Month: January 1970

Premshree Pillai is a twenty-year-old computer
programmer from India. I would suggest checking out his `About Me’ page before reading the weblog
entries. He has quite an impressive list of programming and publishing accomplishments (he even
generously shares some of his code with the world ), and knowing this enhances his journal entries.

The author designed his own blog layout. The grey and black colors are nice to look at, and each blog entry is neatly separated into boxes and labeled with date and time. Entries are listed 10 to a page with the most recent addition at the top. There are links throughout the blog to all kinds of programming sites, and according to surfers who have signed his guestboook, his own contributions to the programming world have helped a lot of people.

Aside from interesting tidbits from the world of computer programming, many of Premshree’s entries cover his
life as a student, and different aspects of living in India, which is particularly intriguing because of his non-intrusive narrative style. Premshree disects his thoughts and feelings well, and seems to have a good understanding of human nature and not just the nature of programming. It’s really quite nice to read about his recollections of time spent with family members as he looks back with adult eyes.

Bottom line: A well-crafted site with interesting entries written by a down-to-earth programming guru.
Premshree Pillai’s Journal

“Of or referring to the god Mercury” is the definition of “mercurial,” an interesting name with the description of “toxic.” This blog is somewhat plain in demeanor, but full of interesting links and content.

The blog is set up with different categories of links, ranging from Politics, Society and Environment to Books, Sex and Assorted. There are different images to help prepare the reader for what is to come with each post. The writer usually adds a little bit of their own opinions to the post, and even quotes parts to lure the reader into wanting more. I easily found myself venturing from the site to new and exciting things. If you find yourself looking through the archives, you’ll find longer entries that bring you closer to the author and the things they’re experiencing.

The blog is only posted by one author, or so I could see from the main site and browsing through some of the archives. It’s all things interesting or alluring to the author, but always on subjects that seem to have a bit of mass appeal.

Though the site can be a little bland with it’s lack of colors, it makes up for it in content. There are many interesting things to read on this blog, and the author points you in the right direction when searching for different kinds of links on varying diverse subjects.

The blog is categorized as news/links, however the author throws in a bit of personal flare to the mix as well. An interesting read for the random passerby, the daily reader might be more interested in learning more about the author if they wanted to come back. I might actually categorize this site as personal rather than news/links, as there is a bit of an intimate feel to this blog.Mercurial

The interesting title sparked my attention from the get-go, and that made me ultimately curious to do this review. The first thing I noticed was the quite by Ghandi, “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”

She’s a wonderful storyteller in her blog entries, which makes for a pleasant read. She has a wonderfully light sense of humor (dressing up cats and Engrish). She posts links to things of interest, and I mean really, honestly interesting. Her entries are plotted like mini-stories, and you can’t help but find something touching and real in them.

The design is very pleasing to the eye, and easy to read. Though she may not have done all of the design work herself, it’s a unique layout that flows very nicely with her quote. The colors seem to promote a sense of tranquility, which you find in her writings as well as the other parts of the blog.

She provides a commenting system, which is always great for reader interaction. She also has a second “sideblog” (April 16) that seems a bit more random than the Dim Sum Diaries. Archives only go back to mid-March, though you’ll find some very touching entries (March 20) that appear to be fiction; only they’re very real. There is a balance between the funny and ironic, and the touching and tender moments.

The author links to many great sites that I found interesting and thankful to have had a chance to experience them as I read through the site. Her site is poignant and alive with her writing. Her about me page explains why she started a blog in the first place.

Everything flows together like a well-written novel, and that makes reading countless entries all the easier. She’s an asset to the blogging community and a joy to read.The Dim Sum Diaries

When I first saw the title of the next site to be reviewed, I was almost tempted to skip it and write a review for someone else. I was sure it was going to be a political diatribe about President Bush and his cohorts. I wasn’t really in the mood for reading that kind of site, however, upon reading the first paragraph of the site I found that this is a guy with a sarcastically cynical sense of humor — something rare indeed.

This site was highly hilarious, and completely funny. I couldn’t stop chuckling to myself when I read through almost all of the links within the site. Through all of the writings I was able to get a glimpse into whom the guy behind the words really is. He cares about many things, intelligence being one of them, and he shows his own without hiding behind the computer screen. He shares his nasty emails for each of us, giving us his own opinion to these emails as well. He is opinionated and strong-minded. Painfully real and honest. These are the kind of qualities that I think many people might find offensive, even though I found it all quite amusing.

As for the design of the site, this could use a little bit of work. Plain on the exterior, you’d almost assume that the quality of the writing would be a reflection of the quality of the design. The archives aren’t necessarily archives according to how most bloggers are used to seeing them, though they do take you to previously written stories, essays and other interesting things. There are a good number of popular outgoing links, however some of the scripting makes it a little difficult to find out what goes where, and why.

I was a little disappointed to find that there wasn’t an about me page, or somewhere else to get to know little things about the author that you can’t get from the writings. There isn’t any way to leave a comment, though he does provide an email address if you feel the need to write. There is only one poll, though funny, for readers to interact with the author.

His intelligence speaks for itself, and his sense of humor might be seen as rather dark or cynical. For the open-minded of the blogging bunch you might find him rather hilarious, as I did. His writing is not for the demure and quiet kind, though he speaks with real honesty and truth (as he knows it). I recommend this site to be read as entertainment rather than to be taken too seriously.WorldWarBush

Okay, I love this blog. It’s filled with some of the funniest and (excuse my language) bitchiest posts I have ever read. There are actually 3 blogs on the page. One could be found under “Journal”, the other under “Rants”, and the last under “Raves” (the titles are sort of self-explanatory).

Written by a 24-year-old New Yorker, Chris, who goes by the alias of Spriteboy, Spriteboy World is a highly absorbing read. Most of the blog entries are mainly about his daily life, but the author’s sarcastically witty narrations make his supposedly sad life sound really exciting and glamourous (e.g. his encounters with celebrities and wannabes at his front desk operator job with uber chic New York hotel, Hudson).

The writing is vigorous and highly engaging, and is the type of blog that I wish I were writing. The layout of the entire site is pretty amateurish but it doesn’t really matter because the blog is just so good. There are the standard links to his bio, the guestbook; and some other goodies like “music” and “All Up In My Business”, where Chris answers some questions posed to him by his readers. Only thing that kinda bugged me was the archive. Most blogs have monthly or weekly archives, while his was a post-by-post type. Meaning, there’s an archive page with individual links to all his posts. It is not too bad, only that every time I am done reading one post, I have to click back to the main archive page because Chris didn’t link up the posts. It wouldn’t be that big of a problem if he didn’t have quite so many entries, but he did, so maybe some improvements could be made in that area.

Seriously, if you are looking for a personal ‘rant’ blog that is entertaining and doesn’t drone on and on about one’s life, you should go for this one. The writing is so lively, it almost sparkles. The blogs are updated regularly, so it makes a good choice if you want something you can check on weekly. This one is definitely joining my list of favourites.
Spriteboy World