Stumble Upon: Channel Surfing the Internet

Stumble Upon is a Firefox and Internet Explorer add-on that can effectively turn you into an Internet junkie. Press the Stumble button and you are whisked to a website that is tailored to your interests.

Be careful. You can become addicted to pressing this button. Websites can be given a thumbs-up, thumbs-down, and can be reviewed. Your reviews are kept together on your personal page as both a history and your own websurfing blog. Millions of people tag, review, and investigate the internet each day--therein lies the addictive quality of the button. New content is added by the second, and through browsing you become part of the Stumblemachine. The site is constantly working to connect you and your interests to other people and their interests. This creates what feels like a collective Stumble-consciousness that always delivers great content; tag, review, and connect to websites that you love. This helps others to find what they love.

As you set up your free profile, you select from over 100 topics and subtopics that interest you. My Stumble button directs me to websites about green energy, astronomy, architecture, technology, philosophy, psychology, photography, film/filmmaking, and about forty other topics. You can also enter interests that are not included on their list.

The Stumble toolbar comes with the option to 'StumbleThru' a set of websites. This is particularly useful if you are in a mood to watch videos, or read news.


You can also have your Stumble button show you websites relating to a very specific topic that you enter manually:

A search for "George W. Bush" directed me to:

http://www.goodnightbush.com/librarium/

and a satirical news snippet from The Onion.

Stumbling has brought me laughs, gorgeous photographs, and a sense that the Internet is infinite and endlessly interesting. It has become an integral part in how I use the Web in my free time.