Author: admin

The load time for this site was a huge pain. I have no idea why, but even with a cable connection, I waited for a few minutes each time I visited the site just for the text to load. The gray background image came up instantly, and while it’s a nice looking background, it was frustrating waiting and waiting and waiting for the actual weblog to load.

Once everything finally loaded, I noticed a banner at the top, which appeared to be somewhat of an original creation. “Hypocrisy & Hypotheses – an acute angle in an obtuse world” was the phrase on the banner, with images of a protractor and pencil included in the banner. The color combination the author has chosen of a gray background with white text is a nice one.

The archives of Hypocrisy & Hypotheses started back in late July of 2003, where Alex, the author, explains the start of this weblog. It seems as if Hypocrisy & Hypotheses switched from Blogger to pMachine as the blogging tool of that choice, and during that switch, the archives that were published via Blogger weren’t joined in with the new.

The entries that Alex made were really all over the board. I was able to finally find someone that appreciated the humor in David Spade movie Joe Dirt as much as I did, read someone else’s reasons why they’re finding it so hard to just sit down and write a novel, and even guest posts by Alex’s teenage son, known around this weblog as Boomer. All of the entries, regardless of what they pertained to, were easy to read. Some more posts were more relevant to casual readers, and there were also posts that would probably hit home more to people that know Alex and his family on a personal basis.

In the biggest part of the posts, the author uses several hyperlinks on just about anything that can be linked up to an outside website. This feature works out great for topics that might not be as well-known to random visitors, allowing them to read more about what Alex is discussing. Another added bonus to each post is a random quote. For the first couple of months of Hypocrisy & Hypotheses, quotes by different people from Tommy Smothers to Henry David Thoreau are posted at the bottom of each entry. As days go by, however, this becomes a thing that only seems to happen on a random basis.

Aside from the weblog, there’s even more to keep yourself busy. Alex has several things linked along the side bar that can be found within this particular domain. The Windows XP logon screens he’s created himself and photo galleries were very entertaining. There were also links to archives, the most recent posts, and other weblogs Alex frequents.

Hypocrisy & Hypotheses is a very good weblog. Alex posts regularly, his writing is easy to read, and the topics he discusses are timely and entertaining. I would definitely suggest stopping by Hypocrisy & Hypotheses to see how much you find an interest in at this weblog.

Hypocrisy & Hypotheses

Although I have only given “Riri’s Brain Dump” a 3.5 out of 5, it is a nice enough weblog to visit and pleasant enough to read. The template is fairly standard with a few pictures added to brighten it up. The colour scheme is not bad either, being mostly green and pleasant on the eye. Although this is a Blogspot blog, the author has made the effort to get rid of the adverts at the top as well, which is helpful.

The first thing I went to on arrival at the site was the “100 things About Me” section, which was fairly informative. After getting a feel for the author and who she was, I started on the content itself and found a good personal weblog. The author is a mother, software developer and immigrant (currently living in Canada but born in Romania.) Incidentally, if your curiosity is not satiated by the “100 things”, I also discovered another “About Me” type thing back in the archives. These aspects of the author’s life certainly colour her postings and add an interesting dimension to what may otherwise be another run of the mill personal blog. For example, there is an informative post about her experiences with settling in to Canada, lots of stuff about bringing up kids and what they get up to and she also has some interesting opinions about female sexuality as well. The usual commenting system is in place and made use of by her regular readers.

The archives go back to February, 2003 though the author did take a break from blogging for a couple of months. There are a few little perks to the blog too- a little photo montage of the author and her family in the sidebar as well as a list of the music she is listening to/ books she is reading, though no reviews unfortunately.

There is plenty to read here though, despite the break in March and for anyone wanting an insight in to the ups and downs, thrills and spills of family life, this should prove to be a good read.Riri’s Brain Dump

My first thoughts on visiting Riri’s Brain Dump were infuriating ones. At the top of the page, next to the links, is a picture of a painting that I recognise but cannot recall either the title or the name of the artist who painted it. Still fascinated by pre-Raphaelite art, even all these years after finishing school, I was drawn into reading further to see if the identity of the woman in orange is revealed anywhere in the blog.

The weblog itself is relatively new to this world, having only been going since February 2003. The posts are a strange mix of personal diary-style entries about the author’s life and technical musings, fitting the title of the blog perfectly – Riri clearly just types what’s on her mind that day. Although it took her a while to get going there is now plenty here to read but, although it is well written, nothing really held my attention for very long because the main subject matter (software developing and motherhood) is not really of much interest to me. Still, that’s just me.

The overall design of the site is simple and the colour scheme works well, with the vibrant orange of the painting in the header perfectly set against the soothing greens of the template, but the page did take a while to load. This is probably due to the number of photos and pictures scattered over the sidebar and in the posts, but this does help to give the site a nice friendly feel.

Aside from the blog, archives, links and 100 Things About Me, there is not much else to the site. It’s a weblog in its purest form – no added extras, just a pure journal. There are some nice bits in the sidebar, like the weather pixie and a Google search, but nothing much to distract you from the site’s main purpose.

All in all, I’d say that Riri’s Brain Dump is a reasonable site. Unfortunately, it may have limited appeal due to the subject matter, but weblogs are a very personal thing and all do find their audience eventually. This one’s is technically minded women with kids, I reckon. I may just stick around a bit longer though, just to find out who the lady in orange is!Riri’s Brain Dump

Everything Sucks is one of those strange blogs that just seems to click with me. It takes a rare talent for someone to write and make the audience feel as though the writer is actually talking to them, or says something truly odd but that makes perfect sense. It also helps that the blogger has the same odd sense of dry writing humour that reduces me to mad cackling in the middle of my working day, and such a writer is that of Everything Sucks.

Unfortunately there’s not much you can gather about the person behind the blog other than his penchant for amusing prose and anecdotes. We know how old he is, that his teeth are brown, and from his latest entry, that he has trouble with his vocabulary, but there’s no real hints as to who he is. Normally, that would really bug me but in the case of this blog I don’t really mind. The anonymity adds to the entertainment – no wait – I should have guessed, he calls himself “Smivey”, he just doesn’t make a big deal about it. If course, if I truly wanted to find out who he was, I would have emailed him and ask a few questions, but that takes all the guesswork and fun out of reading the achieves.

The blog is about a year old, and entries are fairly frequent and varying in length and definitely varying in subject, from amusing tidbits of his job to the hotel room he rented through Hotel.com (and he even discusses Will Ferrell’s teeth, for goodness sake!). It’s a bit disappointing that the blog isn’t dressed up a little more. I’ve seen some wicked stuff done with Blogspot layouts, I think that Everything Sucks would benefit with a layout that represented the style and humour of the blog and it’s writer. As it stands presently, it’s a little dull, but hey, maybe that’s what the writer is going for? You know, so you concentrate on his entries and not any spiffy layout? Anyway, apart from a small list of other sites Smivey visits, there’s not much else to keep the audience entertained in the way of webrings, cliques or anything else for that matter.

Oh…

We alllllll suck!

We all suck!

We drive SUVs and trucks!

We get in your hair

and we don’t care.

We’re just moronic schmucks!

Did I mention he has a talent for poetry? Or at least re-writing lyrics to much-loved show tunes (try singing the above to the tune of “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast). That came from his first anniversary entry.

So did this:

“…One year ago, on this very day, I had a concept. A concept that I believed would turn the blog community on its ear. It did nothing of the sort.”

I beg to differ. He made me laugh. I personally think he’s a one of those bright comical stars of the blog universe – a little one, but definitely worthwhile investigating a little more. Everything Sucks is a worthwhile read.

Everything Sucks

Seeing so many blogs over the course of being a reviewer you see a lot of the same layout again and again. It’s always such a pleasant surprise to see something different, something new, something that hasn’t been overused. My first reaction to seeing this blog is almost the equivalent of deja vu, only a pleasant form of it. There’s a beautiful piece of art that the author is using in the title area along with the navigation. The green is a nice change of pace and I can’t wait to head to the archives to see what is brewin’ in the past entries.

The oldest of the entries explains that the author, nicknamed Riri, doesn’t speak (or write) perfect English. You learn that she moved from France to Canada and is making the adjustment while having kids, a husband, injuries and a life. The author writes with much feeling as you can tell from the entry about the many cats she’s had through her lifetime. Be forewarned, reader, that these are pretty heart wrenching stories and may bring a tear to your eye. You read about the movies her children are addicted to in this entry, and I have to say, her kids have some good taste in movies. In more recent entries Riri starts to add a word of the day, which is often fun (and I read them myself anyway). She starts to open up a little more letting us see a more political side to her. You, as a reader, get a chance to see her family, find out what she did with her day, and get a holiday greeting.



The design is pretty and functional. She’s a webmistress out in Canada and has worked on a couple of other projects you can find in her archives. The design is simple by means of graphics, but simplicity can be a good thing. Like I said before, the green can be a nice change from the gamut of colors that are often overused in the blogging world. There aren’t a lot of images to wait for download, which means the reader using dial-up can get straight to the content without having to wait forever for large images to load.



There are a lot of extra links in the sidebar. Webrings, a blogroll and weather pixie are quickly becoming a standard in blogs, so it’s only natural to see them on this blog. There are some new blogs that I haven’t seen as of yet in her blogroll which were kind of nice to peruse and see what interests the author. In the sidebar, as well, are a few snapshots of her and her family. Sometimes it’s nice to get an opportunity to see who you’re reading about. Riri also has a 100 Things in the navigation at the top where you can learn a little bit more about her.



Overall the blog fits into the category of “general” as she writes about so many different things. You’ll see how much she loves her kids and how she seems to enjoy planning for different events. She sometimes writes about the things going on here in the states and what we’ve done recently regarding the war, but she keeps the political references to a minimum (meaning you won’t be inundated with huge diatribes of her take on the whole war situation). Her blog is a relatively interesting read and worth a look.Riri’s Brain Dump