Gawker: valleywag, jim louderback

The Twitterati Refuse to Sell a Horse for an Aeron Chair

Owen Thomas — Thu, 14 May 2009 18:34:44 EDT

These tweets are made for venting. Joanna Pearlstein, Susan Orlean, Jim Louderback, and other media twits found plenty to complain about on Twitter:

Washington Post dork Chris Cillizza admitted it.

CNET Newser Caroline McCarthy did not have to see a man about a horse.

Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback attempted to rent a car from a shoe store.

New Yorker Twitter controversialist Susan Orlean complained about an inanimate object, for a change.

Wired research editor Joanna Pearlstein rapped her job applicants' knuckles with a Twitter-shaped ruler.

Did you witness the media elite tweet something indiscreet? Please email us your favorite tweets — or send us more Twitter usernames.

The Twitterati Drive Across the Yellow Lines of Our Minds

Owen Thomas — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:23:20 EDT

Twitter is so fresh and so now! It's where rumors get debunked and celebrities break up! And yet media people like James Poniewozik, Caroline McCarthy, and Bonnie Fuller make it just as banal as ever:

Self-described "popologist" Lyneka Little took a ride on Ikea's wild side.

Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback, the man responsible for inflicting Kevin Rose's Diggnation on the world, apparently couldn't afford a rental car in L.A.

CNET News oversharer Caroline McCarthy filled us in on her food preferences.

Time columnist James Poniewozik watched CNN Fox News shoutyman Glenn Beck play Jenga on live TV.

Formerly important media person Bonnie Fuller made the Lance Armstrong collarbone-break story all about her.

Did you witness the media elite tweet something indiscreet? Please email us your favorite tweets — or send us more Twitter usernames.

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:

LinkedIn recommendation = you're fired

Owen Thomas — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EDT

The old way to tell you're about to be fired: Your boss comes up to you, claps you on the shoulder, and acts all chummy. The new way to tell you're about to be fired: Your boss leaves a glowing recommendation for you. Revision3's Damon Berger got one from CEO Jim Louderback five days before he was laid off from the online-video startup. Damon, you should have gotten a clue when Louderback wrote that you could be "a great front-person for any organization."

Digg meetup more like a concert in a land without women

Nicholas Carlson — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 13:00:00 EDT

The line to get into Digg's meetup and live filming of Diggnation last night in Brooklyn went around the block. Inside, the joint was packed with dudes drinking beer, waving around iPhones, and wearing T-shirts. There were maybe like 10 or 15 women. Just as rare: Microsoft Zune users. Despite Microsoft's sponsorship, when Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback tried to give away Zune T-shirts, the crowd only booed. Julia Allison's entourage, Kevin Rose, and more in our photo gallery.

Revision3 CEO: Antipiracy group attacked our network

Owen Thomas — Thu, 29 May 2008 11:40:00 EDT

Jim Louderback, the CEO of Revision3, is jumpin' mad. A denial-of-service attack brought down the online-video network over the weekend, and it wasn't the work of a freelance hacker with a distributed network of compromised machines, he writes in the company blog. It was, he says, the deliberate act of MediaDefender, an antipiracy consulting group which works to shut down file-sharing networks. Revision3 uses BitTorrent, a file-sharing protocol, to distribute its own content, and runs a "tracker" server to coordinate those downloads. All of this is quite legal. MediaDefender, it turns out, found a security hole in Revision3's server, and planted unknown files, possibly illegal copies on Revision3's servers, for their own purposes. It's not clear why, but whatever the motive, MediaDefender may have broken several laws in doing so.

What brought down Revision3's network wasn't the security hole, however. It was MediaDefender's response after Revision3 technicians noticed the breach and shut it down. MediaDefender's servers, in what that company told Louderback was an automated response, started trying to contact Revision3's servers through the now-closed hole. That turned into a flood of traffic that overwhelmed Revision3's network.

MediaDefender has worked for Sony Music, the Recording Industry Association of America, and the Motion Picture Association of America to shut down illegal file-sharing networks. But Revision3's use of file sharing for its own content was entirely legal; to the extent its servers pointed to any illegal files, it was only because of MediaDefender's hacking, Louderback tells me.

Revision3 has asked the FBI to investigate MediaDefender's alleged abuses. For years, the music and movie industries have been telling us that sharing files is criminal, and that blocking file-sharing networks is proper. For millions of file-sharing users, it would be quite satisfying to see the opposite proved in court.

Robert Scoble moonlighting with Revision3

Jackson West — Wed, 21 May 2008 16:20:00 EDT

Ubiquiterrifying new media maven Robert Scoble will be filming yet another show, FastWork.tv, out of the Revision3 studios in San Francisco. >He announced the move at a MediaBistro event in New York yesterday, where Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback was also in attendance. I'm going to take a wild guess that the new show will be brought to you by longtime Scoble sponsor Seagate.

Revision3's new face keeps it all in the family

Owen Thomas — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 15:24:25 EDT

More than one tipster tells us that Patrick Norton is leaving Ziff-Davis's DL.TV, and, after a brief paternity leave, joining Revision3. DL.TV, of course, was the brainchild of Jumpin' Jim Louderback, the former PC Magazine editor who's now Revision3's CEO. And before Ziff-Davis, Louderback and Norton worked together at TechTV, where Norton was the host of the popular "Screen Savers" show — the same show that later birthed Revision3 cofounder Kevin Rose's career. It's not a surprising hire, but it should answer any remaining questions about how crushingly insular the world of online video is.

Jason Calacanis and Kevin Rose make nice for Om Malik

Megan McCarthy — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:41:23 EDT

What on earth could bring together supposed mortal enemies Kevin Rose and Jason Calacanis? Why, Om Malik, of course. Rose is the founder of Digg, and Calacanis, the blowhard entrepreneur who created a Digg clone when he was an executive at AOL. But love has conquered all that. First, there's Malik, the cuddly tech blogger, a friend to all. And, perhaps more importantly, there's Malik's stunning cohost for his new Internet TV show, "The GigaOm Show." Lawyer-turned-videoblogger Joyce Kim, you see, is Calacanis's sister-in-law. Family trumps all. The four were among the stars at a launch party that Revision3, Rose's online-video company, threw for Malik and Kim Wednesday night in the tower of San Francisco's de Young Museum. (Revision3 is producing and distributing the show.) New Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback looks like a weatherman and talks extremely loudly. (My boss has nicknamed him "Jumpin' Jim Louderback.") After the jump, a gallery of photos from the glitzy affair.

(Photo of Calacanis, Kim, and Rose by Scott Beale/Laughing Squid)

Was Jim Louderback pushed? Or did he jump?

Owen Thomas — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 02:18:51 EDT

Luckily, former PC Magazine editor Jim Louderback won't have to depend on renting out his Vermont vacation home for income. Revision3, the online-video startup founded by Jay Adelson and Kevin Rose, has hired him as its new CEO, a coup Adelson was bragging about at the recent Foo Camp. But we're not buying the spin Louderback's allies are peddling to NewTeeVee — that he jumped to Revision3 rather than getting pushed out of his plush perch at PC Magazine. Here's the evidence for both theories — and your chance to vote in a poll.Here's why: A source estimates his salary at $300K or higher, a big expense for a magazine losing ad pages left and right, and notes that he was commuting from the Bay Area to New York City for the job. That suggests he was pushed. On the other hand, online video is a hot market right now, and a San Francisco job is understandably more appealing — which suggests Louderback jumped. Update: For the record, Jim Louderback emails Valleywag, saying he jumped:

While I'm excited to see my photo in Valleywag — I'm a huge fan — alas, I didn't get fired. After 14 years there (give or take), I would have walked away with a sweet severance package. They did everything they could to get me to stay. Nope, it's actually a much more boring story about moving from one fun job ( that was mostly in New York) to another that's closer to home - and that's a more exciting challenge. Sort of like what you (Owen) did, actually. But I do appreciate the plug for my rental house in Vermont! Every link helps... It's still available for a few weeks this fall if you're interested. Jim PS, on the numbers for PCMag advertising - which I had very little to do with as the head of edit - you might want to see how the other magazines (PC World, Computer Shopper, Maximum PC) have done in that same time frame. PCMag was still the leader in market share when I left yesterday, as it has been the entire time I've been at Ziff Davis (since 1991). If PC Mag dropped, the others dropped even more.

So which is it? You decide.

NewTeeVee's Liz Gannes is reporting that...

Megan McCarthy — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 18:03:17 EDT

NewTeeVee's Liz Gannes is reporting that recently departed PC Magazine editor Jim Louderback will become CEO at video site Revision3, replacing the Sun Valley-bound Jay Adelson. Also, video personality Veronica Belmont has left troubled CNET to create video for Jason Calacanis's Mahalo. [NewTeeVee]

PC Magazine fires its editor

Owen Thomas — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:15:48 EDT

Jim Louderback is out as editor-in-chief of PC Magazine; Lance Ulanoff, the magazine's reviews editor, is now in charge. Why the change? The cause seems obvious. Louderback, who helped launch the TechTV cable channel and launched Internet TV shows for PC publisher Ziff-Davis, but his multimedia experience wasn't enough to save his job — or PC's still-lucrative print business. Louderback, installed a year ago, presided over a disastrous 34 percent drop in advertising pages, according to Publisher's Information Bureau data. As for Ulanoff's hire, perhaps the reviews czar was deemed friendlier to the magazine's advertisers — though making PC's softball tech coverage softer yet seems like a challenge. Louderback, meanwhile, whose new job has yet to be announced, may have to live off the $900 week rental income from his vacation home in Vermont for a while.