LeapTag finds feeds
LeapTag is an RSS reader with a twist: Instead of letting you easily subscribe to feeds and then showing you what's new in those feeds, you subscribe to tags and topics, and it finds items from the blogosphere that it thinks you'll like. As you tell the system how much you like the items, it improves its selections for you.
LeapTag finds items for you based on your votes.
(Credit: CNET Networks)TechCrunch compares it to StumbleUpon, which is apt. It does help you find items that you'll find interesting on sites you may not know about.
But once you find a new site you like, you have to go elsewhere to subscribe to the site's feed. That is one of LeapTag's greatest faults. It reads feeds, but it's not a feed reader. You cannot manually add a feed to it. Because it's not a feed reader, LeapTag adds a step to, rather than simplifies, the daily process of reading blogs--assuming you still want to scan your main blogs for all their new items, not just the ones that an algorithm thinks you might like.
And this secondary reader is going to take a fair bit of time to learn how to use, set up, and manage.
LeapTag's other fault is its footprint on your system. It operates as a browser plug-in and relies on a Windows (or Mac) executable file as well. It puts new items in your main browser toolbar and gives you a new sidebar. It's a pretty heavy installation, as opposed to a fully browser-based reader like Google's, the simple toolbar of StumbleUpon, or just the bookmarklet from Del.icio.us. LeapTag CEO Cuneyt Ozveren told me the company put all its functionality on the desktop to ensure privacy and security of LeapTag's data. But for a tool like this, which users need to be convinced to use, I think a lighter weight, browser-based solution would make more sense.
Still, there's something really great about LeapTag. It will help you find more stories and sites to read, and it will get better for you over time. Just be prepared to put the work, and time, into it.
Leaptag will be demonstrated at Web 2.0 Expo.
Rafe Needleman writes about start-ups, new technologies, and Web 2.0 products, as editor of CNET's Webware. E-mail Rafe. 
Actually, at LeapTag, we think RSS readers act a little clumsy by requiring you to enter feeds manually. Instead, in LeapTag, all you have to do is to tag a page. Any feeds on that page will be automatically added to your tag. So, for example, if you want the Technology feed for the NY Times, just navigate to the NY Times Technology web page and click Tag It on your toolbar. The feed will be added to the interest you select automatically.
You can also import your feeds that you have defined in RSS readers. Just click on the down arrow next to the LeapTag icon in your toolbar and select ?Import Tags/RSS? to import from Bloglines, Google Reader or Newsgator. Our future releases will have more substantial feed management features that I think you will like.
In addition, we also discover other feeds for you from a database of hundreds of thousands of feeds.
You can also read various posts in our blog (blog.leaptag.com) for a discussion on footprint and other considerations.