Hate Productivity? Try Stumble!

When I invented the internet in the early 90s, I had a lot of hope for it. At the time it was really just a method of easily and quickly sharing really, really good cheesecake recipes with other culinary enthusiasts, but it seemed to me this project of mine had real potential. Then, for the next sixteen years, things stalled. As recently as September, I was seriously considering shutting the whole thing down for good. I held out hope that some day, some innovative tools would come along that could fundamentally change the way we surf my web. The guys who started stumbleupon.com just might be those tools.

What is stumble? It's actually just like a blogging service, or the email you use everyday, except instead of having anything to do with blogging or email, this site is entirely different. You tell stumble your likes by checking boxes - not in broad categories like "Sports", "Movies/Music", or "Health", but in hundreds of subcategories of interests as unambiguous as "Kayaking", "Asthma", and "Ergonomics". Have you been seeking websites about left-handedness recommended by other people who found sites on left-handedness? Well then I just blew up your world.

The community of stumblers discovers interesting web sites every day, and with a simple click they register their approbation using proprietary Hypermagico® technology (probably). Once this custom database of golden web-nuggets is randomized, you have the sweetest site playlist you can imagine. Watch your attention effortlessly jump from freakishly fascinating topic to freakishly fascinating topic. If you didn't already have A.D.D., you most certainly will now. It's that dope.

Of course, the best way for you to fully experience the wonder that is stumble, is for me to keep explaining it. Peep this.

Some of my stumblegories include "Energy Industry", "Online Games", "Robotics", and "Funny Videos", and if you think those are dorky, I'd be happy to fist-fight you out back near the far swingsets. By clicking on the "stumble!" button on my toolbar, I'm whisked away to:

The Periodic Table of Awesoments
A ninety-second time-waster if there ever was one.

STUMBLE!

How to Heat up Your Room Using Just a Candle
Huh. Heater's busted at the crib - we might be experimenting with this bad boy later tonight...

STUMBLE!

Replacement Arm, Good as New
Whoa! It's probably too late for you to get me one for Christmas, but, I don't know, New Year's?

STUMBLE!

Why Was He Sad
After fifteen seconds of playing this game, I wondered if I should go back to school, maybe become a teacher or something.

STUMBLE!

Invisible Rope
This video is not particularly funny, but the point is, you're 2 minutes, 2 seconds closer to the end of your workday. Thanks, Stumble!

Look, are they all winners? Nope. They're only as good as your own interests. If you tell stumble you enjoy 'Toy Train Restoration' and it leads you to a lot of toy train restoration sites, don't come crying to me that stumble keeps taking you to various toy train restoration sites - you're the one who said how much you love toy train restoration! Plus, 'Toy Train Restoration' isn't even a stumble category, but good try, Ashton.

And so the internet gets a reprieve. Know of any rad web services that you think people would want to hear about? Neat!