i've got to agree with the other comments.... there's nothing impressive about url shortening. the idea behind it is incredibly simple -- nowhere near impressive. sites like this have been around for a while already so i'm not sure why all the new web2.0 folks have decided to make it their duty to make new ones. that and pastebins.
I've always been of the belief that humans are incredibly complex, deterministic machines. It would be fascinating to see some people make some breakthroughs in understanding the inner workings of humans although it seems a ways off.
While the (few) screenshots look beautiful, it's hard to find... well... anything on their site. I've been unable to find any detailed API information in their documentation section (although it appears to be a WIP).
Agreed. It seems as if the page has simply been re-engineered to put stories in an arbitrary number of columns. Readability is all but slain. My eye jumps all over the page before focusing on a single story. The only thing I really like from it is the display of the descriptions on the front page. A one-liner summary or something of the sort would really help (although I suppose my RSS feed already does that).
The state of many nations (China, North Korea) is quite scary. Anonymity is a requirement if the people are to be given free speech (without fear of their government -- although people should never fear their government).
I both agree and disagree. I think computer science as a whole has changed (not hindered) social interactions. As an undergrad student I'm constantly whipping out of different social scenes -- from working and hanging around my fellow computer science majors to interfacing with the rest of the world. Naturally, there are a lot of jokes/social quirks sitting on either side of that fence. More and more I have found myself not caring/thinking to judge which side of that fence I'm on and as a result I, on occasion, spit out something that makes no sense to my present company. While I am constantly thinking of new ideas/solutions for various computer science problems, the computer science mindset is one that I am constantly slipping in and out of.
Although not a regular user of digg (for many of the reasons this site exists), I don't see what's so vastly intrusive about it. For a site that aggregates links, it's not totally nonsensical to frame the pages it links to. Also, clicking the 'x' in the upper right corner kills it immediately. I like the thought of being able to digg up an article as I read it rather than reading it, navigating back to digg and digging it.
Not everyone cares about Digg and wants to digg in the first place. If I don't want to digg or have anything to do with the site whenever possible, why should I have to see the bar?
Yes, it makes sense from Digg's perspective as a business. But from my perspective as a user, it sucks and I have a severe dislike for it.
You don't see the bar unless you go to digg, or click a link that some took from digg, without removing ti from the frame (not hard at all). And the person who linked it using the digg, link most likely thinks that adds value (ability to access the comments on that link).
Reddit's had this feature forever, I don't understand why people have a problem with diggs version.
Its not a matter of being hard to remove. It can be the easiest thing in the world to do. But I would still have to keep doing whatever action is necessary to remove the bar. Over and over and over for every link. Plus the X is on the wrong side of the screen for me — Mac's have the Close/Maximize(ish)/Minimie buttons on the left hand side of the window, not right hand side like on Windows.
Reddit's bar is not on by default. Digg's is. This is a big difference. Having the frame and not simply redirecting means I can't see exactly what the pages URL is, it makes bookmarking, sorting and tagging that much harder. And site-specific scripts break.
The point is, it doesn't do anything to help enhance my browsing session. Being able to read comments on Digg is not a plus as far as I'm concerned. Being able to give a company that makes a website I don't use (or particularly like) my browsing habits is not something I have a huge desire to do. Besides, it doesn't put comments directly on the page. I still have to click through to Digg to read them.
Because someone else passed on a link that Digg shortened in a conversation I'm participating in on some level.
People use all sorts of URL shorteners, if I want to see the content they're talking about, my choices are either to click or ask them to shorten it again. And the latter usually interrupts the flow of conversation.
I've loved thesixtyone since the moment I came across the site. It's exactly what music needs in the digital age. I've been exposed to so much more independent music than would have ever been possible without this site. I completely agree with the previous comments about the interface -- It's fantastic. Everything is very pleasing, responsive and intuitive!
That's a pretty awesome story -- I've always wondered whether it was our memories or our ability to recall them that faded! Does anyone know of good reading on the subject?
