Monthly Archives: March 2008

Website Digg Makes Changes – News Markets – Portfolio.com

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/03/04/Website-Digg-Makes-Changes

From the page: “Has Digg’s nerd juggernaut outlived its usefulness? Kevin Rose, founder of the community-driven news website, apparently thinks so.

Rose is planning changes during the next few months to give individuals more control over how they view stories on the Digg site, shifting power away from the core of loyal and fanatical users”so-called Diggerati”that have built the community-based content-ranking website into one of the stars of Web 2.0.

The problem for Rose, however, is this: The same user devotion that made Digg a hit threatens to manifest itself as a backlash. Digg’s user base is already known for protesting every change in the website’s algorithm for ranking articles, videos, and graphics; the more radical transformation that Rose is proposing is bound to leave many in the Diggerati crying foul.

Digg is just fine with that.”

Dear Digg – Please Ban My Site

http://andybeard.eu/2008/03/dear-digg-please-ban-my-site.html

From the page: “If you have decided my blog isn’t suitable for whatever reason for a Digg audience, please just ban me totally – honestly it is misleading your users if they think they can vote for a story because they honestly think it is newsworthy, and for some algorithm or black flag to automatically determine the news isn’t news because it is from my domain.

Unlike most, I have come to realise I don’t mind being black flagged, but if I am in some way black flagged, make it real – tell people that content from my site isn’t worthy of a Digg audience.”

I totally agree with Andy here, seeing as many sites are automagically buried, can’t digg just be honest about it?

http://solveclimate.com/blog/20080303/why-climate-skeptics-are-really-denialists-and-alarmists-are-misnamed

This week, New York City is playing host to an international conference on climate change different from any other that has gone before. The people convening it, and those making presentations, are all self-proclaimed “climate skeptics.” And here is the purpose of the conference, in words taken verbatim from the invitation letter sent by the sponsor, the Heartland Institute:

The purpose of the conference is to generate international media attention to the fact that many scientists believe forecasts of rapid warming and catastrophic events are not supported by sound science, and that expensive campaigns to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are not necessary or cost-effective.

In other words, it’s a media event designed to promote a fixed point of view with a negative agenda of opposition.

That, ladies and gentlemen (of the media especially) is not a “skeptical” agenda but a denialist enterprise.