Category: Uncategorized

Wow, Buddha. Based on initial appearances, I figured I would be reading about Western religion. “The Emerald Buddha” really stuck out to me, and I found myself wondering why it was there, and why it is relevant to the site.

When I could finally stop staring at the Buddha, I got into reading the site’s actual content. The author takes us on a day-to-day journey through his life along with his experiences with web-programming. The posts are easy to read and I was quite glad I didn’t have to dig out my dictionary. What’s different about this site than other personal day-to-day commentaries I have read is that I can actually relate to thebwit. It feels like I am sitting down with an old friend, and he’s telling me what went on day-to-day. I feel the author’s purpose is to let people inside his life.

The overall design of the site is lacking something. While the Buddha stands out to me at the top of the page, I feel that more could be done to make it look more attractive. Once I scrolled down, I was basically reading black text on a white background. While this is easy to read, it does make things a little repetitive. Most of the links on the site worked, but there was one site that wasn’t linked up that the author should know about, and that was the one marked “Wendy.”

If you are looking for more than a day-to-day commentary, I wouldn’t suggest this site. The site’s backbone ARE the actual posts themselves. Also included in the site is an exercise log, but it wouldn’t be something I would want to read on a daily basis. I checked out the sites thebwit links to, and many of them are worth reading. I enjoyed playing with the “My DVD List” box, but I was expecting the movies to actually link to something.

If peeking into other people’s lives is your fancy, I would suggest reading this site. It’s easy reading and would captivate audiences of the adult age. It is interesting, but I think it could get a little repetitive after awhile. I still find myself wondering why Buddha is there, and what purpose he serves…TheBwit

Now I don’t like to start on negatives, but on entering ReMo Stylz all I was faced with was dark font on a black background. Assuming a lighter background was loading, which would enable me to at least read the posts, I waited. But after a few minutes, several animated GIFs were twitching at me from the left hand column, the centre of the screen was a dark void and the posts to the right were still unreadable.

GIFs seem to be the main content of the site. There is very little else. The posts (which I could only read by dragging the cursor over them) only date back to April 11 and the last one was posted on April 23. I only counted six entries, four of which simply stated the progress of the site’s start-up.

The left hand column consists mostly of flashing links to pages about tv, movies, sports and music that the twin authors like. However these, as with the rest of the site, are unfinished and you’re faced with a lot of “coming soon” GIFs.

The enthusiasm that was obviously pumped into the site’s initial construction shows that ReMo Stylz could have gone somewhere. The site has a nice, family feel, being run by twins who say that they “sometimes think alike,” and with an opening post that wishes their cousin a happy birthday. Aside from that there really is nothing there yet to recommend the site. The flashing, twirling GIFS gave me a headache, and with so few posts it looks like this weblog’s been abandoned.ReMoStylz

When I read the title, Passport to the Third World, I figured I would be reading about third-world politics. I was close. The blog is about someone who grew up in a third-world country, and is now living in a first-world country, namely, the United States. I can usually tell when a blog is serious by the template, and this is a very serious blog.

This blog is about politics, as many of the news blogs are. Nuno, the sole author of the site, talks about the presidency and recently, the war on Iraq. What I like about Nuno is the fact that he gives the facts, rather than only biased opinion. Many of the news sites I have been reading recently are extremely biased. Nuno usually just gives a link to the original news site, and will sporadically comment on it. The links come from a plethora of sources such as the BBC, Reuters, and CNN.

Nuno is the only author at Passport to the Third World and I think he does a good job giving the reader news without biased opinion, for that is the way news should be. However, more often than not this site has commentary, and you do get a feel for who Nuno is. That is what sets it apart from other news blogs that just give links to other news sites.

The template used at Passport to the Third World I can only describe as “news-y looking.” There are links to other news sites such as Reuters, The New York Times, and CNN. Also appearing in this blog are links to other “War Blogs.” Everything is in fine working order.

If you are sick of hearing about the war, I wouldn’t suggest reading Passport to the Third World. If war news is your thing, then I think you should take a look at this site as it will educate you on the current war proceedings. This site is definitely a well-written educated site and I will be looking back on it whenever I get the urge to read about war.passport.to.the third world

The Daily Post… With a name like this I expect a lot of news stories. Some political, others entertainment, and every now and then one of those strange but true type of stories. Unfortunately and thankfully this site was not a news recap sort of place.

What we have at The Daily Post is a group blog. While there are only two primary people who post, there are others who will drop in with their own opinion. With all group blogs I either expect a lot of interaction between the members, or hardly any at all. This site defies both of those and has a nice mix of it all.

The posts themselves are not based around what others have posted about, the comments are. And the comments are mainly left by those who are authors of the blog. The posts have a nice mix of things from politics to daily life to books being read. Nothing stood out with this blog except for the blogathon section which we will get to in a bit.

The design of the site is a very simple two column design. The information you would expect in what is typically called the navigation column is all there. I wish there were links to outside places – more specifically if the authors have their own personal blog a direct link would be nice.

There is a nice about section which helps to glue some of those missing pieces together as well as individual pages for each author. The blogathon section looks to be an interesting one with a theme of what I am assuming is “What would you do if you were world leader?” Should be fun.

Over all I think the site is just average. Nothing is drawing me into this site to want to keep going at it, but at the same time nothing is pushing me away from it. This is a good site to read when you need to just sit back and kill some time. Not a daily read, but one you want to check out.
The Daily Post

It’s a rare thing when I read through all the archives of a site when the posts are quite lengthy. Okay, I confess I didn’t quite make it through this entire site, however, when I started to read through The Accidental New Yorker I had to keep reading. It began to read like a really good book such as Bridget Jones’s Diary, or like an episode of Sex and the City on HBO. I was so engrossed in this site that I kept putting off getting my dinner from the microwave, even after it kept beeping at me every 2 minutese reminding me it was done.

Oh what can I say about this site? There’s a brief blurb on the home page that explains that the writer’s a gay novelist living in Manhattan, but this wasn’t enough for me. To get a good feeling about what this blog was about and who the writer was, I decided I need to jump to the beginning of the blog which begins in March of 2003. The writer begins by introducing himself and friends in his life whom he frequently talks about in his posts.
He talks about what a lot of people do on their blogs: his life. Except, the difference between his blog and other blogs is it feels like you’re reading a book which is a good thing. His voice is clear through his writing and he says it like it is which I love.

Taking a look at the design layout, it’s a Blogger template and is probably one of the better ones, but it would be nice to see something maybe a little more original. My only criticism might be to try and edit down the paragraphs a bit so it reads a bit better. I got lost a few times reading the lengthy paragraphs which isn’t fun when you’re trying to figure out where you left off.

If it’s not clear, I really enjoyed reading The Accidental New Yorker. It’s so nice to read a blog where the writer can tell a good story, especially when it’s their life.

Go read it … read it now!!!Accidental New Yorker