Stumble Rocks My Onions

Recently, I have been a big fan of 'StumbleUpon.'
Some of you have probably already heard of this program.

It's available through a variety of browsers, if I'm correct (but I'm an avid fan of Firefox, myself.)
As a side note: If you haven't already downloaded Firefox, you should look into it.

StumbleUpon manifests itself as a short series of buttons on your browser, the most important being the 'Stumble!' button. Once clicked, the button will take you to a random site it assumes you will find interesting. At first, it just throws out random stuff.

Well, almost random.

You select certain interests when you sign up. However, as you respond to sites, the program learns what type of stuff you're more likely to find hip, weird, or groovy. This is where the interesting patterns emerge.

Firstly, you recommend sites to other members, which is cool of it's own nature. However, the fascinating part of this whole ordeal is when the browser begins to learn what you unconsciously think is interesting. It becomes a reflecting pool of sorts, showing you what you think is worthy of attention. The program is useful for any avid wanderer, but it's even more interesting to view someone else's 'random' stumblings.

This reminds me of a story I vaguely remember from a childhood book, 'Sideways Stories from Wayside School.' In the story, a student, Maurice, is given 'Maurice-flavored-icecream.' She doesn't notice any flavor, but when other kids taste it, they think it's awesome. Maurice can't understand why everyone else is so fascinated by a 'her-flavored' icecream when she can't taste anything at all.

Admittedly, my own crazy stumblings are fascinating to observe. I tend to range from intense condensations of the great philosophers to clips of reinterpreted Halloween music, which happens to be the favored part of my favorite Halloday. Great program.

However, the true fascination is looking into someone else's reflecting pool.
Kind of reminds you of all the little ways we unconsciously express ourselves; how much of ourselves we just leave open to air, for others to observe, or more likely, not notice.

I'll have to remember to look for the little things that make people hip, weird, or groovy more often.

Try the program out. At least it'll save you hours of aimless wandering on the internet by instantly thowing you hours of curious things to read instead. Thank God for time saving devices.