By Jordan Valinsky 5/28 8:59am

Linkages

`BuzzFeed's Jonah Peretti.

Booting Up: BuzzFeed Partners with CNN to Create Another YouTube Channel

BuzzFeed has partnered with CNN to access its archives to create a thrilling YouTube channel focusing on “serious news events.” [TechCrunch]

Two major Hollywood studios, Warner Bros. and NBC Universal, have reportedly asked Google to scrub the search results of Kim Dotcom’s Mega hosting website for containing copyrighted material. [TorrentFreak]

Here’s an in-depth look at #Hashtags: Are they Facebook’s missing link to the pop culture? [CNET]

Of course Google is exploring the idea of using blimps to deliver Wifi to parts of Africa and Asia. [Science Recorder]

Welp, don’t be too alarmed but Chinese hackers have reportedly gained access to very advanced designs for U.S. weapon systems. [The Verge]

By Jane Gayduk 3/20 2:06pm

startup rundown

Someday! (Photo: CornellNYC Tech)

Startup News: Buzzfeed Gets Businessy and Cornell Tech Clears Another Hurdle

Fast money, fast people. Venmo Payouts is now saving businesses time and paper (as in checks, not cash) with an API designed for  sending money directly to service providers. Any phone number or email address can be used to pay babysitters, dog walkers or masseuses via a single API call. Venmo acts as the middle man, collecting your top-secret bank information and using it for the transaction.

Buzz-Feed us business. BuzzFeed has a new business editor for its coming-soon business section. Peter Lauria, former editor-in-charge of U.S. technology, media, and telecom coverage for Reuters, will lead Buzzfeed’s expansion into Wall Street later this spring. Look out for “13 Most Daring Corporate Investments Announced Using These Great Photos of Cats.” Read More

By Jessica Roy 3/11 3:46pm

Art-Tech

This reporter did not go into an art profession for very obvious reasons.

Selfless Portraits: Strangers Draw Each Other’s Facebook Profile Pics, For Better or Worse

Your Facebook profile photo is one of the first things that people notice when they browse your profile. Whether it’s a meme or a picture of a cat or an actual photo of yourself, what you put in that little square space supposedly says volumes about who you are online.

Jeff Greenspan, an ex-Facebook employee who now works as BuzzFeed’s chief creative officer, wanted to find a way that people could connect with each other through the visual information they offer on their profiles in a clever and creative way. Along with his co-creator Ivan Cash and Rally Interactive, the two devised a plan to “let users celebrate each other” with a site called Selfless Portraits. Read More

By Patrick Clark 1/31 9:40am

search us

Screen shot 2013-01-31 at 9.25.35 AM

Noodz, Crafts and Cats: A Tour of BuzzFeed’s Search Referrals

Yesterday, Betabeat asked Compete for traffic data on BuzzFeed—the richly-funded purveyor of image-heavy listicles, breeding ground for future New Yorker scribes and everything in between—and when the spreadsheet arrived, it came wrapped in a little gift: Along with the monthly unique visits and demographic breakdowns we requested, Compete gave us a long list of BuzzFeed search referrals for the last three months, ranked by total share. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 1/11 11:45am

Angry Nerds

Secretly seething? rosiesays.com

Let’s Play a Game: Everyone Look Up Your Startup on Glassdoor!

While browsing our Google Reader this morning, we came across this list of wacky interview questions compiled by Glassdoor.com. You know the drill: “How many cows are in Canada?” (Correct answer: Who cares?) However, we were reminded of our favorite party game, which we haven’t played in quite some time, wherein we investigate God-only-knows-how-reliable Glassdoor reviews of our favorite startups.

Let’s just say there are some very unhappy underlings running around Silicon Alley. Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 1/09 11:30am

Fresh Capital

0917p21-Eric-Hippeau_cr-david-yellen

Eric Hippeau on Lerer Ventures’ New Hires and Why BuzzFeed Promises ‘VC-Like Returns’

When we last spoke with Eric Hippeau, the Huffington Post mafioso was discussing Lerer Ventures’ new $36 million fund. Today, the early-stage investment firm is announcing two new hires to help it manage and grow its considerable portfolio.

Max Stoller, a recent NYU graduate whose hackathon apps we’ve covered in the past, will be joining Lerer Ventures as an analyst. Mr. Stoller, a HackNY veteran, worked as an engineer at Hyperpublic–a company founded by LV managing director Jordan Cooper and sold to Groupon–as well as on the platform team at Foursquare, both while in school. And, yes, if that makes you  wonder, you probably did college wrong. Read More

By The Editors 1/04 5:20pm

shameless rumormongering

Screen Shot 2013-01-04 at 6.19.18 PM

Rumor Roundup: iPad Mini Funding Favors, a Field Trip to Phish, and an Art.sy By Any Other Name

You get an iPad! And you get an iPad! BuzzFeed cofounder Jonah Peretti has certainly been in the celebrating mood this week (and for good reason). Emily Fleischaker, editor of BuzzFeed’s Food vertical, tweeted that Mr. Peretti handed out iPad Minis to the whole staff for meeting their traffic goal. (Paging the Betabeat boss!)

BuzzFeed also Instagrammed a photo of Mr. Peretti donning said shirt and drinking what appears to be a beer. YOLO, we suppose. Read More

By Jessica Roy 1/03 8:33am

Funding Fun

BuzzFeed raises $20M to build Snackadium.

One Funding Announcement That Probably Won’t Restore Your Faith in Humanity: BuzzFeed Raises $20M

BuzzFeed, the Internet’s biggest time suck, announced in a press release today that it has raised $20 million in a series D round led by NEA Ventures, bringing its total raised to $46.3. In addition to churning out more image-heavy listicles and starting spats with fellow popular Internet properties like Gawker and The Oatmeal, BuzzFeed intends to use the money to “build the next great media company.” Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 12/10/12 5:30pm

Oh My

U mad?

Irony Shows Signs of Life as Viral Behemoths Buzzfeed and the Oatmeal Duke it Out

It seems just yesterday that Oatmeal creator Matthew Inman was one of the most beloved men on the Internet, having converted a generation of readers into fans of the turn-of-the-century scientist Nikola Tesla and spearheaded an Indiegogo campaign to get the man an American museum.

Nowadays, between the rape joke and the angry screeds, he’s starting to look like a guy who just can’t quite learn when to keep his mouth shut. Read More