For the overwhelming majority of them collecting is a satisfying outlet for an array of useful, even creative impulses a search for beauty, for instance, or a desire to preserve history.

FORBES: They've Gotta Have It

Grokker acts as a plug-in that sits on top of a search engine and, by reading tags written into the data with the XML software language, arranges the results of a search into a ring of spheres or an array of squares labeled to show each one's relationship.

FORBES: Finding Meaning In A Google World

Search online for "travel pillow" and up pops an array of strange options.

WSJ: The Best Travel Pillows: Desperately Seeking Slumber

The SETI Institute is now offering the world the first taste of raw SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) data collected by the Allen Telescope Array in California.

CNN: What if there's somebody else out there?

Social Intelligence Corp. takes personal information given to the company by its clients and uses its own software to search the web for user-generated content, collecting a broad array of links and categorizing data to generate matches.

FORBES: Creepy Start-Up Or Sign Of The Times?