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Have you ever heard of ? Chances are that, you may not. I don't blame you either. The first time I heard about this gimmick called StumbleUpon, I have no clue what is it about. And to give credit somehow, I saw this on another American blog while I was still into the blog-hopping network where you upload information of your blog in a sort of exchange network and at the same time, get to check out blogs by other bloggers all over the world, not just from your own country.

Granted that this particular blogger didn't exactly have an info on what StumbleUpon is exactly about, it was just a small image that links to the website. And I kept seeing it each time I get the chance to go over to that blogger's blog for some new updates. And finally one fine day, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to just click on it and see what exactly this StumbleUpon is about. And somehow, I do have to smack myself for not discovering it a little more earlier.

As quoted from Wikipedia:

StumbleUpon is a discovery engine (a form of web search engine) that finds and recommends web content to its users. Its features allow users to discover and rate Web pages, photos, and videos that are personalized to their tastes and interests using peer-sourcing and social-networking principles. Toolbar versions exist for Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, Internet Explorer, and Safari. StumbleUpon also works with some independent Mozilla-based browsers.

StumbleUpon uses collaborative filtering (an automated process combining human opinions with machine learning of personal preference) to create virtual communities of like-minded Web surfers. Rating Web sites update a personal profile (a blog-style record of rated sites) and generate peer networks of Web surfers linked by common interest. These social networks coordinate the distribution of Web content, so that users "stumble upon" pages explicitly recommended by friends and peers. Giving a site a thumbs up results in the site being placed under the user's "favorites". Furthermore, users have the ability to stumble their personal interests like "History" or "Games". Users rate a site by giving it a thumbs up, thumbs down selection on the StumbleUpon toolbar, and can optionally leave additional commentary on the site's review page, which also appears on the user's blog. This social content discovery approach automates the "word-of-mouth" referral of peer-approved Web sites and simplifies Web navigation. In the settings section of Stumbleupon you can further filter the types of webpages you may come across. There are interest filters which allow you to include only content for all ages, R rated content, or X rated content. There are also content filters in which you can choose to allow stumbles with audio, video, flash, and images.

And at a glance, here is what I can tell you about StumbleUpon in layman terms, without all the big words from Wikipedia. If you are someone who loves to surf the Internet, but most of the time, you do not know exactly how to search the Internet for stuffs you want or need to read. How? I so hear you, my friend. And that is why this blog post came to be, to let you know about this little wonderful thing called StumbleUpon.

When you first sign up for an account with StumbleUpon, you need not have to worry about downloading any external stuffs into your preferred web browser, if you choose not to. Because as soon as you are done with updating your surfing preferences and interests and started "Stumbling" for the very first time, you will actually see this additional browser bar within your own web browser. And that is how you "stumble" new discoveries without having to download anything at all.

Whar I like about the Search function within the "Stumble" bar is that, if I need to look for anything precisely, say for example, "Chopsticks". I will be presented with a vast array of information related to "Chopsticks". It can be about food that need "chopsticks" in order to eat it (think chinese, japanese and korean food), or the proper usage of chopstick etiquette. Why there's even sushi etiquette with regards on how to use chopsticks in eating your favorite platter of maguro sushi.

And this is also another good way to cross-use StumbleUpon alongside PinInterest. As you keep stumbling for new web pages that you never ever be able to find via by searching through Google, Yahoo or the likes, there are times when you come across something interesting that will probably be hard to find when you are trying to hunt for them in your own "Likes" page. Yes, I know it is daunting to search for something that is a few months back, if you stumble as much as I did. Which can be really exasperating to do so, on top of the lure and addiction of even more web pages you have ever thought you could discover.

Of course, sometimes along the way, you may end up stumbling onto web pages that you have no interest in, but still happens to fall within your preferences and interests that you may indicate. But that is rather easy to work around, by just clicking on the reddish "Stumble" button to go to the next page. It isn't hard, but it isn't easy to tear away when you got to land on a web site that you simply must devour from start to finish too. I know, I've been there.

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Although along the way, I have to admit that when I first chanced upon StumbleUpon, it has went through a lot of changes to get to what you see in the above image now. Initially, it was really spartan, but it already packed a punch. And after so many years, I think roughly between the first 2-3 years I've started blogging here, StumbleUpon just somehow got better and better. Sure, there's this new thing called Paid Discovery. But as a free user, I need not pay anything to StumbleUpon to discover anything on the internet. Heck, the thrill of seeing something worthwhile popped up on my browser probably negates the amount pages I have no interest in.

What about you? Have you started "Stumbling" yet? Or are you still in the dark?