At ping.sg's homepage, the "top posts in the last 24 hours" is occupying a lot space. Its bad enough that relatively new posts get pushed below the fold very quickly, having that space on top pushed to the sidebar can help. Furthermore, with that spot on top taken by the popular posts, those posts would only get more popular, and the other posts at the bottom do not get the deserved attention. Btw, note : popular not neccesarily means its a good post. ;)