News Inventory

Reports are bubbling up that Digg has permanently banned over 80 users for running scripts that help them automatically perform certain tasks on the site. The mostly lengthy account has been published on the Get Smart Blog under the title The Grim Reaper has visited Digg. The post lists 86 usernames that were unceremoniously dropped from the site without forewarning. The tone of the author and his commenters, all apparently Digg users (or ex-Digg users) themselves, is dramatic: “So many brave and valiant ... Read More

Last Wednesday at about 11 a.m., tech journalist David Cohn was perusing his RSS reader when he came across an article titled “Measuring the ‘Colbert Bump.” The piece summarized the analysis conducted by a political scientist who wanted to quantitatively measure the effects a politician would see if he were to appear on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report. The study found that Democrats who go on the show “enjoy a significant increase in the number and total amount of donations they receive ... Read More

Rumours that user-driven news website Digg is close to being sold to Google Inc. have resurfaced, with the internet search leader reportedly offering around $200 million US for the social news site. Technology blog TechCrunch, citing sources "inside and outside of Google," said Tuesday negotiations have intensified in the last six weeks, with the two companies reportedly signing a letter of intent. TechCrunch had earlier reported in March that Digg was on the verge of being sold, with Google and Microsoft Corp. named as ... Read More