Kevin Rose Leaving G4 to start Internet Only Show

Quantum Jim writes "Kevin Rose, one of the famous contributors and co-hosts of The Screen Savers, is leaving this week to concentrate on a new technology howto show called Systm. The Systm will be an internet-only show distributed free (as in beer AND speech) in a number of formats: Theora, Xvid, WMV, H.264, and PSP (what's that?). There will be bittorrent trackers available too! If only I had broadband..."

Comments

Best of luck to him...

[th3space]

God knows that he and Morgan Webb were the only things worth watching on that sinking ship of a channel...

Re:Best of luck to him...

[xlr8ed]

he and Morgan Webb were the only things worth watching

You're half right

Re:Best of luck to him...

[Fizzlewhiff]

TSS's decline started when Kevin Rose came aboard. He might not have been the cause of it but I've always associated him with the decline. Just give me Leo, Patrick, and Meagan's download of the week with an occasional bit with Martin Sargent and I'll be happy.

Its about time!

[ghstomahawks]

Its due time for the web to get a real TV show! We all know that it's the media of the future!

Re:Its about time!

[ViolentGreen]

I'm wondering how he is going to make a living on this. Is he getting sponsorship or something?

Re:Its about time!

[Rber0]

I do believe he plans on selling advertising space within the program. That's what he announced on the TWIT podcast (This Week In Tech)

Re:Its about time!

[Anonymous Coward]

Step 3: Debt?!?!

Of course he is leaving...

[forceflow2]

He knows how bad things have gotten (as if they could get any worse...) and is leaving to pursue bigger and better things that everyone knows he can. If only he could call up Leo and Patrick and have them help out...that would be excellent.

Re:Of course he is leaving...

[thiefius]

They've already gotten together as of recently to do the podcast, "This Week in Tech." http://thisweekintech.com/

G4 must suck behind the scenes too

[yotto]

To give up a job to publish free (as in everything) show on the web, that means he's either got cajones the size of bowling balls or his job absolutely sucked.

I'll give this show a shot, and may even not block the ads (if there are any)

Re:G4 must suck behind the scenes too

[LostCluster]

Actually, Kevin said in today's This Week in Tech podcast that the "Dark Tipper" character wasn't one he created for himself, it was an image created by Paul Block, the at-the-time executive producer of TSS. He'd rather be the producer setting up the segments Leo and Patrick did...

Too cool for vowels.

[Anonymous Coward]

Kevin Rose is too cool for vowels. Pretty soon he'll have his name changed to Kvn Rs. That shit's leet.

Screensavers podcast

[slapout]

Fans of the old TechTV show "The ScreenSavers" might want to check out Leo Laporte's podcasts. He makes his radio show available. He has also gotten together with some people from the old show and they do a podcast called This Week in Tech.

http://www.leoville.com/
http://thisweekintech.com/

also see Dan Huard's take on TechTV:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/01/172523 0&tid=129

Re:Screensavers podcast

[slapout]

Here's a copy of his 'take':

Life as a TechTV/G4 Employee

A lot of people ask, "what was it like to work at TechTV and ultimately at G4?" I have to say, for the most part, the experiences were amazing at both places. They each had their positives and negatives. So, I've decided to shed a little light on what exactly I did at TechTV and G4. Basically, this post will explain what my typical work day was like.

As an intern, I worked very typical intern jobs at a television studio. I got in before anyone did at TechTV, which was generally between 7:00 and 7:30am. Most of my work was for Megan Morrone. I did a lot of screen captures from websites, CDs, DVDs, etc. I remember one screen capture she asked me to do regarding something about NPR and September 11th. I remember this pretty well because I was so stupid. This was during the time TSS was using the CFH set while the new set was being built. She wanted me to capture some video of the sounds of 9/11. I totally misinterpreted what she wanted and captured all of the horrible, heart wrenching sounds as the trade centers fell, people screaming, etc. She was looking for more G-rated material like songs dedicated to all the victims, etc. It was just a stupid intern mistake. I also want to mention that Megan is one of the nicest people I've ever met. She was always good to me and very patient as I made those 'stupid intern mistakes.'

I was also behind the scenes teleprompting. Let me tell you how difficult it was to scroll a prompter for Leo and Patrick. They rarely read it, especially the news section. There's definitely a script for them to read but they're so good and comfortable in front of a camera they don't even bother. Truthfully, the only bits they'd read were the teases. Teases are when a segment ends and the talent says something like "coming up after the break..." It was necessary they read the teases explicitly because we would have specific video or images that corresponded with the read.

I did tons of odd jobs as well. One time, I remember traveling to Berkeley with ex-TSS Series Producer, Ken Marquis. We went to pick up a huge telestrator TV. I'm sure all you TSS fans remember that giant TV Leo and Pat would use during "The Real Deal." Ken and I picked up a U-Haul truck and ventured over to the place to pick it up. There were a couple problems. First, it was heavy and second, it was just Ken and I. Needless to say, Ken threw out his back but we got it in. Third, the TV was not secure in the truck. So, like a good starving intern I volunteered to jump in there with the TV. This is completely illegal, but I insisted. I was trying everything I possibly could to get a job. To Ken's credit, he said no and it wouldn't affect my chances for a job. I did it anyways. There was barely any air in there except for a few holes and it was hot as hell. So I took my shirt off climbed near the very small air holes so I could breathe. Luckily, it all went well except for Ken's back. I'm sure its fine now.

My typical work day as a Production Assistant (PA) changed dramatically from the intern position. Now, I was in charge of all the computers on the set for TSS. I had to maintain and upgrade them on a regular basis. Anytime you heard audio from a computer I had to run audio lines to the control room. Also, whenever you saw a full screen of a computer, it was my job to run the video (scan lines) to the control room. I was in charge of the daily tech setup, as well. This meant I'd have to acquire info from each of the segment producers to see what they technically needed for the show. It was never really difficult; there was just a lot to do. My jobs ranged from getting Megan's Downloads of the Day set up to setting up Linux boxes for demonstrations.

Another job I was given were the bumps. I'm sure you all remember these. They were little Windows, Mac, and Web tips that Megan, Morgan, Sarah, or Jessica would do. They used to be pre-produced with Megan's voice over (which Morgan

Re:Screensavers podcast

[CySurflex]

Thats not Kevin Rose's take, this post is taken from a blog entry by Dan Huard, who was the guy that answered phones. I just love all the misinformation on Slashdot.

ThisWeekInTech

[ARRRLovin]

If you like the old Screensavers, you'll love the "This Week In Tech" podcast. It's all the old TSS folk talking about what they like to talk about. No more lame "which broadband router is the best blah blah" crap. Just good ol' fashioned geeks talkin about cool shit.

www.twit.tv

Leo Laporte

[Teja]

I liked Kevin quite a bit, but Leo used to be my favorite. You can download quite a few of Call For Help episodes via bittorent over here. I'm off to download. :)

techno

[LinkDJ]

the systm.. is down..
the systm.. is down..

Latest Dialogue with Kevin's mom.

[Anonymous Coward]

Mom: So kevin, how's your job at the Sceensavers?

K: I don't work there any more?

Mom: What?

K: I'm doing something new!

Mom: What's that?

K: I'm a PODCASTER!

Mom: A Broadcaster? That's nice.

K: NO.. POD caster.. POD as in iPod!

Mom: You sell ipods?

K: No..

Mom: What's it got to do with Ipods?

K: well, they can listen to my new show on ipods.

Mom: Oh.. that's nice.
Does it pay more?

K: It's a new venture, I expect to generate revenue from ads.

Mom: So, you have advertisers lined up?

k: Um..

Mom: Are you making any money yet?

k: Um...

Mom: what's with all the stuff you moved into my basement? You're not moving in there are you?

K: Um..

Mom: And what's with that microphone? Could you get it out of my face, I'm trying to talk to you?

k: *runs* OK peeps, stay tuned to my next podcast, brought to you buy Redbull, Vodka, and our biggest sponsor.. Mom!

Re:Will he

[MoonBuggy]

To be honest I'd forgotten about The Broken until a newsletter dropped into my inbox from their site about half an hour ago. Looks like it's not as dead as we thought:

When is thebroken episode 4 coming out?

After several weeks of lawyer negotations with G4 (my 9-5 job), they have agreed to release me from my contract. Friday May 27th 2005 marks my last day on the G4 network. That means we are focusing on thebroken / Systm FULL TIME! We are starting to plan the next episode of thebroken now, and we'll send out another update as we get closer to the release! Now that this is our full-time job, expect to see many more video releases coming your way!

Hopefully Sarah Lane stays behind...

[Z-Knight]

I'm hoping she doesn't follow ... those two need to get a damn hotel room and get their frustrations out once and for all, instead of flirting continuously on-air...geez

Here's also hoping that the new show is actually is actually any good...the last few months of The ScreenSavers/Attack of the Crappy Show have had about 3 minutes of actual computer related stuff covered in them. Thanks to all of the geniuses at G4...good job on getting rid of Leo Laporte and Patrick Norton, they obviously were too good so you replaced them with the obviously "better" (NOT!) younger hosts that did nothing but waste my hour!

Re:kevin is a tool.

[gremlins]

Your insightful argument is very intresting with all the sources you cited to prove your point...

However let me try if I can rebut your claim anyway. You say that Kevin Rose is a "tool". The defention of tool as an insult is used when describing someone who is being manipulated without their knowledge - implying they are naïve and ignorant. Now I don't think that Kevin Rose matches any of those points. He knows what he is doing and is neither being exploited or manipulated. In fact he is rather taking the bull by the horns at it were and attempting to start a Online Television company producing shows reminiscent of the old TechTV days.

Now that I gave you the smart ass answer I will go alittle more into what I think you really mean by calling him a tool, which is he is a "poser" and does not possess the true elite computer hacker skills that you think are important.

Now don't get me wrong I am not Kevin Rose fanboy although I am defending him here. I do think he does a pretty good job with production value and quality of the shows he is on, either it be thebroken or the old Screen Savers. Does that mean that anyone who wants to have a tech show has to be one of the most elite computer users on the planet before they get your approval? I hope not because I have been following around online telvision shows for a while and I got to say that the ones with the most elite people as the stars suck. And the reason that is because the most elite people for the most part do not know how to be a good television host. Their camera angles are all off, the lighting always sucks and I get better sound listening to AM radio. I don't want an "elite computer hacker" running the shows I watch. I want those people in the background comming up with the content and handing it off to people like Kevin Rose who can actually present the information in a worth while format.

Re:he forgot this...!

[labratuk]

why on Earth would anybody want to choose a format like Fluendo that is hardly known?

Fluendo is not a codec. Fluendo is a company that builds products using gstreamer. One of their products is an implementation of the theora and vorbis decoders in java. So people can watch live streams without installing anything. If they really want to. The streams themselves are usually just theora streams.

You've both rather misunderstood what this java player is about.

Systm Torrents

[FlyingBlind13]

Here are the torrents for the videos:

http://www.prolexic.com/systm/systm--0001--warspyi ngbox--large.xvid.avi.torrent

http://www.prolexic.com/systm/systm--0001--warspyi ngbox--large.wmv.torrent