Category: Uncategorized

When I first loaded up this blog, I was impressed with the clean-cut design. The various shades of grey and blue blended in well with the overall site design, which is simple and easy to navigate. I must admit, however, that I was initially surprised by the number of categories that were available to tour. Frankly, I didn’t know where to start.

This hesitation quickly ended when I went through a few of the categories and realized that each is essentially a collection of various links that the author found interesting or intriguing. I found this to be unique to the site in that as you went through the diferent links, you began to form a picture of the author in your mind. As for my picture, I saw a photography-loving, computer-oriented, google-loving person. The site focuses on a broad range of categories, but I found the largest collection of links in the photography and computer-security related areas.

The author’s posts generally consist of articles from other sources, but the blogging is punctuated by occasional messages in specific categories, such as ‘rambling’ or ‘announcements’. I liked how the front page consisted of potpourri of articles from different sections of the site. The gallery is also an interesting part of the site with some very well taken pictures. I would have liked to have seen more of the author – perhaps an about page.

All in all, Lucpher.com is a site I would recommend to those who share the same interests as the author – namely computers in general, web design, and google. Speaking of google, the blog has one of the most detailed collections of links ABOUT Google that I’ve ever seen – an interesting page that I would take a look at when you visit this site. lucpher.com

Popism was listed on The Guardian’s Weblog Special this past summer. In case you didn’t know, the Guardian, according to its website, is a newspaper in the UK. The folks there listed Popism as a “British weblog on pop culture”.

The writing is very well done. It’s very straightforward without any fluff or filler at all. The author gives the readers a link, and a few words explaining what position towards the issue Popism is taking. Previous knowledge of what goes on in the British pop culture world is very helpful. I, of course, didn’t have that knowledge, so I spent quite a bit of time doing some research on the certain issues at hand.

Technically speaking, Popism is actually over a year old, entering the world of weblogging in January 2002. But I’ve seen weblogs that have more posts in a week then this site has had for the past year. Every entry ever made, at least the ones that I could find, were all available to view on one page – the main page.

The layout of the site is very simple. The black text on a light blue background used for the weblog portion of the site is very easy to read, as is the light yellow table that the author has listed other various links in.

Naturally, I would have liked to see more to this site. I know sometimes quality is better than quantity, which is relevant in this case, but more posts would more than likely draw readers back on a more regular basis, opposed to only a few posts a month for people to wade through.

If you’re in to British pop culture, this site is will certainly appeal to you. Otherwise, like me, you’ll be doing a little research on the site to fully understand some of the entries here. Don’t plan on regular posts, but it’s a good one to add to your list of sites that you just come back to check on every once in a while.

Popism

Once again I come to a blog and have no starting point or basis from which to understand where the writer is coming from. Who are you? Where are you? How old? Why are you blogging? Some basic info about the writer would help readers to relate.

The older entries were not in typical paragraph sentence form but were long winded poetic reflections of a time and place in the author’s past. It was somewhat Ginsburg-ish. There is a lot of description… which I found cumbersome at times. Can there be too much of a good thing? I think this style would be better suited to a book of poetry. This style may appeal to other readers however.

Most of the content focuses on the writer’s family and events in her life such as the birth of her daughter or trips to the hospital for her ill father. My favourite entry was from 8.13.2002 which I will only share a piece of… (I encourage you to read the whole thing)

“I come across a slip of paper taped to a cubbyhole in the desk. Document “Uncle Henry” and “Aunt Daisy” in family history it says. For a moment, I wondered what in the world, then a split second later I smiled, remembering Mom telling me last year, in the midst of her first flush of grief and confusion. “I want to tell you before I forget…” “Uncle Henry” and “Aunt Daisy” were Mom and Dad’s code phrases in their early love letters to each other”

Overall a solid but somewhat brief read. A few things: the picture links are all dead for many of the archive entries. The layout is clean but could use a bit more zip. The archives go back nearly a year but there are only a few entries but month… clearly the website is very well named. 🙂 I felt the blog read like a script for A&E’s Biography at times. This isn’t a bad thing, but if you aren’t interested in John Doe’s story you will likely turn the channel. Writer’s Block: Scribblings from Memory

I love it when weblogs don’t expect their readers to have expectations of grandeur when they visit. Matthew points this out right away as he very quickly explains “the purpose of which is entirely undefined and extremely meaningless”. No claims to perfect posting or thought provoking entries here, and with that in mind, readers don’t expect anything less then just Matthew’s own journal.

The very first post at the time of this review dealt with the originality of weblogs, and how the standard templates that seem to get passed around the internet get so very tiresome. It was refreshing to see Matthew with a template all of his own, which had a very simplistic navigation method, and I wasn’t distracted by any of the current trend in unnecessary javascript or flash tools that sometimes get thrown right into.

The story matrix is a definite highlight of the site. This is the portion of the site where any reader can go in and add a line, paragraph, or even chapter to the already involved story that’s been written entirely in that fashion. It’s quite interesting so far, and will only get better as different people continue to contribute. Go ahead and add to the mix!

Other parts of the site include a very brief bio section, which does give us the basics on Matthew. Of course, there’s your typical computer “stuff” with the Technical and .Net portions of the site. And one would be remiss to leave out the obligatory “Donate” portion.

Now, I could only find archives dating back to January 24th, which was when this site first kicked off. Having each individual day linked along the left hand side isn’t something I’m very keen on, and I hope that Matthew has a plan for those archives in mind once Wombleweb has been up and running for a while longer. The archives were a bit disorganized in the manner that they were grouped, but that’s just a personal preference of my own.

I had trouble staying focused on the actual weblog content at Wombleweb. With a great weblog, I can start at the very first post and make heads or tails of how everything relates or at least make some type of a connection where I want to read more. I couldn’t do that with the entries here. They’re not poorly written at all, but they just don’t make this the type of weblog where you grow attached or find some magnetic connection to the writer. The entries are more along the lines of just sporadic entries about random thoughts.

For an occasional read from time to time, I would definitely recommend Wombleweb to readers. If you’re looking for something to draw you in and really want to come back every single day, this may not be the place.

wombleweb story matrix

“I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me.” This quote, allegedly said in the 1890’s by States Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver, sets the tone for Jim Howard’s ShowMe. Jim Howard, ladies and gentlemen, is going to show you.

Jim Howard describes himself as an “old man”. His blog is a mixture of political views and memories from his past. ShowMe is all written as if Jim is thinking aloud, merely typing whatever thought pops into his head. This can make the posts somewhat difficult to read, as they often repeat themselves or are not grammatically correct. However, if you put in a little effort, you can read about some interesting things.

In the past couple of months, the blog has become more political than anything else, with Jim Howard constantly commenting on the war, CNN, airport security, ect. However, digging back in the archives, ShowMe used to be a very personal blog and with this. In Jim’s more personal postings, he lets his dry sense of humor shine through–

“Hilary and Jimmy are home from the trip to the casino. Hilary lost $150.00 and Jimmy lost $450.00.That is the most Jimmy has lost in a long time..That is a lot of money for him. It maybe good however..He said the other day that he had a dream and that God told him to go each week and he would win $300.00 a week. If Jimmy had won $300.00 it might have been very bad. Maybe he will come down to earth now.”

In addition to the blog, Jim also runs a webcam that can be an interesting journey into voyeurism. It’s worth a look.

ShowMe has an odd design. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be much of a design going on–only some randomly colored tables with yellow-on-black text. There is no table for the archives, so you must rely on reading Jim Howard’s posts in groups of fives in descending order. Navigating the site can be tricky.

Overall, I think perhaps the writing style and design of Jim Howard’s ShowMe could use some tweaking. However, in it’s current state, it can be a good read for those interested in politics, for those interested in the good ‘ole days, or for those who are just interested in Jim. Let him show you.Jim Howard’s ShowMe