please note: some of what i'm writing is being paraphrased from the 'something awful' forum, since the guys there do a pretty good job of explaining everything.
..so i go to check digg like i usually do when i'm looking for interesting to read, and notice that the entire front page looks something similar to
this.
after doing a little searching, i find out that digg's owners have been deleting posts (and ip banning members who post) a certain string of hex numbers, which supposedly allows linux users to circumvent hd dvd piracy protection.
now i don't care about this much because:
1. i'm not a linux user, and
2. even if i were, i'd have no idea how to put this to good use, so it's effectively useless to me.
so now digg's main user base has gotten their panties in a bunch, because they feel that the whole "democratic process" of digg is a sham, and because digg's owners are ignoring the users, who (according to the members) make the site what it is.
blog entry that better explains:
http://www.cjmillisock.com/2007/05/h...from-digg.html
digg is saying that posting the key violates trade secret protections laws, and the users are retorting that you can't copyright a number. according to some (over at SA anyway) the numbers have been available for several months. all in all the whole damn thing is ridiculous. i've known for a while that the majority of digg users were incredibly juvenile, but this just takes it. nothing is getting on the front because of a hex key that probably less than 1% of the general population know how to use. so now almost the entire site ha been rendered defunct because a bunch of little nerds can't have their way. anyways, i'd steer away from digg at the moment, as it is practically useless right now...reddit here i come
p.s. not linking to the something awful thread, sorry