Cool Beans

There are lots of times I'm waiting in a line, in an office, at a transit station, or just generally without an urgent task but not enough time to dent my reading list or write some code. It's times like this that I often bust out my perfect mobile computer (a.k.a. iPhone) and hit various news apps like my RSS reader, CNN, USA Today, and AP Mobile.

But sometimes I don't feel like being inundated with stories on death and weather. Sometimes I want to find interesting stuff on the web without a concerted search effort. "Give me cool stuff, and don't make me think too hard about it."

Enter Prkl8.com. PrkL8 is a web-based content discovery service that can live in your Firefox toolbar and do just that: Give you cool stuff on the web. You can say you like or hate what it offered, and even provide public comments. It's a simple application that is your gateway to undiscovered interestingness.

It gets better: There's now a PrkL8 iPhone app.

I've been fortunate enough to participate in the private beta of this app. It's easy to get lost in the rabbit hole as it leads you to sites randomly or based on your areas of interest. Sign up and select categories, and you're on your way. Vote whether you like or hate what you were given, and it gets meshed into a huge customized learning engine.

Here's an excerpt from their site:

PrkL8 is a content discovery engine. What's that? Push a button and something cool pops up. Two other buttons let you tell us what you like and what you don't. The more you use those buttons, the better our suggestions get. Three buttons, that's all you'll need.

We are not a search engine. If you know what you're looking for, load up Google and get right back to work. We're more about the fun. We serve up rich, delicious web content without making you think too hard about it. You just push a button and BOOM! Something new.

Behold, the joy of personalized content discovery.

We're not going to help with your report. We're not going to settle any bets or debates. What we will do is show you cool new stuff that you might never have thought to look for. So come kill some time with us. Push a few buttons. Shake your Web Booty.