Linux Format forums

[fluidblogger]

Scouting around the net I've noticed numerous blog articles mentioning terms like "The Opposite of Google". "Search Engine Alternative" and "The Explore Engine", being a bit of a netfreak this caught my attention.

I'm always looking for something new & useful on the net to add to my collection of frequently visited tools and sites, however an alternative homepage seems to have eluded me for years, it’s always been the google search box. Search Engines, Directories and Portals have been about for years, and frankly the last time I was inspired by one was, well possibly never! Often I jump on the internet to work, I use the internet to find information, to learn more about something I already know, all the normal things you use it for, but if your anything like me you probably visit the same 10-20 websites all the time, have a search engine as your homepage and can't remember the last time you "browsed the internet"

Here's my frustration, sometimes I just want to find something new, a site I've never seen, something I never new existed, something interesting and something to inspire me, realistically I'd quite like this in my life on a daily basis. Have you ever tried to find something new on the internet? Its virtually impossible.. this about sums up my point.. google “something new i don't know” and you get the iPod website.

Anyways back to the point in hand, it appears these articles were talking about a new site called "The Explore Engine". Here we go, about to click yet another "alternative search engine" or another directory plastered in adverts, click, page rapidly appears and I'm confronted with a whole host of little green boxes that they like to call pixels. I clicked one and a little thumbnail of the site and its url was shown to me over on the left, clicked another and it was another website.

I was shocked to say the least, the concept was so simple but I'd never seen it before, its simply random websites, websites I've never seen before. There’s no search box or anything, just one button saying "explore more", click it and you’re presented with another 250 websites to explore.

I spent over an hour just clicking about previewing websites and visiting them; according to my stats at the bottom of the page I have previewed 568 websites and visited 68.

Here’s the bit that astounded me, I bookmarked 46 of the websites, and in the year leading upto this I think I'd possibly bookmarked a grand sum of 7.

In short after several years, I have a new homepage, I feel a breathe of fresh air in my internet life, I'm considering taking up photography and every time I open my web browser there’s a new selection of websites to spark my imagination, and well if I want to search I just type it into my google toolbar instead of their homepage. To my mind it really is the opposite of google, and it’s brought new life to the internet.

have a look for yourself and let me know if I'm goign way over the top here. http://www.dbpixels.net

[shifty_ben]

I like it and it may just be my browser but you can draw some very bad pictures by dragging your mouse over where the pixels are something extra to do for those days Im really really bored
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Need a New Signature

[fluidblogger]

You can click them and turn them orange too.. I made a skyline at night effect!

the point is clicking them and seeing new sites though lol

[shifty_ben]

Lol I agree, just a cool (arguably I suppose) extra feature. Amazingly I found a site that I havent visited in years on there. What I want to see is a screenshot of someone finding the LXF website on there very much doubt its been submitted though, so could be a wild goose chase
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Need a New Signature

[Thebubble]

Yes, i have to agree a extremley cool site im interested in advertizing on the featured pixels,
Looks to me like a new upcoming site i want my place before the mad rush hahaha.

Goodluck to the site creator,
i know ive saved it in my favourites and will be using it over and over again.

[fluidblogger]

just to let you know - I just found linuxformat on the explore engine WHOOP, and only after browsing 3500 sites

[pins]

you can also make it look like an amarok/xmms visualisation.

[pins]

or if you're really bored you can do this.


I suppose I could have slipped a little tux in there too...