The image accompanying this post is encoded with JPEG compression, a standard which, while it has been improved somewhat, has been more or less in its present form for almost two decades now. Over those two decades, images have changed their role on the web dramatically, and consequently the number and quality of images on the web have been increasing exponentially.

We’ve had a bit of a

We sat down with Digg co-founder Kevin Rose after TechCrunch Disrupt yesterday to talk about the recent Digg Version 4 launch and the user revolt and media circus that ensued. Rose addressed the lessons he had learned during the tumultuous redesign, including what he would have done differently if given another opportunity. Highlights: “We’ve taken heat from a lot of people who don’t like the changes because they take the power out of their hands.” “It’s always a battle for us, it’s like an arms race.

Facebook has established itself as the biggest photo sharing service on the Internet — by far. But until fairly recently, the maximum size of uploaded photos was a frustratingly small 604 pixels, doing nothing to take advantage of the increasing ubiquity of high-resolution cameras. And that’s a problem when your friends are using Facebook as the primary way to share memories of special events like weddings, graduations, parties, and chubby bunny contests.

Earlier today, Google formally released Goo.gl, their URL-shortener, to the public. They’re calling it the “ stablest, most secure, and fastest URL shortener on the web .” But it also may be the coolest thanks to an easter egg.

Much has been said about Apple’s foray into “social networking” (at least into what they consider that term to entail) with the introduction of Ping , part of the company’s iTunes software. Some are positive about its chances, saying it is merely the seed of amazing things to come, others much less so . I concur with the latter group and deem the product to be horse dung, 160 million potential users be damned.

Facebook is testing a new rich feed story for when your friends Like official Pages. Instead of showing up as a simple one-line text only story, users see the profile picture of the Page and a description from the Page’s info. These stories are both significantly larger and more compelling, and could drive new Likes to Pages without the need for paid advertising

Today Facebook begins rolling out multiple improvements to its photos product. Users will be able to upload and download high resolution photos, quickly view photos in a pop-up light box view without leaving the page they are currently viewing, utilize two bulk tagging features to tag one person in multiple photos simultaneously, and use a streamlined and more reliable Flash uploading tool.

HP has just named their new CEO. No, it’s not  Todd Bradley — a popular guess out of the current ranks (and clearly he was thinking about it as well).

Google’s URL shortener just opened up to the public, with a standalone site. Launched last December, Google’s Bit.ly competitor, Goo.gl can now be used for any links on the web.