networks

    Brad Fitzpatrick wants to know who your friends are

    Remember how NotchUp spammed us all alst week? Get ready for a lot more. Brad Fitzpatrick, the LiveJournal founder who noisily left Six Apart for Google last summer, has launched his first big project: a tool which identifies your friends across multiple social networks, so you can invite them all wherever you go. What this means: If you're sick of zombie bites on Facebook, you're going to hate the World Wide Web after Fitzpatrick gets done with it. But forget the spam issue: Am I the only one who thinks this is a terrible idea on principle? More »

    2:14 PM on Fri Feb 1 2008
    By Owen Thomas
    1,131 views, 8 comments

    Latest by Rick: Brad "dropped the ball on social networking" Fitzpatrick more »

  • separated at net worth

    The Share Bears in the Land Without Portability

    Caring is sharing, people, especially when it comes to your personal data. Leading developers from important social-network sites joining a "data-portability" advocacy group doesn't represent history in the making. It's a marketing campaign to make everyone feel sickly sweet, knowing that these websites are so concerned about our information. Like the Care Bears, by signing on to the DataPortability Working Group, top coders like Brad Fitzpatrick, Dave Recordon, and Ben Ling have joined forces to form a group which we can only call by one name. Presenting: The Share Bears! More »

    6:00 PM on Wed Jan 30 2008
    By Tim Faulkner
    1,975 views, 5 comments

    Latest by sample032: Cheer bear is totally gay, people. more »