Tuesday, March 18, 2008

BookLamp.org


Say hello to BookLamp, the "Pandora for books" as one digger put it.

Select a book you enjoy from a drop-down box(after registering), and BookLamp will give you algorithmic recommendations based on your input. The Captain Obvious in me must remind you that this service is in beta: the booklist isn't very long (in point of fact it's emaciated) and seemingly only encompasses science fiction so far.

Unlike Pandora, there is no search for the book list yet, although they do encourage your input to broaden the database. Still, the graphs are snazzy and well-thought, and dropdown recommendations are fairly precise.

The litmus test was selecting Isaac Asimov's Forward The Foundation, in which BookLamp projected that I'd like The Mindwarpers by Erik Frank Russell, and A Very Strange Trip by L. Ron Hubbard. Now I'm not saying I don't have an open mind, I just never thought I'd be recommended a Hubbard book, ever.

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