Nirvanix Watch
Keeping any eye on the scammers at Nirvanix, Streamload, Linkup, Mediamax, or whatever they call themselves this week….
Nirvanix Propaganda Shills editing Wikipedia
Nirvanix shills trying to edit Wikipedia - both trying to outright DELETE the Nirvanix entry, or trying to turn it into a press release.
It is well known that they post on the blogs of critics under various names, posting lies, half-truths, and links to official Nirvanix propaganda organs. So, shouldn’t be surprised that they’d stoop to this level. They sent one of their official spokes-liars, Matthew Harvey over, he tried deleting and then turning the article into a hagiography. Check out Harvey’s Wikipedia Sock Puppet Page.
Read the editing logs of the Nirvanix entry.
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
- Evidence
- Mharvey23’s first edit blanked Nirvanix. I reverted it within 4 minutes only to have them revert my revert seconds later. Xxxsacheinxxx reverted the revert^2 a minute later.
- Mharvey23 was warned and then warned again.
- Suspected sock Yellowdude89 then appeared and ‘Blanked the page‘ (their own comment) 4 minutes later. This blank was immediately reverted by J.delanoy.
- Twenty minutes later Yellowdude89 nominated the article for deletion. At the time of writing however they had not created the article’s entry in AfD so it’s not clear whether we should undo this edit as vandalism.
- Comments
- The puppetmaster Mharvey23 appears to be Nirvanix’s PR contact at JPR communications, Matthew Harvey. User was already warned about COI and 3RR.
- The only edits made by both puppetmaster and puppet are vandalism/blanking of the Nirvanix article.
- Nirvanix has motive to try to rewrite history (Streamload/MediaMax/TheLinkup death spiral dogs Nirvanix)
- Have requested checkuser for good measure.MediaMob (talk) 22:08, 19 August 2008 (UTC)
FOR SHAME, NIRVANIX!!!
Well, they got away with it
It appears that it is all over, and nothing can be done.
Mediamax/Streamload/TheLinkup - deleted millions of users files. Then, over the course of a year, they strung us along, saying the files were in the course of being recovered.
Were yours recovered? I’d say about 1% - IF THAT - of mine were recovered. Meanwhile, they claim the numbers were around 95%. Did you get 95% of your files back? If you did, I’d like to know!
They brought in someone new, Patrick Harr. He realized, I guess, that MM/TLU/SL was a sinking ship, a public relations nightmare, beyond all hope. But he had a plan.
The company, behind the scenes, got a bunch of funding and created a NEW company. Most of them employees went over to that company. They abandoned the sinking ship, and all of the customers who were still missing files.
Now the Mediamax/Streamload/Linkup ship has finally sank to the ocean floor. The new ship, Nirvanix, is doing quite well - millions of dollars in VC funding, and a brand new identity - untainted by their major screw-up under the old company name.
Seems all our files really are lost forever, and there will be no accountability. Sure, there are some scapegoats - mainly Steve Iverson, I guess - who claims Nirvanix has threatened to sue him, who claims they are liars who wanted to shift all the blame.
And why wouldn’t Nirvanix want to do that? They have a chance to have a clean slate, a whole new beginning. If you ask most people about Nirvanix, they won’t be able to tell you how the whole thing started, about their history as a company who created such a nightmare for so many.
Imagine that: Nirvanix is essentially the same company with the same employees that lost MILLIONS of files. They were an online storage company who failed at the one reason they had for existing. But they expect people to trust them again, just because they changed their name and got a new president?
The sad thing is - it seems to have worked. I will still chime in when Nirvanix news bubbles up in the blogosphere or wherever, and still track the news when I can, but I don’t see what more can be done. Nirvanix lost millions of files, lied, cheated, and stole, but it appears for now they have won.
Steve Iverson: Nirvanix are liars, blame-shifters, and have threatened to SUE me!
READ THIS STORY!! I’ll repost Steve Iverson’s comment here for more exposure, but the story broke on the Unofficial Nirvanix Users Forum and any comments should be posted over there. All emphasis MINE.
This is groundbreaking stuff here. Unfortunately it looks like Nirvanix is gonna get away with it because Iverson and MM/TLU are going bankrupt, and Nirvanix is figuratively swimming in venture capital which they can use to sue anyone who offends them. For those unaware, Steve Iverson is the founder and president of Streamload, Mediamax, and The Linkup. Nirvanix is a spin-off company of Mediamax.
STEVE IVERSON’S COMMENTS:
MediaMax has tried to avoid adding more fuel to our bad-PR fire because we do not have any new, useful information to add beyond what has been posted on our official blog, but I do feel it is now necessary to correct some new misinformation.
I’ll start now with a short clarification now, and will try and follow up in a couple days with more details.
First, I’m sorry if there has been false hope given that additional access will be made to customer files. This is simply not the case. Only the files that are currently in your account are the files that will be available for download through this Friday. I think Nirvanix is in panic-mode and is, not surprisingly, trying to divert all responsibility to MediaMax. There is nothing we can do. If any of this were possible we would not be closing our business.
Many of Nirvanix’s claims are not true. Given that we now have zero employees, no money, and are shutting down in 5 days, MediaMax is an easy target. Nirvanix also has millions of dollars to continue their PR campaign and has indirectly threatened John and I with personal lawsuits. If continuing this fight would bring back customer files or fix problems of the past, I would do so. But, at this point, there is nothing to gain and the major problems cannot be fixed. Answering questions or “telling our side of the story” is not going to provide any true benefit to anyone (get customer files back), and exposes me to significant personal liability. Right or wrong, this is America and they can sue anyone for anything, and John and I and trying to move on with life and find new jobs. Further, I think Nirvanix has learned that I may be going to work for one of their competitors, and they are doing their best to discredit me and the value that I bring to a competitor.
Regardless, to clarify Nirvanix’s most recent campaign of misinformation:
- As I stated above, the “MediaMax front-end” or database is not a solution to the problem. We do not have access to the files. Nirvanix knows this is our position. I could go on for hours about the technical problems involved and solutions attempted and place blame elsewhere, but at this point, it really doesn’t matter whose fault it is. Fundamentally, MediaMax is responsible because you are our customer, and the biggest mistake we made was to trust Nirvanix to manage our customer data - yes, it was on the “old Streamload system”, and not their new Nirvanix SDN, but I believe the care and attention that was required was not there and was beyond unprofessional.
- I am in communication with Nirvanix, and to state otherwise is patently wrong. In fact, I sent their CEO emails (and cc’d 3 other Nirvanix employees, including a direct report to Jonathan Buckley) on 7/21, 7/25, and 7/30 (Wed), and received a reply on 7/31 (Thursday) and another email from their CFO on 8/1 (Friday). After reading your blog post last night (Sunday), I emailed Jonathan Buckley and have now heard from him and their CFO again this morning (Monday). Jonathan has my contact info and he probably works with 15 people daily who also have my contact info if he had misplaced it.
- And irrelevant of solving customer problems, I will note that Nirvanix is actually not a creditor of MediaMax as Jonathan claimed as they have been paid in full for their services.
The popular thing for me to do would be to say “yes, all will be fine if Nirvanix can just get their act together” and divert attention back to them, but that’s not the case. It’s game over, and there is no new information since our last “official” TLU blog post. It’s not the popular statement, but it’s reality and it’s unfortunate for everyone involved.
Nirvanix Propaganda Efforts - watch out!
Recently Nirvanix published an article on their blog claiming they bear no responsibility for the deletion or blocking of millions of user files. Though Charlie Jackson (Former MM board member), Steve Iverson (former MM president) and John Hood (former MM Customer Service head) all state that Nirvanix is one way or another DIRECTLY at fault, Nirvanix says, I guess, all those guys are lying.
Whatever, that’s not what this is about. What this is about is someone is going around the net shilling for Nirvanix, using different names and IP addresses. I realized they had shills but didn’t realize that I have proof of it on this very blog.
It started over on the Unofficial Nirvanix Users forum reported:
someone with the ip address of 68.15.28.125 and using the email address of jas@yahoo.com, who just happens to be in the San Diego area, is trying to get to get Nirvanix’s point of view across by getting blogger’s to publish his comment containing a link to the Nirvanix Blog about how we have written un-truths about the company.
This comment made me realize that I too had gotten SEVERAL comments on this very blog lately doing the same thing - containing a link to another website where the alleged “truth” was revealed - the truth being that Nirvanix bore no responsibility. I didn’t put things together, but I checked the comment details today.
I received comments from 3 people: Eric, Darren, and Nick. They all had different user names and different IP addresses, but the SAME email address.
So if you have a blog, and someone has posted pro-Nirvanix comments, please go into your blog administration screen and find all of those suspicious patterns - different names under same IP address, different emails but same name, different name but same emails, etc. If you find anything, please send it to me on my comment form at the top of the page, I will post it here.
WATCH OUT FOR THESE PEOPLE:
IP ADDRESSES:
68.15.28.125
24.199.49.114
67.49.39.31
USERNAMES:
Nick
Eric
Darren
EMAILS:
jas@yahoo.com
ecj1983@msn.com
Wow!
This site has been down for a while, and a lot has happened!
Mediamax/Streamload/The Linkup is going out of business and filing bankruptcy.
Two former employees of Mediamax/Linkup/Streamload say that it was actually NIRVANIX who deleted all the customer files, and that Nirvanix may actually still have them.
Nirvanix denies responsibility. I’m gonna add a lot of data to this time permitting.
Reply to Jonathon Buckley of Nirvanix
This is in response to comments by Jonathon Buckley of Nirvanix, which can be found on TechCrunch on this post.
1. The StreamLoad/MediaMax/theLinkUp corporate entity, ownership, management…everything are completely separate from the entity known as Nirvanix.
Patrick Harr is CEO of Nirvanix. He was formerly CEO of MediaMax.
Greg Bohdan is the CFO of Nirvanix. He was formerly CFO of MediaMax. He was also formerly CFO and is currently on the Board of Directors of the “San Diego Venture Group”, which FUNDED MediaMax.
Geoff Tudor was Senior Vice President of Products and Engineering at Streamload. He is now COO & VP of Engineering at Nirvanix.
Adrian Herrera was the Director of Business Development at Streamload. He is now the Director of Business Development at Nirvanix.
Steve Iverson is the current president of MediaMax, founder, and former CTO. He has admitted that Nirvanix is a spin-off company from MediaMax, and that the behind the scenes creation of Nirvanix BY MediaMax is part of the reason for the massive failures experienced by them.
* Nirvanix is located at 525 B St, San Diego, CA.
* MediaMax is located at 600 B St, San Diego, CA.
According to Google Maps, those locations are only 203 feet away from each other. However, if you search California corporate records, they’re both listed as 525 B St.
He (HARR) was CEO of Streamload for but two months before splitting off and founding Nirvanix.
Which again, IS a spin-off, uses SAME computers and personnel, etc. He was so successful in presiding over the failure that is Streamload/Mediamax/The Linkup, that he was rewarded a new job - president of sham spin-off?
The truth is - you wanted a fresh start, but the Mediamax/Streamload name was tainted. So you made a new company with a new name, but the same people, same servers, etc - that is INEXORABLY intertwined with the old one.
We’re not stupid. We know what you’re trying to pull.
3. Neither Streamload nor Nirvanix have any ownership in each other. They are different businesses in every way shape and form.
Except for ADMITTEDLY using the same servers, one being a so-called “client” of another, sharing personnel, and according to corporate records, even sharing the same address (525 B St., San Diego, CA 92101).
Nirvanix has raised $18M in venture capital from top firms including Intel Capital. The due diligence involved in this process alone is daunting. We can ensure you that we could not have made it through this process if even 5% of the terrible things that have been inferred about a “Nirvanix conspiracy” were correct.
Even the most horrible companies have raised venture capital - I offer as proof that Mediamax was able to do so, and look at the crapfest THEY turned out to be. Maybe Greg Bohdan, a guy who was on the BoD of the San Diego Venture group which funded Mediamax and who now works for Nirvanix, helped out?
There are now nearly 400 businesses built or in the process of launching with Nirvanix as their storage cloud supporting it, including Streamload.
I’m hoping those unsuspecting businesses will read this and abandon this sinking ship before it is too late. History repeats itself, everyone - and Nirvanix is doomed to repeat the mistakes of it’s previous incarnations - Streamload, Mediamax, et al.
For those on this thread that lost irreplaceable data, this is the worst-case scenario for you or anybody and certainly for a storage provider - free or not. Best practices would have you place multiple copies in multiple locations, even with a paid service advertising backup etc. This goes for the folks that are using a backup drive locally. Make sure you get a copy offsite.
So, basically - sorry we lost your data, but it is your own damn fault. You should back up your data offsite! Nevermind that many users were using Mediamax/Nirvanix/Streamload/The Linkup AS their offsite backup! Hey, wait - there is no “Sorry” in there at all, huh.
We lost your data, we’re not sorry about it, and it’s your own damn fault for trusting us - Jonathon Buckley
People still recommending MediaMax???
Even though MediaMax.com isn’t even AROUND anymore, people are still recommending it. Some dumbass site called “Reboots DaMachina” offers yet another list of “Excellent Web Based Tools”.
Guess who is on the list under “File Storage”???
That’s right - they’re recommending Mediamax - a site that doesn’t even exist anymore, and when it did exist it was TERRIBLE, as an “Excellent web-based tool”?
This is ridiculous. It kind of reminds me how, just a few months ago before the change to “The Linkup”, MediaMax was still using positive reviews they’d received from various online and offline magazines to promote themselves, like PC Magazine. Despite the fact that the service was nowhere NEAR as good as it was when they received those reviews.
Off topic - I actually wrote some of those who had given positive reviews and asked them what they thought of Mediamax STILL using their positive reviews after losing what must be terabytes of customer data FOREVER - but they all said that they didn’t revisit old reviews.
This Dutch blog is also recommending Mediamax - I went on and left some comments in Dutch setting him straight. Unfortunately, he chose to delete them.
MediaMax: Massive Failure felt around the world
As mentioned earlier, I’m seriously considering writing a book about the Mediamax story. If you’re interested, shoot me your contact info via the contact form above.
While researching, I’ve been finding a lot of posts originating in India lately. Here are a couple.
- Desipundit: Perils of Free Online Storage
- Visceral Observations: Streamload/MediaMax/Linkup: Cheats and Offenders on Web
- Needlessly Messianic: MediaMax / Streamload Shuts Down!
- Short Stories: Streamload/MediaMax/LinkUp - Don’t Trust Their Services
Help Us Write the Book on MediaMax/Streamload/The Linkup/Nirvanix!!!
Some former/current users are collaborating on a book on this topic. Nothing fancy, we’re gonna publish through CreateSpace. You’re not gonna be a millionaire if you help out with this book, sorry.
But we’re gonna put it up on Google Books, so it will show up in Google searches, and it’s gonna be available to purchase (a REAL book!) on Amazon.
If you have any horror stories about your experiences with these scammers, I have made a handy online form you can use to submit your experiences. If you want to collaborate on this book (you WILL get co-author credit!) please remember to leave your email on this form!
Tell us your Mediamax aka Streamload aka Nirvanix aka The Linkup HORROR STORIES!
We’re writing a book and we need to know your stories. If they have wronged you in any way, please fill out our short online survey. Thank you!
Click here for the survey. Add your email if you want to take part in writing the book!
Did they really think they could trick us?
A popular claim of the Mediamax aka Streamload aka The Linkup aka Nirvanix bunch is that they are in fact DIFFERENT companies, therefore you mustn’t hold one responsible for another.
Let’s be clear - they are the same. They’re a mere 200 feet away from each other. Nirvanix provides storage space for the others. Nirvanix has the same CEO and other former employees as the others.
They are trying to DECEIVE you - to make you think you can trust them because they did a little corporate restructuring, or got a new office - don’t let them FOOL you! Nirvanix IS Streamload! Streamload IS Mediamax! Mediamax IS “The Linkup!” It’s the same, and unless you heed our warnings (those who’ve been down this path before) you will lose your MONEY and your DATA!
Note from Steve Iverson
Today I received this mail from Steve Iverson, the man who started it all, the man without whom this blog wouldn’t exist. In the email he challenged me to post the email in this very blog, out of some sense of “fairness”. Normally I’d read the email for any new insights into the matter, and, upon finding it contained none, delete it - but today I decided to post it for your perusal. But since this is not an official Nirvanix/Streamload/The Linkup/Mediamax propaganda organ, I’ve commented upon it, rebutting all your claims and allegations. Steve’s posts are in bold italics.
I understand you are clearly very upset, but if you’re looking for clarificationon any issues, I’d be happy to discuss further - either via phone or in person since it looks like we both live downtown.
I’m not sure what “clarification” you could offer that you and your minions, either by email, posts on official blogs, or comments on complainant blogs could offer. If you had anything new to add, I’m sure you would have added it to one of those places. I am not going to risk opening myself up to possible reprisals from Nirvanix aka Streamload aka Mediamax aka “The Linkup” corporate lawyers for exercising my rights of free speech. Heck, you already had Newsvine.com censor my articles posted there on the topic.
I’ve made this offer before with no reply. Or geez, even email me - since I don’t know who you are I’m not sure I’ve ever even received an email from you.
You have received emails from me. Any insights they contained have been posted on this blog - that you can’t recognize them by reading this blog indicates that it is just the same stuff you tell everyone. Another reason why it would be fruitless to call or meet you - you’d just parrot your previous answers.
I don’t understand why you’re trying to dig for information when I’ve offered to answer any questions you may have directly, or at least present my side of the story. Then if you choose to believe me or not that’s up to you.
Again, again, again - we’ve HEARD your side! We’ve read your blog, we’ve read the email replies from your company’s customer service, we’ve read comments on OUR blogs from your employees and yourself - we’ve been reading it for YEARS and it is always the SAME! “Sorry for the delays, but everything should be working shortly” or slight variations thereof. Or apologies and assurances that everything is now fixed, such as when you double or triple charge credit cards of those who have cancelled, etc.
But, if your intent it try to stir up some controversy or scandal that does not exist, then I suppose you’re as welcome as anyone to continue to post half or false information to your anonymous blog.
Doesn’t exist? Okay, I have a challenge for YOU. Set up an online survey on your site. Not a blogger or wordpress poll - I’m talking about a REAL survey that can be taken by anyone who has ever had an account with one of your sites under any name it has every had.
Make the results of the poll appear another place on your site IN REAL TIME, to prevent anyone from altering the results. Post about it on your blog and send a mass email to all your members. Ask them if they’ve had any troubles with your sites, what the troubles are, were they corrected, if so how long did it take, if not how often did they recur, you get the idea. If it is too difficult to judge yourself objectively, believe me I’d be willing to help with this as would hundreds if not thousands of disgruntled members.
Do this and you will quickly learn that we’re not “creating” this controversy - it has been created and administered TO us and we’ve been VICTIMIZED by it, by your company.
At the very least, I feel that you should post this comment to you blog, so your readers know that you’ve had the opportunity to get direct answers to your questions, but for whatever reason haven chosen to ignore that path.
Here it is, people, and Steve. Make of it what you will.
Call for Submissions for Streamload / MediaMax / Nirvanix / TheLinkUp BOOK!
100% Serious - I am going to write a book about this fiasco.
I’m calling for submissions - submit any info you have, through my contact form - link above.
EXAMPLES:
- Private data
- Emails received from employees
- All the lies you’ve been told
- Your personal testimony and the hell they’ve put you through
I myself am going to include much of the content on this blog, including the time they censored me on Newsvine.com.
I can’t pay you, because - let’s be honest - this isn’t gonna be a bestseller! I’m gonna publish it through CreateSpace.com so at least it’ll be available on Amazon. I live only about a mile away from Streamload/Mediamax/Nirvanix/TheLinkUp headquarters so I’m in a good position to do some on the ground investigative reporting.
Anyway, if you’re interested AT ALL in contributing, even if only to help PROOFREAD, please contact me via the contact form. All emails will be PRIVATE, so don’t worry!! Join the battle and get justice for what they’ve put you through!
MediaMax aka Streamload aka Nirvanix is changing name/identity AGAIN
In just the latest in a long line of attempts to confuse users and remove themselves from the fetid stench of their many past failures, MediaMax/Streamload/Nirvanix are “rebranding” themselves AGAIN - this time as “The Link Up“. More like “The Stink Up” (ha!).
You can BET there is gonna be more news to come on this crapulous development!
MediaMax President: We didn’t censor you, it must have been Nirvanix
As any reader of this blog or the MediaMax Users Blog will know, internet news site Newsvine recently censored my articles about MediaMax/Nirvanix/Streamload at the behest of what they referred to as “the subject of the article”.
Of course, I backed them up on this site. You can read them here:
Anyway, there has been lots of discussion about this censorship over at the MediaMax users blog, and the president of MediaMax (Iverson) felt compelled to chime in. In his comment he denied anyone at MediaMax gave Newsvine the order to delete my article and said it must have been someone from Nirvanix. His quote:
MediaMax did not request that article or comments to be taken down - that is patently wrong. I can only assume someone from Nirvanix requested that but I have not confirmed with them yet.
I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt - although I don’t know why. So, now the blame falls squarely upon Nirvanix and Patrick Harr.
Mr. Harr - why do you feel the need to censor comments and articles critical of your service? And will this censorship carry on to the files you host? I mean, does Nirvanix reserve the right to delete any files that users are hosting with you, if anyone merely disagrees with them? What is your stand on freedom of speech?
It has been said that many employees from Streamload/MediaMax went over to Nirvanix. So now, the team that screwed the users over for a year, messing with their files, erasing or making them disappear, etc - is now in charge over at Nirvanix. And no longer content to simply screw over the users, they won’t be happy until they can censor all those critical of their enterprise.
To Mr. Iverson: It is disingenuous to say that none of those people ever worked for MediaMax, because MediaMax has only existed since July. Most users have known Streamload AS the MediaMax name because you changed the URL. This is why I use the title Streamload/MediaMax when discussing it, so people will know they are one and the same.
On the MediaMax users blog, Mr. Iverson invited any users interested to participate in a conference call with him. I say everyone should accept this offer en masse so that we might finally be allowed to question the people who have treated the users so poorly over this past year. Now if only Mr. Harr and Nirvanix would follow suit - they were also in charge during this past year at MediaMax and they share some of the blame - merely splitting off into their own company that is “affiliated” with MediaMax doesn’t absolve them.
Don’t Be Fooled: Nirvanix IS Mediamax!
Lately, there has been some debate as to how closely related Nirvanix, the new competitor to S3, is to MediaMax, the failed online storage company. As it turns out, it is quite hard to tell them apart. Here are some facts:
Patrick Harr is CEO of Nirvanix. He was formerly CEO of MediaMax.
Greg Bohdan is the CFO of Nirvanix. He was formerly CFO of MediaMax. He was also formerly CFO and is currently on the Board of Directors of the “San Diego Venture Group”, which FUNDED MediaMax.
Geoff Tudor was Senior Vice President of Products and Engineering at Streamload. He is now COO & VP of Engineering at Nirvanix.
Adrian Herrera was the Director of Business Development at Streamload. He is now the Director of Business Development at Nirvanix.
Steve Iverson is the current president of MediaMax, founder, and former CTO. He has admitted that Nirvanix is a spin-off company from MediaMax, and that the behind the scenes creation of Nirvanix BY MediaMax is part of the reason for the massive failures experienced by them in the past few months.
- Nirvanix is located at 525 B St, San Diego, CA.
- MediaMax is located at 600 B St, San Diego, CA.
According to Google Maps, those locations are only 203 feet away from each other. However, if you search California corporate records, they’re both listed as 525 B St.
So the next time someone tells you that these are two different companies with two different teams, remember this article. And ask yourself if you really want to trust any of your data to MediaMax.com.
For more information on how MediaMax treats it’s customers (and a preview of how Nirvanix might do so) check out these links.
Nirvanix: Amazon S3 Killer, or Crap in Sheep’s Clothing?
Streamload Upgrade Goes Very Wrong; Some Users Revolt
Nirvanix: Amazon S3 Killer, or Crap in Sheep’s Clothing?
NOTE: This article originally posted on Newsvine.com, who censored and deleted it at Nirvanix’s command. Everything below this disclaimer is from the original article.
UPDATE: Apparently, the subject of this article thinks it
contains inaccuracies, so guess what? Nirvanix/Streamload/MediaMax
bullied Newsvine into making me allow their comments on this article,
so prepare your BS detectors for whatever crap they spew in the
comments section.
And for those who say they that Streamload/MediaMax/Nirvanix are different companies, this article proves otherwise.
There’s been a lot of talk on the so-called “blogosphere” about Nirvanix, the new upstart company rising to challenge the mighty Amazon S3. Unfortunately, the true story isn’t as glorious or inspiring.
Let me tell you a tale.
The year was 2005, and a new site debuted to rave reviews. The site was Streamload.com, and it had a great deal. Get 10 free GB of storage (soon raised to 25) for FREE. Upload and download times seemed good, they had an innovative
technique which was too technical for me to understand, but the point is - it worked, and it was good. But you know what they say about all good things.
Back in those days, Steve Iverson was the President/CEO. And in September of 2005, they issued a press release announcing a product called “Streamload MediaMax”. MediaMax, they said, would be “the world’s largest online media center, helps consumers centrally store, organize, access, and share their entire media collection.” That’s only
the beginning of their grandiose promises - Click here for the whole release. I think they promised a free car for every American in there somewhere.
Then, somewhere in 2006, things started to fall apart. “Streamload Mediamax” failed to live up to the promised awesomeness. Despite this, the site took the plunge changed from Streamload.com to MediaMax.com. Then, the event that started what some MediaMax users have deemed “The
Year of Hell”. MediaMax decided to change or upgrade their servers.
All hell broke loose. What does this have to do with Nirvanix? Hold your horses, you’ll know soon enough. You youngsters are too impatient today, with your MTV and your internet porn.
So, back to MediaMax. After the “upgrade”, things began to suck mightily. Uploading was spotty. Downloading was near impossible. Files would go missing. Eventually users weren’t able to access their pictures and files - those sections were thereafter removed from the site. Comments were shut off of the blog when too many asked questions (yet they force third parties to accept their OWN comments in the interest of fairness, see below). Emails for help went unreturned, or
with auto-replies that had nothing to do with the questions being asked. And those things were just for the lucky users - the unlucky ones woke up to find MediaMax had given them herpes.
Okay, that herpes thing is just an internet rumor, but the rest is verifiably accurate and is still going on to this day, a year later.
But in 2007, a new sheriff rolled into town. Mr. Patrick Harr was appointed President/CEO of the company, a position he would only hold for a few months. Why so short a tenure? Was he fired because MediaMax continued the colossal downhill slide to the grave? That’s what you’d think, but no - he was actually given a NEW job, some might say a better one.
Behind the scenes, MediaMax/Streamload was developing yet ANOTHER new company - Nirvanix. Harr would lead this company, which would compete directly with Amazon.com’s S3 service in “partnership” with MediaMax. To make it even clearer: Nirvanix is an offshoot of MediaMax, and the president of Nirvanix is the old president of MediaMax. The new president of MediaMax? Why, it is the OLD president, Steve Iverson. Meet the new boss, indeed.
Nirvanix is being billed as an entirely new company, with new funding, new ideas, and new methods. But really, it is being organized and run by two guys (and their cronies) who have completely and utterly screwed THOUSANDS of users, who to this day still cannot access their files and pictures. Instead of working overtime to fix the problems which have festered for a YEAR, they scheme behind the scenes to create a new company which will be “affiliated” with the old company. That way, they can begin anew as Nirvanix, while staying slightly removed from the rotting stench that is MediaMax.com.
Neat trick, isn’t it? Your company begins to suck, and you just start a new one, and say it is “partnering” with the old one.
Now, I realize this article is a bit meandering, dramatic, and took a while to get to the point. Hey, I’m no Danielle Steele, or whatever famous writer the kids like nowadays. I’m just a guy who wants to warn you. Be careful when having anything to do with Nirvanix.com. And don’t let anyone confuse you - it is the same company with the same management - Streamload = MediaMax = Nirvanix. They are the same. And
sucky companies don’t just become unsucky by getting a snazzy new name and lots of internet hype. They remain sucky until things change drastically.
Please, do your own research on this. Don’t believe me, and for crying out loud, don’t believe THEM. Find the facts for yourself, talk to MediaMax users, hear their stories, and then decide if it is really worth it to trust the integrity and availability of your data to these people.
UPDATE:
I just got an email from Newsvine. They say that the subject of this article complained about alleged inaccuracies. Well, I guess they’d know about inaccuracies, having been the source of so many of them (it’s only temporary, your files will be ready soon, etc). You’d be hard pressed to find a statement they made in the past year that DID turn out accurate.
They also requested (nay, DEMANDED) that I turn comments on, so that they may reply to this article. Wow, what irony - amulti-million dollar company that disabled comments on their official blog when too many people complained, is asking me for the opportunity they denied thousands of their customers! Well, they’ve got balls, I must give them that.
Request denied.
You see, I wanted to get my views across, so I used my Newsvine column. If they’re so upset, let them start their own Newsvine column. Or, let them use their official blog site to reply where the world can see it. I’m not about to open up yet another forum where their shills can post glowing praise for the company, like they do in the blog comments of so
many other sites. But, at heart, I have a sense of fairness - so I will post links to those pages in the “more information” section below.
Update 2:
Well, I just got another email from Newsvine. They basically said “Let Nirvanix/Streamload/MediaMax deface your article with their comments, or we’ll just take it down.” Hey, Newsvine - maybe you can talk them into allowing public comments on their blog, or it just gonna be a one-way thing, big company bullies the little guy into so-called “equal time”, but still gets to censor their own site?
Whatever - it seems I have no choice. They said it goes against the spirit of Newsvine to put forth controversial opinions (they’re not controversial, ask any MediaMax user and you’ll find they are quite commonly held) without allowing the other side to reply (Which is exactly what MediaMax did on their own official, so I guess THEY go
against the so-called “Newsvine spirit”). But whatever - I don’t want to get banned, so I guess I better fall in line. Another victory of MediaMax vs their users. Congratulations, MediaMax/Streamload/Nirvanix!
For More Information:
TechCrunch: Streamload Upgrade Goes Very Wrong; Some Users Revolt
Mashable: Nirvanix To Launch B2B Online Storage: Amazon S3 Competitor?
MediaMax: We Need You Started by users after MediaMax shut off comments on the official blog
MediaMax: Official MediaMax/Streamload blog
Backups of Censored Newsvine Articles about Nirvanix and MediaMax
I started this blog primarily as a means to backup the articles which were censored by Newsvine.
Nirvanix: Amazon S3 Killer, or Crap in Sheep’s Clothing?
Don’t Be Fooled: Nirvanix IS Mediamax!
Newsvine: Our Purpose is Not News
Recently, I did some research and posted a few articles about the Mediamax/Nirvanix/Streamload ripoff of their customers, and proving that they’re basically the same company (though they claim otherwise.)
Nirvanix/Streamload/Mediamax complained to Newsvine about this, who promptly deleted the offending articles. I of course wrote to Newsvine to ask about this. They said:
We have reviewed the articles you reference as having been taken
down. In such cases, Newsvine only restores content deemed to be
clearly appropriate for our readers and within the terms set out by
our User Agreement.Thus far, we have been contacted by both you and the company that is
the subject of your writings. Since we have no way to determine
which party’s claims are legitimate, and Newsvine is not in the
business of arbitrating such disputes, we recommend that you (and the
company you wrote the articles about) take your dispute elsewhere.Of course, you are still welcome to use Newsvine for its intended
purposes.
First of all, this just proves that if you want Newsvine to remove any article, hey - just ask! But secondly, they say “you are still welcome to use Newsvine for its intended purposes”.
I thought the purpose of Newsvine was to report NEWS. I wrote some news about a serious problem that has been experienced by TENS OF THOUSANDS of MediaMax/Streamload/Nirvanix users. I also wrote an article containing original research proving that MediaMax and Nirvanix are the same company.
This is news - this is what news IS.
But - those aren’t, I guess, the “intended purposes”. So now we know that NEWS is not the intended purpose of Newvine. What is the other possible purpose? I would say DISCUSSING NEWS - but that’s not it, either. You see, some of the people who came to Newsvine to comment on my article signed up JUST for that purpose - and the article, including their comments (none of which were in disagreement with my article) were deleted.
So, now that we know that news, and the discussion of thereof, is NOT the purpose of Newsvine - what is? (Besides bending over whenever ordered to do so at the slightest suggestion of anyone who doesn’t like any of their articles…)
Wanna Get Newsvine to Remove an Article? Just Ask Them!
Recently, I posted some information critical of MediaMax and Nirvanix to Newsvine.com. I wanted to expose the truth about those websites, and what they’d put their users through in the past year.
I did not, however, enable comments, because I believe that they would send their minions to deface my article with spam.
I later got an email from Newsvine saying that MediaMax/Nirvanix/Streamload had complained, and demanded the right to comment on my article. Of course, I declined! I then got ANOTHER email from Newsvine saying that if I didn’t allow Nirvanix/Mediamax/Streamload to comment, they would delete my article. What makes this so ironic is that Mediamax had an official blog, and turned off the ability to leave comments on it after too many complained - so basically, they were saying “Comments for us, but not for you!”
So, I complied with their demands and allowed comments. Almost immediately, I got over a dozen comments from former and current MediaMax users, complaining about how they’d been treated.
Surprisingly however, Streamload/MediaMax/Nirvanix didn’t comment! I believe this is because they thought they’d be the only one commenting on the articles. Then they saw that some of the people they’d digitally defecated on would be there to pick apart whatever crap they’d spew, so they decided not to reply after all.
I wrote Newsvine back and told them “Hey, I turned on comments like you ordered, please write MediaMax/Streamload/Nirvanix and tell them to put their money where their mouth is!”
The next morning, my articles were deleted.
I emailed Newsvine to ask why. Here is what they said:
Thus far, we have been contacted by both you and the company that is
the subject of your writings. Since we have no way to determine
which party’s claims are legitimate, and Newsvine is not in the
business of arbitrating such disputes, we recommend that you (and the
company you wrote the articles about) take your dispute elsewhere.
In other words, Nirvanix/Streamload/Mediamax merely ASKED them to delete the article, and because they couldn’t decide which party was correct, they just deleted it!
So if anyone posts an article you don’t like on Newsvine, just tell them that you disagree with the facts. They will promptly delete that article the very next day! Expect thousands of articles critical about George W Bush to “disappear” when the White House finds out about this Newsvine policy.