The College Times article -- StumbleUpon.com Will Make Us All Late for Something

Headline: StumbleUpon.com Will Make Us All Late For Something

Sub-Head: It’s impossible to be bored when you have “StumbleUpon”

By Josh Titus

Life Writer

How many times have you had a class cancel leaving you with nothing to do, but wait for your next class to start? Next time that happens, go to a computer lab and check out StumbleUpon.com. Instead of counting the tiles on the ceiling, surf the Internet with the expert help of StumbleUpon.com. You’ll be surprised what’s out there and realize what you are missing.

StumbleUpon.com is a website that helps you surf the web, and discover and rate websites, videos, pictures and news articles that are similar to your preferences. When you sign up (it’s free), you choose from 500 topics that interest you and from those preferences, StumbleUpon.com shows you websites that fit your personality. When you “stumble” and find a site you like, you click the “I like it” button on the add-on toolbar. Then that site is saved on your profile with StumbleUpon.com and slowly you are able to develop your profile with sites that interest you. But if you don't like the site, give it a thumbs down. There is a network of over 2 million people as of March 16, 2007 you can include in your web surfing. If you find someone who has similar tastes, you can add them as a friend and their “I like” pages are tossed into your “stumbling.” With each site you find you have the options of giving it a thumbs up or down, and/or writing or reading a review on it.

Garrett Camp, Geoff Smith, and Justin LaFrance founded StumbleUpon.com during the later years of college. Gradually the website began to attract “stumblers” as the company took off in Calgary, Alberta in 2002. Eventually Silicon Valley investor Brad O’Neil invited the three to California where the project started to take professional form. Last month they hit the 2 million-member mark, with thousands signing up each day. StumbleUpon.com became really popular in December 2006 when they added StumbleVideo. This trendy addition allows users to search through online videos coming from popular sites such as YouTube.com, Myspace.com, and Google video.

Fans of Mozilla Firefox (and newly added Internet Explorer) are able to add a plug-in of StumbleUpon on their web browser. When you’re bored and have time to kill, just click the “Stumble!” button that’s embedded on your toolbar and automatically you are finding filtered sites that are just for you. Andy Walker of g4techTV said, “It's kind of addictive ... when you have time to surf it really does allow you to find some unique and relevant sites." Haytham Bennani, from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, or better known as “khiZeus” on SU, said, “This is by far the best toolbar on the internet today. The functionality and versatility that SU provides is stunning, on par and beyond my highest expectations. The archive of stumble-able sites grows each and every day, and the content is absolutely amazing. Two huge thumbs up for this program and its developers. Can't wait for the toolbar to make it big!”

The Internet is a vast, seemingly never-ending screen of information. It has become a vital part of our society and grows more anchored every second. If used correctly, a person can substantially become more knowledgeable about everything this world has to offer. StumbleUpon.com is stepping stone in realizing how the Internet can be simple and catered for you.

Teaser: StumbleUpon can be addictive, so use caution when using it.

Pull quote: “The functionality and versatility that SU provides is stunning…” - Haytham Bennani