Oh, like no one saw it coming: it would appear that Weblogs, Inc. has been picked up by America Online, along with Engadget, Joystiq, and all the other amazing blogs in the network. Wow. I’m sure everyone has a take–especially every WIN blogger–but all I can think is: has it only been about a year and a half since I started writing for Engadget?

Don’t mean to wax nostalgic or anything, but I remember my first post, which I idly wrote over dinner on my then-girlfriend’s Gateway laptop–well, technically this was my first, since I didn’t have a login yet. Crude, I know, but I remember it being immediately addictive, a lot like the experience of being an Engadget reader–a charm it’s never really lost. Take-no-prisoners tech journo. Anyone could tell you I always had the utmost faith in what we were doing, but after the New York reader event things became acutely poignant. The readers, the team, everything came together. The next day I walked in and quit my day job. And now after my own 2,200 posts, 19 Podcast episodes, and untold number of late-night typos, Engadget has received a kind legitimization as a news organization that can only make you swell with pride. I almost feel like a parent. I’m sure the rest of the staff at Engadget must feel the same way.

Anyhow, enough of that rot. We’ll all surely know more shortly about what goes down from here on out. But obviously a big congratulations are an order for Pete, and naturally Jason, Brian, the WIN team, and especially all the writers who’ve collectively turned a page in big book of independent media.