Stumble

In my Internet travels, I run across many websites.  Some provide me with research, some inspire me, and some are just for fun.  I often choose to use one of my favorite websites, StumbleUpon, to find things I may not have found using more traditional search engines like Google.  I've checked boxes on the website to show StumbleUpon what type of things I'm looking for.  According to the StumbleUpon website, there are almost 500 topics from which to choose.  The topics range from the serious to the ridiculous.  I have selected educational topics to my list of hobby and humor topics to justify my surfing existence. 

You can stumble in two ways.  The first way is to search from the website.   The second way is to download the toolbar.  You can't do this at work, (of it you can, it's frowned upon), but feel free to do it on your home computer.  You do have to sign up so that your topics can be remembered, but it's free. Once you're registered and have decided on your topics, start clicking on the "StumbleUpon" button. 

You'll notice a "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" on the site.  If you like the page you're visiting, you can save it by clicking  "I like it!."  Likewise, if you don't like the content of a specific webpage, you can click "thumbs down," so that site is no longer in your mix of searched websites.

StumbleUpon is unique because it is a social website.  According to doshdosh.com, "Users can also use the Stumble Upon toolbar as a form of social bookmarking. By surfing the web and tagging or submitting specific websites, each user can keep track of which websites they like and share it with others."  If you find a website that isn't already part of StumbleUpon, you can click "I Like It!" and it will become part of the network of websites that others will be able to view.

Although it seems like it might be a total time-waster, depending on what you choose as your topics, Stumbleupon can produce very interesting results.  By using this toolbar, I have found great recipes, topics for classes, and I've also had some fun along the way. 

Give StumbleUpon a try.  I'll warn you, however, it's like candy corn.  You'll want "just one more," and may end up clicking the night away.

See you next week!