Category: Uncategorized

Arrival at a site is greeted with yet another version of the generic movabletype template, which is fine but not very eye catching. It looks OK, it doesn’t stand out and is little dull, but, it’s easy to read and isn’t hard on the eye. There is a small about me section part way down the left hand menu, containing a variety of links to a homepage (there’s a small biography off this link), and a few work and photo gallery links. Pretty standard stuff thus far, and so I head off to that first posting in the archives.

The first post confirms my initial suspicion, the author immediately detailing that the reason behind the blog is a mere jump onto the bandwagon. This is fair enough, its how a lot of people got into blogging, it’s also how we ended up with a lot of blogs with very little to say for themselves. That said I continued to read. Entries go back to June 2003, so I’m guessing that the scenery proved favorable to the author, check the first post and you’ll understand what I mean by that. Early on it struck me that this was going to be a very technical blog with just the odd personal entry thrown in for good measure, later I realise that this isn’t the blog of someone who has nothing to say themselves – there is in fact some interesting posts going on here, maybe not for everyone’s tastes but definitely people who share similar interests to the author. There is the odd example of some really great photography as well.

The posts are well written, they are easy to read and quite often (depending on the subject matter) I found them pretty informative and interesting. OK, they weren’t anything out of the ordinary, but I do think it has enough of a pull factor to bring me back every once in a while to see what he has to say for himself.

As I said the design is a generic movabletype template with very few alterations, however, it is easy to navigate and read, and it doesn’t draw anything away from the content. Some amendments to the design may well help it appear a little more individual, but so far there is nothing seriously going wrong here.

Imablog was an interesting venture, nothing out of the ordinary but a worthwhile contribution to this phenomenon we call blog as any other. I might be tempted to pay it a visit every once in a while, but it wouldn’t draw me back on a regular basis. Personally I think the content is likely to appeal to those who share interests with the blogs author rather than the blogging community at large, but then no blog appeals to everyone. A worthwhile contribution, showing some real promise, a well deserved 3.5
Imablog

The look of the blog was very simple. It was clean cut with just a text box and a small amount of links on the side bar. There was no clutter, and there was nothing at all to take your eyes away, or distract from the main text blog. It was simple, clean and very easy on the eyes!

This weblog is an online problem page. The blog is based on the fact that people, all ages, write into “Bubby” who is a grandmother of 88. She then offers the readers various bits of advice and tries to guide them through any difficult times that they may be having. The problems that are answered range on every subject available, which includes friends that cannot dance, smelly workplaces, recipes for cookies, and failures of relationships.

When you look at this blog, you get from it what you want. You may take it seriously and get some good advice on life, or it may make you titter with some of the problems and answers, or you may just think it is all a wind up and that both Bubby and the readers are fictitious. Whatever, I bet that reading this will make you smile in some way.

The design is very simple and very clear. There is nothing at all on the weblog that distracts you, or tries to temp you away from itself. There are no long lists of links, no other sites to lead you astray. The site boasts a few nominations which adds to its credibility.

The main bonus is that it is such a refreshing site that is like no other that I have come across before!! I have never seen a problem page weblog, and whether you take it seriously, with a pinch of salt, or with your tongue firmly in your cheek, it is different! It makes, well I thought so, a refreshing change to the norm. If you are looking for it, there are some valuable pieces of life help on this site.

I liked this blog, and I think that I liked it because it was very different to anything that I have seen. It is a great idea to have a problem page online that is accessible to everyone. I liked it because it made me smile. I liked it because it was simple and because every entry was something different as you never know what question is going to be asked and answered nextso you never know what to expect next as you move onto the next entry. Help Me Bubby

One of the main problems I have with blogspot weblogs is they have the tendency to all utilise similar designs – that in itself would not be a bad thing if the designs were anywhere near decent, except they aren’t. I am frequently reminded of this every time I land on a Blogspot site in order to review it, and sadly ‘Elderbear’s Den’ fails to break the trend on the design front. A brief bio of the site resides at the top of the page, just underneath the banner. It reads “Fighting to stop creeping facism! Responses to life, culture, inner daemons, my family, and work from a privileged, elitist, pragmatist, anarchist mystic with a sense of humor and outrage who finds most of the situations on “That’s Just Wrong” to be pretty OK, if not downright enlightening, inspiring, and morally uplifting” . With that in mind I head off in search of those first postings without much idea of what I really will find there.

It seems like Elderbear’s Den is actually quite a young blog, the archives don’t even extend beyond the current month (February), but that is not to say there isn’t plenty to read here. The archive formating (weekly) suits his posting consitency, and is relatively easy to navigate unlike most blogspot managed weblogs. I quickly discover that the ‘tagline’ mentioned earlier is actually a fairly accurate description of what you will find within these pages – the author touching on a wide number of subjects with the same satirical / analytical style. The quality varies, but the author never fails to be thought provoking – whether you agree with what he has to say or not. The writing style suits the shorter, sharp edged posts – clearly not someone who minces with their words when putting a point across, and I like that.

I touched on the design before, it appears to be a generic blogger template with some minor alterations, and sad to say it’s not one of the better ones. That said, it serves it’s purpose – the colour scheme isn’t offensive to the eyes, you can read the text and although there are minor read problems on Internet Explorer involving the side margin seems to work comparitively well – it just isn’t very visually appealing.

A few interesting sidelines reside in the side column – some interesting sites created by the weblog’s author, a blogroll and a few quotations.

Design aside, Elderbear’s Den looks as promising as any other weblog I have seen in their early stages. It’s mostly well written, covers a broad spectrum of subjects and is relatively interesting. A few design modifications would heighten its visual appeal, but all in all it’s a really promising start : 3.5
Elderbear’s Den

The Waiting Place. Who is waiting? Where are they waiting? And most importantly what are they waiting for? Questions without answers unless I read the weblog.

When the page first loads I was greeted with a huge banner atop a standard blogger template. The banner had an image of two women entitled Eva and I. Great, more questions. Who are these two women? With another question in my mind, I went on to read the blog itself.

After reading the first paragraph of the most recent post I knew that I was in for a ride unlike any other I had been on while reviewing a blog. This made me excited to read more, and learn more about what was going on, so I did.

The blog is written by two people: Eva and Trish. I can only assume that the image of the two women at the top is the two of them. Trish is Eva’s mother, and Eva is the wife of a man who is currently in Iraq. This blog is their perspective on what is going on both in their own lives and in Iraq.

Trish mostly posts about what is going on with her daughter (Eva), while Eva posts mostly about what is going on with her husband. A very interesting relationship that is developed with this respect for posting on the site.

As I said, I knew I was in for a ride unlike any others. The weblog actually tells a story. One with highs, lows, and everything in between. I was amazed at how moved I became while reading this story. I particularly enjoyed reading about the trip Eva took to Iraq to see her husband. Even though there were a lot of hardships it was composed very well. Now (read more current posts) it seems as if they are just waiting on Eva’s husband to return to the states. Again, the story of how Eva is still moving on with her life without her husband for the temporary time is very moving and one that should have a very happy ending.

I only have three minor problems with The Waiting Place. My first is there is no about section. It took me nearly 3 months worth of archives to figure out who was who, and what was going on. My second complaint is that there seems to be some gaps in the story not told. This could be either an intentional thing, or something caused from Blogger. Finally the lack of total posts for each month is on the low side, but given the circumstances of how this weblog is told it is expected.

Overall I enjoyed the story told at The Waiting Place. I recommend reading this blog to get a completely different perspective on how the war in Iraq effects people. As I said, this was a great ride to take and I plan on continuing to see where it goes.

The Waiting Place

Imark manages to make a good first impression. It is a beautifully put together simple and tastefully designed template which adapts well to the even the smallest screen resolution. There are several pages useful in establishing a profile of this author, in particular I would recommend the Interview with imark and the 100 things list. An added bonus for any reader is the fact that this site is actually ‘skinnable’ – a whole range of stunning templates is located under Variations on a theme, and of course in the pull down menu on the index page. All of which show the same simple elegance of the default template.

The author of imark writes very well, his posts are interesting and show more than a modicum of wit. If there wasn’t an about me page here you could learn a lot about this author purely from the content of his blog. The archives go back to September 2003, the largest percentage of which are personal postings. There are plenty of stories from his day-to-day life but they are delivered in such a way as to never fall into the trap that grabs so many who begin posting every dull detail of their lives. There are also plenty of musings on wider subjects, and again they are written in such a manner as to be both thought provoking and engaging.

As previously stated the template is the first striking part of this weblog, it’s a classy design, and it’s immediately apparent to any viewer that this was designed by someone with a real attention to detail. My favourite template out of his range however had to be the default, although the others were equally well put together. The site was very easy to navigate with a good hierarchy of links, and no over-abundance (all too frequently found on weblogs).

There is in fact very little to find fault with at imark. It manages to bridge the grap of displaying both a good design and appealing content. He writes very well, frequently thought provoking, engaging and with real evidence of wit. In fact he makes even the most tedious subject sound fascinating. For me, this is a 5/5 site, easy
navigation, flawless design and good writing. It may be one of many personal blogs out there, but Imark stands out from the crowd for me.
iMark