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Tony, who posts under the pseudonym TriPolarProduce, appears to be making his first entrance, new as of July 2003 on this site, into the blogging ring found all of the World Wide Web. Hosted by 20six.co.uk, which is apparently yet another publishing “platform for all those looking to publish hassle-free on the internet with a Weblog”, the layout of the site isn’t one that’s been worn into the ground by other blogging tools. The gray, green, yellow, and red colors that were chosen compliment each other, making for an aesthetically pleasant appearance.

A “more about me” section is available by following a link from the main page of the site, and here, readers can learn a great deal more about Tony. The “about page” has a section where authors list their interests and hobbies, which in turn allow one to discover more weblogs with authors that have those same interests and hobbies. While this feature is used readily with other various journal sites, the information provided by Tony does allow readers to get a valid idea of what they will soon be reading.

The archival method chosen for “Where Life Meets Life” is daily, and navigating through the months and days of the journal is done easily by the calendar on the top right hand side of weblog. Starting from the beginning, which for this site was July 29, 2003, Tony jumps right in with a story of what just happened to him a couple of days prior. This particular story, discussing an experience at an Open Mike night, sets the precedence for a good portion of this weblog.

As his “about” page indicates, Tony hosts open mike nights from time to time, and seems to always have experiences he deems worth of sharing with readers. In these writings, readers certainly find clearly written paragraphs describing the details that seem to pull the scene at hand perfectly enough to grasp the concepts or ideas that Tony conveys.

The topics Tony writes about aren’t topics that necessarily fall as common knowledge to most people. He talks a lot about his escapades as an open mike host or an MC, and talks a lot about his plans for his future in the creative/entertainment industry. Reading about the way his ideas unfold, however, is definitely both interesting and somewhat inspiring to any type of reader.

Like with the majority of weblogs, readers will find things they can connect with when reading “When Life Meets Life”, but others will find they have nothing remotely in common with Tony. This is definitely a weblog worth looking into, and at least checking back in with from time to time to see how his success is coming along.

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From the URL alone, I wondered why this site was up for review. It doesn’t sound like a blog but a blog it most certainly is, with the name, bmg://its.bloggingly.delicious, hinting at a quirky site with some tasty content that will make you come back for more. The ‘about me’ page shows that the author is as interesting as the name suggests because it is set out like the transcript of a press conference, with Mike answering questions from his public. This page provides a little bit of background without being too in depth and the style certainly held my interest.

The blog itself has been in existence since January 2003. A mix of diary style ponderings and Friday link-fests, the posts themselves can be quite engaging when they appear but the last couple of months have been a bit lighter than previously. I liked the habit of posting amusing emails (e.g. real car insurance claims and what I’ve learned) on the blog as, although many people will have seen them already, it is a much tidier way to pass on these funnies to others than simply clogging up inboxes with it. I was interested to read about the author’s attempts at giving up smoking also, but the most recent post on a health drink that he is now on did make me think this was a commercial site at first!

The blog is powered by Moveable Type and, like so many others using the same, the design is both clean and simple making it very easy to read and navigate. The colours are well chosen and lend a professional air to the site, but it does look like it could do with an accent colour as well as the shades of blue/grey. Although bmg does not fall into the trap of using an unaltered template like so many blogs, there is still much that could be done with the design. This in no way detracts from the writing though, as the uncluttered design lets the reader focus on the content.

The webcam image on the front page is a nice touch as many readers will like to see the person behind the posts, and I also liked the addition of a guest map rather than the traditional guestbook. In addition, although there is obviously more content on bmg than the blog alone, at the time of reviewing I could not open the pics, movies and old stuff pages. I assume this is just a temporary glitch.

All in all, this is a nice well written site with interesting links that has broad appeal. If the author can keep up with his previous posting frequency, he will entice many readers back for another look.bmg://It’s Bloggingly Delicious

Sweet And Sour certainly is a blog. And there’s really nothing else to it. It’s written by a guy called Eric (I am guessing, since that’s what he says in his minute “About Me” sort of spiel in the top right-hand corner of his blog). In hopes of gaining some insight to the person that is Eric, I jumped to the very first entry, maybe there’s some more information about him there? Nope. I almost took offense to his labelling of journalling as “juvenile”, but apart from that, there was no hint nor clue as to why this blog was started other than to keep track of things he would otherwise forget.

A good reason for blogging if ever there was one. A logical reason for blogging. A boring reason for blogging.

The blog is a standard Blogger layout, well defined headers, dates, and a song that he’s listening to whilst writing is listed for each entry he makes. The code is clean and the site loads very quickly – because there’s nothing there! There’s one really spffy thing about blogging and that is the control you have over your personal space. This blog is about you, Eric – make it yours! Go nuts with the design – especially since I am assuming you’re an aspiring actor (or enthusiastic about getting a job in the entertainment industry). It’s a pity that many people who write well in their blogs don’t think to create or use a design for their site that really reflects their own personalities. There’s no links showing personal interests, no links to blogger friends. There’s no decent information about him or the characters in his blog that feature so heavily in his life.

It’s bland! I read through entry after entry. Eric doesn’t attempt to be funny, he doesn’t say anything extraordinarily poignant or particularly wonderful. It’s a recording of his day-to-day life, a thing that this particular reviewer (and fellow blogger) doesn’t really appreciate. Readers don’t want a simple recording of what you’ve have for breakfast, or what you’ve done after that last exam. We want to know the nitty gritty. Why are you hanging out with that girl from work? Why are people wanting to take your picture in restaurants and hook you up with their daughters? Eric’s life reads like a typical young man’s life, but you don’t get much more information other than that.

The whole problem with the blog I find, like I said before, is that there’s nothing personable in the design. To really get the whole story with Eric, you need to read the blog from beginning to end. Maybe if it was written with a little more flare I’d get into it more, but I couldn’t. So whilst there was a number of entries I read in depth, it was matched by an equal number that I could only skim through.

However I do have to point out that Eric is well written and there’s nary a spelling or grammatical error to be found, that’s pretty spiffy. The other redeeming feature of Eric, as I found out in an earlier entry in the blog, is that he likes ska music (which can often be described as big band punk rock) – Reel Big Fish. He also likes that gothique classique – The Cure. Good boy. I forgive you.

Overall, this blog has terrific potential to be really enthralling for it’s audience, but it falls short. That’s not to say that it’s an awful read, just a little bland with the repetitive “I did this and then I did that” entries.Sweet And Sour

My first thoughts on Breaking Windows was, as a computer weblog, was I the best person to write a review? It is described as ‘A look at Microsoft Windows XP from a Mac user’s perspective’ and so, not being a techie or a Mac user, I wondered if it might be better to leave this review for someone else. Then I started to read and realised that I might actually be a good person to review it because I wouldn’t get bogged down with the technicalities of the entries, and there actually looked like there’d be a fair bit in there that I’d actually understand too!

The blog itself has been going since January 2003. It is powered by Moveable Type and has been very well organised using the categories feature so that certain themes can be accessed readily. Each post is very well written yet also accessible, peppered with everything from software commentary to interesting and useful links. There are a fantastic number of entries too, giving the new reader plenty to delve into right from the start. On the home page there is also a poll which allows the user to instantly become involved with the weblog. Topics covered by this are often fun as well as technical.

The design of Breaking Windows is simple and easy to read. The light text on a dark background is very easy on the eye and the colour scheme is relevant to the logo used in the banner without becoming at all garish. The site is also very easy to navigate.

Apart from the blog, the rest of the site mainly consists of the archives and a smattering of relevant links. Although there is not currently a completed ‘about’ page for Breaking Windows, the first ever post in the weblog serves the purpose just as well, providing a nice background for what follows. There is also a small section in the sidebar to give readers more information on the site’s author, Ken Edwards, with a few links to more information if it’s required. If only all weblog authors were this concise!

I am very glad that I chose to review Breaking Windows as I feel I have discovered a gem that I may have otherwise overlooked because of the subject matter. This is a very well put together weblog that fits perfectly into the computer category and would make a great addition to anyone’s bookmark list.Breaking Windows

Mashby.com is a fairly typical personal weblog, with the particular bonus of having a lot of material to read through and extensive photographs too. The domain name did not give me any information about the site itself, so I didn’t ponder too much and headed straight on in. The design of the site is certainly functional- it’s a movable type blog which is technically sound- at least I couldn’t find anything wrong with it. It could use maybe a bit more colour, or maybe a nice title bar to brighten it up, but it is certainly not inoffensive.

I was pleased to see an About Me page which I went to straight away and was given a fairly extensive life history of the author. This was a slight premonition of what I was to find later on in the blog- one thing that Michael is, is thorough.

On to the weblog content itself then and like I said before, most of the posts are very long and some could almost be short stories. The writing is very readable though and the posts make for a relaxing read. The archives are divided in to both categories and date, so I read the first couple of months and then dotted around the various categories. Michael has a lot to say on various issues- the bigger ones like religion and family life, as well as a lot of in depth technology postings, book and movie reviews and anecdotes about his everyday life.

All the posts are entertaining and interesting, some thought provoking. There are also loads of photographs to look through- Michael recently went on a cycle trip which was covered both with a travelogue and accompanying photographs. He also has a moblog for pictures taken with his mobile phone.

Although this weblog may not stand out from the crowd with regard to any particular aspect, there is certainly loads of material to be found here, all well presented and written, which will keep the avid blog reader happy for hours, maybe even days.mashby.com