Alex Fitzpatrick

shortformblog:

rethinkdigg:

Like many of you, we were dismayed to learn that Google will be shutting down its much-loved, if under-appreciated, Google Reader on July 1st. Through its many incarnations, Google Reader has remained a solid and reliable tool for those who want to ensure they are getting the best from their favorite sections of the Internet. And though they were not wholly appreciated at the time, Reader’s early social features were forward-thinking and hugely useful.

We’ve heard people say that RSS is a thing of the past, and perhaps in its current incarnation it is, but as daily (hourly) users of Google Reader, we’re convinced that it’s a product worth saving. So we’re going to give it our best shot. We’ve been planning to build a reader in the second half of 2013, one that, like Digg, makes the Internet a more approachable and digestible place. After Google’s announcement, we’re moving the project to the top of our priority list. We’re going to build a reader, starting today. [read more]

Anyone notice how freaking awesome Digg has gotten since it got sold to the Betaworks folks? Just saying. They have one of the best daily emails and they’re killing it on the content front. It’s not the same company and it doesn’t spread content the same way, but maybe that’s a good thing because it doesn’t piss you off as much as Digg Mark 2010 did.

Now they’re creating a Google Reader replacement. Awesome.

Betaworks/Digg is the Flash Gordon of the Internet.

The major ISPs have a new anti-piracy system, but how they implement it is up to them.

Worked on this most of the day, and very satisfied with how it turned out.

shortformblog:

We screwed up. It shouldn’t have taken a wave of constructive criticism — but it has — to alert us that we’ve made a mistake, possibly several mistakes. We now realize that as we explored new forms of digital advertising, we failed to update the policies that must govern the decisions we make along the way.  It’s safe to say that we are thinking a lot more about these policies after running this ad than we did beforehand. In the meantime, we have decided to withdraw the ad until we figure all of this out.  We remain committed to and enthusiastic about innovation in digital advertising, but acknowledge—sheepishly—that that we got ahead of ourselves.  We are sorry, and we’re working very hard to put things right.   

If you remember correctly, the ad was something of a spectacle. Fun to look at though.

That Atlantic ad was decidedly a poor choice, but in the end, it will move forward the experiment of native advertising on the web.

This is why anonymity on the Internet is so important. Great work from Mashable intern Fran Berkman.