The Weblog Review

I wanted to review this site for a couple of different reasons. Tony, the author of “Other Men’s Flowers”, has been blogging for over a year. If someone’s stuck with something that long, then it’s obviously something they truly enjoy. I like reading weblogs written by people who really enjoy them. Secondly, the main page of the URL is currently full of posts with pictures scattered amongst them. When authors break up the text with something like this, it makes a weblog easy to read. These were the two expectations I had going into this weblog, but sadly, neither one of them were met.

Beginning with the layout, which is the most exciting thing on this site; readers see a Blogger template load in their window. It’s not a popular template, but is a classy one that will probably be overused soon enough. The browns and blacks used in the background and text do go well together, and make the site easy to read and navigate.

A banner that the author has created on his own is placed at the top of the site, explaining what the site is about. “Comments, mini-essays, anecdotes and quotations on language, literature, politics, the arts and almost anything else. Some are quite serious but most are not. Updated every two days or so.” It is a rather bland description, but it does describe the weblog to perfection.

“Other Men’s Flowers” begins in January 2004. It begins with a post of just one image – the image that is later, I’m guessing, turned into the banner that greets random visitors. Beginning at the beginning, hoping to gain some understanding before becoming completely engulfed with this site, I was unable to grab onto any common denominator with this author and what he writes.

Some of his posts focus on literature, ranging from recent to ancient. There are titles of posts that lead readers one way, only to be jerked all the way around backwards once they start reading the posts. For example, when I see a post called “Warm Beer”, I certainly do not expect to read a paragraph or two John Major misquoting Orwell in a quote about beer. Maybe there are other people out there looking for weblog that does connect these two things, and if so, this site is for them.

The entries are very dry. There’s not a lot of humor or a lot of personal touch that would make readers come back as if they feel a connection to the author. Yes, the author occasionally places a photo here or there to add a more detailed touch to an entry, but that’s still not enough.

I left this site feeling ripped off. I read months upon months of archives and feel as if I have nothing from it. No personal connection with the author, no bit of wisdom to carry on, and, unfortunately, no real desire to return to this site at all.
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Lightenment.com admits in its “About” page that it’s just an extension of other gadget review sites like Gizmodo or Engadget. The site is very new, so it obviously hasn’t been given the opportunity to take off like the author’s favorite gadget review sites, but there’s always room for that as time goes on.

The layout of the site is simple. The white background, black text, and blue hyperlinks as straightforward are appreciated in a site that’s keyed towards informing readers. Anything flashy or gaudy would just interfere with the site’s function, which is to “review the latest gadgets”, as the image header says.

The reviews that the author writes are ones based on his own personal experience. It’s just one guy, buying things for his own personal needs, and explaining to those on the World Wide Web how he feels about them. It’s a very simple objective and one this author accomplishes quite well.

From the new versions of the iPod to a very nice digital TV, his reviews are all based on his own use. Reviews like this are the most honest ones around.

With only seven days of worth of reviews that have been posted, this site still has a lot of room to grow. A review-based site such as this one is nothing to new to the ‘net. In order for the site to achieve a higher rating from The Weblog Review, it would need something that distinguishes it from the other many gadget review sites that are out there.
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When “Suburban Turmoil” loaded into my Internet Explorer window, it immediately grabbed my attention. The design is very unique. The title fits into the layout, which is very well done. The visual appearance of the site instantly drew me in and I started reading this site from the beginning right away.

I read through the eight months of archives like I was reading a book I just could not put down. Lucinda, the author, is amusing, insightful, compassionate, and more importantly to random readers like myself, she’s real. She blogs about her life, giving so many different aspects of people a chance to connect with her through her daily experiences. It’s no wonder each entry she posts has several regular readers interacting with her via the comments section of the site.

For parents with young children, the author can entertain you and sympathize with you when she writes an entry about discovering the true meaning behind her toddler’s obsession with the word nose or how to turn the luxuries her little girl has had into luxuries for adults. I’m all for a Big Bjorn Bouncer or an adult-sized onesie! As a stepmother of two older girls, currently 12 and 15, she educates the public with her fine teen-spying skills that insure she pretty much doesn’t miss much in the ways of the arguing.

Even those people without kids, like myself, will be able to appreciate the humor Lucinda shares in each of her entries. Who doesn’t find it amusing when a baby blurts out the f-word? She even entertains the geek side of us when she writes about the search results her stat-tracking program provides. It’s not everyone that can appreciate being the #1 Google result for “wheelchair, diaper, grunting, poop”!

A link on the sidebar of the site leads readers to a different URL where they can read 100 things about Lucinda. Here is where those as curious as me can find out a bit more about the author. Quite a bit more about the author, actually. What readers don’t learn by reading through her posts, they can certainly find here.

The layout, as I mentioned earlier, is great. Even though Blogger hosts her weblog, she has gone to great lengths to alter the layout to perfectly fit the title of the weblog. It’s the classic two-column layout, but Lucinda uses different image headers in the sidebar that draw your attention to the other sites she readers or some of her own favorites posts. It’s conveniently easy to navigate and it looked great in any browser I used.

It was hard for me to find something wrong with this weblog. I hate rating sites this high, because I’m never sure if the author can handle living up to so much pressure. But I digress. From reading her site, I get the impression that Lucinda can handle the expectations that might come with such an amazing rating for her site. In all seriousness, Lucinda is a great writer and has a way that easily involves her readers. I’m bookmarking the site and plan on continuing my obsession with reading all of her entries. I would highly recommend the same for anyone else looking for a weblog that will, on a regular basis, provide you with some entertainment throughout the day.

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I like weblog titles that have meaning. When I noticed this one’s title – “Duh & Nuh-uhh” – I had my doubts that it could have any meaning at all. As I read in the site’s first post, there is meaning behind this nonsensical title and I couldn’t stop reading once I started.

This site was started on December 7th. As of this review, there is less than a month of archives. Julie, the author of “Duh & Nuh-uhh”, is consistent with updating so far, giving the readers she’s gained so far a sure reason to keep visiting.

From the link to the Blogger profile on her site, readers learn that Julie is a 31-year-old attorney currently residing somewhere in the United States. While the exact information we learn is somewhat limited, her posts enable us to find out more about who Julie is and what makes her tick.

When this site loaded, I felt as if I had been staring at a light for entirely too long. The dots/spots that are used for the background honestly had me thinking I was seeing spots. Even now, looking away from the site and into a blank Word documents, I still think I’m seeing yellow and green blotches. Yikes. But, then again, that’s a Blogger template for you. Other than that, the site is easy to maneuver around when looking for the archives or other blogs the author enjoys.

As mentioned before, this site is still in the early stages. So far, Julie is off to a fun start. She shares humorous anecdotes of her childhood and her current life, which gives readers a chance to bond with her in one way or another. She explains people she is talking about, so readers don’t have the problem of wondering whom Uncle Ralph or “the other J” are when reading an entry.

Julie is the type of author who thrives in a weblog-type format. The way she writes is very conversational and is easy to understand the first time you read. She knows how to entertain readers in just a few paragraphs, and can still give her audience a complete idea of what she is writing. In time, this weblog will probably have an audience that continues to grow with each post that is made. I would recommend jumping on this site’s bandwagon now before you miss out on any future entries.

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The site is called “Mobile TopSoft News Board”. Having no real accurate clue or idea what this site could possibly be about, I formed a preconceived notion that it would definitely fall into the category of a site for geeks. Maybe I should join the Psychic Friends Network, because I was right on the money.

There are 384 posts on this site in the three months that it has been running. Someone is working really hard on making sure this site is constantly updated. Sometimes the posts come within two or three minutes of one another. Having said that, there is an abundance of PDA information on this site and for those hardcore PDA fans, this site is going to seem like heaven.

I was very impressed with the layout of the site. It looks as if it was made from scratch and, from what I could see in the source code, it is updated manually, instead of any of the content management systems that are so popularly used. The layout is very easy to navigate, which is a must for a site containing this much information. The archives are listed by month or by category, again something that is helpful for a site like this.

The site has additional features that certainly improve the quality of it. Since it does gear solely towards PDA information, there is a link available for a mobile version of the site that user can access from their PDA. There is also a portion of the site that lead to discounted software downloads or links to the best prices for several popular models of handhelds.

The creators/authors of this site are sure not to leave out any information about the latest release of a PDA or the software that people with PDAs would want to download. It is a site that is a must have for a techno-geek looking for information specifically about this item.

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