Leslie Harpold

Leslie Harpold (January 8, 1966 – December 7, 2006) was a Web publishing pioneer, humorist, and designer, whose early and unexpected death raised the issue of the vulnerability of a digital legacy.

Contributor Heidi Pollock described Smug as part of the "cultural migration from independent 'zine publishing to collaborative websites releasing curated content on a monthly basis".

[6] She was an early victim of domain hijacking in 2001, with her website hoopla.com getting transferred because of a forged fax request, which resulted in a high-profile protest against Verisign.

[24] At the time of her death, "Leslie Harpold" passed "Britney Spears" and "Christmas" to become the third-most searched term on Technorati.

[29] Harpold's influence on the personal Web was discussed by Christian Crumlish at the "Identity and Attention" panel at South by Southwest Interactive 2007, and it has been noted by many others including blogging software company Six Apart in an official post praising "her unique role in the history of social media".