Interesting that you find the time unnecessary. May consider removing.
Will play with the timebox on the left a bit. It is a bit strong, but its something we think emphasizes the speed and realtime nature of the app, so don't want it to fade back too much.
What do you think of the mix of stories?
Re: mix of stories. I'm currently staying away from Techmeme (had to disable my no iPhone/Android news user script to actually compare the headlines), so my input there is of marginal use. I'll say that the headlines didn't put me off - there was good diversity of content instead of half the page being filled with hoopla about cellphones. I learned about Real Time Farms[1] from a lifehacker story via the Kitchn blog, so that's something!
1: http://lifehacker.com/5589590/real-time-farms-is-a-user+supp...
I liked that post too!