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ContentNext, the parent of media technology blog PaidContent, was purchased by the UK's Guardian Media for $30 million, pending the site meeting performance expectations in the coming months. The company will continue to report independently in the meantime under new CEO Nathan Richardson and the editorial direction of founders Rafat Ali. It's certainly more than the $15 million deal blog prospector Michael Arrington thought would only afford Ali, Kramer and Co. "spending money," and it's in line with other recent deals such as MediaBistro's $25 million sale to Jupiter and ArsTechnica's $25-30 million sale to Condé Nast. So, which tech news entrepreneur might follow?

I emailed my old boss Om Malik and he demurred, "Hah, sure... i can only hope to do a good job one day at a time." As for Arrington? While the TechCrunch editor laments that "it's getting lonely as an independent blogging startup," I overheard him fantasize about cashing out and moving to Hawaii at a cloud computing discussion put on by Malik. However, the list of potential buyers is dwindling — CBS bought CNET, the Wall Street Journal already has its hands on AllThingsD, the Washington Post is syndicating TechCrunch for free or nearly so, but the New York Times could use some help covering technology, even if they won't admit it. (Photo by )