The review of random thinks is brought to you by Online Dating Directory. Read articles and tips for dating as well as find online dating sites.
random thinks
Admin's Note: According to our records, random thinks's url is not working or has stopped updating. If it is working, please report that it is with the form below. You may still try to access the site at the following url: http://randomthinks.typepad.com/rtblog
My first impression of this site was generally good. The layout was the same as I had seen in many other blogs, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I noticed the creative way of making two of the letters in the title up-side-down and figured that this would be a very creative site. Even though the title does tell me a little bit about what the site would contain, I didn’t judge a blog by its title and I continued down to the meat of the blog.
I think the posts were well thought out, if not completely random from each other. Sometimes, the posts were about something cool that Keith, the author of the blog, found while visiting other blogs, while other times it’s a cool site to check out. While reading threw his blogs, I couldn't tell a lot about him. He hids himself in his writing so you have no idea how this person lives their life at all. In that case, if you are interested in finding out about this teacher, your best bet is to check out his “About Me” site, which is conveniently located under his picture in the corner. When I was checking out this “About Me” site, I found a bunch of great pictures lining the side. I was impressed with his pictures, which he calls “Random Pictures”, which subsequently matches the theme of his entire blog. This ties everything together very nicely. He also has two very cute Labrador Retrievers named Judy and Watson, who I would greatly recommend seeing.
The design of this site is very clean and easy to manage. Nothing is cluttered and everything is lined neatly along the sides for easy viewing and navigation. I was very impressed on how many ways your can look at the archives. You can view them monthly, by category, or just check out the newest ones. Although it’s very nice, it does lack color to bring the reader into the blog, but I don’t think it takes anything away from the experience.
When you read this site, you will find a ton of links in his posts so it can keep you entertained for hours on end, I’m sure. I think it’s helpful to understand what he’s talking about with the links to the sites being discussed. I also found that his “About Me” was very informative, although I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t find out who the real Keith was through his posts. He also has some books, DVDs, and movies that he likes, which helps the reader understand his tastes. These all let you know Keith a little bit better, which is essential in becoming sucked into his weblog.
Overall, I was impressed on his ability to find interesting sites to visit and present them in an interesting manner. He gives you just enough about the site to hook you into visiting it. He seems like a very creative teacher with an attractive writing style to match his attractive design. This site is definitely worth checking out at any age.
This site was reviewed on 2004-01-06 by Stephstah.
They felt this site belonged in the Personal category.
Stephstah felt that random thinks deserved a rating of 5.
The first thing that hits you about the random thoughts main page is how sleek the design is. I instantly wanted to read more and learn a bit about the site's author as it is quite a professional looking design. Turns out that it's just another example of a self-confessed geek trying his hand at new things and being very good at them.
The author's name is Keith and he started the weblog in its current format in June 2003 but, although it hasn't been going very long, things have changed a lot in that time. When he started, the writing was immaculate but actual content was a little thin on the ground - now there is an awful lot here to keep most people occupied for quite a while. I'd classify it as a personal blog but there are a great deal of interesting links to be had, as well as a lot of rather cool science related stuff.
One of the most interesting things about the design of random thinks is that Keith appears to have doen it all himself, with no prior knowledge. He has learnt HTML and CSS, tinkered with Type Pad and fiddled with graphics, even taking a course to help. It is a nice site to read if you want to learn about web design from a layman's point of view as most of his 'adventures' have been detailed in the archives. The effect now is a very good one, but I suspect this will change again before long!
As well as the blog, there are some interesting snippets (quote and word of the day), recommendations (books, DVDs and films), wonderful random photos and a large load of links. A thing that strikes me about this site is that it will either teach you something new or take you somewhere else interesting on the web practically every day. Keith works in education but the site doesn't set out to educate - I think it's just a sign of someone who loves what he does so much that he likes to talk about it and make it interesting.
I would recommend this site to most people, but especially those with even a passing interest in science. I may even blogroll it for the sheer amount of fantastic links that I encountered when dipping into the archives. I don't think I've sat this long with a new site for quite a while.
This site was reviewed on 2004-01-06 by Lori.
They felt this site belonged in the Personal category.
Lori felt that random thinks deserved a rating of 4.5.
My initial response to this blog is cute. I love the design and the graphics at the top of the site. The first thing I did was stop by and read through the "about me" page, which almost always has a ton of interesting tidbits about the author. Here, you'll find much more insight into who Keith is. I love the look of this blog and I can't help but hope that my first impressions of this site mirror the rest of the blog. I have high hopes for this blog as I start on the entry archives.
The first month of archives are pretty uneventful, with a few bits and pieces that are worth reading. As with any new blog the first few weeks usually entail checking code, making sure that stylesheets are working correctly and in the case of Keith, the include for php is working write as well. After getting past the first this first month you run across a few very political entries, which, in my opinion, aren't meant to reflect one way or another but to just open some eyes. This post of a particular article was very interesting to read. When I started to get more into the blog, as the author seemed to do as well, I found intriguing entries like this one about a cookie's fortune and his thoughts on what it made him feel. I'm sad that I missed the Binky the Crayon naming, but was glad to share in it after the fact. The blog, for it's randomness of subjects, is very well written. I suppose that would happen with a blog so aptly named. A recent entry about the Boondocks was a wonderful read, not only because of the author's insight but the articles that are linked.
The design is good. Very good by today's standards. The author has taken the time to learn something new, html and css, in order to create his own designs rather than stick to some tried (and died) templates. I love the design because it fits the author so well. Everything is easily accessible and well navigated. There are couple of quirks, for example, the "randomness photo" opens into another window, but the window is not resizable and doesn't have scrollbars. This only poses as a problem when the image is larger than the new window opened. Otherwise, I love the design.
There are a lot of bonus features to this site. There is a photoblog to see the world through the author's eyes. You can contact the author without opening your email. He has a list of his favorite web places as well as a separate blog list. There are recent reads, dvd's and other good things that you're able to post about while using TypePad. The author also does a quote of the day and a word of the day. These are all worth a look since they change on a regular basis.
The majority of this blog is personal. There are a lot of insight entries, or entries that are just there to share ideas or artwork, pictures or thoughts. He keeps the blog interesting by picking different things to write about. I enjoyed reading this blog very much. Each person seems to approach the blogging world with a different viewpoint on life, and Keith's thoughts are definately worth a read.
This site was reviewed on 2004-01-06 by firefly.
They felt this site belonged in the Personal category.
firefly felt that random thinks deserved a rating of 4.
The thing I was happily surprised to notice at first glance was that the site has got an own design, but still gives you a calm and organized impression of the layout. In the corner of my eye I see the headings "today's quotation" and "word of the day", which probably indicate that the site is updated daily, or at least frequently. The only way to find out is by reading it.
The reason Keith started this blog is, to quote him, because he 'wanted to try this technology out.’ This referring to the blog and all that comes in that package. He says he got the idea for starting his own blog after reading several other blogs. This is a thing you notice really quick in his posts because quite a lot of his posts test out certain technology like scripting and what happens if you change for example things in the style sheets. From time to time his post are also about what other sites or bloggers have to say on whatever subject he finds interesting, and off course the blog also contains personal content. And indeed, he updates it frequently, almost daily.
The site uses a "3 columns" design: on the left you've got a menu with the more personal things like what books Keith, the author, has read, to what movies he has been, the daily stuff and more.
Then in the middle you've got the actual blog with all his posts.
In the right menu there are mostly links to other sites or to help you navigate the site.
I am using the 960 x 720 setting, which looks fine and organized, but I find the 800 x 600 setting a bit crowded. The unique design is also worth an extra plus-point.
It's not strange that quite some people read his blog: it's interesting to read about a large range of subjects, and it's also just as interesting, if not more, to read his opinion about it. It's rather straight to the point, so it doesn’t take too much time to read it.
This site was reviewed on 2004-01-06 by brainsickness.
They felt this site belonged in the Personal category.
brainsickness felt that random thinks deserved a rating of 3.5.
4 reviewers gave random thinks an average rating of 4.2500
Site Stats
Site Category: Personal
Reader Rating: 1.5000 based on 3 votes
Report URL
Cast your vote
Sorry you need to log in to vote.