HuffPo is upgrading its technology. The new technology will refresh the site automatically, give a more accurate ad-impressions count and make it easier for people to post comments (that last feature is only arguably an improvement).

Press release follows:

The Huffington Post, a leading news and opinion site, announced today a suite of new technology offerings to enhance its already user-friendly interface. The site is employing AJAX technology to create dynamically refreshed pages offering constantly updated headlines and blog posts. A continually adjusted "Most Popular on HuffPost" section highlights the site's top stories and opinion. HuffPost's "Quick-Read" feature enables users to get a brief overview of news stories, and the log-in system for commenters has been improved.

"Our readers have always loved the rapid updates on HuffPost's front page, and starting today, we are using new technology to make those updates even more vibrant and user-friendly," said Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post. "We have become the Internet newspaper for millions of readers, and our goal is to keep improving the way we offer news, opinion, and community interaction on the web."

AJAX Technology Enhances User Experience

HuffPost now uses AJAX to continually and seamlessly post fresh news, blogs and comments without the need for refreshing the page -- eliminating the now dated automatic refresh employed by most Web publishers. AJAX employs JavaScript, DHTML and XMLHttp behavior in the browser to provide truly dynamic Web content without a page refresh. AJAX effectively does away with the traditional "click-and-wait" Web-application architecture to provide the responsiveness and interactivity users expect from the latest desktop applications.

Said Paul Berry, Chief Technology Officer of The Huffington Post: "Most news sites refresh using 1990s technology that annoys readers and artificially inflates ad impressions. We are excited to lead the way toward dynamic updates that eliminate the need for page reloading. Our goal is to make HuffPost's front page the best home page for news and opinion on the Web."

AJAX Front Page Integrates New Features

In addition to AJAX, the front page now features a new section -- "Most Popular on HuffPost" -- with continually-updated highlights of HuffPost's most popular news and blogs. The Most Popular "widget" showcases the top 12 news stories and blog posts, and accompanying images, in a constantly-updated rotation.

The renewed front page also offers "HuffPost's Quick-Read" feature which allows readers to do get a brief overview of a story. To showcase other stories likely to be of interest to readers, Quick-Read items also highlight related stories and accompanying images that are popular with the HuffPost audience -- an offering now also available on comments pages.

The Huffington Post has also made it easier to post comments, with a faster log-in employing AJAX. In addition, community members can watch as comments are published in real-time.