Startups unite to drive nail into the coffin of Internet Explorer 6
If you’re still using Internet Explorer 6 — the frequently criticized web browser that was first released in 2001 — the Internet is becoming an increasingly hostile place.
Popular sites like YouTube are telling visitors who are using IE6 that they need to switch to a “modern browser” like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox 3.5, or Microsoft’s own Internet Explorer 8. There are even sites like Bring Down IE 6 devoted to getting web users off IE6.
Now… Continue Reading
Google makes a Digg for the Recession
When I first read that Google was launching something called Tip Jar, I assumed it was again spreading its monetization strategy to now including taking tips (something which the service TipJoy does). But I was wrong. The service is a place where users go to submit and receive tips on how to best save money in our troubled economic environment. The users then rank those tips, to make it a sort of Digg for the… Continue Reading
Preview: Reddit strikes back with its official iPhone app
Last month, I wrote about two different Reddit applications for the iPhone, neither one actually made by the social voting site. While both were pretty good, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian clearly thought an official one could do a bit better — so they made one.
Due to hit the App Store shortly, iReddit has all the features you’d expect from a Reddit iPhone app: voting, commenting and the ability to switch to different sub-Reddits. It also… Continue Reading
Preview: Satellite, another Reddit iPhone app — but with voting
Last week, I took a look at the application for the iPhone made for the social voting site Reddit. Appropriately called ‘reddit,” though not an official app, it does a nice job of showcasing and giving you access to the most popular stories on Reddit at any given time. One feature it did not have however, was the ability to vote on stories. A new app, Satellite, another application built for Reddit, set to be… Continue Reading
Reddit gets an (unofficial) iPhone app
Since the App Store launched this past summer, it was odd to me that none of the big social-voting sites have launched iPhone apps. Sure, all work on the iPhone’s Safari web browser, and some, like Digg, are even optimized for it, but given how devoted some of those sites’ users are, it would seem logical to create slick apps for the services. Now there is one — unofficially — for Reddit.
The app, made by… Continue Reading
Custom Reddits get even more customizable
The social news voting site Reddit took a step outside the norm back in January when it announced it would allow any Reddit user to create their own custom Reddit. If you liked candy for example, you could create a Reddit devoted to that and restrict its usage to ensure only the people you really wanted participated in your community. However, these custom Reddits still very much retained the look and feel of the actual… Continue Reading
Digg to offer sub-Diggs for niche audiences — sounds like a good match with Facebook Connect
News aggregator site Digg plans to introduce “sub-Diggs” that let small groups of users create their own news aggregators, similar to what smaller rivals Reddit and Mixx already offer, according to The Windy Citizen. It’s not clear if this means sub-sites within Digg.com or if users will be able to use Digg’s software to create completely separate sites — Reddit has notably open-sourced its software code to enable the latter.
Also, this is especially interesting because… Continue Reading
The Recommendation Engine may well make Digg useful again
It’s been a long time coming, but Digg is finally rolling out its “Recommendation Engine” to registered users this week. The basic idea is that the service will look at what stories you have dugg (the term for when you give an ‘up’ vote to an item) and based upon that, find similar users to you, using them to send you new stories.
Flat out: This is the feature that can make Digg useful to me… Continue Reading
Digg this: Reddit goes open source
In the arena of crowd voting sites there is Digg and then there is everyone else. Every once in a while a challenger will come up that looks promising, but it fades away.
For a while that was Netscape (now called Propeller), then it was Mixx, but now one of the original (and best) challengers is coming back with a vengence. Reddit.
Today the service is announcing that it is going open-source. This means that any developer… Continue Reading
The “classy” Diggnation: Reddit launches a TV show with PBS
When I think of PBS I think of Sesame Street, Masterpiece Theater and Nova. This fall, however, there may be a new show to watch for on the public network: YourWeek, a collaboration between the station and the social news voting site Reddit.
The show, which will run once a week starting June 6th, makes a compelling case for why you should watch it: You can help decide what’s going to be on it. Topics for… Continue Reading
Thoof, a news ranking site that wants to serve the masses
(Updated at bottom with more discussion on differences from Digg, others)
Thoof is the latest company seeking to offer news readers articles that are relevant to them.
The Austin, Tex. company launched today, boasting an approach it says is more useful to the wider masses than competitors such as Digg, Reddit, NewsVine, NowPublic, Topix and others that seek to rank articles. Thoof’s trick is to latch on to information it finds about users’ news tastes, store this… Continue Reading
Collactive seeks to overwhelm Digg, Reddit with interested stories
Updated
Collactive is a new company that lets users mobilize friends and others to get more attention for causes they care about by overwhelming news-ranking sites such as Digg.
Users identify articles or video clips they care about, and then specify what actions they want their friends to take, such as voting for the video or article on Yahoo, Digg, Reddit, YouTube and other news sites. Collactive blasts the request out to the user’s contacts, and makes… Continue Reading
Roundup: Cisco sues, Avvenu, Weatherbill, Techdirt, Blue Origin & more
Here’s the latest wrap-up of Silicon Valley tech news:
Cisco sues Apple over iPhone name — Who cares? If Apple loses, it will come up with a different name. Like, ApplePhone, or iPodPhone. Details of suit.
Yahoo signs deal with Akimbo to deliver video to televisions — Just the latest move in a huge number of deals pushing video to your TV. More details here.
Avvenu shares music via link in email — Avvenu, a Palo Alto start-up has been around… Continue Reading
Wired acquires news ranking site, Reddit
Wired Digital, the SF company that owns Wired magazine and Wired News, has acquired Reddit.com, a news site that lets its users select and rank web content
The purchase price is unknown, suggesting it wasn’t for much, but the Boston start-up was founded only last year, and was built on a mere $100,000 in funding. It is a competitor to San Francisco’s Digg, though is the lesser known.
Wired’s parent company, Condé Nast, has used Reddit technology… Continue Reading