Category: Uncategorized

Random Acts of Verbage proved to be a religious blog. This is not the only type of posts that can be found on the blog, but the majority of posts seem to fall under this category.

The first thing I noticed upon entering the blog is the width of the page. It is so wide that it neccessitated a horizontal scroll bar at the bottom, and I am viewing it with a 1024 x 768 resolution. This seems to be the result of some pictures that had been posted side by side on the blog, which increased the width. I do believe that if you paid attention to your blog, you would see this issue and fix it. As a result the blog is extremely difficult to read and navigate.

You can really get a feel for who the author is by reading his ‘bio’ and may I add that he seems to be on a very interesting path in life (Go to his blog to read all about it). His blog is the main content and is very interesting, if you are interested in religion. But he also posts his thoughts on international politics, his recent writings on theological topics, and his daily life – which really shows off his less serious (and funnier) side, because some of those topics mentioned previously are pretty ‘heavy’ reading. There’s plenty there to keep you reading and entertained and you can actually learn something.

Overall, I really enjoyed this blog. The aspect that I liked the most was his daily life posts. What I enjoyed the least was the ‘too wide’ width on the main page which made the blog difficult to nvaigate, and I also did not like the fact that the sidebar was so long. There are so many things on the sidebar (some of which could probably be removed) and with the link to the categories being the last thing – I felt like it took hours to get to it. MattJonesBlog

What is the vn/vo? Who is Christopher J. Falvey? Why should we care? What does the vn/vo stand for? Why am I asking such silly questions? Some questions, obviously, are meant to be answered. Others, however, are meant to be ruminated upon, digested, and then ultimately ruled as inconsequential. The vn/vo dedicates itself to providing ‘a little more signal’ and ‘a little less noise’. Even the tagline to the front page, ‘assuming you’ve noticed the random taglines,’ seems to be a clever message hidden just out of view of the casual browser. Despite the barrage of words we’re assaulted with in the front page, therefore, we’re strangely drawn to explore this site.

The articles on the site, which range in length from 2 to 5 pages, are, in general, far from light reading. Mr. Falvey’s crusade to communicate through content is glaringly obvious in the way he eschews attractive templates or distracting pictures in favor of unrelenting prose. The vn/vo doesn’t believe in mincing its words, either. Mr. Falvey believes that tax money and tsunami relief don’t mix, that religion has no place in government, and he’s not afraid to tell you why. Thankfully, he does this in a consistently thoughtful, engaging manner. The subject matter is eclectic, ranging from the reasons behind the Iraqi war to the emerging blogosphere.

Given the vn/vo’s emphasis on content, the layout does pretty much exactly what it’s supposed to do. All entries are made readily available from the front page, which resembles some sort of electronic newspaper. While it seems a little intimidating at first, the interface in many ways conveys the same message as the articles; the message that this site is meant to stimulate thought. It is not meant to be a five minute surf stop, despite its flippant taglines and occasional humorous entry. This site is, as it claims to be, largely content based, and this fact is clearly reflected in its presentation.

While I didn’t find myself agreeing with all of Mr. Falvey’s points, his well-argued entries definitely do a good job in highlighting the logic of his arguments. The one recurring theme, however, seems to be the American public’s love for simplicity and easy answers, as well as their inability to understand simple statistics. Mr Falvey, it seems, has taken it upon himself to do his part in educating as many people as he can, and I have to say, he does a decent job of it.

The best thing about the vn/vo, in my opinion, is Christopher Falvey’s ability not only to communicate what he thinks, but also why you should care about what he thinks, or why you should even consider the issue in the first place. In talking about steroids in baseball, for example, he relates baseball to the ‘great American drama’; Mr. Falvey has a knack for translating things to a lowest common denominator, and he’s no slouch in exercising this talent.

Thus, all in all, the vn/vo is a great site to read if you’re looking for an opinion. In fact, it’s a great site to read even if you’re not. Just be prepared to stay there for a little more than five minutes, and don’t expect any pretty pictures.THE VN/VO (www.vnvo.com)

Mortality, Inc. first grabbed me with it’s bright yellow background and intriguing photographs taken in a cemetery.

I started reading the blog, and more than a little disinterested in the content, which focuses on death and corpses.

I was really interested in her bio, which states she’s the author of a controversial book that everyone hates. Normally, people that write blogs sell their product, so I was a little disappointed not to see a link to the book. Their were book links on the front page, so maybe the book was there under an alias.

I think you’d have to be interested in goth or death to love this site, but it still has something to offer the casual reader. I was fascinated to read “Medical Examiners always make the “down cut” to the left of the belly button when making a Y incision at autopsy. This is done because there is a leftover tendon on the right side from the ambilical cord. They won’t cut it to show respect for the way we are born.”
Mortality Inc

When I first arrived at this site, I was slightly disappointed. The post on top was about what changes had been made to the blog, the design was very basic, and there were a lot of different plug-ins and links in the sidebar, which isn’t necessarily a good thing.

However, the blog owner (stressqueen) has quite a few posts, and they’re actually pretty interesting. As I clicked around and looked at some of her favorite posts, some confused me, some amused me, and some gave me further insight into the woman behind the blog.

The design is, as I stated earlier, pretty basic. However, it doesn’t really take anything away from the writing. Sometimes a basic layout is just what you need in order to balance long posts and lots of links (which this blog has).

As far as extras go, there are a lot of links, some in her posts and many more in her sidebar. A lot of them point to different places in her blog, while quite a bit of them point to different sites. These sites range from sites linking to her to blogs she reads, as well as some different blog tool programs she belongs to.

Overall, this site isn’t bad, by a long shot. It’s not the greatest blog there ever was, but it’s definitely worth checking out, and you might even want to add it to your lists. There’s nothing entirely exciting about it; however, for this blog, I wouldn’t change a thing. It all seems to fit, and that’s really what’s important.NULL

Being a man I was afraid that this site would turn into a man bashing site, but instead it was knowledge that both sexes could benefit from reading… I read every article posted to the site and found some of the things very interesting.

The weblog is based on girl talk, from recipes to simple dos and don’ts in relationships. It also gives information from a women’s perspective on how to get men to adore and fall in love with you. I was kind of offended that some of the items on the site make men seem like total morons and that they didn’t know what women do to pick up “that hot guy,” but overall it seemed to be a positive atmosphere that didn’t prey on the typical “dumb male ego.”

The design was very simple and just as seductive as what was being discussed. It was red and white typical Valentine’s Day colors with a nice logo at the beginning. It was not cluttered with advertisements or links to other pages. She sited everything that she used and also gave links inside of article for further information… another very nice feature to add to a blog in my book.

I liked the site over all and feel that it would be very beneficial for other women to read and comment on her postings. It would be much better to have women involved in a positive atmosphere as in this blog, rather than a men bashing rampage disagreement with her girlfriends.

On a side note, the blog itself is working correctly, but none of her links at the top work, but the auction link… These items need fixed, but my review is based on the blog and its content. These links being broken drops my rating by 1 rating point from what this site would have received

Overall I would rate this site as a 3.25, while making one suggestion. I would post more often. It appears to me that she only posts during the second half of the month. I am not sure if this is a cycle that occurs on purpose or if it is just coincidental. I enjoyed reading the site, but would have to admit it is mainly designed for women.
NULL