stumble

I got a pitch from Web site discovery service Streakr this morning. It sounded somewhat interesting, if derivative: It's a service that lets you find sites you like through a toolbar plug-in for your browser. You mark sites you like (thumbs-up or -down), and it does a better job of finding the next one for you. Sound familiar?

There's a social angle: You get your own page (again, not unique), which collects the sites you like on it. You can also leave comments on your friends' pages, like you can on MySpace and Facebook.

The site does have … Read more

Category: Browsing

StumbleUpon is a toolbar extension for your browser. Its primary button, labeled "Stumble!," takes you to a site in any of the categories you've told the service you're interested in but that you've probably not been to before. If you like the new site, you press a thumbs-up button. If you don't, thumbs-down. Every time you vote, the system recalibrates its site selections for you using social filtering; it attempts to find sites for you that it thinks you'll like because other users with similar preferences also like them.

The site … Read more

This is weird. Last night it occurred to me that Webware should have a StumbleUpon-like feature: In other words, that there should be a button on the site that links to a random Webware review--because if you don't come to the site frequently, a write-up on a cool site we saw a month ago might be valuable to you, even if it isn't, strictly speaking, new. I also began to wonder if it wouldn't make sense for many other sites, especially blogs, to add a random-link feature to their front pages.

Then this morning I read (… Read more

2view is a neat little tool that lets you add Flickr-like notes to any photo online. If you're unfamiliar with Flickr's note system, a) you should read our Newbie's Guide, and b) you're really missing out on some fun to be had with photos that are shared online. Flickr's Notes feature lets users add their two cents to a picture, and mark certain things of interest with a very specifically placed caption. It's the Web equivalent of a sharpie marker, although a little less permanent.

To use 2view, just plug in any old … Read more

Web site discovery and recommendation site StumbleUpon, best known for its thumbs-up-or-down recommendation and discovery system for Web sites, has given its Stumble Video product a makeover that targets the coveted demographic of Wii addicts. The site now has an interface specifically designed for the Wii's Opera browser so that Wii owners can use their consoles to find cool new videos from YouTube and other sites, targeted specifically toward their prior StumbleUpon rating histories. It's a bit like Netflix's recommendation service.

StumbleUpon, which claims nearly 2 million registered users, has also released the 3.0 version of … Read more

StumbleUpon has added a video tool StumbleVideo to its social bookmarking service. StumbleVideo pulls content from YouTube, Google Video, and MySpace. Unlike the original StumbleUpon, there's no toolbar to download, and no signup required to use it. Registration has its benefits though: After the tool has figured out your tastes, it will bring tailored content to suit you.

The interface is very slick. After about 10 seconds of not touching your mouse, most of the player's GUI fades, leaving just the video on the screen. When a video finishes, hitting the giant Stumble button brings up another. If … Read more