links for 2011-02-10

The overhaul, months in the making, was described by Gawker Media founder Nick Denton as an opportunity to transition from standard blog layout to a format that looks and feels more programmed. Whereas the old Gawker layout displayed a long column of posts in reverse-chronological order, the new design centers on a main feature with a sidebar of secondary stories. It's a bold new model for Gawker Media's blogging empire, and it will surely suit Denton's goals of promoting visually driven content. But many media observers and Gawker readers are less enthused about the new layout, which also caused some site slowness today as bugs were eliminated.