Friday, September 3, 2010

On(line) stumbling

I am a world class procrastinator. I can spend endless amounts of time checking emails (I've got more than one to check), Facebooks (there is only one Facebook I am checking, but with multiple account syndrome this keeps me occupied in plural as well), blogs (are you detecting a pattern?), online newspapers and so on. The time wasting opportunities online are nearly endless. However, if by chance no one updates their Facebook for an hour or two, if no new emails find their way into my inbox or if all the blogs are read; there is one website that never runs out of interesting things for me to watch.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/ allows you to click and click and click and each time a new, interesting website pops up, one that falls into one of several pre-elected categories of your choice. During one session of stumbling, I can find such different things as

1) A recipe for the world's best egg rolls (their words, not mine).

2) This photograph:





















and this one:




















3) A video of the band MUSE who were forced to lip synch at an Italian television performace. As a protest, the band members switched instruments and generally made a very unconvincing performace (notice the ironic grin on the "vocalist's" face when he sings "They will not control us"...)





4) A website with various tips for writers, from beginner to professional.

5) The Tone Matrix - which is a highly addictive sound-music-chessboardy-vibration-xylophonish thingie that MUST be tested, but not in a place where you can annoy others with the sound... Only play in company if they can be amazed (they will be).

6) An online software that allows you to speed read (or spreed - I already like this thingie because it is a made-up word. Yay!), or, as I did, test how fast you are able to read. It's quite interesting. I found that I still read faster in Norwegian than in English. In Norwegian I could still follow the text perfectly at 600 words/minute, while it got tricky at 650/minute. In English I started having problems at about 550/minute. Note that the spreeder doesn't reflect my actual reading speed - I certainly read slower than this in real life.

7) Another video - this time some pretty darn incredible tap dancers. How this is humanly possible is beyond me...




I could go on, because there is always more to stumble upon at stumbleupon.com, but I think I have left you with enough oddities for one Friday. Happy weekend!

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Should I be saying thank you, seeing as how you've got me in the same digressionary rut? :]

Man, those guys can dance! And "spreed" is officially my new favorite word.

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Enjoyed the post, it was different and thanks for the email address.

Have a good day.
Yvonne.

Cruella Collett said...

It is an awesome word, isn't it? Aactually, it's so awesome that I am a little bummed I didn't come up with it myself ;)

And yes. Do thank me. Digressionism is the future ;) (I probably should have posted a warning at the top...)

Cruella Collett said...

Yvonne - looks like we cross-posted! Glad you liked it :)

Jules said...

Well I read REALLY slow but....what I read I retain forever. :D
Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow

RosieC said...

Oh, I am NOT allowed to sign up for that site! But I enjoyed what you had to share, especially the Muse video. I sent it to my nephew who loves them. Even more reason (after enjoying a good laugh at the Italian hostess's expense, no?)

Thanks! :)

Unknown said...

Well, I can see where all your time went. I don't procrastinate but near the end of the project, I tend to slow down, that's when these distractions get me.

CD

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Thanks, Cruella. Like I need another time-suck in my life.
The storm trooper photo is great, though.

nonamedufus said...

Put the computer down...and step away.

Jen said...

Yeah! More reasons to plug into technology even longer!

Melody said...

So the stormtrooper pic made me laugh out loud...
And I'm saving that cityscape because it's the perfect visual for a story I'm working on...
And I LOVE quirky links!! I'm intentionally not going to stumbleupon, because if I do, I'll get addicted.

...
...

Who cares? I'm checking it out. :)

LTM said...

Evil digressionary giraffe!!! Do not show me these things. I'm trying to get BACK ON TRACK...

(omg, the storm trooper singin in the rain--coffee through nose! :D

Ella said...

Thanks for more mind sucking fun!
I am already good at wasting time...lol No, actually some of these look great! We must be related ;-D I'm great at procrastination~

Jemi Fraser said...

I love that photo of the Storm Trooper singing in the rain! :)

What was a great site!

Anonymous said...

oh, my procrastination habit is so bad, and now that I have stumbleupon, it is just going to get worse...in a day or two, but not right away. <---Did ya see what I just did there? - G

Hart Johnson said...

*giggles* I like the star trooper rendition of Singing in the Rain. I have resisted this site. Probably that is a good thing.

CA Heaven said...

Thanks for posting the link to the website with writer tips >:)

You're right; it's possible to spend (waste) a lot of time online. Before the Internet, I read a lot more books than I do now.

Cold As Heaven

Deb and Barbara said...

My daughter is addicted to this site. She's found incredible recipes and artistic inspiration for her films and photos.

Must check it out (but am afraid of more distractions!)... B

Cruella Collett said...

Jules - and that is much more important, of course. I seem to have perfectioned the technique of learning fast, and forgetting faster...

Rosie - pssst - you don't even have to sign up... Glad you (and/or your nephew) enjoyed the video, though :)

Clarissa - I'm the other way around, which is why I have been a lot more focused this weekend than I have for a long time (and consequently not visiting the Internet so much)

Alex - oh, you're welcome. And the storm trooper one is a series, actually. I think it's called "The Storm trooper's Day Off" or something. It's pretty cool.

Nonamedufus - tee hee. Good point!

Jennee - exactly ;)

Melody - oops, hope I didn't create a monster ;) Glad you enjoyed the pics, though :)

Leigh - haha, sorry. Coldn't help myself ;)

Ellie - if it's genetic, I think I got it from my mom. My dad is the manifestaion of will power. Terribly annoying..

Jemi - it is a great, and dangerous, site...

Georgina - haha, I've been known to do that. Procrastinate from procrastiation. Some habit!

Tami - it might be a good thing, yes. Then again, some of the finds are really useful, and I rarely get on a full stumble-spree. And it is pretty golden for finding cheery storm trooper pics ;)

CAH - funny how you are the only one who commented on that - seems like the rest of the world is only concerned with how much time they will waste on this site. Ah, oh, you're concerned about that too. (I know - why don't I read books anymore? Well, I do, but - not as much as I'd liked)

Barbara - it is easy to get addicted, sure, but your daughter has a point - you really can find lotsof goodies on there. Perhaps this site would be better with a timed black-out function? After 30 minutes of surfing it kicks you off the internet..?

Unknown said...

I'm seriously addicted to the band Muse!! The video rocked... how appropriate for a song with lyrics "They will not control us"

You gave me a very addictive tool, and for that I thank you :)

Southpaw said...

Thanks for helping me procrastinate just a little more... I loved the tap dancers. They were incredible.

Hannah said...

I'm definitely checking that website out. Do you ever reach the end of a long stumbling and wonder how it all started and try to reverse your steps? Is it just me??

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