nerdfight
Know that old saying "keep your friends close and your enemies closer"? Former Engadget editor Ryan Block has put it into practice by
tapping former Gizmodo editor Brian Lam — now the site's editorial director — to help advise them on their new gadget startup gdgt. In doing so, Block has ended — or at least set aside — a long-term gadget-blog rivalry which frothed with animosity. (Gizmodo, like Valleywag, is published by Gawker Media.) At times, the competition got dirty — like the time Block created an anonymous blog slamming Lam for a post about the iPhone.
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brian lam
After two years at the helm of the gadget blog, Gizmodo editor Brian Lam has
gotten himself kicked upstairs. The former
Wired staffer will now focus on live event coverage as an assistant managing editor for our mutual parent company, Gawker Media. Lam will also retain an "editorial director" title at Gizmodo — I'm not sure what that means except someone's been reading too many Condé Nast mastheads. Lam became a gadget-geek cult hero for his
aggressive competition with former Engadget editor Ryan Block, who
split last month to launch a startup called GDGT. (Lam's even helping Block out as an advisor.) Here's an excerpt of the announcement from Gawker's internal mailing list.
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nowpublic
Vancouver-based NowPublic is ostensibly all about citizen journalism. But since Guy Kawasaki sold Truemors to it and signed up as an advisor, it's becoming better known for publishing flattering lists of "influencers," supposedly ranking them according to various social media metrics.
The first "Most Public" list focused on New York, but a new list for the Valley and San Francisco is "
coming soon." And by virtue of being included in the latest edition, we received an early copy as a press release. Who comes out on top? Ubiquitous attention slut Robert Scoble, naturally. Full list after the jump.
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ryan block
"I've decided to step down as editor of this publication in late August so as to start a new company," writes Engadget editor
Ryan Block, confirming
earlier rumors. In theory, his replacement is ready. In practice, having worked with the guy, I'm sure it's going to be tough to match his 24x7 obsession with winning at
everything. Here's the newsy part of Block's goodbye post:
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rumormonger
Ryan Block, the perpetually-in-hyperdrive head of consumer electronics superblog
Engadget, is quitting the site after two years to launch a new site with his predecessor, blog millionaire and RCRD LBL founder
Peter Rojas. A
TechCrunch report stops short of further facts, but correctly dismisses the notion that Block's plans can be reverse-engineered by looking up the 39 domain names he owns — do you really believe Mr Always-On didn't think of that angle?
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exits
Mahalo Daily host Veronica Belmont —
the videoblogger whom Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis once dubbed a "Rojas-level hire" , in a comparison to Engadget cofounder Peter Rojas — has announced she's "
moving on to new projects." She'll host the show for a few more weeks and then later contribute as a correspondent. "This came out of nowhere," a Mahalo source tells us. Considering Belmont's working conditions, it shouldn't have been a surprise. Interviewed in the video clip below, Belmont — who lives in San Francisco — says she spends two weeks each month in Santa Monica. How did Belmont like the commute? "It's not optimal, but it gets the job done." Not anymore. But there is a winner here.
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blogging for dollars
The April issue of
Wired has a lengthy piece on gadget blogs. Most of the focus is on Gizmodo (disclosure: Valleywag is owned by Gawker Media, parent company to Gizmodo) and the rise of the gadget blogs in influence and reach. It's worth a read, but if you're too busy frantically reloading Engadget and Gizmodo to read the whole thing, we've tagged the high points below.
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superficial
commentards
We tried to translate a tip, above, about some comment purportedly deleted by Engadget editor-in-chief Ryan Block, but we failed. Maybe it's revealing enough as is — about the would-be Engadget commenter, not Block. Click to expand the email.
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