Top Items:

Digging Fraud — Recently it was brought to our attention that several users have created accounts to mass digg and promote stories. While these accounts appear to be valid, they have in certain instances been used for automated in-order (scripted) digging.
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Digg Corrupted: Editor's Playground, not User-Driven Website — UPDATE - my response to Kevin's (non)response — As a follow up to an earlier post (Digg Army: Right in Line), there have been some vibrations that I think not only our readers would find interesting, but also all Digg users.


Suspicious Digging — Have a look at this blog post, which talks about Digg potentially being misused. I posted this partly because I was unable to digg that post. If you scroll down to the list of diggers here and here, you will notice that the order of the first 16 diggers is identical and that only 2 of the 24 vary in each.

The Digg Backlash (or when the wisdom of crowds turns into the madness of the masses) — Update: DIGG did the right thing and turned a bunch of spammers off. The spammers are upset—total non-issue. Rock on TeamDigg... and don't let the bastards get you down!
Discussion:
Publishing 2.0

AIM — Here's where a mash-up between Web 2.0 and the MSM gets interesting, or kind of sad, depending on your perspective. In the morning, someone blogs that AOL is working on a social networking competitor to MySpace. People link to it. Others link to the links.
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AOL To Launch "Myspace Killer" — AOL may be preparing to launch a Myspace-type social network called "Head On" sometime in the next few weeks, says Dave Winer. — This went from rumor to "confirmed likely" in posts and comments by Jason Calacanis and Jordan Running (also here) (both now at AOL).


Rumor Alert: AOL to attempt MySpace assault
Discussion:
Bloggers Blog

The boom is back — Net companies are on fire again. Here's the smart way to invest without getting burned — (FORTUNE Magazine) - Back when the Internet bubble was deflating disastrously, the fashionable view was that we'd never see its like again — and thank goodness.

Wiki For mesh Now Live — We are pleased to announce the release of the mesh conference wiki. There is a pile of excellent content in there, virtually all thanks to the efforts of David Crow (thank you David!). — You can use the wiki to arrange rides to the conference, places to stay, your entertainment in Toronto and lots more.
Discussion:
robhyndman.com
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Why EarthLink needs Wi-Fi to work — With dial-up dying and broadband subscriptions stagnant, EarthLink must build its own networks to survive. — SAN FRANCISCO (Business 2.0 Magazine) - The first-quarter earnings that EarthLink announced today illustrate its plight.


A Tour of Microsoft's Mac Lab — Today I'll stop my 3rd person perspective. I'm going to write a little bit more about what I do to help MacBU ship great software and provide some color around what's it's like to work on Mac software at Microsoft. Often when we have press events …


It's official: Distracted drivers are dangerous — (CNN) — A new study lends scientific credence to what many aready suspect: Drivers dabbing on makeup, chatting on cell phones or eating breakfast are three times as likely to be involved in a crash as more attentive motorists.
Discussion:
Engadget Mobile


State of the Computer Book Market, Part 2 — In this installment, I'll look at specific technology trends as demonstrated by book sales. First off, here's another view of our computer book treemap, this time tweaked a bit to show the hierarchical organization of the category database.

Widgets, BitTorrent, content blocking: Introducing Opera 9 Beta — Opera Software today announced the first public Beta of Opera 9. This version includes Widgets, small Web programs running in their own windows that are fun, easy-to-use and live on users' desktops.

TVGuide.com Launches Blogging Community — Site Showcases 65 Professionally-Written Blogs — NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—April 20, 2006—TVGuide.com (www.tvguide.com) has launched one of the largest professional entertainment blog communities on the Internet, it was announced today …

Apple Origami UMPC? Looks likely — Is Apple working on it's own Origami UMPC device? Well, judging from patent applications filed by Apple in recent months, it seems so. — Does this picture look familiar: — It looks just like variation of Microsoft Touchpack software …