Sort of a double recommendation here tonight…

First, cruise on over to www.dontclick.it. It’s an ingenious art project (mouse over where it says “copyright” to get some explanation), based on the idea that user interfaces on the Web would (or at least could, under some circumstances) be better without “clicking.” As in… well, it’s sort of difficult to put into words. But you’ll get it in 10-30 seconds if you play with the site. I’m not sure I buy the concept — though it’s not being helped by the fact that I’m using a laptop touchpad at the moment — but it’s intriguing and could be used for at least some types of sites.

And how did I stumble upon this odd, fascinating site? Did a blog recommend it? Did it come up in a search result? Did Microsoft pay to put it in front of me? Nope, nope, and nope. I found it using a little tool called StumbleUpon. You download a toolbar, give it a few topics you’re interested in, and then hit a button that says “Stumble!” It sends you to sites, which you can rate with a thumbs up or a thumbs down. It collects data on what kinds of sites you like and creates recommendations — a bit like Amazon’s recommendations, I suppose, but for the whole Web.

This is my first, oh, half an hour using StumbleUpon. But I like it so far. And it could be a great tool when bored of my usual virtual haunts.

I found it, via GeekPress.