Brian Alvey

Obsessable got a bunch of nice welcome posts from around the web yesterday.

One of them from Silicon Alley Insider was called “Crowd Fusion’s Gadget Site Obsessable.com Launches To Take On Engadget, Gizmodo.” As much fun as that sounds, Obsessable wasn’t built to try and beat the top gadget blogs at breaking news about products that are being released six months from now.

I also see one big fact that needs to be corrected:

No immediate threat to industry leaders Engadget — which Alvey co-created with Jason Calacanis — or Gawker Media’s Gizmodo, but something to watch.

Dan got the “something to watch” part right, but saying Jason and I created Engadget is like saying Scotty Pippen and Dennis Rodman lead the Chicago Bulls to their last three championships. Peter Rojas created Engadget — top to bottom from the name to the tone. Jason and I were there for assists, collecting rebounds and throwing the occasional forearm.

This weekend was packed with family events: the final Yankee Stadium game I took my boys to last night, the Squeeze and James show Niki and I saw at Radio City Music Hall on Friday, our nice kid-free dinner in NYC before the show and swimming with all of our kids on Sunday. But one other item keeps popping into my memory.

On Saturday we took Jack to the first of his weekly soccer classes. They gave out team jerseys and his had the number nine on it. He wasn’t that thrilled with the shirt so I tried to put a positive spin on it. I reminded him that a nine is the biggest number you can make with just one number, but he told me I was wrong. He said, “Infinity is the largest number you can make with just one number. It looks like a sideways eight.”

Touché. I love that kid.

A few months before we sold Weblogs, Inc. to AOL, we covered Live8 with them in Philadelphia. We got to meet some of our Philly bloggers for the first time at the Hard Rock Cafe there. One of them was Kevin Tofel. Kevin worked with us on PVR Wire, Engadget and HD Beat — now known as EngadgetHD. Soon after we joined AOL he started writing for a site called jk On The Run with James Kendrick.

A couple of weeks ago, while I was on vacation far, far away from the web, GigaOm acquired jk On The Run. They’re such a great fit for what Om does. jkOTR covers mobile devices — from ebook readers to tablet PCs and ultramobile personal computers (UMPCs). If you own one of those products, the site is a daily read.

Congratulations to Kevin, James and Om!

Last week was fantastic. I was back from a week away with my family — mentally recharged and physically drained. I had played really hard in Cape Cod and was so happy to dive back into our amazing little project.

Velocity Interactive Group released some details on Crowd Fusion’s funding. Reading it now I just noticed how my contributions were edited. No offense to the other less famous people at our VC’s, but my original quote was:

There’s no better way to validate an early stage business like ours than to have smart people like Jon Miller, Ross Levinsohn, Alan Patricof and Marc Andreessen tell the world that they believe in what you’re doing enough to partner up with you.

Thank heaven for blogs.

Of course, there are way more people working with us than those four — specifically Ian Sigalow at Greycroft (who is now on our board) and Jorge Espinel at Velocity — but those are some fantastic investors, don’t you think? I am extremely happy with how our money raising project worked out. Jason was a great coach for me on that front.

Here are some more details on the funding:

• Our valuation was “somewhere south of Facebook’s.”
• Because Crowd Fusion didn’t exist when Jon Miller left AOL, Time Warner’s non-compete couldn’t block him from joining our board.

But seriously, there is some confusion as to whether Crowd Fusion is a publishing company or a platform company. I’ll have to do another post to clear that up better, but for now just know that we’re a publishing company with our own platform and both are named Crowd Fusion. Did that help?

We are not taking on hosting customers. ComicMix and all of our personal sites are enough of a distraction. Right now we are focused on building out some sample sites so we can show people how it all works. More news on that front coming soon.

When we quietly released our new ComicMix comic book reader last Friday, one of our readers quickly wrote me and said, “Congratulations on the new Comics Reader at ComicMix. You’ve made the best reader around even better. Well done.”

Thanks!

We made the layout something way more useable thanks to input from our creators, our readers and some of the best designers I know — including some big suggestions from Mike Propst last year. I posted over on ComicMix today about the millions of new ways to navigate from page to page and many of the other improved reader features. And that’s just our online reader.

I know what you’re all thinking: “But how can you make a comic book reader application that doesn’t make me fill out a registration form or download and install software or force me to learn yet another slow-loading Flash interface?”

That’s easy. We respect our audience. We read these comics too.

Before:

After:

Let me know what you think.

After a doctor’s appointment in the middle of the day today, I stopped at Starbuck’s to get Niki the green iced tea she loves. I was wearing a black t-shirt with a silver Superman symbol on the chest.

As I walked in the door, the woman behind the counter said “Superman, I am so glad you’re here!” Nice. I told her I had heard they needed help. She said they didn’t need help any more, just my order. I ordered Niki’s venti unsweetened green iced tea and headed to the end of the counter.

As he was pouring it the next guy asked me if I was worried about it being “green” tea. Funny. I thought about explaining how the drink would only harm me if they brewed it using meteor rocks or that having a weakness to a popular color like Green Lantern does is just lame, but I responded with “It’s for Lois.”

Because in many ways it was.

I worked with Nick White for years at Business Week. I was working more from home in 1999 when this happened, but I remember the horrible story being relayed to me by some co-workers when I was at the McGraw-Hill Building that next week.

Working late on a Friday night he left for a smoke break around 11pm. On the way back up his elevator stopped working. Security guards never noticed his cries for help or the alarm buzzing — neither did the maintenance crews working over the weekend.

He didn’t have a watch or cell phone. He had no idea what day it was, how many hours had elapsed or if it was day or night. He relieved himself down the shaft after prying the elevator door open. When he slept, he had to cover his eyes with his wallet to shield them from the blaring lights.

All he had to eat were Rolaids. He survived 41 hours without a drop of water.

Yes, there was a court settlement. Yes, he still uses elevators. You can’t live in NYC and not use them.

I knew his story, but I never even thought about the fact that there was a video of his ordeal. The New Yorker posted it on YouTube.

Niki and I both use Twitter, despite the fact that neither one of us is a teenage girl. When Niki went into labor 10 days ago, she kept her family and friends updated via Twitter. None of them follow her using the service itself. They just kept reloading her blog to see the new updates in her sidebar. To them, Niki was just updating her blog.

While Niki was sending her tweets, I was sending mine. Here’s a recap of our birth-related tweets, including the ones about Liv going back into the hospital with severe jaundice. She’s much better now.

• Niki Going in tomorrow at 6am to be induced! 7:40PM Mar 30
• Niki @sarahgilbert, but I am soooo ready for me to have this baby. This is the longest preg so far…39.5 weeks. i am excited too, also nervous. 10:58PM Mar 30
• Niki I have a bad tummy ache. Can’t figure out if it is the v spicy Mexican food I had for dinner or a case of nervous jitters. Probably both! 11:01PM Mar 30
• Brian Waiting in the admission room while Niki gets her blood drawn. I can’t wait to explain to our daughter that they use a red pen for that. 😉 7:07AM Mar 31
• Brian 6am at the hospital on two hours sleep — surrounded by soda machines — is making me reconsider that whole “I’m giving up Diet Coke” thing. 7:23AM Mar 31
• Brian Wondering if I can live Twitter Niki giving birth to our girl today and make every tweet exactly one hundred and forty characters. Unlikely. 7:52AM Mar 31
• Brian Niki’s dictating a Twitter message for me to send from her Verizon Samsung phone. I am totally lost without my BlackBerry’s qwerty keyboard. 8:45AM Mar 31
• Niki Starting IV now. 8:57AM Mar 31
• Niki Makes sense. You can’t have ‘Liv’ without ‘iv’. 9:02AM Mar 31
• Niki Just broke my water. 9:21AM Mar 31
• Brian After the second Nirvana song came on Niki’s iPod (not my doing, I swear) Niki had me switch to all Jack Johnson. Now that’s birthing music. 9:23AM Mar 31
• Niki Nurse asked if I am organ donor. Very reassuring. 9:46AM Mar 31
• Niki @sarahgilbert, but I am soooo ready for me to have this baby. This is the longest preg so far…39.5 weeks. i am excited too, also nervous. 10:58PM Mar 30
• Niki I have a bad tummy ache. Can’t figure out if it is the v spicy Mexican food I had for dinner or a case of nervous jitters. Probably both! 11:01PM Mar 30
• Brian Waiting in the admission room while Niki gets her blood drawn. I can’t wait to explain to our daughter that they use a red pen for that. 😉 7:07AM Mar 31
• Brian 6am at the hospital on two hours sleep — surrounded by soda machines — is making me reconsider that whole “I’m giving up Diet Coke” thing. 7:23AM Mar 31
• Brian Wondering if I can live Twitter Niki giving birth to our girl today and make every tweet exactly one hundred and forty characters. Unlikely. 7:52AM Mar 31
• Brian Niki’s dictating a Twitter message for me to send from her Verizon Samsung phone. I am totally lost without my BlackBerry’s qwerty keyboard. 8:45AM Mar 31
• Niki Starting IV now. 8:57AM Mar 31
• Niki Makes sense. You can’t have ‘Liv’ without ‘iv’. 9:02AM Mar 31
• Niki Just broke my water. 9:21AM Mar 31
• Brian After the second Nirvana song came on Niki’s iPod (not my doing, I swear) Niki had me switch to all Jack Johnson. Now that’s birthing music. 9:23AM Mar 31
• Niki Nurse asked if I am organ donor. Very reassuring. 9:46AM Mar 31
• Niki @sarahgilbert, but I am soooo ready for me to have this baby. This is the longest preg so far…39.5 weeks. i am excited too, also nervous. 10:58PM Mar 30
• Niki I have a bad tummy ache. Can’t figure out if it is the v spicy Mexican food I had for dinner or a case of nervous jitters. Probably both! 11:01PM Mar 30
• Brian Waiting in the admission room while Niki gets her blood drawn. I can’t wait to explain to our daughter that they use a red pen for that. 😉 7:07AM Mar 31
• Brian 6am at the hospital on two hours sleep — surrounded by soda machines — is making me reconsider that whole “I’m giving up Diet Coke” thing. 7:23AM Mar 31
• Brian Wondering if I can live Twitter Niki giving birth to our girl today and make every tweet exactly one hundred and forty characters. Unlikely. 7:52AM Mar 31
• Brian Niki’s dictating a Twitter message for me to send from her Verizon Samsung phone. I am totally lost without my BlackBerry’s qwerty keyboard. 8:45AM Mar 31
• Niki Starting IV now. 8:57AM Mar 31
• Niki Makes sense. You can’t have ‘Liv’ without ‘iv’. 9:02AM Mar 31
• Niki Just broke my water. 9:21AM Mar 31
• Brian After the second Nirvana song came on Niki’s iPod (not my doing, I swear) Niki had me switch to all Jack Johnson. Now that’s birthing music. 9:23AM Mar 31
• Niki Nurse asked if I am organ donor. Very reassuring. 9:46AM Mar 31
• Niki Brian went 2 get breakfast ’cause I cant do this without food.’ sigh 10:02AM Mar 31
• Brian My daughter will have the same birthday as Al Gore, Christoper Walken and @zefrank. 10:13AM Mar 31
• Brian Every time they ask if Niki has had any contractions yet, I cannot help but think about Data from Star Trek TNG. It is sad but it is true… 10:19AM Mar 31
• Niki Contractions 4 min apart 12:02PM Mar 31
• Brian Contractions are 4 minutes apart. Niki is looking great, breathing through the pain. Now for an ultrasound. 12:09PM Mar 31
• Brian @cksthree Thanks! Be glad I’m not streaming live on Qik right now like @jasoncalacanis. 😉 12:52PM Mar 31
• Brian They gave Niki some pain meds. We were doing 2 minute contractions. Getting a quick sandwich while she’s out. 2:34PM Mar 31
• Niki 7 cm dilated. Meds are wearing off. 3:06PM Mar 31
• Brian I hate it when Niki’s in pain. 3:11PM Mar 31
• Brian Baby crowned as iPod played GNR’s Patience. 3:59PM Mar 31
• Brian We have a brown haired baby girl! Niki’s iPod welcomes her with the theme from The Greatest American Hero. 4:01PM Mar 31
• Brian Baby number three. 9 pounds. 19.5 inches. Niki is amazing. 4:30PM Mar 31
• Brian Since people are asking, no, I didn’t succumb to the siren song of Diet Coke. 5:11PM Mar 31
• Brian We got the same maternity room for Liv that we did for Jack in 2003. Wondering if it’s the same room @bradhill was in all those years ago… 6:41PM Mar 31
• Brian Listening to U2’s Beautiful Day. Heading home from a beautiful day in Bronxville. 10:35PM Mar 31
• Niki Liv is doing great. She already has daddy wrapped! 10:46PM Mar 31
• Niki She’s a natural at nursing. 4:38AM Apr 1
• Niki Liv looks just like her daddy – but with my hair. She’s so cute. 4:45AM Apr 1
• Niki My doctor just visited. I love him! 7:40AM Apr 1
• Niki I am IN love with my girl! 7:54AM Apr 1
• Niki Just changed the 1st of many poopy diapers. 9:43AM Apr 1
• Brian Tried to pull an April Fool’s Day prank on Liv this morning. She was all, “I wasn’t born yesterday, Daddy” and I was all, “Oh yes you were!” 12:48PM Apr 1
• Niki We emailed Liv’s birth stats to 113 people yesterday. Two wrote back that they were pregnant too, but it’s a secret! 4:43PM Apr 1
• Niki Colleen just emailed me and said “BTW, I am not pregnant, nor is that a secret :-)” — so that leaves 112 of you! 6:03PM Apr 1
• Niki Liv was just fussing and nothing I did soothed her. Daddy picked her up and she quieted right down. She adores her Daddy. 6:12PM Apr 1
• Niki @dorie93950, nope, not going home until tomorrow afternoon. Jack wanted me home last night though. Poor guy. 6:41PM Apr 1
• Niki @sarahgilbert, Yeah she is already Daddy’s girl. It is so sweet. He is totally wrapped! 6:42PM Apr 1
• Niki Baby pics are on my blog! 9:16PM Apr 1
• Niki One pregnancy was an April Fool’s joke, one wasn’t. 9:23PM Apr 1
• Brian Leaving the hospital with Niki and Liv now. 2:37PM Apr 2
• Brian Just got home with the new baby. Stopped by her future school and gave her brothers some food to eat while on the playground. Nice day out. 4:10PM Apr 2
• Niki We are home! Woo Hoo. 4:24PM Apr 2
• Niki Liv is a little jaundiced. Had to give her formula at the hospital today, doctor’s orders. She pooped and peed a bunch. Back to nursing now. 6:03PM Apr 2
• Brian Slept a few hours off and on — surely more than Niki. First day back in the office. Offline again tomorrow for our first peds doctor visit. 7:55AM Apr 3
• Niki @gavin, It IS all about the delivery :), oh wait, I don’t think we are talking about the same thing :). 1:24PM Apr 3
• Niki Liv admitted to hospital for severe jaundice. Drew labs started IV now in incubator under lights. 9:21PM Apr 4
• Brian Shawn Mullins is telling me “Everything’s gonna be all right, rockabye.” 9:24PM Apr 4
• Niki Liv just had blood taken. Her brothers fav song came on iPod – Monkey and engineer. Good sign. 1:33AM Apr 5
• Niki Been pumping, mixing with formula and feeding q2 hours under lights. Working – Liv’s bili down 4.5 pts. Woo hoo! So happy. 3:08AM Apr 5
• Brian Liv came home Wednesday and went back into the hospital with Niki for 3+ days for severe jaundice Friday evening. Girl keeps it interesting. 4:15AM Apr 5
• Niki Liv’s seems to be getting better. Bili results soon. Stopped IV fluids. 10:39AM Apr 5
• Niki Bili down 3 more! Docs happy. So is mama. 11:57AM Apr 5
• Brian Back from visiting Liv. She is getting better w/ every blood test. Niki watched SNL at the hospital while I watched at home. A virtual date. 1:04AM Apr 6
• Niki Liv is doing much better. Docs and nurses more calm, not as freaked. Mama better too. Bili dropped from 24 to 13. 5:46AM Apr 6
• Brian About to move around our two car seats to add our new baby seat. If we want to haul bags or more adults, we’ll need a double decker minivan. 10:01AM Apr 6
• Niki Turned off lights last night. Bili went up this am. Not going home. More tests. 12:10PM Apr 6
• Niki We are home. Bili went down a little bit, not as much as the night before but still down. Docs said she has probably stabilized. 3:36AM Apr 7
• Niki Follow up with pediatrician Monday afternoon. Boys happy we are home. Slept 4 hours in a row after only 5 hours in 60 hours. Heaven. 3:38AM Apr 7

In the end, that’s what this internet is about. Do we participate in a project of cynicism or a project of code? Project managers call on us to code. Investors call on us to code.

I’m not talking about blind optimism here — the almost willful ignorance that thinks bugs will go away if we just don’t talk about them, or the cross browser crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. No, I’m talking about something more substantial.

It’s the code of developers sitting around a codejam singing Sublime songs; the code of sites serving APIs to distant shores; the code of a young junior programmer bravely patrolling subversion; the code of a lawyer’s son who dares to defy the odds; the code of a skinny kid with a funny domain name who believes that the internet has a place for him, too.

Code in the face of difficulty. Code in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of code!