the blog

I love this time of year. (And I can't believe it's been a whole year since my last Christmas post on Xerpi!) Last year I re-wrote the lyrics of "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer," so for this year's treat, I decided to give it another try — using the tune of "Frosty, the Snowman."

Only the this time the jolly, happy soul is a web site aggregating all your favorite links into an elegant web-based interface!

Xerpi, my home page
put my favorites in a list
     which I'll move around
     choosing where they're found
so no web site's ever missed!

Xerpi, the web page
gathered all my favorite links.
     And a pretty square
     searching tags can share
what another user thinks.

A thousand unseen users save their favorite links for you.
And you can help them pick them out with community views too!

Xerpi the web page
makes my web browser seem smart.
      Give the site a try
     And you'll see just why
Xerpi's logo has a heart.

We've been talking a lot about how Xerpi simplifies planning for the holidays. It's a festive time of year, though, so to express that Xerpi-enhanced simplicity, I decided to try re-writing the lyrics of a popular Christmas song.

Imagine me showing up on your doorstep — bundled up in red and green holiday finery — and singing this song to the tune of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Xerpi, the favorites web page,
had a lot of favorite links.
All of the sites to go for
gifts and fun and food and drinks.

All of the other pages
found themselves in Xerpi's blocks.
Users would share their favorites
in a pretty-colored box!

On a busy Christmas Eve,
Santa's far away.
Xerpi with its links so bright
Helps you plan your Christmas right!

All of the happy users
found the sites they're dreaming of.
Xerpi the favorites web page,
organized their web with love!

Happy holidays, everyone!

Ho ho ho....

   

When they say Xerpi simplifies holidays, they're not kidding. I searched Xerpi for the word "Christmas", and found over 75 favorite links!

Try it... If you're shopping for your boyfriend, you'll find links with Christmas Gift Ideas for Men, "Romantic Gifts for Him," and even one labelled "Christmas Presents For Your Boyfriend!"

There's "Gift Ideas for Couples," "Cute Japanese Toys, Dolls & Collectibles," and one that just offers to give you "Amazing Christmas Ideas."

I did a search on Hanukkah, and Xerpi pulled up more holiday links. (One offered to let me "Learn about Chanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights" or "learn the rules for playing dreidel, and a recipe for latkes!")

But what I like best about surfing the web is serendipity — I always find something even more wonderful than what I was originally searching for. Xerpi definitely proved this to me when searching on the word "Christmas." One favorite linked to a web site called "I am bored.com" which was hosting a copy of a hilarious three-minute video promising "the best Christmas lights ever." It shows an amazing house display synchronized with a bombastic electric guitar version of Christmas carols. (I'm just glad I don't live next door to them!)

Xerpi also found a link to some fan fiction for the anime cartoon Naruto titled "What I Want For Christmas." ("She enters, and her seductive innocence floors him so...") There was even a link to a news story called "Syphilis for Christmas," but it didn't seem particularly jolly...

And one link made me really jealous. It told the story a San Francisco geek who received his first Christmas card of the year...from Google! (They sent him a digital photograph frame which even played mp3s!)

I ended up spending over half an hour just clicking through all the interesting links.

But maybe it makes sense. After all, besides giving us a chance to spend time with our loved ones, I've always thought of the holiday as a time for fun surprises.

And I never fail to find a lot of fun surprises when searching Xerpi!