uTOK is based on the idea of sharing knowledge through a community of users who share the Internet.

The community is connected to each other with the program itself. When you download the program, you set up your user name and are assigned an id number. There is space for optional information like country, city, real name, e-mail address, etc. It isn't required information like some programs out there.

Once you install and log on, you are introduced to a hidden world that exists outside of what you normally see on web sites. You now have access to a huge group of users that you would otherwise have never met or come into contact with.

uTOK itself offers many groups that you can join, depending on your interests, from Members Helping Members to Technology groups, Web Cams and Gadgets to the ever present politics and world news. Everyone has access to the public notes left on web sites and everyone can leave notes for others whether you join a group or not. But joining groups allows you to be notified of notes left by other users in the group.

The Interface itself is set up in a user friendly manner, allowing you quick and easy access to your waiting notes list, access to the list of notes that already exist on the site you are visiting and one button control for posting your own notes along with a menu button for access to the rest of the program.

A few of the additional features that are there to enhance your surfing fun are polls and a search function. The search allows you to look for specific notes posted in uTOK, by user name or by topic. The uTOK interface also has additional skins that you can download and use in order to change out the look of the program.

This isn't a *chat* program, and if you ask the users on uTOK, more than 90% of them will tell you that this is a good thing. Instead of being bound to one site in order to interact with others, you are free to surf without losing the conversations or missing anything, because the notes don't disappear when you leave the site.

The notes themselves are left on the uTOK server and when you surf to a site, the uTOK server gives you access (through the headers list that you can call up) to the notes that have been left on the site.

When you use your waiting notes list to access a post, the uTOK UI has a re-direct that hits the uTOK server on its way to the web site where it gets the notes for you. Nothing is on your computer except the Interface and no footprints are left on the web sites themselves.

The developers of uTOK, who you can easily find and talk with since they actively use the program themselves, have assured the users that our surfing habits are NOT tracked, nor is any of that information stored in their servers. Unless you leave a note on a web site, then no one has any way of knowing if you have visited. Safety and privacy are a big thing these days on line and it is nice to know that this company is concerned about its users feeling safe.

Self control reigns in any *free* world and so it is with uTOK. The developers have tried their hardest to keep the lines of freedom of speech open and do not censor people unless there is a serious problem. There is a user based control feature built into uTOK, and that is the ability to vote notes up or down.

The ratings system is a way for you to *quietly* express your opinion about a post or poll. Each note and user starts out with 3 stars and depending on how their notes are voted, that rating either goes up or down. Lots of positive votes and your note, and as a consequence, your ratings will go up. Lots of negative votes and the user rating will go down, but if there are enough *down* votes, then the note/poll in question will be deleted from the server.

Usually, though, it is easier to ignore the person and their notes. uTOK allows the ability to ignore a user. If they are in the same group as you or leave a note on the same thread that you have, you will not be notified that they have posted. You will be able to see their notes though by accessing the thread or the list of notes on the web site.

Private notes are another way of having communications with people. These notes are only visible to the people on the list to receive the note. Sometimes I have run across notes asking for help, and I will send a private note to a few people who I think might be able to help the person. Other times, users will find something on line that they want only a handful of people to see. There are also times when you want to talk to someone else about something that is happening in an existing thread, but instead of everyone being able to read the note, you can send a private note to the other person.

The biggest thing I like about this program isn't in the program code itself, it is the users. While anyone who spends any amount of time on line will eventually meet other people, uTOK literally opens the doors to the world wide web. Meeting others, talking with others, having intelligent conversations with others.. this isn't the dating game, or a sex chat room.

If you are looking for *companionship* while you surf, looking for intelligent conversation on a variety of topics from Microsoft to Politics or you are just looking for funny pictures or the worst web sites ever designed, even if you never plan on posting a note yourself, then this program will have something for you.







Recommended: Yes