No celebrity deaths last month. But exhaustive coverage of the Eliot Spitzer's call-girl scandal helped boost pageviews in March. (A story that salacious is unlikely to be repeated in April but, then again, nobody expected New York's self-righteous Governor to blow up quite so spectacularly.) Anecdotally, Gawker has added readers outside New York, which is what one would expect: the site's media and pop culture coverage has been more national in its appeal. Pageviews in March, at 18.4m were 127% above the level of last December. Unique visitors for the month were 2.7m, compared with an audience of 1.2m in December. Portfolio's oft-mistaken Felix Salmon, who bet the site wouldn't regain its 2007 levels, took Lockhart Steele to a very nice lunch at Lure.

I've received a series of emails from commenters unable to login, it appears to be a technical glitch I've asked Gawker tech to help resolve. It does not mean you are executed. Probably.

Mary Jane Irwin, my first hire at Valleywag, has joined Forbes.com as a staff troublemaker and insult comic. Congrats, MJ! And I'm sorry, Fake Steve.

Gawker sites were down for about an hour.

It is high time that I should openly, in the face of the whole world, publish my views, my aims, my tendencies. The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. As a proud member of the creative underclass, I'm here to rage! Rage I say!

Attention, readers: You can stop begging me to stop writing about SXSW Interactive; it's done, as am I, after staying up all night and taking a 7:40 a.m. flight back. Many thanks to guest editor Evelyn Nussenbaum, who's been keeping things running while I was in Austin. I'll be back in the saddle tomorrow. (Photo by Jason Calacanis of Mahalo fame)

Crazed commenters threaten Gawker and other sites. [Portfolio]

We can't do anything about all the Twitters. But if you want an Austin-free version of Valleywag, try out our SXSW-free page.

You may notice a few minor changes to the site's design. The most obvious: we've brought back the skyline, an array of thumbnail links to the day's top stories. More importantly, the site should load more rapidly. If you're experiencing any problems, do let me know; include details of your operating system and browser, and a screenshot, if possible, so we can troubleshoot.

Overnight, Gawker went with the story about a puppy, apparently killed by American troops in Iraq. We'd already run a perfectly adequate link; a follow-up post, with a clip, was gratuitously shocking, and unnecessary. Sorry. (The post is now down.)

Valleywag is hiring. Applicants should send nothing but the URL of their blog (or other body of writing, available online) to jobs@valleywag.com. Also, you'll want to have read our conveniently leaked style guide, and found yourself nodding in agreement. Applicants must already live in the Bay Area, or present evidence of the booking of a one-way U-Haul rental. The jobs:

Time, belatedly, to update the Gawker masthead: Ryan Tate and Hamilton Nolan, bylines you've seen for the last few weeks, are joining the team. (Ryan is pictured below, and Hamilton above.) Ryan, who is based on the West Coast, will cover the overnight shift. He was a reporter for the boring San Francisco Business Times, but he has a wicked side: Ryan used to comment under the pen-name "Sid Hudgens", which is how he came to my attention. Suedehead Hamilton Nolan, formerly with PR Week, is now Gawker's advertising and public relations reporter. The publicists are already trembling. One departure: Maggie Shnayerson, whose coverage of the Viacom freelancer revolt put Gawker in an unusual role, instigator of one of the most successful labor campaigns of recent years, according to the The Nation. Positions still open include nightlife and media reporters. Email me.

Announcing a new commenting feature: If words fail you, you can paste the link to a YouTube video in your comment. You don't even need to be skilled enough to copy and paste the embed code; just the URL will do. A thumbnail will appear in your comment, and clicking on it will bring up the clip. Shown here: Jason Pontin's deep analysis of yours truly. This feature is still being tested, so please report any bugs you encounter.

If you include a Youtube link in a comment, the clip will automatically be included with your text. (The feature is still in beta, so your feedback is appreciated. In the comments, of course.)

If you pull your mouse over a name, you can often click to get background stories on that individual.

Finally finally finally! Gawker Media sites including Valleywag advanced from the Stone Age to the Pointy Stone Age today, adding clickable links to each writer's byline (pardon the newspaper-speak) so you can find all posts by that writer. Next up: A link that lets you read everything but me.

Anyone have any horror stories from New York's fashion show extravaganza? (Beyond everyday chaos and obnoxiousness.) Write up your account, and email it in. We'll publish the best.

You can view today's most popular stories, at gawker.com/popular. They include items from earlier in the week which are getting belated recognition, such as Alex Pareene's history of terrible CNN headlines.

Lifehacker, Jezebel, Gizmodo, and several other Gawker sites — are contenders in the 2008 Weblog Awards. (Which are going ahead, writers strike or not.) In total, the Gawker titles garnered 18 nominations, a record. And this is your last chance to vote.

Two weeks can make such a difference. [Portfolio and Sitemeter]