Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Meet The Redditors Who Rule The Internet

shitty watercolour barack obamaWith 400 million uniques in 2012, reddit is one of the most popular websites in the world.

The news and entertainment site lets users submit links or text, which get voted up or down by other users. We at Business Insider can attest to the value of getting a link in a prominent place on reddit (aka the front page of the Internet).

The craziest thing about this online superpower is that it's powered mostly by anonymous users.

The whole thing depends on "karma." Popular posts and comments are upvoted and receive karma, while unpopular ones are downvoted and lose karma. Users with the most karma (especially comment karma) are the superstars of this online community and exert significant power in driving the conversation.

We've pulled a popular comment and information when available from the top comment karma holders. Please email Walt and Gus with suggestions and corrections.

#17 ImNotJesus

ImNotJesus has been a redditor for almost two years and accumulated 363,453 comment karma. He claims to have been employed a suicide hotline.

TOP COMMENT:

In a thread that asked what movie you could turn around and say the good guy was really the bad guy, ImNotJesus said:

Any guy from a romantic comedy that basically stalks the girl and then steals her from her current boyfriend.

He then added:

Edit: Please stop telling me that women aren't property, "stealing a girl" is a figure of speech and it was not intended to imply ownership. The point isn't that the girl is some mindless drone that has no will of her own, it's that trying to seduce someone who's already in a relationship is a dick move. Thank you.

Karma measured on 3/13/13.



#16 pseudolobster

A member since October 2010, pseudolobster has accumulated 377,327 comment karma.

TOP COMMENT:

In a thread featuring this scary photo, pseudolobster commented:

That's what happens when you use your cell phone on a plane.

Karma measured on 3/13/13.



#15 se7en_sinner

A member since November 2011, se7en_sinner has accumulated 378,028 comment karma.

CLASSIC COMMENT:

In a thread about a raccoon that a guy mistook for a cat, se7en_sinner posted this image and commented:

I found your cat.

Karma measured on 3/13/13.



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Google Reader is Discontinued

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Google announced today that it is going to discontinue the Google Reader. This is an RSS feed reader that was one of the most beloved because of the community and simplicity of use. It was always very easy for you to access your Google Reader RSS Feeds in any account on a tablet, PC, MAC, at work and at home. The entire project is due to expire in early July.

Google Reader initially was developed after the company acquired “Blogger.” The same programming team developed an online reader that anyone could use it. When it debuted in 2006, the internet grew to accept this as the default RSS Reader of choice. Google is seeing increased competition from Pulse, Flipboard and a myriad of other services that has diminished their market share.

Google is scaling back on their various web projects and announced 11 others that would be canned within the next few months. This might be good news, because Google Reader had not received any updates in many months and feature/bug requests were all basically ignored. Its better to go out now, then wallow in obscurity. The only positive note, is that rival service Feedly, said they would clone Google Reader and offer it for free.

Google Reader is Discontinued is a post from: E-Reader News


Google Wants To Replace Your Passwords With Jewelry



Jennifer Lopez engagement ring

Amazon Permanently Drops Price of 8.9″ Kindle Fire HD Tablets

Amazon just introduced new lower prices for the entire line of 8.9″ Kindle Fire HD tablets. They also finally released them in Europe and Japan. Clearly the larger Kindle Fires haven’t been selling as well as Amazon had hoped. Amazon never releases Kindle sales figures, but the bestseller lists don’t lie. Amazon’s 8.9″ Kindle Fire [...]

OverDrive Announces Library eBook Leaders

Last year, readers browsing OverDrive-hosted library websites generated 2.7 billion page views and checked out more than 70 million eBooks and audiobooks. Today, OverDrive announced Library eBook Leaders for 2012, recognizing the libraries achieving the greatest growth and exposure for their eBook and audiobook catalogs.

 

Public libraries lending the most eBooks and other digital titles from OverDrive-powered catalogs in 2012:

  1. King County Library System, Wash. (1.3 million checkouts)
  2. New York Public Library (1.1 million checkouts)
  3. Toronto Public Library (900,000 checkouts)
  4. Seattle Public Library (850,000 checkouts)
  5. Hennepin County Library, Minn. (750,000 checkouts)

 

Public libraries recording the fastest growth for their eBook-lending catalogs in 2012:

  1. Moreton Bay Libraries (Australia) (464% growth)
  2. Mideastern Michigan Library Cooperative (370%)
  3. Western Plains Library System (Okla.) (351%)
  4. Up North Michigan Consortium (317%)
  5. Northeast Texas Digital Consortium (300%)

 

OverDrive's 2012 Outreach Program Contest recognized the following partners for raising awareness for eBooks and audiobook collections through effective and creative community outreach campaigns:

  • Best Overall Campaign: Mid-Continent Public Library, Mo.
  • Best Online Campaign: Marion County Public Library System, W. Va.
  • Best Inside the Library Campaign: Sacramento Public Library, Calif.
  • Best Outside the Library Campaign: Kent District Library, Mich.
  • Best Use of Reading Devices: Lambton County Library (Ontario, Canada)

 

We selected Library eBook Leaders based on data available to all partner schools and libraries in Content Reserve,. Lending leaders recognized in this report reflect 2012 checkout data for standalone library systems (versus consortia), and growth is based on the rise in lending from 2011 to 2012. We'll present additional data examining book discovery trends in the digital library during Digipalooza '13, which takes place in Cleveland, August 1-4.

 

Michael Lovett in Public Relations and Social Media Specialist at OverDrive.

 

First Look: Excel 2013 Tutorial

Last week, we gave you Word—this week, we give you Excel! The first 12 lessons of Excel 2013 are now available. Check out the tutorial today.

Time lapse video, for art and for science

Dave Hunt (a familiar name in these parts) has been working on perfecting his Raspberry Pi-controlled camera time lapse rig. Before I go into any more detail, here’s some absolutely stupendous video resulting from his work on the setup. (I recommend you use HD when viewing this – and watch the video in a full-screen setting if you can.)

We’ve featured a few projects here which use the Pi to create time-lapse video, but Dave’s is the most sophisticated we’ve seen yet, adding features like a heater to evaporate dew from the lens and an ability to film rising or falling sequences. There are some great pictures documenting the build at his blog (we’re very impressed by the neatness of the construction work), along with some circuit diagrams and the Python you’ll need to create your own rig. Visit Dave’s site for a tutorial and discussion about construction.

We’re very encouraged to see so many artists using the Pi, in so many different ways; there have been a number of art installations featured here, and it’s really great to see the Pi driving the tools needed to create beautiful things. Computing is as much a creative discipline as it is a scientific one – that’s a message we at the Foundation are very keen to get through to kids, but it’s not one we’re seeing reflected in schools.

Science can be beautiful too, though. Over in the United States, SaratogaWeather has been using a static camera controlled by a Pi to take time-lapse video of the weather patterns over Mount Timpanogos, Utah. Dynamic systems like the formation of clouds are hard to appreciate and study at real-time speeds: but speed things up a bit, and patterns and structures become evident and much easier to analyse.

There’s a whole channel full of these videos, and cloud geeks like me will have great fun with them. I irritated everyone around by shouting “CAP AND BANNER!” at the top of my voice when I spotted one in another of these videos. (Once I nearly made Eben crash the car by screaming “Stop! KELVIN HELMHOLTZ!” while we were travelling at speed down the A14. I blame hanging out with fluid dynamicists. Kelvin Helmholtz instability produces a great and rather rare cloud formation, though – I’m still proud to have spotted one.)

What applications would you like to see time-lapse cameras being used for? Are you working on something yourself? We’d love to hear your thoughts.