Gawker: valleywag, alex albrecht

After Jimmy Fallon, Is Kevin Rose's Buddy Act Over?

Owen Thomas — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:02:57 EDT

Did you hear? Digg founder Kevin Rose was on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Wednesday. As was Rose's forgettable Diggnation cohost — what's his name? Ah, yes — Alex Albrecht, who we hear wants out.

Rose is a geek hero, famous first for his stint hosting a tech-focused TV show on Comcast's G4TV. Diggnation, an online video show where Rose and Albrecht drink beer and discuss popular headlines on Digg, Rose's social-news site, is the centerpiece of Revision3, Rose's online-video startup. Appearing on broadcast TV, though, is a high-water mark for this icon of geek culture.

While Rose has a burgeoning mini-media empire which has won him magazine covers, Albrecht has languished in relative obscurity — the "blond guy," as Fallon called him.

Which is why when we heard that Albrecht wanted out of his contract, we didn't dismiss the rumor out of hand. As lucrative as the Diggnation gig must be for what is, let's be honest, an excuse to drink in front of a camera, Albrecht could well be frustrated at being Rose's sidekick. (The job does have one perk, though: The ability to say scathing things about Rose and get away with it. Rose is a famously prolific dater whose brief entanglements have included egoblogger Julia Allison and L.A. TV personality Shira Lazar. Albrecht's comment at a party: Rose "has basically plowed through everybody.")

We asked Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback, who was also up late, what gives. "His agent hasn't complained to me," Louderback said. "Sounds like posturing." Posturing? You mean, the kind of crick one gets from perpetually playing second fiddle?

Here's the clip of Rose and Albrecht's appearance — watch closely, because if there's anything to this rumor, it might not be repeated:

You must be this tall to ride Alex Albrecht

Owen Thomas — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:00:00 EDT

The bromance between Diggnation cohosts Alex Albrecht and Kevin Rose is so palpable, and same-sex marriage so trendy, that I was a bit surprised to hear that Albrecht was engaged to someone else. Aw, Kevin, I hope you don't feel jilted! Someone will make an honest man of you, someday. The two performed their Web show live on stage at the Future of Web Apps conference in London — which, we hear, was just like Cyprus but without the crystal-blue sea and the matching swimsuits. Can you think of a better caption? Leave it in the comments. The best will become the post's new headline. Friday's winner: franky, for "Mark Zuckerberg signs petition against new Facebook design." (Photo by jimjarmo)

Alex Albrecht and friends play World of Warcraft for fun and profit

Jackson West — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:20:00 EDT

The mysterious project Alex Albrecht, cohost of Kevin Rose's Diggnation podcast, has been working on, Project Lore? It's a show where he and some buddies play World of Warcraft together. It couldn't possibly be more geeky, reveling in WoW-speak like "trash mobs," "pulls," "ninja'd" and the like. Given Warcraft's millions of players, it will likely be as successful as it is incomprehensible to the olds.

If, that is, they tweak the formula. In the first show, Albrecht and friends run through an "instance," or dungeon quest, that's far too easy for their characters — the idea is to offer tips and tricks for some of the harder parts of the end of the game. The most entertaining parts are watching them bicker over the various pieces of treasure won when defeating difficult monsters in the game. While the show has undeniable appeal to the inevitable cross-over between WoW players and Diggnation viewers, the testosterone level is pretty high even for that audience. A guest appearance by the likes of The Guild's Felicia Day would do wonders to broaden the appeal of the show a bit.

Alex Albrecht's top secret new project has a name: Project Lore

Jackson West — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:20:00 EDT

Diggnation co-host Alex Albrecht has been working on a new project behind the scenes for months now, and it could soon be coming to a browser near you — a tipster pointed us to projectlore.com, which is currently behind password protection, and an unused Twitter account by the same name. What could it be? Your guess is as good as mine. But it's my understanding that it's going to be a Hollywood-sized production.

Kevin Rose no longer single — but who's he dating?

Owen Thomas — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:20:00 EDT

San Francisco's Web 2.0 playboy, Kevin Rose, has been laying low since his much-publicized affair with Internet notoriety provider Julia Allison in Miami (shown here, in a previously unpublished photo, with Rose). But on Facebook yesterday, Rose took the word "single" off his profile. A tipster says Rose is dating again, but we haven't heard the lucky lady's name yet. We're guessing she's a newcomer to town, since Rose's Diggnation cohost, Alex Albrecht, once drunkenly noted that Rose has dated quite a few locals. Rose's Facebook update, after the jump:

Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht love this guy

Jackson West — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:00:00 EDT

Alex Albrecht and Kevin Rose play buns to this hot dog at the Diggnation Live party last night in New York. Can you suggest a better caption? Do so in the comments. The best one will become the new headline. Yesterday's winner: mzito for "How do you make a bubble? You put your lips together and *blow*." (Photo by William J Sisti)

Hulu nabs Diggnation and other Revision3 shows

Jackson West — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:40:00 EDT

Hulu, the online video site created as a joint venture between NBC and News Corp., will distribute shows from content startup Revision3, which focuses on shows broadly related to technology. Now you can easily switch between WWE wrestling matches and watching Alex Albrecht and Kevin Rose getting drunk without having to turn off your laptop. [Silicon Alley Insider]

A is for Adelson, who cofounded Digg

Owen Thomas — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:40:00 EDT

Digg cofounder Jay Adelson is now asked by the likes of Kara Swisher how he'd fix big media companies, as in this clip. But there was a time when he barely knew what to do with his own Internet startup, Equinix. That tale and more covers 54 out of 294 pages in Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good, Sarah Lacy's soon-to-be-released book about Web 2.0. The first page of the book's index, one of many to come:

Behind the scenes at the Mahalo Daily Idol auditions

Jackson West — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 15:23:00 EDT

Bonny Pierzina broadcasted from live behind the scenes in Santa Monica for the Mahalo Daily Idol auditions via Justin.tv, and I've been assured that archives will be made available. The three judge panel of Mahalo founder Jason Calacanis, DiggNation co-host Alex Albrecht and cantankerous vlogger Loren Feldman voted Valleywag favorite Sarah Atwood on to the second round — glad to hear they didn't hold our endorsement against her. Audition wrap-up from the judges after the jump.

"Kevin Rose has basically plowed through everybody"

Jordan Golson — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 18:00:00 EDT

We may have been thrown out of the TechCrunch party last night, but bulldog aficionado Jason Calacanis did our dirty work for us. Calacanis caught up with Kevin Rose's cohost on the Diggnation podcast, Alex Albrecht, and asked him about Kevin Rose's dating habits. It's not pretty.

Xeni Jardin, Kevin Rose, and friends get in bed with Virgin

Nick Douglas — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 20:10:58 EDT

After wooing San Francisco at its hub airport, Virgin America has enlisted seven Internet heroes to pitch the new airline. Seen here are Xeni Jardin, Cory Doctorow, David Pescovitz, and Mark Frauenfelder of Boing Boing; Peter Rojas of Engadget; and Alex Albrecht and Kevin Rose of Diggnation. You can see them in these Virgin cartoon spots, which are like C-minus episodes of Sealab 2021.

Vlog Hot: Nerdboys Heat 2

Chris Mohney — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 15:09:36 EST

Moving right along, here's the second crop of primo boyflesh for your delectation. The menu includes Alex Albrecht, Loren Feldman, Steve Garfield, Jonathan London, Kevin Rose, and my man Gary Ruplinger. Voting commences after the jump.

If you can't see the voting mechanism below, we can't help you. We don't know how it works either. You might try turning off firewalls and turning on cookies. Note that you can now vote more than once! And why not? You should be able to vote once per day in any of these polls, showing true devotion to your favorite vlogger by suborning the more casual, ephemeral love showered on her or his opponents. Again, if you have technical problems with that, don't call us. For amusement only, far as you're concerned.

Pirates of Silicon Valley II: Our Candidates for the Cast

Nick Douglas — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 16:29:50 EST

NICK DOUGLAS — While dust gathers on our old VHS copies of Pirates of Silicon Valley (for us, Noah Wyle's career hit its high point with his role as Steve Jobs), it's time to cast the sequel. Starring the Daily Show's Demetri Martin as Digg founder Kevin Rose, Jason Bateman as Diggnation co-host Alex Albrecht and Rush Limbaugh as John C. Dvorak, the show also includes stars playing Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch, Merlin Mann, and Google's Marissa Mayer.

Alex Albrecht, Diggnation: Jason Bateman, Arrested Development

John C. Dvorak, Cranky Geeks: Rush Limbaugh

Chad Hurley, YouTube: Tobey Maguire

Leo Laporte, This Week in Tech: Anthony Hopkins

Merlin Mann, 43 Folders: Brandon Routh, Superman

Robert Scoble, Podtech: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote

Marissa Mayer, Google: Sarah Paulson, Studio 60

Bill Gates: Rick Moranis

Rupert Murdoch, News Corp: Philip Baker Hall, Magnolia

Kevin Rose: Demetri Martin, Daily Show

Photos: With a few exceptions, geeks by Scott Beale; stars by Associated Press

Kevin Rose double-fists

Nick Douglas — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:31:46 EDT

The New York Times calls Digg's founders "parallel entrepreneurs" in a profile on the dudes who, while running the ridonculously popular news site, decided to launch an online video network, Revision3.

The company, which relaunches this week with a site overhaul, new shows, and a party in San Fran, feels like Spike TV for the Internet. The shows are produced and published in-house, including flagship Diggnation, an hourish-long bull session where co-founder Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht (Kevin's fellow former TechTV host) drink beer, do shots, and swear a lot about technology.

Like Kevin tells the Times, plenty of geeks do that without a camera, but Kevin and Alex give off such a friendly vibe (it's the booze talking) that lonely techies in Denver feel like part of a big club. It's like Oprah without all the books.

Young Internet Producers, Bankrolled, Are Seeking Act II [NY Times]

Podcast roundup: Drunk Diggnation wins

ndouglas — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 19:11:33 EST

Om and Niall PodSession: Om Malik promises a "big surprise" at the end of the latest episode. OMG MAJOR SPOILER WARNING: Google News picked up Om's blog. Yay. Weird thing is, he thanks the Google News and Blogger teams. Actual people update Google News sources? Don't they have robots for that?

This Week in Tech: A woman on the panel! And Kevin Rose! But it's still like a very watered-down Diggnation. If you need to eat your tech veggies, go ahead. You'll learn something.

Diggnation: None this week, but last week's is worth another listen. Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht moved the beer drinking to before the show — best move ever. Highlights include moving to Australia, making fun of the dead Phantom gaming system, and the hotness of Alex's mom. This is why all podcasts should be recorded in bars.

Gillmor Gang: Until that thing is ten well-trimmed minutes, forget it. In fact, a fan-edited copy of this — like by those kids who make Full Metal Jacket emo music videos — would rock. Or Steve and company could do the show drunk.