Hot Hack #015 Pete Cashmore

Mmm...there are so many reasons to love Pete Cashmore. He's a handsome, Scottish, rich-or-soon-to-be geek who claims to be 'uncorruptible' - what girl can resist that challenge?!

Oh and he's officially 'too handsome for Michael Arrington to bear'. Love that.

The Mashable superstar is Britain's loss, having recently decamped to San Francisco. He's now installed as a full time hot-party boy if reports on tech-gossip rags are to be believed - not to mention, when was the last time he wrote something for Mashable? This boy's a delegator and that too, is good to see.

Uber-gossip machine, Valleywag, have been stoking the fires of the Pete Cashmore phenomenon, with headlines like 'All the hot Pete Cashmore action you can handle and 'Pete Cashmore - more, more, more'

Long may the Pete Cashmore cult continue we say.

Hot Hack #014: Katie Lee

Apparently, there are these things called "blogs", written by people called bloggers... they just write stuff on the internets, and folk just....read it.... amazing.

Ok, so we can't fake ignorance here, THHB is actually a blog, so we must know what they are...ish. The only problem is we're not anything like as well read as Shiny Media's collection. Editorial director Katie Lee got into the web publishing game well ahead of the pack and is now one of the top bods (pun intended) behind the UK's biggest blogging outfit.

But her hack credentials are second to none, freelancing for The Observer, The Indie, Look Magazine, The Telegraph, The Sun, appearing on The Gadget Show.. the list goes on. And as for the hotness qualification... hello? You have eyes right? It's just not questionable. Katie is hawt!

Hot Hack #013: Lauren Bravo

Proving that you don't have to be one of fleet street's elite or a leading edge investigative journalist to be hot, THHB hails the Worthing Herald's "youth blogger" and girl about town Lauren Bravo. Aside from having one of the best names in journalism, Lauren is achingly cool, totally cute, and looks like she just stepped off the set of Blow-Up.

With her column posts including "Rebel with a wheelie bin" and "Push off, I saw those value fish fingers first", you know you're getting someone with a pretty creative (verging on cuckoo) mind,. If you're not convinced, there's a whole feature on her thoughts on journalism here, which I'm sure is very interesting too.

Anyway, we think she's hot... and then some - which qualifies her to be here.

Hot Hack #012: Alexander Fiske-Harrison

Prospect Magazine describes itself as the most intelligent magazine of current affairs and cultural debate in Britain. Both challenging and entertaining, the magazine seeks to make complex ideas accessible and enjoyable by commissioning the best writers, editing them vigorously and packaging their work in a well designed and illustrated monthly. Uh, whatever guys - if you want to sell copies, just stick reporter Alexander Fiske-Harrison on the front cover.

Not only is he outrageously handsome - and a posh Eton, Oxbridge chap - but our sources tell us that he's well travelled, pretty smart, loves books and literature and stuff. Oh and he's also an actor - check it out, he's on IMDB. His bio on there gives us some interesting stalking information - i.e that he's currently rehearsing to play the male lead at the Jermyn Street Theatre in London's West End, in 'The Pendulum' by none other than...... Alexander Fiske-Harrison.

Hot Hack #011: Amanda Lorenzani

If there's one thing we're keen to celebrate at THHB its cultural diversity. Mixing genes can only be a great thing for the human race... our logic is that inbreeding is bad, therefore "outbreeding" is good. We're not scientists, but we do have some scientific evidence to back up this crazy theory. Exhibit A: Amanda Lorenzani the hack behind Excite's Webtwitcher. Splitting her time between London and Rome, you've gotta deduce there's some good genetics here to produce such astounding hotness.

Amanda has actually spent some time as a flack (Brands2Life we think) and also heads up Italy's Girl Geek Dinners initiative. Our tips for seducing the simply gorgeous Lorenzani is a nice bottle of red wine, a vintage episode of Top Gear (maybe the one where they cause something from Kiki De Montparnasse and some good chat about mobile social networking. Forza Amanda!

Hot Hack #010: Oliver Luft

Journalists who write about journalism - we're not sure if they've got the perfect birds eye view of hackworld, or if they're just way too self-involved to see the wood from the trees. Fortunately, we don't have to debate that issue and can just say that we think Journalism.co.uk's News Editor, Oliver Luft is a bit of a hottie.


He's got some bad-boy stubble going on and looks like he could handle himself in a fight if your purse was stolen while he was walking you home. He's also got a bit of a mixed history including a film and photography degree a car park attendant, jobs in a pie factory and a tyre warehouse, and roots that stem from Birmingham - less said about that, the better we think.

Hot Hack #009: Helia Ebrahimi

Ebrahimi - using our best Google research skills, we reckon it's an Iranian name, which is probably where Financial Mail editor Helia's gorgeous almond shaped eyes have come from. For those of you wondering about the origins of her first name: Helia - a derivative of Helen... meaning "sun ray" or "shining light" which pretty much sums up how we feel about the pretty lass. Our thanks to the sadly silent TWL for the tip off.

Blurb from the website: As editor of FMWF.com, Helia oversees the website which gets around 100,000 unique users per month. She also writes for the paper on women's issues and financial news. Helia joined Financial Mail in 2004. Along with her editorial responsibilities, she manages a mentoring programme for women growing their businesses and those looking to gain places on boards of FTSE 350 companies.

Hot Hack #008: Eleni Andreadis

Following one of our previous comments on Greek people being the world's hottest, we're only too happy to fuel that fire with the addition of New Consumer contributor Eleni Andreadis to THHB's wall of fame. Eleni's online CV is pretty impressive including a Masters from Harvard and a stint as US producer for BBC Radio 4's Today Programme. We're all for being evironmentally aware, turing off lights, recycling and dropping the thermostat by a degree or two. In fact, if we had Eleni to snuggle up to, we'd be happy to turn the heating off altogether.

Hot Hack #007: Ruth Mortimer

THHB died a death a while ago last year, but will come back with a vengence - much like Bruce Willis, only hotter. And what a way to (re)start. Ruth Mortimer... crikey. Editor of Brand Strategy. We don't know too much about her, but figure that the posts aren't that important - it's the pictures that we care about right?

Hot Hack #006: Henry Biggs

Did I hear the word "smouldering"? Well it's one we've not used thus far on THHB - been saving it for a special occasion don't you know. Exhibit A - car enthusiast, UK Press regular, and all-round nice guy (girls...he likes Horseriding and has dogs), Henry Biggs. I think you'll agree, smouldering is the word. Look at those eyes - aren't they pretty?

Anyway, what sort of a hack is he? Well, Henry is the content editor for MSN Cars... (but he still likes horses girls) having previously been at The Sun - where he was a health features writer, and a couple of glamorous PR roles for Sony, Columbia TriStar, and BMW.

He's also confident enough to unbutton what appears to be three or four of his shirt buttons in his editor's picture - yummy.

Hot Hack #005: Andrea-Marie Vassou

Thank the Lord for internet video. Over the last year or two, developments in compression and streaming technology, coupled with increasing broadband speeds has meant that the web has been opened up as a medium for video content. The folks over at Incisive Media (formerly VNU) have taken this up and decided to get their consumer technology hacks reviewing stuff in front of a camera. Why is THHB making this out to be such a great thing? Step forward Andrea-Marie Vassou, a little Mediterranean bundle of hotness that somehow stumbled into a job which involves writing about the secret life of Internet Service Providers and reviewing bluetooth headphones.

THHB doesn't know too much about Andrea, only that we feel compelled to buy anything that's recommended by her on Computeractive TV. More of her reviews are available here, I'm off to buy a Sanyo Xacti HD camcorder.

Hot Hack #004: Mark Dye

The girls at THHB were beginning to feel left out... "surely there must be some male hack eye-candy for us to celebrate" was becoming a phrase muttered all too often. Fear not ladies - writer, editor, consultant and general all round media superhero Mark Dye today becomes our first hot hack to own a Y chromosome.... let him be the first of many.

Mark's career has taken him as far afield as Australia and Korea where he has interviewed the likes of Bob Geldof, Adolfo Cambiaso and The Chemical Brothers along the way - a far cry from his days as a reporter with The Eastern Daily Press and GGIC.

He has an extensive knowledge of the communications space and specialised in the disaster recovery markets for two years while Managing Editor at Zerodowntime.

From Mark's Facebook page, we've discovered a few things about him that you might not know.

Mark, 32, lives in Highgate and supports Liverpool FC - he also edits VAIONation, which appears to be a filmy, musicy community site for up and coming talent. Mark's rough-around-the-edges boy about town look makes his "in a relationship" status even more disappointing, but if you're feeling cheeky, you can always poke him.

Hot Hack #003: Kelly Dyer

Apparently, World Pipelines magazine has a circulation of over 10,000. But unless you're in the Oil and Gas industry, you've probably not even heard of it, let alone read it. With features spanning the wonders of Inspection Pigging and Cathodic Protection, one wouldn't expect the editorial content of the nation's leading pipeline mag to be managed by anyone other than a man with a beard, a pipe, and a degree in advanced fuel transportation physics from Imperial College.

Kelly Dyer has none of these things - and isn't a man. What's more, she's rather easy on the eye as it turns out. According to a recent Featuresexec profile, Kelly worked her way up through the ranks at Palladian (stablemates include World Cement and Hydrocarbon Engineering), where her editorship comes with the bonus of puppy dog eyes are enough to burst valves in pipelines across the world. If there's a pipe being lain, Kelly's probably there taking note.... now, where's my shovel?

Hot Hack #002: Lisa Campbell

Who said trade journalism isn't just oozing with fabulousness? For those who think that the consumer media is bringing sexy back, think again. Earlier this year, Broadcast magazine acquired its very own minx of an editor - Lisa Campbell. With a background firmly in media and marketing reporting, Lisa's CV spans PR Week, Campaign, and Marketing before moving east from Hammersmith to a position as Deputy Editor of Broadcast in 2003.

She's now taken on the top role, with her own weekly editorial column which is the perfect opportunity to have a cheeky glance at that wonderful headshot and claim that you're involved in some in-depth media analysis

Hot Hack #001: Wersha Bharadwa

You've seen her numerous Response Source emails for Cosmo and Glamour; if you're not Asian, you've probably spent a while working out how to pronounce her name properly; if you were lucky, you'll have read her great piece in yesterday's G2 on how to blag your way into Bollywood. Now ladies and gents, I give you the first journalist to grace the "pages" of THHB - Wersha Bharadwa.

Most people wouldn't get away with the red carpet stunts that Wersha describes in her feature, but she manages to pull it off, due mainly to the fact that she's gorgeous. Describing herself as an experienced and versatile journalist on her Freelance Writers' Database entry, Wersha writes on anything from health, homes, relationships, celebs and entertainment, to real life stories.

The Hot Hack Blog is born

In the town called media-ville, there are certain stereotypes that can be found wandering the high streets. Cashing their under-inflated paychecks, expensing lunches or having lunches expensed for them. The perennially baggy-eyed and shouty news editors, the ultra precious post production bod, the freelance producer - lurking in dark alleys looking to score a programme or two, and the most promiscuous of all, the PR bunny. Known for their sharp dress sense, and their parties at the hottest club openings, the PR bunny is characterised by a distinct lack of knowledge about their clients, journalists, and their one redeeming feature... their good looks. For a long time the bunnies have been eye-candy for countless journalists, with the notion of attractive hacks being dismissed as a mere Chimera. The Hot Hack Blog has been created to dispell this idea, by celebrating the best looking journalists in media-ville - nominations welcome.