Jim Louderback
Jim Louderback at CrushPad
Born	1961 (age 50–51)
Occupation	CEO Revision3 Writer, Editor, Producer
Website
Revision3

James 'Jim' Louderback (born in 1961) is the CEO of Revision3.^[1] He has had numerous jobs in media companies involved in technology, most notably with TechTV and editor-in-chief of PC Magazine. He is also well known as the television host of TechTV's Fresh Gear for three years from 1998 to 2000.

Early life[link]

Louderback graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon School, then attended the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont from 1979 to 1983. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a minor in Communications.^[2]

Upon graduating from the University of Vermont, Louderback went on to New York University Stern School of Business located in New York, New York. He graduated Beta Gamma Sigma in 1986 receiving a M.B.A. with a concentration in Computer Applications and Information Systems.^[2]

Career[link]

Louderback started out working for Fortune 100 companies in the 1980s building computer systems and LAN-based client-server systems.

In 1991, Louderback was hired as the Executive Lab Director of PC Week magazine. In his time with the publication, Louderback refined the product reviews into essential news stories. For his work, he was awarded "Best Journalist" in 1993 by the SPA.^[2]

Louderback's next position was as the Editor-in-Chief of Windows Sources from 1995 to 1996 in New York. In 1996, Louderback headed back to Boston to become the Vice President and Editorial Director at PC Week.^[2]

In 1997, Louderback headed out to San Francisco, California to be Vice President and Editorial Director of ZDTV (later TechTV), the first 24-hour technology television channel. He was in charge of the program content for the channel. He also appeared in numerous segments on the network, and hosted the Fresh Gear show for three years.^[2]

In 1999, he developed the "Best of CES" awards program for the CES trade show. This program judges new products on the trade show floor and still continues to this day.

Jim Louderback in the Revision3 studio

Louderback developed a daily, live, 8-hour TechTV news program called TechLive in 2000. The show supplied viewers with a steady stream of market news, technology reporting, product information, and CEO interviews.

Louderback became Editor-In-Chief for Ziff Davis Media's internet properties in 2002, he managed PCMag.com, eWeek and Microsoft Watch. He was promoted to Senior Vice President and Editor in Chief of PC Magazine in the fall of 2005 where he managed DL.TV, Cranky Geeks, and ExtremeTech, TechnoRide, GearLog, and Smart Company. He also did a weekly podcast along with Patrick Norton called What's New Now as well as a video podcast called DL.TV.

On July 10, 2007, Louderback became CEO of Revision3.^[3][4]

Author[link]

Louderback is the author of the book TechTV Microsoft(R) Windows XP for Home Users.

Contributor[link]

Since early 2011, Louderback has been one of the featured "CoolHotNot Tech Xperts," along with John C. Dvorak, Chris Pirillo, Dave Graveline, Robin Raskin, Dave Whittle, Steve Bass, and Cheryl Currid. At CoolHotNot's web site, Dvorak shares his "Loved List" of favorite consumer electronics, his "Wanted List" of tech products he'd like to try, and his "Letdown List" of tech products he found disappointing.^[5]

See also[link]

• Ziff Davis Media
• TechTV
• Revision3

Notes[link]

1. ^ Revision3 - Our People
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Jim Louderback - Resume". Archived from the original on 2007-12-02. http://web.archive.org/web/20071202094305/http://www.louderback.com/resume.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-24. 
3. ^ Liz Gannes (2007-07-11). "Old Media Jumping to New Media". http://newteevee.com/2007/07/10/old-media-jumping-to-new-media/. Retrieved 2008-01-05. 
4. ^ Breaking News: PC Magazine Reshuffles Management - Epicenter - Wired Blogs, July 10, 2007
5. ^ "CoolHotNot Tech Xperts Team". http://www.coolhotnot.com/techxperts/. Retrieved 2011-03-03. 

External links[link]

• Revision3
• Jim Louderback's homepage
• Jim Louderback's columns at PCmag
• What's New Now Webpage
• Jim Louderback's current list of best, most wanted, and worst tech products

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2009)

LeVar Burton
Burton in May 2012.
Born	Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr. (1957-02-16) February 16, 1957 (age 55) Landstuhl, West Germany
Other names	LeVar Burton
Alma mater	University of Southern California
Occupation	Actor, director, producer, author
Years active	1977–present
Spouse	Stephanie Cozart Burton
Children	1 daughter

Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, Jr. (born February 16, 1957), professionally known as LeVar Burton, is an American actor, director, producer, and author.

Burton first came to prominence portraying Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots, based on the novel by Alex Haley. He is also well known for his role as Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as the host of the PBS children's program Reading Rainbow.

Early life[link]

Burton was born to American parents at the U.S. Army Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in West Germany. His mother, Erma Jean (born Christian), was a social worker, administrator, and educator. His father, Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, was a photographer for the U.S. Army Signal Corps, and at the time was stationed at Landstuhl.^[1][2][3] Burton and his two sisters were raised by his mother in Sacramento, California.^[4] Burton was raised Catholic and, at the age of thirteen, entered St. Pius X seminary in Galt, California to become a priest.^[5] He attended Christian Brothers High School and graduated in the class of 1974. He is a graduate of University of Southern California's School of Theatre.

Early career[link]

Burton played a role as a visitor to Fantasy Island, was a participant in Battle of the Network Stars, a guest of the Muppet Show's televised premiere party for the release of The Muppet Movie, and a frequent guest on several game shows. In 1986, he appeared in the music video for the song "Word Up!" by the funk/R&B group Cameo.

Burton accepted an invitation to host Rebop, a multicultural series designed for young people ages 9–15, produced by WGBH for PBS.

Burton was host and executive producer of Reading Rainbow starting in 1983 for PBS.^[6] The series ran for 21 seasons, making it one of the longest running children's programs on the network. Furthermore, the series garnered several awards over its run, including a Peabody Award and twenty-six Emmy Awards, ten of which were in the "Outstanding Children's Series" category.^[7]

[edit] Roots

LeVar Burton rose to prominence in 1977 when he played Kunta Kinte (Toby) in the ABC award-winning drama series Roots. Burton's audition for the role of Kinte was the first of his professional career.^[8] As a result of his performance, he was nominated for the Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama Series. Burton reprised the role of Kunta Kinte in the 1988 television film Roots: The Gift. When asked about the societal impacts of Roots, Burton is quoted as saying, "It expanded the consciousness of people. Blacks and whites began to see each other as human beings, not as stereotypes. And if you throw a pebble into the pond, you're going to get ripples. I think the only constant is change, and it's always slow. Anything that happens overnight is lacking in foundation. Roots is part of a changing trend, and it's still being played out."^[9]

[edit] Star Trek: The Next Generation

In 1986, Gene Roddenberry approached him with the role of the then Lieutenant Junior Grade Geordi La Forge in the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series. La Forge is blind, but is granted "sight" through the use of a prosthetic device called a VISOR, which is worn over his eyes. La Forge is the USS Enterprise's helmsman, and as of the show's second season, its Chief Engineer. At the time, Burton was considerably better known than Patrick Stewart in the United States, due to the fame he gained from starring in Roots. The Associated Press stated that Burton's role was essentially the "new Spock."^[10]

Burton also portrayed La Forge in the subsequent feature films based on Star Trek: The Next Generation, beginning with Star Trek Generations in 1994 through 2002's Star Trek Nemesis. Burton directed the season two episode of Star Trek: Voyager titled "Dreadnought." Burton also directed and appeared in the season five episode of Star Trek: Voyager titled "Timeless" and directed several episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise.

Other appearances[link]

Burton with social activist and former Second Lady Tipper Gore

On television, Burton has helped dramatize the last days of Jim Jones's suicide cult in Guyana, the life and times of Jesse Owens, and the life of the nine-year-old Booker T. Washington. He portrayed Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 2001 film Ali. He also portrayed Detroit Tiger Ron LeFlore in the television movie One in a Million, The Ron LeFlore Story.

In 1987, Burton played Dave Robinson, a journalist (sports writer), in the third season of Murder, She Wrote, episode 16 "Death Takes a Dive" starring Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher.

He has also lent his voice to several animated projects including Kwame in the cartoon series Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990–1993) and The New Adventures of Captain Planet (1993–1996), Family Guy, Batman: The Animated Series, and Gargoyles. Burton is on the audio version of The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. Burton has been cast as voice actor for Black Lightning in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies DVD.

Burton appeared several times as a celebrity guest on the Dick Clark–hosted Pyramid, from 1982 until 1988. Burton also was the strongest link in the special Star Trek episode of The Weakest Link. He defeated his final opponent Robert Picardo and won $167,500 for his charity, a record for the show at that time and the largest amount won in any Celebrity Edition of the show (it was later surpassed by a $189,500 win in a "Tournament of Losers" episode).

He has made appearances in such sitcoms as Becker.

Burton at the Schlow Centre Region Library, January 29, 2007

Burton is the host and executive producer of a documentary titled The Science of Peace, which was in production as of 2007. It investigates the science and technology aimed at enabling world peace, sometimes called peace science. The film explores some of the concepts of shared noetic consciousness, having been sponsored in part by the Institute of Noetic Sciences.^[11]

He appeared in an April Fool's episode of Smosh pretending to have taken over the channel and making various edits at popular Smosh videos.^[12]

He makes occasional appearances on This Week in Tech, where he is a self-proclaimed "nerd", and also participated in the Consumer Electronics Show 2010.^[13]

In 2010, he made an appearance on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! as the ghost of himself in the episode "Greene Machine".

In February 2011, Burton made an appearance as himself on NBC's Community in the episode "Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking" and the following week on CBS's The Big Bang Theory in the episode "The Toast Derivation".

Directing[link]

Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Burton directed episodes for each of the various Star Trek series then in production. He has directed more Star Trek episodes than any other former regular cast member.^{[citation needed]}

Burton is on the board of directors for the Directors Guild of America.

Burton has also directed episodes of Charmed, JAG, Las Vegas, and Soul Food: The Series, as well as the miniseries Miracle's Boys and the documentary The Tiger Woods Story.

His first theatrical film direction was 2003's Blizzard for which he received a "Best of Fest" award from the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, and a Genie Award nomination for his work on the film's theme song, "Center of My Heart."

He also directed the 1999 Disney Channel Original Movie Smart House starring Katey Sagal, Kevin Kilner and Jessica Steen.

His most recent directorial project Reach for Me, in which he also played a supporting role, was released in theaters in March 2008. The film was produced by longtime producer and exec Mark Wolfe, whom Burton officially teamed with in 2010, forming Burton/Wolfe Entertainment. BWE will produce motion pictures, television, web content and more. Says Burton, "We are looking to tell stories everywhere there will be a screen, BWE will be there. That is our plan."

Personal life[link]

Burton married make-up artist Stephanie Cozart Burton in 1992, and in 1994 they had a daughter, Michaela "Mica" Jean Burton. Burton and his wife and daughter currently live in Sherman Oaks, California. Burton also has one son named Ian, born in 1980, decided by the courts after paternity suit. He won joint custody. A DNA test linked Burton to the Hausa people of Nigeria.^[14]

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Burton with Brent Spiner and William Shatner in July 2010

Director[link]

Awards[link]

Nominations[link]

• 1977 Emmy — Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Performance in a Drama or Comedy Series — Roots (Part 1, "Kunta Kinte")
• 1998, 2001, 2005 Image Awards variously for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series and Outstanding Youth or Children's Series/Special — ' Reading Rainbow ' (both as Self and as Executive Producer)
• 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1999 Daytime Emmy — Outstanding Children's Series — Reading Rainbow (Executive Producer)
• 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 - Daytime Emmy — Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series — Reading Rainbow (Self)
• 2004 Genie Award — Best Achievement in Music-Original Song — Blizzard (Co-composer "Center of My Heart")
• 2006 Black Reel Award — Best Director-Television — Miracle's Boys

Wins[link]

• 1990 Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7030 Hollywood Blvd. for television achievement
• 1992 Peabody Award — Reading Rainbow (as executive producer of episode, "The Wall")
• 1994, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2003 Image Award — variously for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series and Outstanding Youth or Children's Series/Special — ' Reading Rainbow ' (both as Self and as Executive Producer)
• 2000 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album - The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• 1990, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007 Daytime Emmy — Outstanding Children's Series — Reading Rainbow (Executive Producer)
• 2001, 2002 Daytime Emmy — Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series — Reading Rainbow (Self)
• 2003 Television Critics Association Award — Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming — Reading Rainbow (Executive Producer)
• 2004 Chicago International Children's Film Festival — Best of Fest — Blizzard (Director)

Books[link]

• Aftermath, 1997, ISBN 0-446-67960-7

References[link]

Further reading[link]

Star Trek portal

• Nishikawa, Kinohi. "LeVar Burton." The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature. Ed. Hans Ostrom and J. David Macey, Jr. 5 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005. 219.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: LeVar Burton

• Burton / Wolfe Entertainment (production company)
• LeVar Burton at the Internet Movie Database
• LeVar Burton at AllRovi
• LeVar Burton at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2010)

Grant Imahara
Imahara in 2007
Born	(1970-10-23) October 23, 1970 (age 41) Los Angeles, California, United States
Other names	Grant Masaru Imahara (今原 真申, Imahara Masaru?) (birth name)
Occupation	MythBusters (build team), Electronics and radio control expert
Website
MYTHBUSTERS Bios Imahara's Myspace Imahara's Facebook Imahara's Twitter

Grant Masaru Imahara (born October 23, 1970)^[1] is a Japanese-American electronics and radio control expert, best known for his work on the American television show MythBusters.

Education and early work[link]

Imahara is a graduate of the University of Southern California, with a B.S. degree in electrical engineering. For a time, he seriously considered switching majors, with the intention of becoming a screenwriter; he decided to stay on the engineering track after assisting Tomlinson Holman,^[2] a professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and creator of the Lucasfilm THX sound system.

After graduation, Imahara was hired as an engineer for Lucasfilm's Home THX division; he then moved to the visual effects company Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), where he worked for nine years. While at ILM, he was involved in films such as The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Galaxy Quest, AI: Artificial Intelligence, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Van Helsing, and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Imahara is credited in many feature films as a model maker. In particular, he is credited for his work in updating the aging R2-D2 robots for the Star Wars prequel trilogy.^[3] As an official Artoo Technician, he makes a cameo appearance in the mockumentary R2-D2: Beneath the Dome.^[4]

[edit] MythBusters

Imahara joined MythBusters on the invitation of friend and occasional employer Jamie Hyneman^[5] and former ILM colleague Linda Wolkovitch, who is now an Associate Producer of MythBusters. He joined as the third member of the Build Team, replacing former MythBusters welder Scottie Chapman. His colleagues often, jokingly, refer to him as the geek of the Build Team. He often makes the robots that are needed for the show and otherwise specializes in operating the computers and electronics for the myths.