I came across a Firefox extension called “How’d I Get Here” which is designed to let you know your web surfing path so you remember how you got to a specific website. It was kind of funny, because I couldn’t remember how I got there…
What it does:
- Go “back” even after opening a link in a new tab and closing the original tab.
- Remember how you found a site you bookmarked yesterday.
- When you are sent a link you have already seen, astound the sender by responding with a statement more precise than “I saw that on some blog a few days ago”.
I probably won’t be installing this extension though. Why? I recently had a conversation with someone about how one of the things I enjoyed about the internet was finding new content or tools that were useful or interesting to me. Do I really care how I got to that final website? Not really. I do make sure that I bookmark or email myself the link, then go on with my day.
Others will have different views on this, that’s why I posted the above link to the extension. You’ll most likely find it very useful, and I look forward to someone telling me how much they enjoy the tool at some point in the future.
December 12, 2005 at 6:59 am
That’s really cool. I can’t tell you how many times I have mistakenly closed a tab that had links that I was checking out and had to search for the page again.
Even better would be a real life plug in. At the end of the day when arriving at home after a particularly busy day and zoning out on the drive home, wouldn’t it be great if you could look back and see how you actually got home. There should be a trackback to all the bodies strewn across the sidewalks, tickets acquired, etc. This would also be a great addition to the game Rail Baron. How did I just win?