• Digg started in October 2004, to give users control over the flow of content.
• One of the first top stories was the Paris Hilton cellphone hack, which got a top Google and Yahoo rank and wiped out Digg's servers.
• Digg's team wasn't watching when it overtook old-school tech site Slashdot. Ever since the "experiment" of Digg started working, Kevin and Jay planned to expand it past tech news.
• Digg clones come from China, Japan, Spain, and Italy.
• Digg's new categories include video — Kevin says, "We want to be the clearinghouse for YouTube, Google Video, and everything like that."

After the jump, the scoop on who wanted to buy Digg.

• There's no need to advertise Digg, because the users keep growing it.
• Kevin loves the friend features, which help people discover stories through what their contacts dugg. (TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington sounds unimpressed.)
• Stamen Design whipped up classy real-time visualizations that debut in mid-July.
• Arrington rips on Netscape for about three minutes. Jay sounds afraid to agree.
• AOL never tried to buy Digg. Weblogs, Inc. founder Jason Calacanis did. But his offer ($4 million, we're told) was "ridiculous."
• Kevin doesn't like Digg clone Netscape Beta because it gives power back to "anchors" — editors who pick the top stories to promote.
• Arrington: "At some point, Digg is the New York Times." Jay: Not really — Digg needs something to link to.
• Digg might be bigger than the New York Times online.

5:30: Cranky pundit John C. Dvorak brings up that old cat vs. ceiling fan video. Cute, Dvorak, but as old as "America's Funniest Home Videos."
11:50: Rocketboom creator Andrew Baron says that vlogging frees us from watching just a few movies and TV shows. Because of vlogging — "now we get to see a lot of sucky stuff," says Dvorak.
14:00-20:00: Skip it, unless you're really into defining the word "vlog." Feel the bored pain in Dvorak's voice.
23:00: Calacanis makes a funny — "Oh, it was on Techmeme and Digg, so it must be true!" Is this what everyone calls obnoxious? Or are they mad because Jason's right?

28:00: Talk soup.
30:00: Andrew Baron doesn't understand polls. God, Andrew, not to be mean, but if you don't have anything to add...
33:00: Old-school blogger Dave Winer gets on stage and goes zero-to-self-obsessed in 30 seconds.
40:00: Thank God, they brought in the ninja. Unfortunately, they make him share the stage with the eight talking heads. Come to think of it, instead of listening to this, watch Ask a Ninja.
48:30: Jason's idea of the best job ever is working in underwear. Little known fact: Jason's heros are all underwear models.
54:00: Aw, shout-out to the boss. Thanks, Andy Baron.
55:00: Andy talks about ads in Rocketboom. Hey, remember when part of the indie-ness of the Internet was that no one had to sell out and stuff the content full of ads? Good times.
57:00: Jason to Andy about Rocketboom: "Just because you're first doesn't mean you'll be the best." Does Andy have a second show? Yep, he just launched a kids' show.
59:00: Skip the rest. Skip everything before now too.

Conclusion 1: On this show, Calacanis is more smart than annoying.
Conclusion 2: Can we just get Calacanis and John C. Dvorak in a room? Call it TWiT: Witty troll edition.

TWiT: Vloggercon [Official page]
Photo: twitSF10W [Jachbla on Flickr]

Well, not really. It's still painfully dull, even with the presence of Jason Calacanis (the AOL exec who calls out all bullshit — whether it exists or not). After Steve's opening commercial (skip it) you can hear the painfully unedited recording of a special Gillmor Gang. The first lines: "Hello?" "Hey, it's Jason." "Who is it?" GRIPPING INTRO, STEVE.

Highlights:

• Part 1. Steve greets Jason and ZDNet reporter Dan Farber: "Well, I'm gonna finish having some cereal. So I'll be back in a minute."
• Dan to Jason: "You're great.... At that." Nice save Dan! Now hide your shrine.
• About two minutes in, Jason realizes how stupidly boring this show will be. After the jump, so can you.

• Jason: "Half the pages on Wikipedia will be locked in two years."
• OMG boring. Skip two-thirds through part 1, where Steve acts like a clumsy amateur porn director: "I'm recording everything. Keep going. I'm in the background."
• Part 2. Jason says cool things about his Weblogs, Inc. network — which, you know, is a groovy network if you're into that.
• The awesome part: End of the Part 2. Steve to Jason about something that matters: "Who cares?" Ohhhhhh irony.
• Jason compares himself to Quentin Tarantino. Sounds accurate, really. (Pictured)

Don't bother listening to Part 3.

Oh, and Jason insulted TechCrunch, and Michael Arrington got huffy about it. Which is a shame, because ragging on your competitors is no way to run a blog.

Gillmor Gang [Official site]
On Conflicts of Interest and TechCrunch [CrunchNotes]
Earlier ragging on a Gawker Media competitor: Jason Calacanis, secret king of AOL [Valleywag]

Diggnation 3/18 (on iTunes, not on web): Hosts Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht started sober again. What the hell, guys? Gets funny around 16 minutes in, when Kevin says about a digicam, "And it's uh...fuel-cell powered." Alex: "What?" Kevin: "Nope, made that up."

Om and Niall Podsessions 3/14: Ten seconds in, Niall Kennedy and Om Malik actually talk about the weather. Then, Web 2.0 leaves Om "wanting more" — careful what you wish for, Om! The rest of the show is VoIP and IM and mobile. It'd make decent lunch conversation, but does it make a good show? (Hint: Not this week.)

TalkCrunch 3/19: In this social-networking-centered episode, TechCrunch's Michael Arrington goes all Yellow Submarine and runs his voice through the left channel only. Some of the phone-in guests have a great alien echo-voice going on, and it's the usual slow-paced talk show vibe, but points to Michael for doing the best thing a podcast host can: get out of the way and let the experts engage each other. Caveat: by the end of this show, the voices are distorted to distracting levels. Can't Michael get some sponsored VoIP equipment?

This Week in Tech 3/20: Can Patrick Norton and crew hold it together without regular host Leo Laporte? Well, they can be meaty — if you actually want to learn about the last week of tech news, this is worth your hour — but they're just. not. funny.

This Week in Tech: A woman on the panel! And Kevin Rose! But it's still like a very watered-down Diggnation. If you need to eat your tech veggies, go ahead. You'll learn something.

Diggnation: None this week, but last week's is worth another listen. Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht moved the beer drinking to before the show — best move ever. Highlights include moving to Australia, making fun of the dead Phantom gaming system, and the hotness of Alex's mom. This is why all podcasts should be recorded in bars.

Gillmor Gang: Until that thing is ten well-trimmed minutes, forget it. In fact, a fan-edited copy of this — like by those kids who make Full Metal Jacket emo music videos — would rock. Or Steve and company could do the show drunk.

Well, until the Gillmor Gang takes a public speaking class, here are three better tech podcasts:

Diggnation: Digg's Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht discovered the magic ingredient to podcast excitement: alcohol. On each weekly podcast (or vidcast), Kevin and Alex drink beer and cover the week's top stories from their bookmark community.

Buzz Out Loud: It's just ten minutes. What can you screw up in ten minutes? CNet Hosts Tom Merritt and Molly Wood take phone calls and e-mail from listeners to mix things up.

Om and Niall PodSessions: Not roll-on-the-floor funny, but a decent 22 minutes and rich with insider info, not just opinions.

This Week in Tech: There's no way to oversell this show. TWiT deserves its title of "the world's most listened to podcast" thanks to John C. Dvorak's "friendly curmudgeon" attitude, great guests like Kevin Rose (yes, podcasts are as incestuous as blogs), and Leo Laporte's silliness as a ringleader.

Gillmor Gang [Gillmor.podshow.com]
Scoops of vanilla perception [Tinfinger]

This Week in Tech: Episode 40, Yellow Lasers stars Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, hacker Kevin Mitnick, Wozniak co-worker Alan Fielding, and Call for Help co-host Amber MacArthur, as well as the usual TWIT crew led by Leo Laporte. Mitnick is fairly tolearable throughout — which is a bonus with that guy. But he and the other Twits waste time on small-talk, prompting John C. Dvorak to keep them on the list. Not as fun as the recent show recorded at Macworld, but still worth a listen.

Gillmor Gang: Captain Crunchberry Gang feels like a grandpa's version of TWIT — same subjects, but hella slow. And please, Steve Gillmor, stop doing intros. I feel like I'm playing R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet," and it's just so awful that I can't...stop...listening.

Dave Winer's blog, Scripting News, includes sporadic podcasts. Today's is a typical example — Dave putters around and doesn't apologize for leaving all his pauses, verbal commas, and recording mishaps in the finished product. So there's a personal, if aggravating, touch to it. If you really feel like you need Dave Winer talking to you for a half hour, then go ahead. It's kind of impressive to hear him think out loud, especially when he discusses the older blog process of starting each day with a blank web page.
Episode 40, Yellow Lasers [This Week in Tech]
Captain Crunchberry Gang [Gillmor Gang]
Morning Coffee Notes [Scripting News]