Williams: Jakob Lodwick Is A Jerk

Hank Williams | January 2, 2008 8:18 AM

hankwilliamscontributor.jpg
SAI contributor Hank Williams weighs in on the new web site Norbum.org launched by Vimeo founder Jakob Lodwick (one of our Silicon Alley 100) and Tumblr's David Karp. (UPDATE: David says he has nothing to do with the site; so does Jakob) A New York-based entrepreneur, Hank recently launched a new blog: Why Does Everything Suck? Exploring the tech marketplace from 10,000 feet.

Ok, so on CenterNetworks the other day, Allen Stern discovers that someone Jakob Lodwick (formerly vimeo) and David Karp (tumblr) is engaged is some elaborate "humor" based around the "hilarity" of homeless fashion. The idea is that they are creating a site called norbum.org which is where they chronicle the most fashionable homeless people. Its crowd sourced, and so the "idea" is that people submit pictures of homeless people.

Ok, yes, I get it is a joke.

I am sure Lodwick thinks he is "cool" enough to make this joke. After all, he's "famous", at least according to his own blog. (Yes I get the famous thing is probably some inside joke - it just isn't sufficiently "ironic"). Ok, just to be clear, Jakob and David are *not* cool enough to make fun of the homeless. (UPDATE: David says he has nothing to do with the site.)

To put this in context, today from an article In the New York Times about Chris Rock, a quote from Chris Rock. Its about the new (well not so new) rules of comedy for those of you too dumb to figure it out.

During his discussion of Mr. Imus, he laid out some guidelines: White people aren’t allowed to mock black people; rich people aren’t allowed to mock poor people; skinny people aren’t allowed to mock fat people; and so on. The more stuff you have, the less stuff you’re allowed to say.
Duh.

Is the tech community so out of touch that this is not obvious? Or is it just Jakob and David that don't get this and they were dumb enough to think that the tech community would not be offended? Or are they just going for the Michael Richards style stuff that is just designed to "shock". Or perhaps they are going for a more Loren Feldman/Technigga style effect.

Perhaps I am overly sensitive as one of maybe only two or three black guys that regularly show up at the NY tech meetup. I know the community is kinda insular (tech has never exactly been a bastion of diversity), but I wouldn't think you'd have to be black (or homeless, or poor) to realize that this is offensive.

Yeah Allen, I agree... WTF.

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41 Comments

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Reader said:
Maybe just add some quote marks around the whole article and not just select words. I really don't have a stake here, but after reading the comments and the added correction at the beginning, I'm thinking you have no idea what the truth of the situations is.
dalas verdugo said:
This whole post should be replaced with an apology. Just because you're a blogger doesn't mean you shouldn't make sure your facts are straight before you publish something. You still haven't corrected the article to point out that Jakob was not involved in the homeless website.

If I start a website bashing women and claim that "Hank Williams" made it, does that give me the right to write an article about what an asshole Hank Williams is?

When you're making such strong allegations, you better be damn sure they're accurate.
James Thomas said:
Hi Hank, I left you a little present.

http://www.mentallyretired.com/2008/01/02/no-hank-williams-youre-the-asshole/
Eddie D. said:
I love how you call people "too dumb to figure it out."

Hank you are a typing buzzkill.

Blodget get rid!
Hank Williams said:
John,

I don't mean to harp on this, because at this point I would prefer to give the guy a break, but since you bring it up, two points.

1. I am not a reporter. My opinion is my opinion, and I will continue to provide my opinion on the news. The reporting on this issue was done by others.

2. As far as I can tell, the reporting was not bad. David did know about norbums: http://www.davidslog.com/post/22732756. He referenced it on his blog, and he knew that *he* was being associated with it, and he seemed to think it was funny.

That said, I am not sure what was going on in his head, and I take him at his word that he somehow didn't know what was going on. But you cannot suggest that when someone links to something that references them that it is some wild error in judgment to assume that that person is aware and approves of the connection.

In short, given his clear awareness of norbums and his association with it by others, assuming he is uninvolved is not perhaps the most natural conclusion.
John Maloney said:
Hank

I have no connection to the anonymous clown above (not that I know of anyway). But having worked closely with David for the past 3-4 years, I can't think of anyone less likely to make fun of *anyone*.

Next time more due diligence, a good guy's reputation took a small hit here. But nothing David can't shake.
Hank Williams said:
anon
"
You should put your correction at the top of your post like centerneworks did
Instead of the middle. That is the right thing to do.

Should you reallly call david an asshole in the title now that the facts came out"

I am not under precise control of how SAI posts my stuff. When Peter told me what David said I changed it on my site, including the title, and including writing another post which clarified, based on what SAI said. I am not sure when they got a chance to make the additional changes as I have been away for a few hrs, but obviously they have now done so.

With regard to the racist commenter, it is great to see those comments because it brings to the light that which is generally hidden in the dark shadows and is not so clearly visible.
Dan Frommer said:
Why don't you get a less-anonymous anonymous handle? I deleted the racist comment... pls let us know if you find more.
anon said:
I am the the anonymous person with all of the above commments except for the racist one. Racism is disgusting and i didnt want to be confused with that bigot

Separately thanks for making the correction
Anon said:
looks like my hunch was right here

And you were wrong about david being involved. Peter at sai just posted the correct story

You should put your correction at the top of your post like centerneworks did
Instead of the middle. That is the right thing to do.

Should you reallly call david an asshole in the title now that the facts came out

Its okay to be wrong sometimes

Just admidt it, fix it and move on

Btw, I don't think making fun of homeless people is funny

I love your passion too

Hank Williams said:
Anon,

You sound an awful lot like someone with something at stake here. Interesting that you are Anonymous. Whether CenterNetworks said it or SAI said it is really irrelevant. If he didn't think this is funny, then "he" shouldn't be posting jokes about it, which he did. To me this isn't a cute game, and none of it is funny. But hey, maybe my sense of humor is off.

Its interesting that you didn't have anything to say about this until the obviously reprehensible nature of the concept was laid bare.
Anon said:
hank

Where on SAI is it confirmed that karp and jakob are working together on this project/website

Thanks
James Thomas said:
Well, Jakob Lodwick himself owns the domain... so if anybody pulled the joke, it's Jakob. That doesn't mean he's an asshole... he's just having fun with the speculation about his next venture.
Hank Williams said:
Just to clarify, when I speak, it is not on behalf of SAI. That's why the post says "Williams:" in front of it.

That said, If SAI and CenterNetworks are wrong about Karp's involvement I will rescind my granting to him of the "asshole" title. Though it seems clear that he was participating in the joke, based on his posted comment which I can't find since norbums.org is now down.
anon said:
ok well I'm not david's lawyer but it seems unfair to me that you lump David into this without any proof, then you call him an asshole pubicly , then you blame him for not correcting your mistake and poor assumption

Why is it david's job to correct your post

I was hoping alley insider was going to be techcrunch east not a lame version of valleywag
Nate Westheimer said:
Well, I'm not a fan of name calling, but I hope Normubs isn't what it's being reported to be. That wouldn't be funny -- though some would find it so -- unless it came packed with South Park-like, well-thought commentary.
Hank Williams said:
Obviously my commentary is at least in part based on what has been said elsewhere on SAI. But, if David didn't want to be associated with it he could easily speak up. When he did speak, his only comment was saying that what they were working on was... and then a link to the new movie Cloverfield. Obviously another joke. I believe that the link was on the norbums.org site, though since its down I can no longer find it.

I guess the point is that he obviously enjoyed what he perceived as the benefits of being associated with it. Certainly if someone bad stuff someone did rubbed off on me, I would want to clarify.
Tumblr fan said:
why do you assume that David Karp is part of this?

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