The Weblog Review

Wow! When I first visited kevinsideas.blogspot.com (Ideas Inc.) I expected to find entries with random opinions on random topics. I did not expect to find the massive amount of focused content that I did.



Kevin Holtsberry is a thirty one year old legislative aide to an Ohio State Senator. He’s a Christian and a conservative. I spent the last two days reading Ideas Inc. and my advice to anyone who does go there is to bring your thinking cap along. Mr. Holtsberry writes about his conservative beliefs in a way that you don’t see often in opinion orientated weblogs. This is not a “this is what I believe in and if you disagree you are ruining this country” weblog. I disagree with the authors beliefs but after I read “Education Reform Rant” I found myself questioning my beliefs on school vouchers. I have a feeling thats what the author intended. Mr. Holtsberry just doesn’t throw an opinion out there. He explains them in a way that is not offensive to someone who disagrees, but in a way that attempts (through well thought out and researched posts) to educate those that disagree with him. Kind of like; “Hey, I understand you disagree, and I respect you for that, but let me explain my thinking.” I found at Ideas Inc. a defense of the Harry Potter books and movie that I wish all parents who were worried about wizardy and witchcraft would read, and this coming from a conservative christian! My two other favorite topics; ‘Conservatives and Sex’ and ‘Humans as Animals’ which is a response to something another author wrote.



The site is a basic blogspot one, nothing wrong with that though, especially if you have a content orientated site. The author is working on kevinholtsberry.com (as yet not available) so this is pretty much a work in progress. All the the links in the site worked well. No broken links at all.



Three bonuses that I would like to give the author kudos on; 1) all the links the author provides in his posts are to articles that help you understand what the author is writing about, not just thrown out there randomly. 2)There is a tool to subscribe to Ideas Inc. that I tried out and worked. 3) An ‘About Section’ that was written on my first day reading the site. The archives are ‘iffy’ though. On my first day on the site I was able (through the archives) to find the Harry Potter post, but was unable to on the second day I was there. I’m sure though, with the authors attention to detail, he’ll get around to fixing that.



I give Ideas Inc. a 3.5 because 1) its a work in progress, 2) I wish I the archives worked better, 3)I wish I knew more about the author (he’s working on it so thats cool). I’m sure if I reviewed this site in a month or so I would give it a higher rating.



In summation, I would recommend this site if you are not a conservative (which I am not) because the author does something not often seen in many of the conservative politcally orientated blogs out there; he doesn’t try to tell you that you are dead wrong in your beliefs, he explains, very intelligently, what his beliefs are, and challenges you to disagree with him. If you do disagree, you won’t be ‘flamed’ or ‘skewered’, you’ll get someone who respects your beliefs and only wants to point out where he thinks you are wrong in a very mature and intelligent manor. But my gosh, bring your thinking cap! Ideas etc.

The first time you arrive at the ‘Neural Net’ blog, you are required to enter a user name and password for some strange reason. This initial obstacle is an unpleasant surprise; so just hit the Cancel-button in order to continue. Some random images appear and in the upper left-hand corner is the logo telling you where you are. The entry page explains something about the time being ripe to join a members’ section. I do not want to join anything, don’t feel like emailing personal information in order to be part of the so-called “fun and debauchery.” I just want to read the darn blog, wherever it is. Where is it now? I am already lost in the Neural Net.



This is an unusual blog in that it is never really clear where you are going to, nor where you are coming from. Perhaps this was the original intention of the author, and if this was his goal he did a pretty good job of achieving it. Confusing but also aggravating.



If I get lost and find my way back to the home page, I am again confronted with that login window. Hit the Cancel-button in order to continue for the nth time. Okay, there is a dropdown list-box centered at the top of the page, maybe I can find something in there. Yes, journal is in there, so I select it.



The real journal comes up, okay I have finally made it. At first it appears pretty empty, this journal, sparsely populated with words and an occasional picture. Lots of white space, nothing really interesting, and there are parts which seem not yet completed, perhaps still under construction?



Here’s a typical entry: “Hey, I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything lately, but I have nothing to offer the journal lately, and it has had nothing to offer me…” Need I say more? The only form of navigation is jumping back and forth 20 entries via a link at the bottom of the page or using that dropdown list-box I told you about.



One part with some semblance of a personality behind the artist penning these words few-and-far-between is the biography. Introspective questions like “how old are you?” or “where are you at?” or “do you have any brothers or sisters?” give the reader unique insights (yeah, sure). There is however a pretty nice collection of interesting photographs (which unfortunately takes time to download), giving one a much needed and refreshing break. They are actually pretty good I have to admit.



Certainly it is not my intention to sound overly critical, but there is no avoiding it. This blog still needs a lot of work, more structure, and improved navigation features. There are blogs out there for one’s own self, and there are even better blogs created with feeling especially for others to read with pleasure. This is definitely not the latter. Just a Neural Net is all.Reality Rendered.

WOW! What a design!!! Big, bold and colourful. I was looking forward to the blog being of the same fashion! There were no obvious links to the outside, but there were plenty of pieces of artwork down the side of the main blog. So off I went..



The blog itself is the story of a girl (I guess) who has a fixation with Harry Potter. The writing was brief and tells the story of the author and everyday life. There are a few quiz results but mostly it was general chat on life in general.



The design is fantastic and the designer has out alot of work into it. There are links about the domain and an about section. Though I never actually found anything out about the author, which I found abit disappointing as I would have liked to know who was behind all the artwork. The links are on a set page of their own so as not to clutter up the main design of the page.



The artwork is very good on the site, and it is interesting to look at. The way that you can browse through weekly and monthly links is also a bonus. You can navigate round, though I did find it alittle difficult to find the main links out of the main page.



I loved the design, and the writing is the story of the author. I would say that I was disappointed not to find out more about the author, but realise that not everyone wants to be identified.



I think this will appeal to teens of a similar age and going through the traumas of getting homework done on time. I just hope that the author is a teen!Dreamscaper

When I clicked to go and review this site, I didn’t think I’d find a nicely altered Blogger template. The color scheme is basically the same as the standard template, however there have been graphics added which I liked that give the site a slight mythical feeling.



“Maybe God Is Always Angry?” is a pretty good site. With some amusing writing on the side bar regarding the title and asking, “What if the Bible wasn’t kidding and there is a God,” the site isn’t really questioning the existence of God or even has a strong religious context. The blog is more about mundane things such as dying hair, spam email, etc which turns out to be interesting.



The writer helps make everyday things we may think or not think about pretty interesting. In a post regarding spam and children, he said, “Children should learn about sex through ambiguous references on “Three’s Company” re-reruns, not by watching free hardcore sluts in any sort of hump festival.” He can tie in humor and serious issues together which I liked. It makes you feel as though you’re just sitting next to him, watching birds hang around in the park and he’s just talk about whatever comes to his head.



I really liked this site since it gives you a bit of everything with links, some funny photos posted from the internet and a glimpse into the mind of the author. I kind of hoped there would be a bio section, however once you get to reading through the site, you get a sense of who he is.



A definite visit.Maybe God Is Always Angry

I liked the nice clean layout on this blog. It was nice and clear and easy to find the main content. I also liked the photo so that you can see who is behind the writing! I have to admit that I am not a fan of black but it works with this layout.



The weblog is the story of her life, including ups and downs. I was disappointed that she has not made an entry since the end of January though as she was having a family trauma. The stories are interesting and she has a nice fluid writing style. She is also writing to get feedback to see if others agree with her thought patterns sometimes and for reassurance!



The design itself is basic, but a superb layout that makes it easy to see where you are going and what you are going to. The inside information was interesting and helps you to bond with the writer more. It also gives you an insight to how she writes and what makes her brain tick. I liked the personal touch of publishing the photo’s, although they did take some time to load up.



I have to say that the personal element on this site made it interesting for me. The combination of that and other blogs, and the technical sites make it worthy of a visit, as long as it gets updated soon! The blog is well thought out with alot of effort made to make your visit enjoyable.



This site is worth a visit and a wander round the links. It is clear and well designed, and the writing is clear and interesting. Overall, I enjoyed it for what is was, a personal site about one woman’s life.



Anicee’s Digital Existence