The Weblog Review

Is it a group blog or isn’t it? Is it really a blog at all? These two questions immediately spring to mind when first delving into Harlan’s Rant Page, and further inspection yields no hard answers. In fact, the more one reads, the more one may become convinced that this is no weblog at all, but a bulletin board. Bulletin boards, themselves, can make for interesting reading; but Harlan’s Rant Page is not only somewhat disorganized, it also leaves the reader feeling as if he or she has stumbled in upon a long-standing private joke after the punchline has already been issued.



From a technical perspective, there is merit in the author’s ability to configure and run this type of site. The author states that he has made a conscious decision to keep the format simple and free of graphics, and he has no qualms with admitting that his Rant Page is a “testbed” for his acquired technical skills. Unfortunately, this “testbed” is not a weblog in the sense that most readers expect; and, as it is updated infrequently, there is little here to read or enjoy. What may have started off as a personal site for rants and ramblings has seemingly declined to a fairly neglected bulletin board with a handful of regular readers whose comments add little, if anything, to the author’s original posts.Harlan’s Rant Page

From what I could divine, Fried Kitten is a blog written by a Belgian, currently touring the UK. I can’t really tell you more than that because such information is buried deep within the multitude of posts.



The only thing I can honestly credit the writer with is an enthusiasm for blogging. All other issues aside, the content isn’t too bad, and might be worth a quick browse.



The issues then: firstly, this is another blogger that has no idea about web design. There is no archive, no real site structure, and the design and layout are the most obvious blogger template ever.



Still, if you want a Belgian’s opinions of England, I can’t think of anywhere better to visit. Read into that what you will.friedkitten.com

Yellow Brick Road does not carry a yellow colour scheme. It does not mention Dorothy (though the writers are called ‘The Wizard’ and ‘Tin Man’), and there is certainly no mention of any Elton John music.



The design of the site is, frankly, poor. A lot of the download time is taken up a a pretty rubbish graphic on the side of the page, and instead of any internal navigation to speak of (archives, about, contact) there are only links off-site and a long, long series of posts dating back to the year 2000.



But the site redeems itself. It’s strange, and unexpected; it I wasn’t reviewing this site then I would leave it immediately without reading anything simply because the design is so uninspiring.



It redeems itself by being different. There are two writers, and for every post they carry a conversation, each taking a different viewpoint, carrying a different opinion.



It works very well (not always, but more often than not).



The site would score higher if it was more a site and less a page; the design needs work but thankfully the content is just right.yellowbrickroad

A great problem for a lot of blogs is content. What to write when there are already so many blogs covering the same material in the same manner?



The problem is further magnified by the idea of running a group blog. Do you devote web real estate to internal conversations, or do you try to construct something that can be more readily enjoyed by the world at large?



Grog Me!, a weblog strangely void of Monkey Island references, is an example of the latter case. The blog content is atypical, with themed posts each week instead of a dry treatment of the writers’ lives.



In general the idea works well, with the week’s topic posted at the top of the page clear for all to see, so that a new visitor to the site can easily grasp what’s going on, without having to resort to scrambling around for an ‘About’ section.



As a pleasant change of pace, there are more blog-typical posts around, but it is good to see a site with a devotion to themed content.



How successful the approach will be in the future, when the number of themes begins to run low, is open to debate.



For now, at least, the number of opinions and perspectives on show is thoroughly entertaining, making the site as a whole a refreshing experience.Grog me!

Having noticed that it’s called Barbie.nu I have to say I was expecting something pink and from the mind of a 12-year-old, but once I had opened the page I was pleasantly surprised to find there was no pink in sight and definitely no Barbie’s, that’ll teach me to be so judgemental without looking first. The title “Barbie.nu; not what you bargained for” certainly summed up how I felt after seeing the site.



The text was fairly hard to read even when I reset my browser to largest, after a while it began to hurt my eyes so much I had to take a break and go back to it later on.



However, the last “blog” update was on the 7th, however looking back I noticed the entries were usually daily, most were interesting and descriptive, I especially liked the way she described how her life had no direction “The best way to describe it would be to imagine a leaf blowing through the breeze. The breeze carries it off, taking the leaf where ever it fancies.”



The layout was simple and plain, no images to be seen, which made a change from some of the slow loading graphic packed sites, however simplistic it appeared the entries more than made up for that.



I really enjoyed reading this it made a refreshing change to find a very good writer, very good, keep up the good work.

barbie.nu