Category: Uncategorized

When I first visited Premshree’s blog, I thought it was a tad spartan. First impressions can be deceiving, however, and despite a marked lack of glitz and glamour, I found this to be a thoroughly delightful site. It serves a dual purpose; giving us the benefit of Premshree’s technical articles, software code and it allows us to become acquainted with Premshree the person.

Despite my initial relegation of this site into the “Computer Geek” pile, I found the glimpses of life in India to be fascinating. The useful technical tips, code, and links to Premshree’s articles were well balanced by into what life is life for a young college student in India.

If an American college student designed, developed, and wrote this blog, it would rate a 3.5. It’s slightly above average, all the links work, but similar files, code, links, etc., can be found elsewhere without a lot of searching. The unique part of this blog is the foreign element, which introduces just enough newness and intrigue to earn this site a solid 4. I look forward to coming back occasionally and catching up with Premshree. I think you will too.

Premshree Pillai’s Journal

So who is Kotigre? Frederic is a Vietnam war orphan, raised in Canada and Memphis who ended up working for Coca-Cola and who eventually threw down his shirt and tie and went travelling.

I have to move on now to the layout, because I found it actually impaired my reading. The background is black, which doesn’t work well with the dark font used for the links and archive list. The white font used for the weblog is better, but is against a checked background. Above each page and frame there are GIFs. Dogs twirl, dragons writhe, birds float past, sayings loop round and round. All of this is a strain on the eyes, and takes away from, not adds to, the writing.

Finding it so difficult to focus on the words meant that I actually focused on the real gift of the site. Currently residing in Costa Rica and sharing a house with a selection of unwelcome lizards, Frederic provides a fantastic photo travel log. The pictures aren’t always clear or well lit. In fact, quite a few are blurry and hard to make out, but it was these very human photos that kept me moving through the pages. They were what made it worth rolling my cursor across the dark and muddled screen in search of the archive link.

Of course, the photo page is well worth visiting. The family photos page tells you more than the ‘about’ page ever could. There is a very interesting story to be told here and Frederic tells it not through the writing, which is more of a day to day journal, but through the photos.

There is definitely a future for Who Is Kotigre? and one I’d like to follow. My only hope is that the future includes a clearer layout. Until then, I suggest bracing yourself against the GIFs and heading over there anyway.Who is kotigre?

“The Evolving Word” struck me at first as merely another “links to other sites” type of site, with very little actual content of it’s own.

How wrong I was.

After looking through the first couple of posts I became aware of how very coherent and intelligent the entries are. The author is obviously broad minded as his posts range from toilet humour (May 27th) to a detailed history of the way the Incas communicated (June 23). The posts are divided up in to 15 different topics (though two topics have no posts allocated to them yet) including language, sports and music.

There is little personal content about the author and what there is tends to be slightly over-analytical (June 16th), but this is not really a bad thing due to the variety of the content and the exceedingly entertaining and informative manner in which it is written. The author also states that he wanted to avoid the more personal aspects due to its ubiquity in other weblogs.

Some postings are long and in depth, some shorter but very amusing, all of which contain relevant links to a variety of sources. There is multimedia content in many entries too which is a nice touch (especially as they enhance the posts and are not just for show) though I guess this would slow things down for dial-up readers.

The layout of the website is also very good. The posts on the main page are shortened, with the opportunity to read more if you want to (which I often did), as well as the opportunity for commenting. The archives are easily accessible, with a number of statistics included.

My only gripe really was the need for registration to view the photographs and to leave comments with your name attached (they are anonymous without registration). I am sure the registration information would not be used for nefarious purposes, but I am still not sure why it is necessary.

Apart from that, this is a thoroughly entertaining, intelligently written and wide ranging weblog.

Editors Note: the site use phpNuke software as the blogging tool. While phpNuke can be used for blogs it is more of a full CMS and that is why there is the registration requirement for certain aspects.The Evolving Word

My first instinct is that this is going to be a news filled site. Maybe it’s the way it looks, but I doubt I had any idea what I was in for. There are a few, smaller shots of, I would guess, the author in the top left corner. These are very mysterious indeed, forcing me to want to read on. Pobrecita. My poor little one. Reminds of my days with my Hispanic friends and this is another reason I wanted to read this blog.

The first thing I began to tackle was the search for an about me page. Not finding one I did happen to find a FAQ. Read this. It’s hilarious. This made me seriously want to jump headstrong right into this blog (not to mention write the review before someone else got to). This author’s writing is captivating. I can’t help but hang on every written word. I started from the eldest entries, simply because he states, on June 14th that he needs “to organise my post break-up mid-life crisis.” The entries are funny in a quirky way that leaves you wanting to read more. They’re highly addictive with his blunt humor and candor. There’s few words in my vocabulary to describe how utterly addictive this author’s writing really is. The feelings conveyed in his entries are, well, brilliant. As a reviewer I actually feel inadequate for expressing how wonderfully written this blog truly is. Even if I don’t read through the entire blog today (which I may do anyway), I will finish reading. It is just. that. amazing.

The design is simple but functional. All of the archives work. The external links still exist. He offers in his side bars a grouping of music he’s listening to and books that he’s reading. The colors used in this blog work well together, making it quite easy to read.

The most notable of this blog is defiantly the writing and the writing style of the author. As I mentioned earlier, this FAQ is quite amusing and worth reading before you start on the blog. It gives you just enough back-story to understand why the author started the blog in the first place.

The reason to read this blog isn’t for the fun fangled stuff of other blogs. The reason to read this blog is for the writing; the engaging story that the author weaves in his entries. He’ll grab you with his wit, and keep you with the emotion. It’s hard not to understand where he’s coming from in his entries, even if he’s on the other side of the globe and quite a few years older than me. It’s a blog worth a read. If you read a few entries you’ll find yourself wanting more, like a good book that you never wanted to end.Life In The Hard Shoulder

Every once in a while it’s nice to see something with a bit of gentle whimsy, not overly sophisticated but not self-conscious about it, either.

Riftlands Cafe was built by hand by a guy who has a genuine interest in brushing up both his web design and writing skills. Its no-nonsense design and quick-loading extras make it a nice place to visit. There are tons of wedding photos, pix of the family, vacation shots, recipes and etc. I would like to see a few external links permanently displayed. For me, external links give a sense of who this person’s friends and interests are and help round out the “experience.”

Eric puts down his thoughts on a daily basis and you’re glad he did. What makes it stand out for me is the clear glimpse of life here. These are hard-working, honest people who take pleasure in uncomplicated things like cooking and gardening. No, it’s not boring, at least not for me, who spends so much time each day working on things like marketing and promotion. It’s good to be reminded there are still people around who aren’t thinking in terms of millions of page views and “wow” factors.

I bet he doesn’t think it’s much, this blog. But I hope he hangs on to the archives when he updates the site (as I know he will.) This will be valuable stuff in time to come; when his daughter grows up and Eric’s writing something bigger. I’m giving this a relatively high score; because although I wish these lovely people could win the lottery or something, this is the best I can do ;>)Riftlands Cafe