I just found out a guy I’ve hiked with several times — Vindu Goel, who also is a tech columnist for the Mercury News — has just been hired away by the New York Times. That’s him at Mount Diablo in the picture. He’s going to be a deputy technology editor at the Times. Here’s his latest blog posting on the move.

So, hats off to Vindu, may he bring glory to the Gray Lady.

(In the small-world department: Vindu was Winehiker Russ’s roommate for awhile.)