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tookiewana
This is a re-review of tookiewana
Tookiewana has a harsh look to it. The black and gold harlequin background, coupled with the gray and white foreground, makes for a rather gloomy feel. The header is so narrow as to look like something was left out and we have perhaps arrived at the second page, not the opening one.
This site has been around since July of 2003. I did like the bar at the top of the page with the drop down menus for Archives, Personal, Links, Friends, etc. This is a much cleaner way to handle all the things that people like to put on their blogs. So points for efficiency.
The entries themselves are rather sporadic and often consist of one liners with a link to a cartoon, or odd bit of internet trivia. He posts the usual circulating internet jokes and lists of obscure information. Sometimes mildly interesting, sometimes not.
Though the writing is clear and straightforward, there is not that much that is original to the author. He does have a comprehensive About Me page that includes photos, but the blog itself is not very self-revelatory. I'm not even sure how to categorize this site. Though some of the jokes he passes on are funny, overall I did not find it a very engaging blog. I would like to read more about what our author THINKS about the articles he links to, and see less of the one liners.
This site was reviewed on 2004-09-30 by yetzirah.
They felt this site belonged in the Personal category.
yetzirah felt that tookiewana deserved a rating of 2.75.
This is a re-review of tookiewana
Tookiewana jumped out at me right away with a clean, professional look. The layout and style reminded me more of a threaded forum or collaborative link site like LinkFilter than a personal weblog. To me, this gave the impression that each entry would stand on its own, with little relationship or cross-referencing between posts.
Before I dug into the posts, though, I checked out a few links in the header to find out about the author. (I like the header a lot, by the way -- it's similar to a Windows menu bar; very intuitive and space-efficient.) I learned that the site is written by Chad, a master's degree student at West Virginia University. He's been writing since late 2002, so I dug into the archives to see what Tookiewana is all about.
Many of the posts center around Chad's thoughts on current news and interesting events in the author's life. There are also anecdotes, audio and video clips, and short personal entries, as well. The posts are a bit sporadic, with just a few each month; I get the impression that Chad puts more time into the appearance and functionality of his site than on sticking to a strict, high-volume posting schedule.
That said, the functionality and 'extras' on Tookiewana are impressive. Among other things, Chad has provided several ways to syndicate the site (including a mailing list for updates), a webcam (apparently of an intersection in Clarksburg, WV), audio versions of each post, a poll, and links to several sites of personal interest to Chad. The usual blog features are also here -- comments and trackback, archives, and more.
I get the feeling that Chad is a very capable blogger, and has taken a considerable amount of time to provide a site that's easy to navigate, easy on the eyes, and very feature-rich. His writing style is straightforward and engaging; however, most of the posts are rather short, providing somewhat less insight into Chad's opinions and personality than I might prefer in a personal weblog. I'd also like to see more frequent posts, to help build a sense of interaction and community.
In short, I think that the technical aspects of Tookiewana are top-notch, and found the entries that are there fairly interesting. But in this case, more would be better -- more content, more often, and more of Chad reflected in the writing. For now, though, I give Tookiewana 3.5 out of 5.
This site was reviewed on 2004-04-19 by charlie.
They felt this site belonged in the Personal category.
charlie felt that tookiewana deserved a rating of 3.5.
When I first clicked onto this site, I spent ages wondering what the background pattern was! I was wondering if it was stones or something. I have to admit that it totally distracted me for awhile! I then noticed the contrast between the background and the boxes. It stood out to me. I noticed how tidy the site was and how few boxed links there were. It all felt very compact. I also linked the top drop down menu.
The blog is a real mixture of subjects. Chad is ill at the moment with bronchitis and is feeling quite down in the dumps! He made an interesting survey of what he saw on TV for a day though that made me titter. The posts are made up of sport, some political musings and the story of his court appearance. I did not find out what he actually had to go for though! There is a touch of personnel posts and if you go back through the archives, you can catch a picture of him with a puppy! He also has links to other sites to discover weird and wonderful ways to amuse yourself, including how much you are worth on your own barcode!! There is also some technical posts thrown in as he is studying computer networking.
I personally, as mentioned above, got really distracted by the background. I kept finding my eyes drawn to it, and continuing to wonder what it reminded me of! I was also fascinated by the fact that the boxes moved whilst the background stayed static! I guess that I am easily distracted! The design though is very clean and there is no clutter on the site. The boxes to the right are kept to a minimum and there is a drop down title bar. The "speak" button had me foxed though. It was novel to have a person talking to you, once I had recovered from the shock! I do not have broadband though, so experienced a few problems!
It is hard to tell when the posts were made as there does appear to be any dates on each post. There is a calendar that marks how many days he has posted on that month. I must also admit that the difference in the page designs did make me feel as though I had left the weblog and gone somewhere else when I clicked out! I could not get the graduation or greenbier links to work though...it lists the jpegs for the pages.
The main bonus for regular readers is that you can subscribe to receive the latest updates to C:\TOOKIEWANA.EXE. The mixture of the posts on the blog do ensure that there is something to amuse everyone. I am sure that anyone that visited could find part of the site that they would enjoy reading, or find a link that takes them to somewhere that makes them smile.
I can honestly say that there is such a varied mixture of subjects in this blog, that I found myself reading for ages!! I really enjoyed my visit and found some of the posts truly fascinating. I always love to read about people and their lives outside of where I live. Some posts made me laugh, some got me closer to Chad and some just made me sit back and think. I think that this blog has got better as time has moved on. I will certainly be visiting it again. It was refreshing and made a very good read.
This site was reviewed on 2003-11-18 by kacroon.
They felt this site belonged in the Personal category.
kacroon felt that tookiewana deserved a rating of 4.
3 reviewers gave tookiewana an average rating of 3.4167
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Site Category: Personal
Reader Rating: 2.4000 based on 10 votes
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