Inga

toolbar for Categorian. Ciao, StumbleUpon!

(Btw you can now export your SU blog to Categorian without any changes using the export file worked out by SU.)

CATEGORIAN:

EVERYTHING THAT STUMBLEUPON COULD HAVE BEEN (BUT CHOSE NOT TO)

So, it's official: on 24th Oct 2011 StumbleUpon will commit suicide as a social bookmarking site / discovery engine turning into a merely bookmarking site / discovery engine, which is sure to make it truly unique considering that Google, Reddit, Del.icio.us, Twitter, Spinsnap or Firefox bookmarks haven't been invented yet.

It's no use trying to explain to those "up there" why it is wrong, disrespectful and unreasonable to kill blogging functionality on SU. They won't listen. Money has the last word on everything, and social networks are no exception. Enough of this begging-reasoning-crying nonsense. Time to act:

1) DON'T thumb anything up or "discover" any sites after Oct 24. DON'T be their money-making tool. DON'T let them turn you into a clicking monkey. (Unless it's your conscious choice, of course.)

2) DON'T give up - there are other virtual communities where you can display your creativity as a blogger.

I've tried different social sites and I haven't found a better place than Categorian. It allows messaging, sharing, using html and visual editors, backgrounds and everything you need to customise your blog. There are no bendable rules (called TOS on SU) - the site simply states that it "promotes free speech" and that "the material published on this site is the property of its respective authors, who are solely responsible for its content" - something sorely lacking on SU.

There's no annoying sidebar with silly numbers. No competitiveness. Just a place where you can be creative and enjoy other users' creative work.

Another advantage of Categorian is that quite a lot of stumblers have already created accounts there under the same names as they are using here, on StumbleUpon, so there's none of the confusion with who is who that you may face on Tumblr or G+.

I'll be happy to see my fellow stumblers in my new home on Categorian - user.adme.in/blog/browse/u/Inga [user.adme.in/blog/browse/u/Inga] . We shall overcome.

PS In case you decide to join Categorian: you will find a lot of useful information about customising your blog on the Categorian pages of borderline and Serina.

I'm giving my thumbs-up to this site with special pleasure: SpinSnap.com is a discovery engine which has its own "Stumble button". No blogs here, just "spinsnap" – and the system gets you to a website from the chosen category.

In a nutshell: want to see what SU will turn into after Oct 24? Check this website.

"1834: Robert Southey writes Goldilocks and the Three Bears"...

and so it begins - the history of the teddy bear, one of the most popular toys of the last two centuries. The 20th c. endowed the teddy bear with museums and festivals, made it a popular character in children's literature and cartoons and of course used its inexplicable charisma to convert the love and admiration it invariably evoked from millions of children into big money.

My childhood was "teddiless", which may be why I enjoy looking at illustrations featuring teddy bears. Perhaps it's your guilty pleasure as well? :)



artists: Jane Hissey, Petra Brown and John Bindon


[I decided I'd post something colourful one last time as my own birthday treat]

From the page: "...we strive to be your #1 go-to-place for discovering great things from across the web..."

I don't know (any longer) what you strive to do, but now you look like our #1 get-outta-here place. Let the spammers who will stay here and do the mindless clicking for you enjoy your "great things from across the web" - I've seen enough of this 'greatness' in the past few months - SEO pages and ads are great indeed (as well as the content I saw 6 years ago, when I just signed up).

I personally won't thumb anything up here (or even thumb down) after 24th Oct anymore. No will I write any reviews "in plain text".

Die, SpamUpon, die