This is way I built sagebump over a weekend as a side project for myself.
It applies merging aswell as custom filtering using open source algorithms I came across on HN and elsewhere. I only wish more people gave it a go, I seem to be the only user at the moment unfortunately. Feedback is totally welcome if anyone wants to take a quick gander.
Use this link for a "Technical filtering pass" http://www.sagebump.com/?view=technocrat&info
1) Auto-categorization: Great if it works. I understand it's beta, but it isn't working now. For example, almost every story is labeled 'Controversy' including "High school football player gives best post game interview ever.", "Chocolate lab after the dog park" and other similar stories.
2) Auto-curation: Again, great if it works and I know it's beta, but the Technocrat view currently offers "LPT: The correct & easiest way to safely break up a dog fight", "California boy gets detention for sharing school-prepared lunch with another student", etc.
Those are hard problems; if you could solve them, count me in. Possibly I misunderstand your goals, but as the other poster said, they could use more explanation.
1)Content is not categorised. It is filtered on a personal level (your self) then again on an application level (sagebump) to provide a reading digest. I am not sure how I would categorised such a product.
2) Where you using either the default views (technocrat for instance) or your own personal feeds? The articles selected are only as good as your feed filters on your different sites and the settings selected in the menu.
I think you really need a clearer explanation of your goals for the project. I mean, it looks like it could be a neat time-saver, but I don't think I can customize it (I've picked my subscribed reddits carefully already), and it doesn't have the niceties of Reddit Enhancement Suite.
The point is you enter in your customised reddit feed link, the add the other accounts you have from other websites (EG slashdot) so you can have a merged, filtered, organised list on the same page.
Sagebump sits ontop of your different aggregator site accounts.
