It may seem a little like Big Brother, but these kiosks were a very early attempt to break down the barriers between TV news and its viewers. This was before the web. There's still a kiosk outside the CHUMCity building at 299 Queen St West in Toronto, but this is the original inside the building. Amber took Merlin, Steve Gibson, and me on a tour and I really felt like we were seeing TV history.
As most of you know by now, James Kim died trying to save his family. I know how much he loved them, and as a father myself, I know he did everything he could to ensure their survival, even if it meant risking his own life. I'm sure he'd be content knowing his loved ones made it, even though he didn't.
James was a loving husband and father, a wonderful co-worker, and a young man just full of life. We'll all miss him very much.
If you'd like to help the Kim family now, you'll find information at JamesAndKati.com.
James's co-workers at C|NET have put together a tribute video.
We'll be dedicating future episodes of Call for Help to his memory, and we'll be talking about him in this week's TWiT.
Just posted on CNET at 2:17P Pacific...
The wife and daughters of missing CNET senior editor James Kim have been found alive and airlifted to a local hospital, authorities announced at a press conference in Merlin, Ore., Monday afternoon.
James Kim left the car on snowshoes two days ago to seek help and has not been found. The search for him continues.
According to the official speaking at the news conference, the conditions of Kati, Penelope and Sabine are not yet known. More details are expected at a press conference at 5 p.m. PST.
No word on James - but we're praying for him!
I just received this disturbing news. If any of you knows anything please help...
CNET editor and former Fresh Gear contributor and Lab analyst James Kim has been missing since Saturday. ANY word, especially from people in the Oregon area is appreciated. The information is all below from the official investigation by the SFPD.
Missing Family Includes: James, Kati, Penelope (age 4.5) and Sabine (6 months). Last name is Kim
Overview: The Kim Family left San Francisco on November 17th on a road trip to the Pacific Northwest. They had Thanksgiving in Seattle with family and then drove to Portland. They were last seen by their friends in Portland whom they had brunch with on Saturday, November 25. According to their friends, their plans were to drive out to the town of Gold Beach on the Oregon Coast and then make their way back to San Francisco. James was expected back at work on Tuesday, November 28th. When no one had heard from him by Wednesday morning employees at the Kims' two stores and his colleagues at CNET began to make phone calls to his family and friends to inquire of his whereabouts. Presently, the SFPD is investigating the case.
The family was last heard from at around 5:45 PM on Saturday. A hotel clerk at the Tu Tu Tun lodge in Gold Beach, Oregon took a call from James. He said he was about five hours away. The hotel clerk said she would leave the keys out for them as the lobby would be closed after 10. The keys were still in the same place the next morning. The clerk believes James referred to being near Salem, Oregon at the time. They were driving a 2005 silver Saab station wagon with California personalized plates of “DOESF”.
More details and pictures of the family are available on CNET's Crave Blog.
If you know anything about James' whereabouts, you can contact the SFPD by calling 415-558-5508 during normal business hours and 415-553-1071 after hours.
Sorry to be such a laggard in posting. I have a bunch of items to put up - but I've been so busy I haven't had a moment to do it. Just to keep things fresh here's a video version of the TWiT network sounder that the Pixel Corps just worked up. Sorry about the poor quality - Vox is compressing it something awful. You can see it in all its 1080p glory on the new episode of MacBreak coming out later today.
Thanks to Karl Hassenfratz and the Motion Graphics Team at the Pixel Corps for a brilliant job!
Meanwhile, our first episode of net@nite went pretty well Sunday night. We had a surprise visit from YouTube founder, Steve Chen (did you know the Google-YouTube merger talks started at Denny's?), and a number of nice calls. Our host, Talkshoe, suffered some growing pains, but I expect most of the wrinkles will be ironed out by next week's show. I told them that there would be a few people listening!
The high-quality edited version will go out on the Inside the Net feed Tuesday, but you can hear the raw and uncut right now at Talkshoe. Show notes are available on the net@nite blog.
I've also posted a brand new TWiT, recorded aboard the ms Veendam. It's a completely new cast - none of the regulars were on the cruise - but I think it's a very good show. Steve Stecklow, a senior writer for the Wall St. Journal was along to explain what the latest stock option backdating scandals mean, the very funny Andy Ihnatko weighs in on bottled water, and security and Perl guru, Randal Schwartz makes boat sounds. Stay tuned at the end for an interlude from our Captain.
I'm home this week, with lots of podcasts to record and post, then it's back to Toronto for another week of Call for Help. The wonderful Cali Lewis of Geekbrief.tv will co-host once again for nine shows. The remaining six will be hosted by three different candidates to replace Amber MacArthur. Yes, on-the-air auditions. It's a first for me, and I'm sure it will be a little scary for the propspective hosts, but that's how they do things in Canadia. The shows will air some time next month.
