Houstonist Flickr Photo of the Day - After a Late Night at Work
H-Town Rock
In this Houstonist interview we talk with Matt Mullenweg, creator of the popular blogging software WordPress. Matt’s story is in the classic vein of “Local Boy Makes It.” Matt grew up in Meyer Park/Willowbend and, with a mixture of good sense and good timing, ended up part of the Internet revolution. Unlike many dot-commers who raked in venture capital on an idea, only to bust, Matt has worked with an online community to offer his blogging software for free and has become gradually more successful.
After winning praise for the software, Matt moved to San Francisco to work for CNET and further develop his electronic baby. He still resides in SF, but has left CNET to runs his own company, Automattic. For more info on him we recommend this Houston Press article from 2004.
Did going to the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts have an effect on your electronic endeavors?
Most of what I find highly applicable to my everyday life I learned at HSPVA and music in general. PVA is a great school with passionate teachers and students, but I saw it decline every year I was there, mostly due to the administration.
You're now living in San Francisco. What do you miss about Houston?
BBQ, BBQ, BBQ, family and amazingly cheap rent.
We've read that you started blogging to help accompany your photos of a trip to the National Fed Challenge. Did you win?
We won at the Houston and Texas level, but got second nationally, unfortunately. That's a long story in and of itself.
You're the most famous Matt on the Internet (according to Google), ahead of Matt Damon, Matt Drudge and Matt Hardigree. Does it ever go to your head?
All the time.
At the University of Houston, you were studying politics and philosophy. Why not computers?
Because people are infinitely more interesting than computers.
WordPress is up for a Bloggie award for best blog application along with flickr, del.icio.us and blogger. All of those sites are now owned by Yahoo or Google. Any thoughts about handing WordPress over?
Nah, I wouldn't want to commute out of San Francisco. Yahoo does already offer WordPress with their hosting.
You're a sax player and a jazz enthusiast (the latest release of WordPress is named "Duke" in honor of Duke Ellington). What are your favorite jazz albums?
1. Two Blocks from the Edge by Michael Brecker
2. Saxophone Colossus by Sonny Rollins
3. Trio by David Caceres
4. Live at the Sands by Frank Sinatra and Count Basie
5. Places by Brad Mehldau
6. Footsteps of our Fathers by Branford Marsalis
Do you plan on coming back to Houston anytime soon? We hear from an old Austinist contributor that SF is quite appealing.
I love visiting Houston and seeing my family, and I'd like to make it back before the Basquiat exhibit closes. Other than that, I'm usually back on the normal holidays.
You're a photographer. What's the most photographic spot in Houston?
Midtown, where all the Vietnamese shops are, and downtown by the new aquarium.
What's next for you?
Well, the big challenges now are bringing WordPress to the masses through WordPress.com and growing the Automattic team. In 2006, I'm probably going to do a few other Web apps to scratch some itches I've had for a while.
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Photo by Flickr user:KK+
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David Caceres is a local Houston musician that you should definitely check out if you ever get a chance.
Wordpress has become the most popular used platform in its category. A recent search i conducted on Alexa found wordpress.com to be number 22 in the top most visited websites "globally".
Wordpress not only makes it easy to create a blog but it has also been used to develop websites, simply because it makes it so easy to update.
Regards,
Richard
Wordpress Hosting