Early in the morning today, Kevin Rose announced a major site redesign on digg. The changes include a fluid layout, a top 10 hottest stories list, a podcasting section, and most importantly, a concerted emphasis on video. I’m actually pretty happy about this, since I primarily go to digg for my intake of viral videos.

Nobody can deny the proliferation of online video within the past year. Time magazine has even named “You” as the person of the year, implying that YouTube has allowed everyone of us to easily broadcast ourselves. Watching these videos are millions of bored office workers needing a quick viral video fix during their five minute break. Online video has proven itself to be a huge industry, and, digg’s redesign addresses this.

Digg’s video section was originally located alongside the other categories. Now, it’s been prominently elevated to the top bar right next to News and Podcasts. I’m happy to see this division, because I don’t consider viral videos of your brother singing his rendition of the Backstreet Boys news.

For certain videos, you’re able to view the videos without leaving digg via a lightbox interface. Simply click the play button next to the video thumbnail and watch. The result? Users have easier access to the videos, and, will have a less likely chance of leaving digg.

Digg’s video section is definitely one of the fastest growing sections of the site, and, the redesign is a good response to the demand. I still find digg’s video portal into YouTube to be much more interesting and effective than YouTube’s own featured videos page. And, I’m one of the many people that are consuming YouTube via a third party site.

I never got sucked into the MySpace phenomenon, though my girlfriend uses it religiously. When we got our Maltese, Puff, a few weeks ago, I recommended she sign up for Dogster, which is a social networking site for dogs. She signed up for Dogster on Friday. The simple sign-up process involved a question/answer format and picture upload. She had finished creating our dog’s Dogster page in just a few minutes.  

We immediately wanted to show him to the Dogster community, so we clicked on the groups tab where she found the Maltese Mommies group. She joined and invited another Maltese to be friends with our dog. I checked the site later to find that Puff had his first friend, Charlie. That’s when my addiction began– I was overwhelmed with the unexpected obsession of making my dog the most popular pup on all of Dogster!

After we had one “pup pal”, I quickly jumped on the opportunity to garner many more. I received an invitation to join another group called OnLy PuPs, which I accepted without delay. It is my unfounded belief that the more groups I join, the more pup pals Puff can get. I started shooting off invites like a madman. To my chagrin, I’ve sent out fifteen invites, but Puff only has four friends.

I really like the fact that I can tell how many people have viewed Puff’s page. I dislike that I can’t tell who has given him a bone. In fact, Puff has eight bones, but I’ve given him six of them.

Users are given ten Zealies, the Dogster currency, after joining. Users can buy more of them, or will be given twenty-five a month by signing up for Dogster Plus ($19.95/year). You can use zealies to buy stars or rosettes to give to other dogs…or your own. A rosette is basically a ribbon you would get in a first grade spelling bee. I can see how some people enjoy these, but to be frank, I could care less about them. That is, unless you all want to login to Dogster and give Puff a lot of them!

I’ve given Puff a good start, but he and I have talked, and he will take over further responsibilities for finding new friends on Dogster. Though, it’s such a great site, I will probably still help him.

There’s been a lot of controversy about Digg over the past few months, ranging from cries of secret moderation to condemnations about its worthlessness as a news site. Recently, Jason Clarke of DownloadSquad wrote a scathing article about why Digg is doomed.

For the most part, I tend to agree with Jason about how Digg is more an entertainment site rather than a news site:

Although digg claims to be a news aggregation service, in the scheme of things digg articles skew much further towards the Entertainment side of the online content spectrum than they do to the News side. Therefore, a better analogy to illustrate the problem with the digg community would be to liken it to a rock concert that gets out of control where a riot breaks out. The people in the crowd at the concert weren’t looking for a riot when they showed up at the concert, they were there looking to be entertained. The problem is that when a few idiots in the crowd begin taking part in antisocial behavior, the “wisdom of crowds” tells the people in the crowd (particularly those who feel anonymous) that it’s okay to take part in the nonsense.

A few of my friends and I were at a coffee shop discussing the state of online social media. One of us asked the fabled question, “How do you consume Digg?” All of us agreed that it’s basically the technogeek’s equivalent of reading trashy tabloids on the checkout aisle of the supermarket. I don’t go to Digg for serious news, but rather, for a quick peek at some viral videos and articles.

And, I always have a feeling of guilty pleasure.

However, I think it’s sensationalistic to say that Digg is doomed. There’s a place in the online social ecosystem for entertaining quickie types of links. I’m not sure if this is the vision that Kevin Rose had two years ago when he started Digg, but, it’s the reality at the moment.

So, how do you consume the content on Digg?

This is the year of online videos. With the success of YouTube and their contemporaries, many companies are looking for ways to enhance traditional services with moving images. The recently launched Gigged Up is a job site that is betting on the video phenomenon to change how employers and candidates interact.

Gigged Up allows employers to upload a video along with their job posting. Candidates will be able to get a more personal feel for the company that cannot be conveyed using text. They may also be more apt to view a video, especially if they are on the fence about whether they like a particular job posting.

On the flip side, candidates can also upload their own video for employers to watch. Gigged Up suggests that the video be treated like a first interview, and that the candidate should delineate their background information and goals.

Overall, Gigged Up is an interesting twist to the traditional job site, allowing candidates and employers to interact via online video. However, I am a bit skeptical that many candidates would trust themselves to put up a video interview.

Currently, I don’t see any real videos on the site. The only video is an example clip made by the people of Gigged Up, and the video itself is pretty bad quality. Even more foreboding is the clunky nature of their flash player. They should really consider using the same player as blip, which is simple and fast.

We should all check back when employers start uploading videos. It will be interesting to see if they make fresh and creative videos that draw candidates in more successfully than a plaintext job posting.

How does the face of journalism change when cell phone cameras and small video camera devices become ubiquitous? Instead of the appointed few recording breaking news, we have the eyes of the masses, each equipped with the necessary gear for grassroots journalism. Following in the footsteps of CNN’s I-Report, which allows users to upload video, audio, or photos, comes the more sophisticated You Witness News from Yahoo.

YouTube has already proven the ability for average people to present compelling news stories. Both the UCLA tazing incident and Michael Richard’s racial outbreak were documented by bystanders and first broadcast via YouTube.

You First News allows users to upload photos and videos and have them considered for use in articles on Yahoo News. The primary content on the site right now are a few videos and articles providing tips for citizen journalism. You First News’ stance is that you don’t need fancy equipment or knowledge to capture news–simply being at the right place at the right time, and having an inquisitive mind will suffice.

It’s great to see Yahoo forging ahead in grassroots journalism. You First News may become the outlet for citizen news breaking videos, rather than YouTube, which is a more general video site. Right now, users won’t be paid for content that is shown on Yahoo News. However, if their content gets distributed to Reuters, they will be compensated.

Like many of you, we have been following the tragic Thanksgiving trip made by the Kim family. The wife and children have been found and are safe, but today, we learned that James Kim has passed away while bravely searching for help for his family. We would like to express our deepest condolences to the Kim family.

James Kim was a senior editor at CNET and had a part in running Crave, a consumer gadget blog.

Tonight’s planned San Francisco New Tech Meetup at CNET headquarters will not convene due to the tragic circumstances.

Pandora’s new podcast is a perfect example of how a complementary podcast can boost interest and foster new business developments in a company. Hosted by Kevin Seal, the podcast delves into the world of music theory and analysis with the minds behind the Music Genome Project.

They state on their page

We thought it might be interesting for folks to learn more about what goes into songwriting. These podcasts are our attempt to give you an inside look at the techniques musicians use to put their signature on the music they write and perform.

And indeed, for any music lover out there who wants to become a more active listener, the Pandora Podcast promises to deliver interesting facts about tonality, harmony, melodies, and much more.

The podcast also allows Pandora to show off the wide array of artists that are in their collection and foster interest from listeners to new bands. For example, the first episode features the band 20 Minute Loop demonstrating various principles of harmony. I had never heard of the band before, and, after listening to the show, I am now a fan. In addition, they give many examples of bands that exhibit the musical qualities that they talk about in the show, which they link to in the post.

The podcast serves to educate users about music theory and the principles behind Pandora. But also, it creates buzz about the artists that are featured. Both of these make the podcast a smart move by Pandora.

Bloglines is one of those services that has been stagnant for quite a while. Ever since being acquired by Ask.com, the basic interface has remained unchanged. Regardless of this, Bloglines has dominated in the world of RSS readers, even if it’s not the best.

I suppose the number one reason why I use Bloglines is because I’m entrenched, both mentally and physically. I’ve experimented with other readers, but, I never seem to have enough time to transfer my OPML and learn a new interface. I guess I’m destined to enjoy/loathe the unchanging interface of Bloglines.

That was, until they actually made a change. Gasp.

It was probably a few months ago, but I remember waking up one day and seeing the reading pane automatically refresh without reloading the page. At first, I thought I was hallucinating–no, was this really happening? They actually implemented a useful and elegant feature.

With all jokes aside, Bloglines isn’t really a bad reader, it’s just old. All the cool kids are jumping to newer web RSS readers like Rojo, Google Reader, and Netvibes. The Bloglines team should really think about a redesign, especially with some of their older features that no one uses, like the Clippings, and with some of their newer features, like the potentially confusing Playlists.

It’s Thanksgiving weekend, and what better time to have a write-up about a ridiculous website that has only one offering. When I first heard this on the radio, I couldn’t stop laughing. When James Yu first visited the site, he couldn’t start laughing. I guess it will only be funny to some.

Write someone’s name into “Da breakup song”, and give them a couple reasons why you’re breaking up with them. Maybe they’re cheap, fat, have bad breath, talk too much, have no car, forgot your birthday, blogged mean things about you? All are included in the customizable breakup song. The song is sung, or rapped, by Lady Raptastic, who I think is really a white guy trying to sound like an uneducated African American woman.

While waiting for the song to load there are some funny one-liners such as: “Hold on, I be doin’ my nails”, “OK, I be getting up”, and “Hold on fo’ one sec”. Warning: the beginning of the song, whether you like it or not, will be stuck in your head if you hear it more than twice. I have 3/4 of my family, not including myself, singing the beginning. “Dees song is especially fer you…Jo-el, Jo-el you about to be broke up, Jo-el, Jo-el you about to be broke up.” Catchy, ain’t it?

My interest was sparked when I saw a solitary ad from PayPerPost, the service that pays bloggers to write nice things about companies or products. Upon further research, I found the group behind Da Breakup song, MindComet, is also tightly connected with, if not the parent company of, PayPerPost. Ted Murphy, the Founder and CEO of PayPerPost, is also the Chariman of the Board at MindComet.

Interestingly, the people behind PayPerPost also created Disclosurepolicy.org, a disclosure service that helps bloggers generate a statement that will disclose any conflicts of interest they may have. Ironic. It reminds me of the tobacco companies who pay millions in advertising to tell kids that smoking is bad. I don’t believe the tobacco conglomerates are really opposed to kids trying cigarettes and subsequently becoming addicted to smoking; nor do I believe that PayPerPost wants bloggers disclosing that they are paid to write a favorable post about a certain company. Consumers are more likely to try a product a blogger recommends if they don’t think the blogger was paid to write about it– PayPerPost knows that.

MindComet is an interactive marketing company, and while they have some diverse offerings, I find a lot of what they have to be quite strange. For instance, they have a lot of blogs about different forms of online marketing such as emailmarketingvoodoo.com, cgmvoodoo.com (cgm is consumer generated marketing), and behavioralmarketingvoodoo.com. I’ve studied a lot about marketing, and I think associating voodoo with marketing lessons doesn’t leave a good taste in my mouth. In my mind, Voodoo provokes images of one devious person trying to manipulate or control another.

One good thing that can be said about MindComet is that they are highly productive.

I’m wondering if MindComet were the ones who sent the site to the radio station. And if so, was the station paid to do so or did the DJ just genuinely like the site and song?

Here’s a couple of my favorite lines from Da breakup song:

“I am suspect, when you give a gift to me, because everything you buy is buy one get one free
You so cheap the only time you use Grey Poupon, is when you have a free Grey Pou-pon cou-pon”

Also check out Monkey Mail which is on the Career Builder website. I enjoy the text to speech feature where I type in my Mom’s dog’s name several times and watch the dog look around very bewildered.

Yes, I’m referring to the long awaited results to the BuzzShout blogger contest that ended at the end of October. And while I’m glad my catchy title has caught your attention, I’m sorry to report that we don’t yet have a winner. All submissions are in, and James and I are working together to agree on which one should get the grand prize.

Allow me to explain what has taken us so long. We’ve spent lots of time attending events and interviewing “Web 2.0″ visionaries. The videos that we’ve been posting take a surprisingly long time to edit, though I think we’ve finally gotten through the learning curve and the editing time seems to be going down. By the way, did I mention that the two of us behind BuzzShout also hold down day jobs?

Anyway, we will have a winner picked soon. Thank all of you for your submissions, and keep your eyes on your inbox as we will be emailing the winner before the big announcement. I badly wanted to submit my own entry to win the part of the cash prize that I wasn’t throwing in, but hence I couldn’t. So, if you know of other blogging contests on another site, and if they have a prize as cool as ours, please let me know so I can send them my entry.

Cheers!