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Weblogs, Inc. is a blog network of about 90 blogs, covering a variety of subjects, from computers and gaming . Roughly half of these blogs are regularly updated and maintained. Weblogs, Inc. was founded in September 2003.

History[link]

Weblogs, Inc. was founded by Brian Alvey and Jason Calacanis^[1] with an investment from Mark Cuban. The company was founded in the wake of Calacanis' Silicon Alley Reporter magazine.

By early 2004 Weblogs, Inc. and Gawker Media were establishing the two most important templates for networked blog empires. At that time Weblogs, Inc. consisted of a few dozen blogs designed for professional readership, all residing as subdomains of weblogsinc.com. The exception was Engadget, a stand-alone site covering new technology in blog format. Engadget was co-founded by Peter Rojas, the former editor of Gizmodo in the Gawker Media network. At the start of 2006, 26 stand-alone sites populated the network, and over 50 subdomain blogs were in operation.A few of the company principals maintain personal blogs in the blogroll, and the home page is maintained in blog format. Entrepreneur Mark Cuban, an early investor in the company, keeps his personal weblog on the Weblogs, Inc. network.

At the start of 2006, the company structure consisted of an executive and administrative team of eight individuals, including the aforementioned Calacanis, Alvey, and Rojas. Thirty-two "lead" bloggers edited content channels or stand-alone sites, and managed topic-specific staffs of bloggers.

The network sells an inventory of display advertising space supplemented by Google AdSense. Revenue from AdSense alone was claimed to be approaching $1,000,000 USD per year.^[2]

Weblogs, Inc. was purchased in October 2005 by AOL for a reported $25 million. While details were sketchy, it was reported in "Blogebrity: The Blog" that the bloggers would maintain all their rights, and would even come out of the deal in better condition. Headlines from blogs would begin to appear in AIM and at AOL.com, new contracts would be signed allowing bloggers to use their content offline, and AOL would be moving to an ad format that would match Weblogs, Inc. Weblogs, Inc. would be operated as an independent AOL-owned company.

Blogs[link]

Engadget[link]

Launched in March 2004, Engadget is updated multiple times a day with articles on gadgets and consumer electronics. Although Engadget appears to be a weblog, it is really a webzine.^[3] It has been nominated for numerous awards, including a 2004 Bloggie for Best Technology Weblog, and 2005 Bloggies for Best Computers or Technology Weblog and Best Group Weblog; Engadget won Best Tech Blog in the 2004 and 2005 Weblog Awards.

Joystiq[link]

Joystiq is a popular weblog covering video games and video game culture.

TV Squad[link]

TV Squad is a television weblog founded on March 10, 2005 and in 2006 was one of the most popular on the internet.^[4] TV Squad was originally conceptualized to allow any Weblogs, Inc. blogger to write about the television shows they watch. Eventually a core group of bloggers for the site was realized, with several other Weblogs, Inc. bloggers contributing on an irregular basis. TV Squad currently has approximately 20 regularly contributing bloggers. Writers include Adam Finley, Keith McDuffee, Bob Sassone, Wil Wheaton and Paul Goebel, and the site's main television critic is former Chicago Tribune critic Maureen Ryan, who came to the site in 2010. During the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, while some industry blogs stopped or wrote articles in support of the strike, TV Squad continued to publish material normally.^[5]

Autoblog[link]

Autoblog is a popular weblog and podcast about automobiles and the automotive industry.

TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog)[link]

TUAW covers tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple. Founded in 2004 and one of the most successful blogs from Weblogs, Inc.

Download Squad[link]

Download Squad is a popular blog following web based and downloadable software and news for desktop and mobile platforms. Consistently cited among popular software blogs, and named among Computerworld's list of the ten best written blogs on the Internet in 2008.^[6]

Download Squad, along with sister blog Switched, were shut down on April 12, 2011 by parent company Aol. ^[7]

References[link]

1. ^ "Weblogs, Inc.". http://www.weblogsinc.com/. Retrieved 2007-08-04. 
2. ^ The Jason Calacanis Weblog^{[dead link]}
3. ^ Till, Francis (May 8, 2005). "Bill Gates and the alternative future of news". National Business Review. http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/bill-gates-and-alternative-future-news. Retrieved 2008-07-15. 
4. ^ Berr, Jonathan (03/16/06). "Netscape Is Back". The Street. http://www.thestreet.com/tech/internet/10274039.html. Retrieved 2008-07-15. 
5. ^ Ingram, Matthew (November 14, 2007). "Pulling the plug". The Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071114.wingram14/BNStory/Technology/home. Retrieved 2008-07-15. 
6. ^ Brandon, John (October 17, 2008). "The top 10 best-written blogs". Computerworld. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=Networking+and+Internet&articleId=9116838&taxonomyId=16&pageNumber=1. Retrieved 2009-06-04. 
7. ^ Houston, Thomas (April 12, 2011). "Farewell, Internet". Download Squad. http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/12/farewell-internet/. Retrieved 2011-04-13. 

External links[link]

• Official website

Inc. may refer to:

• Incorporation (business), an abbreviation of Incorporated, a suffix indicating a corporation
• Inc. (magazine), an American business magazine
• Incoming
• Include, included, or including

Inc may refer to:

• Increment, a short form in computer programming languages, particularly assembler mnemonics

See also[link]

• INC (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Brian Alvey.

Brian Alvey (born March 6, 1970 in Falls Church, VA) along with Jason Calacanis co-founded the publishing company Weblogs, Inc., home to such blogs as Engadget, Autoblog, Joystiq, TV Squad, Cinematical and Slashfood. Time Warner's America Online purchased Weblogs, Inc. in October 2005. In November 2006, AOL also purchased the blogging platform Blogsmith which Alvey built. Blogsmith is used to power Weblogs, Inc. and other AOL blogs such as TMZ.com.

In May 2007 he announced he was leaving AOL to devote his time to ComicMix, the comic book publishing company he co-founded with Mike Gold and Glenn Hauman. In June 2007 he and Craig Wood launched a new publishing platform company, Crowd Fusion. Crowd Fusion raised $3 million from Velocity Interactive Group, Greycroft Partners and Marc Andreessen in July 2008.

Brian Alvey was the creator and co-host of the Meet The Makers conference, a series of talk show-style events with Jason Calacanis. He also invented and launched Blogstakes, a sweepstakes application for the blogging community.

Alvey designed the first TV Guide website in 1995 and was the senior technical member of the in-house team that built the first BusinessWeek site later that year. He continued designing and developing database-driven Web applications for companies including BusinessWeek, Intel, JD Edwards, Deloitte & Touche and The McGraw-Hill Companies. His Tech-Engine career center application has powered over 200 online career centers including XML.com, Computer User, O'Reilly & Associates Network, DevShed, and the Cold Fusion Developer's Journal. He has been the art director of three print magazines and the Chief Technology Officer of Rising Tide Studios where he personally developed The Venture Reporter Network.

Alvey has also built publishing systems for sites designed by Jeffrey Zeldman including the Web design magazine A List Apart and the Kansas City Chiefs. He was the architect of the system that powers the redesigned global network of Capgemini websites and the chief architect of Netscape.

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Brian Alvey's blog
• Brian Alvey on Twitter
• ComicMix
• Crowd Fusion
• Brian Alvey on This Week in Startups (TWiST)
• Brian Alvey interviewed on The Big Web Show, Feb 2011

Jason Calacanis
Calacanis at Gnomedex 5.
Born	(1970-11-28) November 28, 1970 (age 41) Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York City
Occupation	Internet entrepreneur / Blogger

Jason McCabe Calacanis (born November 28, 1970^[1]) is an American Internet entrepreneur and blogger. His first company was part of the dot-com era in New York, and his second venture, Weblogs, Inc., capitalized on the growth of blogs before being sold to AOL.

Early life[link]

Calacanis was born in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Xaverian High School in 1988. He then attended Fordham University, where he majored in psychology.^[2]

Career[link]

During the dot-com boom, Calacanis was active in New York's Silicon Alley community and in 1996 began producing a publication known as the Silicon Alley Reporter. Originally a 16-page photocopied newsletter, as its popularity grew it expanded into a 300-page magazine, with a sister publication called the Digital Coast Reporter for the West Coast. Calacanis's tireless socializing earned him a nickname as the "yearbook editor" of the Silicon Alley community.^[3] With the end of the Dot-com bubble, Silicon Alley Reporter failed.^[4]

Calacanis co-founded Weblogs, Inc. with Brian Alvey in 2003, supported by an angel investment from Mark Cuban. Time Warner's America Online agreed to buy Weblogs, Inc. in October 2005 for $25–30 million.^[5]

Netscape.com[link]

Six months into his tenure with AOL, Calacanis was offered a chance to be the General Manager of the new Netscape website. Calacanis used the model pioneered by Digg, Del.icio.us, and Furl and added an editorial layer to the system. The project has launched and occupied the front page of Netscape. Calacanis started by hiring a team of eight "anchors" to follow up users' top stories. He then hired some of the top users of social bookmarking sites like Digg, Reddit, Newsvine and Flickr to go to Netscape as Netscape Navigators,^[6] which prompted a public debate with Kevin Rose, founder of Digg.

On November 16, 2006, TechCrunch reported that Calacanis had resigned from his position as CEO of Weblogs, Inc. and General Manager of Netscape.^[7] Calacanis later confirmed this with a post at his blog.^[8]

Sequoia Capital[link]

On December 5, 2006, Techcrunch reported that Calacanis was going to announce his new position at Sequoia Capital as an EIA (entrepreneur in action).^[9] Calacanis later confirmed this on his blog.^[10]

Mahalo.com[link]

Calacanis founded Mahalo.com, a "human-powered search engine",^[11] which launched in alpha test in May 2007. During a speech about the site at the Gnomedex conference in August 2007, Calacanis got into a public confrontation with Dave Winer that led to Winer's resignation from the panel of experts for the TechCrunch20 conference organized by Calacanis. Winer interrupted Calacanis' speech during the event, calling it "conference spam" and igniting a war of words on their blogs. "I'm not interested in having someone berate me like this," Calacanis wrote on his blog.^[12]

As of April 21, 2010 Mahalo had 9.4 million global (5.7 million US) unique monthly visitors, down from a peak of 14.1 million global (7.4 million US) unique monthly visitors, according to Quantcast.^[13]

Angel Investing[link]

In 2009 Calacanis founded the Open Angel Forum, an event that connects early stage startups with angel investors. The forum was the culmination of a series of public comments by Calacanis questioning the ethics of pay-to-pitch angel forums.^[14] Calacanis believes startups shouldn't have to pay to pitch angel investors.^[15] Calacanis is also an Angel Investor in Gowalla.

ThisWeekIn.com[link]

Calacanis is a co-founder of ThisWeekIn.com and host of the live streamed "This Week In Startups" on the network. ^[16]

LAUNCH Conference[link]

Calacanis announced the creation of the LAUNCH Conference to spotlight unannounced start-ups. The first conference was held on February 23rd and 24th 2011 and featured 140 startups. A number of companies received funding at the event and the winners included Room 77 and GreenGoose.

Controversy[link]

Calacanis was involved in a 2010 Internet hoax involving his Twitter postings regarding the introduction of the Apple iPad. In his tweets, he claimed to have a "reviewer's copy" of an iPad device describing in great detail the features of such device. The device in question was not in his possession nor did it exist. It was explained to have been an attempt by Calacanis to expose the hysteria regarding Apple product launches. The hoax also called into question the fact checking and verification processes of the mainstream media who published the hoax story as true.^[17][18]

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jason Calacanis

• The Jason Calacanis Weblog

Roger Friedman is an American entertainment news journalist. Friedman created and wrote the FOX411 news column on Foxnews.com for 10 years. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz 411, an entertainment news column.^[1]

Career[link]

Among Friedman’s activities in celebrity journalism have been writing the “Intelligencer” column at New York magazine^[2] and editing Fame magazine, where he wrote cover stories on Paul McCartney, Whitney Houston, Paloma Picasso, Carly Simon, and other stars.^[3] He has also written articles which have appeared in Vogue, The New York Times, the New York Daily News, Redbook, Us Weekly, Premiere, The Washington Post, and other publications.^[3]

With D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, Friedman co-produced Only the Strong Survive, a 2002 documentary film about Memphis soul musicians^[1] The film was shown in the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival,^[4] and at the Sundance and Telluride film festivals.

Fox News[link]

Friedman worked for Fox News as a journalist for ten years, starting Fox News's website and creating the popular Fox411 column. Among his many successes was his coverage of Michael Jackson's child molestation and conspiracy trial in 2005.

In April 2009, Friedman was fired by Foxnews.com after he reviewed the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine based on viewing a bootlegged copy of the movie online.^[5] (Friedman later told Gawker.com that he had not downloaded the film, but had streamed it after finding a link to it online.^[6]) Friedman's column was perceived as an endorsement of film piracy and illegal file sharing, particularly by the film's distributor, 20th Century Fox, which, like Foxnews.com, is a unit of News Corporation.^[7][8] Ironically, Friedman's review of Wolverine was very favorable, including comments such as "I am, in fact, amazed about how great Wolverine turned out. It exceeds expectations at every turn."^[9]

In June 2009, Friedman filed a lawsuit against Fox News Network L.L.C., NewsCorp America, Twentieth Century Fox, and Rupert Murdoch, claiming wrongful termination, tortious interference with his employment contract, and defamation based on statements Fox News and 20th Century Fox made after his firing.^[10][11]

[edit] The Hollywood Reporter

Friedman joined The Hollywood Reporter as a senior correspondent in May 2009.^[12] He left in March 2010.^[13]

Current career at Showbiz 411[link]

Friedman currently writes for Forbes.com and Parade.com, as well their print versions. He started the column Showbiz 411 column during his time at The Hollywood Reporter. The blog is an entertainment news website where Friedman and other authors report "everything from Hollywood to the Hudson". The website has become independent since he was fired. Friedman regularly writes about Michael Jackson and complications surrounding his death and estate. In addition, Friedman writes about James Franco, Mariah Carey, and Madonna. Showbiz411 frequently breaks entertainment news stories and is often highlighted on the Drudge Report.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} "Roger Friedman". Huffingtonpost.com. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roger-friedman. Retrieved 2011-12-20. 
2. ^ Google Books search for Roger Friedman columns in New York magazine
3. ^ ^{a b} "About". Showbiz411. http://www.showbiz411.com/about. Retrieved 2011-12-20. 
4. ^ "Only the Strong Survive | Quinzaine des Réalisateurs". Quinzaine-realisateurs.com. http://www.quinzaine-realisateurs.com/only-the-strong-survive-f13872.html. Retrieved 2011-12-20. 
5. ^ "Writer loses job over Wolverine". BBC News. 2009-04-07. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7987136.stm. Retrieved 2010-10-13. 
6. ^ Snyder, Gabriel (2009-04-06). "It's Official: Roger Friedman Loses His Job Over Wolverine Piracy". Gawker. http://gawker.com/5200958/its-official-roger-friedman-loses-his-job-over-wolverine-piracy. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
7. ^ Suderman, Peter (2009-04-07). "Wolverine: the Curse of the Pirate Critic". The Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2009/04/wolverine-the-curse-of-the-pirate-critic/7313/. Retrieved 2010-10-13. 
8. ^ Fisher, Luchina; Heussner, Ki Mae; Marikar, Sheila (2009-04-06). "Fox News Columnist Roger Friedman Fired". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Movies/story?id=7268500&page=1. Retrieved 2010-10-13. 
9. ^ "Roger Friedman Loves Wolverine!". Vulture. New York Magazine. 2009-04-03. http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/04/roger_friedman_loves_wolverine.html. Retrieved 2010-10-13. 
10. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (2009-07-02). "Fired Fox Columnist Files Libel Lawsuit". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/arts/television/03arts-FIREDFOXCOLU_BRF.html. Retrieved 2010-10-13. 
11. ^ "Roger Friedman vs. Fox News Networks". Gawker. 2009-06-30. http://gawker.com/5304978/roger-friedman-vs-fox-news-networks. Retrieved 2010-10-13. 
12. ^ Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF (2009-05-18). "Arts, Briefly - Fired Columnist Is Hired". NYTimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/arts/19arts-FIREDCOLUMNI_BRF.html?ref=arts. Retrieved 2011-12-20. 
13. ^ Finke, Nikki. "Friedman Blog Exits Hollywood Reporter –". Deadline.com. http://www.deadline.com/2010/03/friedman-blog-exits-hollywood-reporter/. Retrieved 2011-12-20. 

External links[link]

• Roger Friedman's Showbiz411.com
• Roger Friedman 2009 column archive at Foxnews.com
• Roger Friedman at the Internet Movie Database