Why I Stopped Reading Digg

Today I decided to de-list Digg from my RSS syndicator program. I'm not sure precisely when they changed things, but I noticed recently that I have been unable to directly open articles from my RSS syndicator. You can read this article on Digg (if it'll let you) for more information. Normally I read headlines and entries in my RSS reader. If I'm interested, I will click the headline link, which Liferea sends to Firefox. Links within the article (if there are any) will also open Firefox with the linked webpage. Now, with "Digg v3", when I click the headline link in Liferea, Firefox opens and Digg tells me that I have to subscribe to read the article (this does not happen on some articles, to which I have not discovered a pattern). I have found that doing a search on the Digg website for the article's keywords still allow me to read the article, but introducing the extra step has just caused me to de-list Digg from my RSS reader.

The Hypocrisy of Digg

This brings me to another issue that both annoys me and makes me laugh about the Digg community. It seems as though all the users of Digg are big into what they call "Web 2.0", or "The Semantic Web". This is supposed to be a smarter Internet where data is traded between sites for smart collaboration and data relation (using XML, SOAP, API's, etc). First of all, we are nowhere near having a Web 2.0. Sticking a little orange RSS icon that links to a backend feed does not qualify as making something Web 2.0, but my vision and what should be required to make something Web 2.0 is another post altogether, so I digress. However, I would like to point out that this new account-required Digg completely breaks all the properties of the Web 2.0 that the Digg users subscribe to. The whole point of Web 2.0 is to have open data sharing in a computer readable way to support inter-site data transfer for easier amalgamation and relation of data. In other words, "screen scraping" should no longer be required under Web 2.0. Now the Digg community is not only closed to data sharing, but it is also a members-only site! How does this fall into line with their idea of Web 2.0? Do they think that just because the RSS/Atom feed is still available that this rectifies the problem?

Ah, but this should have been expected, as this attitude has been promoted for a very long time in the Digg community, along with much of the rest of the web. I'm speaking of the use of [Macromedia] Flash to store videos, audio, text, and other media that Flash should not be used for. Various formats have been coming out that support more and more semantic data that is used to describe our media. Take for example EXIF, which stores information about a picture, such as date, aperture, f/, focal length, comments, etc. Using EXIF information I can search for all photos I have taken that have a focal length of less than 30cm, which would mean it is a macro-photography shot. I could in fact search for all photos with a focal length less than 30cm on Google Images (if Google Images supported EXIF). Another example would be the Matroska Media Format, which is primarily used for movies, but it is capable of storing multiple video streams (think angles on a DVD), multiple audio streams (think language dubs), multiple subtitle streams, embedded photos (cover albums or something else), chapters, and comments. In this case, I could search for subtitle text, in any language covered by Unicode, or look for all videos that have an audio language of FR included. Flash, on the other hand, breaks all of these things. When YouTube, Google Video, and others encode videos into Flash, they are disabling and killing off any hope of supporting Web 2.0. The semantic data is gone. The player of my choice is not capable of playing the file. There's also the fact that there is no such thing as a 64-bit Macromedia Flash player (not even Windows 64), and open source versions suck because the format is closed. I just don't understand how people who claim that they support Web 2.0 can allow the obvious breakage of data trading and openness, both on their own site, and on sites they support.

Needless to say, I have decided to remove Digg from my feed syndicator.

Adam Got a Job

Yes, I now have a summer job (and have, in fact, had it for two weeks now). I'm working at a place called the Creative Centre Society - Cheamview Clubhouse for 35 hours a week, 9-4, Mon-Fri. Basically the place is a daytime clubhouse for people with mental illnesses to go and get support. I can't say much, as I agreed to keep the clients information confidential, but it's not a "nuthouse" like some might think. They aren't violent there, and most of the patients actually seem quite normal (their biggest complaints are about arthritis and how their grandchildren live too far away). The age range is also quite varied, but again, it's not like "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" or anything. It's only a day centre for them to get together, socialize, and rehabilitate, so no one lives there and no one is "committed". If any of them turn for the worse, then they get transferred to a different place. It's a good job, where I do a variety of things (better than flipping burgers). This might put a hamper on my weekday hiking availability, but hopefully Eric and I can convince Mike to come out some weekend ;)