Au revoir @Bash and @Nero – it's been #awesome

Today we say ‘au revoir’ to a couple of regular TechCrunch Europe writers who’ve been, well, awesome contributors.

I met Basheera Khan first when she moved to London and threw herself enthusiastically into the tech scene here. “Bash” was the first person other than me to blog here since TCE’s re-launch in September 2007 . She took me and TCE completely on face value and just went for it. Over the last year or so she became one of our regular and most analytical of contributors.

But it’s finally happened. All this writing about way cool software has finally lured Bash over to the side. So as of today, Bash will be transitioning to the UX (User Experience) industry in a full time capacity. I can’t for the life of me understand why she wants to earn thousands a day as a hotly sought after UX consultant, something I often argue with my pet rat in my cockroach-infested garret about, but there you have it.

However, she will no doubt be returning to TCE occasionally guest blogger, and you can continue to read her Telegraph tech blog and catch her on Twitter as @Bash.

Bash is at FOWA London today and tomorrow, so if you want to pitch your startup for coverage on TCE or talk to her about UX stuff, keep an eye out for her.

Secondly, Milo Yiannopoulos, a prolific TCE contributor and former Daily Telegraph blogger, is off to Cambridge this weekend to start a Master’s in English Literature. As he blogs today, it’ll be pretty intense.

But if he can pitch me a decent story in between opining about Milton I might let him back to blog now and again. Maybe. But for now he’ll be dialing-down his contributions. Yes, I know this will be a tragedy for many TCE readers, but what can I say – that’s the way the cookie crumbles. Regular fanboys and girls will have to make do with his, always interesting blog and Tweet stream. Oh, and then there’s the London Nude Tech Calendar.

But seriously, Milo has been another awesome contributor and also dived into the tech scene with gusto, filing some pretty excellence journalism on the likes of Spinvox and the burgeoning tech scene in the North East of the UK, to pick just two examples.

So as a result of all this, TechCrunch Europe is going to change tack slightly.

I’m now looking for one, maybe two interns who want to write about the tech startup industry in the UK and the rest of Europe. Ideally I’m looking for people with a some knowledge about journalistic “news blogging” and, if at all possible, more than a passing acquaintance with Web apps like Twitter. The lucky applicants will get to learn a lot about this industry in a short space of time and perhaps launch their journalistic career or join a startup afterwards. Hopefully this will turn into something where we can pull more potential entrepreneurs into the eco-system. They’d be preferably London-based. Contact me on email only here.

Lastly, I’ll be announcing our new network of regular TCE blog contributors from around Europe next week. Close followers will have noticed a number of new voices here. Stay tuned.