The Weblog Review

More obvious than not, it is clear that the author of this wonderfully honest blog is a graphic designer by trade and a true artist by heart. If you look closely enough, you sense the power of so-called Poster Art which is the overall cohesive factor holding this colorful site together. So where does the name alt164.com come from anyway? Back in the old computer days, hitting the keypad ALT + 164 made the ENYE character spring to life. Remember those days? Back then such mysterious key combinations were pretty exciting. The name alt164.com is thus a nostalgic title for a site deserving a cool description. Just an aside in preparation of other mysterious key combinations.

While the author Tom states in his biography that he does not consider himself a professional photographer, he has amassed quite an impressive collection. He does a good job in inserting a daily photo for each entry, and if so inclined you are also invited to comment on it. There is plenty to see in his daily photo archives, and there is a separate page with a calendar that one can click on for each day. While one may argue that these picture galleries are to be treated separately from the actual blog contents, the arrangement of pictures produces a good visual scene that balances how the author writes. He pens his many thoughts through words, he creates a design, and he captures scenes with his camera. All different angles of reality combined and put together in a simple yet powerful harmonious whole. Visual and mental as another key combination.

At the time of this review, the author claims to be reading the book “Logic and Design in Art, Science and Mathmatics (sic).” I am not sure if he is serious or if he is simply trying to impress us. Certainly this is not necessary at all because his site and its design are excellent. My guess is that the author is a combination of intellectual-scientific and moody-artistic, but I could be wrong. Just another aside in search of other key combinations.

You also might want to check out his poetry, no less than thirteen pages completely filled with dozens of inspiring and not so inspiring pieces: “smile for me,” “iron giants” and “punk rock haiku.” For this review, I randomly picked out an excerpt that I feel echoes really well the mood that gives him the strength to produce these blog entries. The poem is called “save myself, save us all” and the fragment goes like this: “…but the words jotted and blotted and surrounded, by other thoughts and tangential phrases, scribbled on these notepads that are all over, my room, for you…”

So with graphics, photography, words of wisdom and poetry, what more could one ask? Well, the author claims to be an avid music fan with a link to the latest Winamp playlists to which he has been listening. Check out his immense music collection to get a feeling for his musical preferences. However, for some reason there is very little in depth studies about music, at least not to the same level as the rest of his material. I think that this extra effort to piece in some music stuff would make the blog picture even more complete than it is.

I am very pleased when I can quickly understand a blog, see the basic theme. Even better is the nice surprise when I can discover depth in a straight-forward presentation. This blog hangs together amazingly well, makes the reader think, and it also challenges him to discover every crook and cranny of this Poster Art kind of place. Add some musical notes and this blog will really roll. In honor of this mysterious key combination for all bloggers, I award him the highest score possible. This is because he certainly deserves it. Great job.alt164

Okay if you are into cheese, I mean “really” into cheese, then this is certainly the place to be. Upon first entering this cheese-like blog, one is welcomed by someone who claims to be called Cheesus. He says: “He who saves a single slice, saves the cheese entire.” This is sound advise for the average curious visitor who does not know that much about cheese, but one who is nonetheless interested in learning more about the ins and outs of this fine art. To get going, the visitor can click the cheese, this cute cheese image that opens up a navigation bar which slides out from the left. Quite clever, I have to admit, and kind of fun.

This is a group blog in which all the members-of-cheese add entries about this and that. Cheese is in this regard simply a theme that loosely holds together the content, the so-called glue. What I mean is that it is not required that everything be related closely to cheese in one way or other. This is good because otherwise the reader would quickly tire and succumb to an overdose of an acute case of cheese-itis. Cheese comes back here and there but it is not the defining force of what makes this blog really interesting. Many group blogs are just that and fail in such a regard: a loosely held together collection of entries without much cohesion. Through the clever use of the cheese theme, I think that this impressive number of various entries is given form and merits a good reading. There are quotes from philosophers, random chatter, pictures, everyday events, the number of atoms in the Universe, what matters most in life, you name it and you can probably find it here. Normal folks like you and I just trying to have some fun, sharing ideas with one another.

There’s a cheese gallery with all kinds of pictures about cheese. For those feeling adventurous, there are even a number of interesting links to other cheese-related sites. You are invited to sign the cheese guestbook where all kinds of questions are posed and you are given the opportunity to expound your thoughts on cheese. What do you think of the Cheese? Cheese? What would you like to see in cheese? What is your favorite type of Cheese? Cheese, ad infinitum.

While the actual entries are not out of the ordinary, as far as originality is concerned, I give this site a respectable rating and can recommend having a look. One can enjoy regular entries with the usual various levels of insight and fun. If cheese-like foodstuffs and other mental cheesiness easily tantalize your taste buds, then you should enjoy yourself here. Long live cheeses of all sorts.Cheese

Delirious is a group blog described by it’s makers as “five crazy time-wasting, ranting, throwing-objects teenagers”. Upon reading it and browsing the archives you quickly come to understand that it is actually a means for 5 teen friends to communicate with each other.

This reaches almost to the point of excluding outside readers by the nature of their content. There is virtually no external linkage or reference to outside interests. As I read the site in more depth I began to wonder if they were even aware that the general public might happen upon their site. It’s probably more true to the point to say they understand what they want from this “one year old” blog and it really doesn’t involve the rest of us.

With that in mind it seems to serve its purpose for them given there is one or more blogs every day and they’ve passed the magical one year mark. I found the design for the most part easy to follow and find what you want but the color of the text made it a bit hard to read (at least on my monitor).

I gave it a 2.5 because I didn’t have any major objections to the site but also found little that would attract me back. Take a look for yourself, I suspect if you are closer to their age group you might be able to get more involved in the flow of the blogs.Delirious

WOW!!! Blue and black and my eyes nearly popped out in surprise. This made a nice change from the norm, I was instantly intrigued and hoped that the blog would be as loud as the design.

The weblog has just returned so there was little content there to read!! They seem to be offering video’s of concerts and live music prepared by a member of the weblog. They promise big things, but it is in its early days.

I loved this bold design, it immediately catches your eye and draws you to it! The design sections parts of so that it is easy to navigate around, but unfortunately there are a few dead ends or CGI errors there.

Due the broken links, I am unsure what bonuses are ion this site. I suspect that it will become an Aladdins cave.

The language is abit strong, but not the worse I have ever read!! The design is fantastic but I feel that it is too early to review this with the justice it may deserve.

I think this is a specialist blog and has alot of potential.

ZeroSoft

My first impression upon visiting (Mis)Representation was; blogspot site, nothing flashy, seems kind of ordinary, just your average weblog. I’m probably going to read about someones bad dates and job complaints. Well, if there is one thing I’ve learned about reviewing blogs, is that the first impression usually means absolutley squat. When I review a weblog I like to take a quick look at the main page, look for the archives, and click on the oldest entry so I can read from day one. (Mis)Representation started just about a year ago, and thats where I started reading.

This is the weblog of Teresa Michele Montgomery, 19/20 year old Missouri college student. I think there are about one million blogs out there written by 19/20 year old college students. What separates Teresa Montgomery’s blog from many of the others, is that this is a true ‘journal’, a true ‘diary’. The author (even after finding out the increased popularity of her blog) does not start writing to her audience. She keeps writing exactly what she is feeling. There is an ‘about’ section but it really doesn’t tell you a whole lot. Its through the writing that you find out what the author is really about. Teresa, by her own admission, is struggling with a weight issue. She has an uncanny knack for falling for guys that are absolutley out of reach by virtue of already having girlfriends. This would seem tragic if it wasn’t so gosh darn comical each time it happens. The author battles depression, (the clinical kind that you need medication for) and is able to get off her medicine and handle it pretty well. In an entry that made me sit back, take a deep breath, and be thankful for my own good health, Teresa confronts the possiblity that she might have diabetes (July 29th entry). Its fascinating to anyone (this reviewer included) who has not been in that situation to read such a candid display of the expectation of the worst news, the self blame, and acceptance. Turns out the author does not have diabetes. Turns out later on in the blog the author suffers from another painful syndrome instead. Teresa, from day one of the blog confronts just about every single issue that confronts all of us from one time to another; insecurity, financial problems, sexual orientation, lonliness, family issues, medical problems, weight issues.

The blog design is pretty random. The author changes the template frequently (and the blog address as well). This would be a pain in the butt if it did not coincide with differant issues in the authors life. At one point in time she changes the site address to get away from people who are harrasing her (or maybe people she is just sick of dealing with). The design of the site is pretty fluid, along with the authors emotions. If you read this blog, you won’t notice it though. As I did, I just wanted to read the next paragraph, to see what happened next. The last entry of (Mis)Representation even mentions that her site is closing down and moving to another site. To access the new site A Rescued Destiny follow that link.

(Mis)Representaion has a few cool bonus features. There is a message board, guestbook, and a comments feature. As previously mentioned, an about section, plus the authors IM and Email address. Pretty much a well rounded blog.

The negative aspects of this site? Sometimes the entries are sporadic. But whose blog entires aren’t sometimes?

In summation, I got hooked on this blog early on (and I think you will too). This is the kind of blog all of us bloggers wanted to have when we started our own weblogs. An online diary. A TRUE JOURNAL. Nothing flashy here, just a person writing about what they really feel. Four and a 1/2 stars, check it out.(Mis)Representation