What is Digg?1227 Comments
- kevinrose, on 11/07/2007, -15/+445I really want to thank the entire digg community for spreading the word the moment James and his family went missing. James was an amazing family man and friend. May he rest in peace.
From the entire Digg staff - our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. - idreamincode, on 10/19/2007, -15/+397Found dead. So sad.
Breaking news on kgw.com just said he was dead. Press conference from the Sherrif.
Rest in peace. You will be missed. - jonathantneal, on 10/19/2007, -37/+317No this is actually believable, it's not sensationalized (like the other front pager), it's accurate, thank you. Thanks Digg for following this story so closely.
- slsanity, on 10/19/2007, -11/+179I first encountered James on TechTV, he was one of my favorite personalities. Whenever I loaded up a cnet review I always crossed my fingers it would be James. I feel like we lost an icon.
- _Caboose_, on 10/19/2007, -57/+202@DeezNutz420:
You, sir, are an *****. It doesn't matter if you know him or not - this is a person's life at stake. Grow up and have some respect.
Anyway, I hope he's alright. - voldak, on 10/19/2007, -15/+139RIP James Kim. You will be missed. My thoughts and prayers go out to your family and friends. Such a tragic and emotional ending to this whole ordeal..
- inactive, on 10/19/2007, -34/+149I'm sorry, but you have to be joking right?
Not meaning to rip on the guy but he did everything wrong from not notifying friends about their exact planned travel route, leaving the car, not simply walking back along the road he drove in on etc.
Now I'm real sorry that James possibly/probably has not survived, but to say he did intelligent things during his ordeal is just flat out wrong.
If any positive thing can be drawn from this sad story it is that thanks to the huge publicity around it, a lot more people will now know the correct things to do if they ever get into a similar situation.
Hopefully that will save lives in the long run. - ChileanGoD, on 10/19/2007, -21/+132Helicopter 1 Satellite 0
- inactive, on 10/19/2007, -3/+109My heart goes out to the rescue teams. You have no idea how hard and how personal they take it if they lose one. They'll be spending the next few weeks and months laying awake running over everything they did and wondering if they'd just done this little thing or that little thing if they could've gotten there sooner. They'll wonder if they should have gone another couple miles even though it was dark or maybe have gotten up a few minutes earlier, or...who knows they'll think up some strange scenarios and then beat themselves up for not thinking of it sooner.
It's not so bad if you're searching for someone who feel down a crevasse and you know they're dead. But when you know the guy was alive 24 hours earlier and you didn't get there...the searchers will take that very hard. Though they'll get some comfort from the rest of the family being alive but, trust me, in private moments every single one of them is going to question everything they did. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -25/+123I hate to abuse the comment system, but in this case I think it's justified...
Does anyone know of a way to set up a charity fund or something for his wife and kids? I don't know what their finances are like, but I'm sure being this close to the holiday season there's a lot of people that would like to help them in any way they can. - twinklyJesus, on 10/12/2007, -18/+95At crass22 and others:
I don't know how much you think you know about technology, but, I would like to point out:
Yes, James Kim was a tech expert. He may or may not have had GPS.
NEWS FLASH: GPS does not work everywhere. For example, North of Boston, along the coast, in many coastal areas, satellite coverage is "spotty" at best.
Technology is not the end-all-be-all solution. Sometimes, no matter how well you plan, the reality of the situation can overload the best planning. He had extra clothing, food, fire, and water. They ran out. It doesn't mean he wasn't smart or didn't use available tech. Sometimes it's just not enough.
You are just using someone's misfortune to point out their "failings" and how you would've done it better, because you are so ***** much smarter than James. Well, the reality is, you are probably bloated tech-nerds, about two donuts from a heart attack and in the same situation (providing you actually got off your ass and went outside) your entire family would probably have died by now, so STFU and stop making snide, snarky comments.
FOADAH - decruncher, on 10/18/2007, -6/+78James Kim has died.
A valiant effort my good man. RIP - manual, on 10/12/2007, -31/+102And you do realize that at this very moment,,, there is a wife crying for her lost husband,,, and kids missing there papa?
You wanna see Darwin at work?,,, you will. Because when you are a heartless, self-centered, pompous ***** who will never be able to love another more than you love yourself,,, you will find that, even though there are many stupid girls,,, you will never find one that is stupid enough to pro-create with your selfish ass....
Once more,,, ***** YOU! And I hope you have nightmares for the ***** you spout here... NEVER speak ill of the dead,,, especially of the dead who were good people.... Seriously,,, you make me wish we were face to face,,, so I could break all your teeth,, and shove an egg-beater up your ass....
***** YOU!!!!! - macfanboi, on 10/12/2007, -28/+93RIP
PS- I know this is the internet, but please enough of the a$$hole comments. - blueorder, on 10/12/2007, -11/+77My thoughts and prayers are with Kati, their children and family
May he rest in peace. - Phocion55, on 10/12/2007, -18/+84The only difference is.....no one would waste their time looking for you.
- mongrel, on 10/12/2007, -18/+83If you're looking for people who need your money, there are plenty of charitable foundations still around for victims of Katrina, for a start. James was well-to-do, and unlike countless other survivors left around the world, his family's hole won't be filled with cash.
RIP - appetite, on 10/12/2007, -13/+77Maybe the coverage led to finding his family or maybe it didn't. If it did, I'm glad about that.
But I can't help but feeling manipulated by the media in this whole story. I feel grief right now that I wouldn't feel if this story wasn't covered out of proportion because it got ratings for news outlets. I had never heard of James Kim before but now I am depressed about his death. People do go missing all the time, and the choices of news outlets to cover some and not others are completely motivated by ratings. I fear the day when we have to be completely cynical and emotionally numb over serious human stories because events like this have turned into a good business model for the media companies.
Overall, this really sucks. - matthewaaron, on 10/12/2007, -16/+77Thank you poorbusker for not jumping to conclusions on his condition...
- maiku00, on 10/12/2007, -3/+54his last act was a selfless and brave one. he died doing all he could to save his wife and daughters. class act man. Rest in Peace.
- dolemite5005, on 10/12/2007, -9/+60At least this version of the story actually has an accurate title.
- dclowd9901, on 10/12/2007, -37/+87I feel sick. I feel like I can't even digg this article. I feel like it's disrespectful to the weight of the situation.
- coolian, on 10/12/2007, -13/+56I just got a lump in my throat.
RIP, James. - nthpro, on 10/12/2007, -5/+43Unfortunately the headline was correct. I have worked with/on SAR teams up in Alaska for a couple of years now and knew the second that they said that he had ventured off by himself it was in all likelihood a bad thing. Finding people in the kind of terrain he was in is like finding a needle in a haystack. I've been on many rescue missions where we have "searched" an area very throughly (or so we thought) simply to come back to that area several days later to find the body. Unfortunately the human body is very small and very hard to find. RIP James. Best Wishes to the Family.
- CanceledCzech, on 10/12/2007, -6/+40@DeezNutz420
Congratulations, sir, for I believe you have the most buried comment I have ever seen. - Nichevo, on 10/12/2007, -6/+40Live report(hopefully works)
http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer.php?vidId=57406&live=yes
He did not make it. - jgreene777, on 10/18/2007, -18/+50This is a perfect argument for better cell phone coverage in the US. The year is 2006 and there is absolutely NO excuse for lack of coverage in ANY region of the world's "most developed" nation. I'll give up hope for flying cars if the money-grubbing phone companies will put up more freaking cell towers.
- slothroplt, on 10/12/2007, -3/+34A few years ago, after a wonderful Christmas in the Bay Area, my wife, my son, and I began our drive home to the Seattle area. We knew that Shasta was getting snowed in, so we decided to follow the coast and Hwy 101. In Southern Oregon, with the ocean less than a mile to our left, we encountered severe wind and rain, flurries of snow, and a complete power outage. Town after town lay cloaked in black. We needed gas and there was none to be found. A fortunate would have it, however, we arrived in a small town with a lone open gas station lit like a firelfy in a pitch black world -- a line of cars stretched around the corner like a mutant tail and a loud generator roaring, somewhere. I asked a truck driver there if any of the roads leading from the coast to Highway 5 inland had been closed and, if not, which would he suggest we take if we wanted the safest, flattest, straightest route back to Highway 5. He confidently told me that such-and-such road was an easy few hours through flat land and little, if any snow -- a straight shot to Highway 5 and sweet sleep in a warm hotel bed. I walked back to my car, told my wife and son, and we headed out, East toward relief down the very route the truck drive had so confidently recommended. Within an hour the road began to climb and the snow began to fall heavy on our windshield. There were now no homes to see, no signs, no lights, nothing but black night and snow. We slowed. The road wound around and up and down, left, right, a T here, a Y there. Where were we? We couldn't even see beyond the sides of the road. Was that a lake on our right? A cliff on our left? Our car slid, straightened, slid, straightened. Would the snow and ice push us off the edge of the Earth? We slowed and then slowed again. We were tired. Frustrated. Angry. And scared. Time passed. We grew more tired. We turned here. Backtracked there. Read and re-read the map again and again. After an eternity that registerd a mere 4 hours of real time, we descended and came through a break in the mountains to see a silver ribbon of a lighted Highway 5 stretching to our left and to our right. Within fifteen minutes we were at a Holiday Inn, taking hot showers. Within thirty we were asleep. Desperately happy to be safe. To be alive! Knowing in our hearts that had the roads worsened a little more, had the snow piled up a little more, the temperature dropped a little more, had our gas been used up, we would have been in a very, very difficult situation. My family -- MY GOD, MY FAMILY -- would have been in a very, very, difficult situation.
A grand total of 16 hours passed from the minute we left my family's home in Santa Clara to the time we reached that hotel just past Grant's Pass. In that time, I felt as if I had left Earth, visited Mars, and returned again. I have been alone two weeks from civilization in the Northern Canadian wilderness, surfed twenty foot waves, jumped out of a plane, and never, ever was I more aware of mortality than I was that night.
We are fragile.
Rest in peace, James Kim. - tyho, on 10/12/2007, -5/+33My heart goes out to his family. Poor kids having to grow up w/o their dad. I was praying for a happy ending but it's not to be.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+36CNN confirms that he is dead
http://www.cnn.com (under breaking news) - metasin, on 10/12/2007, -7/+35why are some people being such dicks about this story? did you ***** ever consider that kevin rose, one of the founders of this website, used to work with mr. kim and it's very likely that they were still friends/acquaintances? if you had a popular website wouldn't you do everything within your power to spread the word and hopefully help your friend out? gee, you must've been sooo inconvenienced by having to skip through 4 or 5 stories. if you're not into the story, digg it down, *****. there's no need for the moronic comments. what the ***** is wrong with some of you???
RIP - Nichevo, on 10/12/2007, -5/+32@twinklyJesus
GPS does work everywhere. I have spent some time in the far north and subarctic regions of Canada. My handheld unit only had problem when under heavy canopy. DGPS is the one that has limited coverage.
I am going to go out on a limb here and say that technology may very well be to blame. I have watched many people follow their gadgets blindly. I hope he had a much better reason, but if he thought he could take a shortcut through the bush because it looked "shorter" by map, I wouldn't be terribly surprised.
That said it is important to note the silver lining here. His mistakes will hopefully educate many people.
#1) Stay together
If you have to leave I think that if you have alright clothing it's OK to walk 20 miles in those temperatures. Even jeans, a fall jacket, and something light to cover your ears/head will be fine, you'd probably overheat if you are battling snowdrifts. The key is that you can't stop, you must go until you reach shelter.
#2) If you do leave the group for some compelling reason stay out of the bush.
After all the time I have spent in the bush I still dread the thought of even going a mile through it in crappy conditions. Some bush is so terrible that even an indian guide could get lost in under 100 yards without a compass. Although from the pictures the terrain looked quite tame, It is still a good general rule. - SirBryce, on 10/12/2007, -3/+28Submitter getting dugg down on his own story, classic.
He was simply providing updated news. - saska, on 10/12/2007, -3/+27People who make and agree with statements like this have never spent any appreciable amount of time in a place like the northwest.
Cell towers need line of sight or significant radio signal amplification. Their functional range is usually between .25 and 5 miles (20 mile range towers exist in flat areas with mild weather). Their signals have to overlap in order for the network to work.
Much of the terrain where James Kim was found is impossible to traverse with a vehicle, which means bringing in and constructing towers -- even if someone were willing to do it -- would be astronomically expensive if it's even physically possible. Repairing a tower damaged due to weather, falling trees, fire, or lightning strike would be equally expensive and difficult.
Those who are serious about outdoor adventuring in this part of the country carry satellite phones. - ROBOGriff, on 10/12/2007, -6/+31I never met the man, but I feel like I lost a friend.
- robusteza, on 10/12/2007, -7/+30They own two business. I don't think she will need a charity. There are plenty of single parents with a lot less. Sad story, silly charity.
- wjglenn, on 10/12/2007, -3/+26Just check out SurvivorMan on the Science channel. He'll get your head right about survival.
Seriously, the Kim family made some good moves. Leaving the family there to use the car's heat while they could was a good move. So was burning the tires (both for warmth and signaling ability). She's lucky she was nursing, too, as I'm sure it helped prevent dehydration and hunger in the kids.
James' decision to move off to look for help was I'm sure a heartrending decision. When you're in the moment like that, I'm sure it felt like they would not be discovered. Had he stayed put and they had not been found, I'm sure the same people would be criticizing his decision to stay. Had he made it to find help, you'd also be thinking differently.
It's easy to criticize the decisions of someone who was in a life threatening situation with his family when you're sitting at your computer. James made a heroic decision. Was it the perfect one? Maybe not. But he was there and he made it. Who are you to criticize? - NyteStarNyne, on 10/12/2007, -27/+50As I was browsing the comments I noticed a lot of people's condolences were being dugg down. Come on guys, I know you're more mature than that. This is not the time for Digg-Down games...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+25Me too, I worked with James at Tech TV, and even though I didn't know him past being an acquaintance, it's hitting close to home.
It's really hard not to be upset a little bit too...why were you off the road James? Why did you get out of the car? We'll never know...
Condolences to his family and the people who loved him...RIP James. - newfoundnoise82, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22that is really too bad. i feel for the family, he gave his life trying to save them.
- helusay, on 10/12/2007, -9/+28I am tired of reading all of the negative comments from ***** like DeezNutz. Seems as if some of us are not only forgetting our humanity and compassion, but they are forgetting that James Kim was a a friend and co-worker to Kevin, Alex and all of the people at Revision 3, Diggnation, TWiT and CNET. He was also someone a lot of the members of Digg liked watching on TechTV and CNET. I suggest that if you have a problem with reading about this story, then forfeit your Digg membership and just go become a member of Netscape. You ignorant *****.
Rest In Peace James, you will be truly missed. This is the worst news I have received in a long time.
Does anyone know about setting up a fund for the family, I know he has a lot of friends and fans here, maybe we can help out. - mateo60, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21Also, when they have (non-live) video content on the site, the ads automatically are inserted by a program. They weren't consciously thinking "lets stick some ads into the Kim story". I'm sure the Cnet people are more broken-up about this than just about any of us.
- sstidman, on 10/12/2007, -4/+22@bryguy000
While I generally agree with your sentiment, be careful about making presumptions about the stupidity of his actions. We don't know (and will probably never know) why he made the decisions he made.
My guess (and I realize it's completely speculative) is that he saw or heard something off the trail. Maybe he saw smoke, a clearing with a tent, a car, etc. It could be that he hallucinated any of those things. So he may have left the road heading toward what seemed like his best chance of getting help.
And I think his decision to leave the car was very reasonable. He left his family with the car because he knew it was their best chance of getting rescued. But he himself left the relative safety of the car on the off chance that he could find help. He took a huge risk in order to save his family. After 7 days, what else was he supposed to do?
We'll never know why he did what he did, but he seems like a hero to me. - LDanix, on 10/12/2007, -18/+36Link for live press conference.
http://www.cnettv.com/?live=111991 - halik, on 10/12/2007, -4/+21Actually the odds of anyone surviving with the stuff he had are 1 out of 50 at best. Odds are he lost consciousness the first night and died the next day from hypothermia.
Leaving the road was the lapse of judgement that killed him. - drutest, on 10/19/2007, -9/+26Being the father of 2 small children about the same age as James kids I probably would have done the same thing. I'm sure he knew the risks he just wanted attempt something so that he at least made an attempt to help his wife and kids . Any parent probably would do the same thing in such desperate situations. I hope his kids know or are told how much of a hero their father was.
God bless James his family. - catbeller, on 10/19/2007, -6/+23He had the best death a man can have, for what miniscule comfort it can bring anyone. He died fighting to save his family. Good job, James Kim. Hero.
- molobolo, on 10/19/2007, -7/+22My Grandma also died today, thus making it the worst day in my life so far. :(
- xdjyoshx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18Having two girls myself (3 yr and 1 month) i would guess that if James were to choose an outcome where someone dies, we would have choose this one (meaning choosing himself to die). Too bad he didn't make it to see his little girls grow up.
I only wish he died knowing his family was safe. - crash013, on 10/12/2007, -9/+25If only we could use digg like this for all missing people. Then maybe more effort will be made into helping them.
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