Category: Uncategorized

Messy, messy, messy. Informative, but messy. This “blogmanac” covers various items world-wide. The huge, and I mean huge, header section on the site basically says hello and asks you to be patient – and even on DSL you have to be patient. It was a good three or four minutes before the site loaded up for me and I shudder to think how long it would have taken if I’d been at home on my dial-up connection.

The content of the blog is provided by four people, and they do a good job of finding very interesting links (I did take the opportunity to check out a couple that caught my eye). The news items described on the site range from points of interest to political articles and the links are sourced from a wide range of websites and do not soley focus on main news groups like CNN, BBC, etc. My favourites were those about mythology and culture. There is also a large number indepth entries detailing the writers’ opinions of the links along with some extra information to tempt the reader into going to have a look at the link.

It really is a site that has lots to offer those who are bored or looking for something interesting to read during their coffee break – and it was during these times that I perused the site and the links. There’s lots of ground to cover and it’s updated several times a day, so you’re bound to see new things all the time.

Having said that, I personally feel that the site is poorly designed and would do a heck of a lot better on it’s own server using something like Movable Type, Greymatter or one of the plethora of personal publishing tools out on the web these days or organise it’s content. Wilson’s Blogmanac

Have you got DSL? Yes? Good, you’ll need it, because this site is slow on dial-up. That was the first thing that hit me when I popped in to visit Kelsopetz. It’s very graphics-intensive with pictures all over the place, but hey, it’s a personal site – and it shows. Unfortunately many of the pictures were so big (dimensionally) that they fell over much of the text in some entries, which meant that I couldn’t read them.



The general set-up of the blog is very easy to read but it’s almost plain to a fault. It’s a standard format with a few header graphics up the top and links and things to play with down a right-hand column and the blog entries on the left. Sarah has archives listed (very important for us reviewers), as well as her contact details and a great tag-board on which you can leave her messages. In this column she also has a poll, movie reviews, current WinAmp playlists (she’s got great taste in music!) and a referal script in place – many things that add just a bit more of Sarah’s personal touch to the blog. The only thing I would suggest is to perhaps make the photos she’s got on display thumbnails or link to them as she has done with some of her entries. A funkier layout would have added a bit more personality to the blog as well.



As it is a personal blog, I immediately jumped over into the “My Story” section, thinking it would be about Sarah. It was, but not in the way that I had originally thought. It turns out that this girl has been through a lot in the past few years. She’s experienced many troubles stemming from her family relations and the loss of her young brother in 2001. It certainly made me understand her standpoint as I was reading further into her blog.



Sarah wears her heart on her sleeve. Her words are raw and emotional. They come from living a hard life and learning to make do on her own. But after that, there’s still the odd bit of wry humour. She can still laugh at herself and the things she did when she was younger (not that she’s old now). She’s not a prolific blogger, and by that I mean she doesn’t post every day, several times a day. She makes an entry when she has something of real worth to say. She thinks about what she is writing. Quality is definitely better than quantity with this blog. I love the way she linked photos and other blogs and sites throughout her entries, adding that extra dimension to the look into her world. All in all, a great read. I’d certainly visit again.KelsoPetz

When I picked this site for review, I didn’t ponder much on the title as “Butterfly Dani” did not give much away, so I soldiered on and clicked on the link to the site itself.

As soon as I entered the site however, I knew I had struck gold. The template is simple and effective yet (presumably) unique and includes a very pretty picture of a butterfly. The content is also aesthetically easy to read with not a single duff link to be found. In the sidebar there are links to photos which the author has taken, including a photo biography, contact details and a link to an archive posting containing a hundred things about her- which it is easy to skim through and also proves informative.

Now this is certainly a personal weblog – there are few links to other sites to be found (with the exception of one or two music links) and all the content relates to the author, her life and her experiences. However, this is personal blogging at its best. The archives go back to March 2003 and I simply started at the front page and worked my way back, engrossed by every single entry. The writing style is easy to read, extremely unpretentious and VERY honest. The author has strong views on certain things which she is not afraid to express in some posts, sometimes getting quite angry, but can also show amazing vulnerability and sensibility in the next. The author is not afraid to cover the big topics either- politics, religion and death are all tackled as well as the more mundane tasks of work, education, boyfriends and cats. Comments are also provided and used by her regular readers, which often enhance the posts.

In summary, I can only say that if you are interested in experiencing the very humanness and expressivity which blogging can provide, all wrapped up in a nice looking site, then this is one for you.butterfly dani

When I first arrived at The Bachelor Blog it took my eyes a few minutes to adjust. With a bright yellow background, blue links, and red and black text it’s a little harsh. The second thing I noticed was a large blurb at the top of the page announcing that The Bachelor Blog had recently been featured in Psychology Today magazine. I searched for some sort of biographical information on the author (an “About Me” page) but could find none, so I jumped over to the magazine write-up thinking it would give me some idea of what I was in for. What I read intrigued me. Psychology Today had the following to say:

Self-Absorbed single guy gives online dating (and bachelors and, for that matter, men in general) a very bad name. What women fear men are really like.

I wasn’t sure I would like what I was about to read but I figured that it had to be interesting. I’m not easily offended. I was pretty sure women were going to get some harsh treatment here, but that didn’t bother me. If it’s done right, written well, and above all funny, crude humor can make for a fantastic blog. I hoped that was what I would find in The Bachelor Blog.

I was wrong.

The Bachelor Blog is a site with an identity problem. It doesn’t know what it wants to be. It’s clear from reading through the archives (beginning in April of 2002) that the author is trying to present himself as some sort of player, stringing along multiple women by cheating, lying, and manipulating. He strives to create something cool and humorous (albeit coarse) and perhaps if he had a flair for writing, a decent sense of humor, or a spell checker, he could have pulled it off.

As it is, the site is flat and lifeless. Instead of a boorishly funny take on the dating scene, The Bachelor Blog is just plain boring. The entries are poorly written with many misspellings and grammatical errors. A few mistakes here and there are no problem, but these occur so frequently and are so awkward that it makes many entries downright difficult to read. The never-ending procession of women runs together after a bit until you can’t tell any of them apart anymore, even though the Bachelor is kind enough to provide a guide to the rotating cast of characters.

The author designed the site himself and although it’s not the worst blog I’ve laid eyes on it could definitely stand a few improvements. The colors are harsh on the eyes and there are some long stretches where the author uses different fonts, colors, and font sizes for each entry. Combine these with the previously mentioned careless errors and boring subject matter and reading The Bachelor Blog becomes a frustrating experience.

If the author concentrated a little less on slapping himself on the back and a little more on crafting well-written posts, The Bachelor Blog could turn into something interesting. Until then, it’s merely one more wannabe in a sea of vastly superior blogs.The BachelorBlog

My first thoughts on visiting Riri’s Brain Dump were infuriating ones. At the top of the page, next to the links, is a picture of a painting that I recognise but cannot recall either the title or the name of the artist who painted it. Still fascinated by pre-Raphaelite art, even all these years after finishing school, I was drawn into reading further to see if the identity of the woman in orange is revealed anywhere in the blog.

The weblog itself is relatively new to this world, having only been going since February 2003. The posts are a strange mix of personal diary-style entries about the author’s life and technical musings, fitting the title of the blog perfectly – Riri clearly just types what’s on her mind that day. Although it took her a while to get going there is now plenty here to read but, although it is well written, nothing really held my attention for very long because the main subject matter (software developing and motherhood) is not really of much interest to me. Still, that’s just me.

The overall design of the site is simple and the colour scheme works well, with the vibrant orange of the painting in the header perfectly set against the soothing greens of the template, but the page did take a while to load. This is probably due to the number of photos and pictures scattered over the sidebar and in the posts, but this does help to give the site a nice friendly feel.

Aside from the blog, archives, links and 100 Things About Me, there is not much else to the site. It’s a weblog in its purest form – no added extras, just a pure journal. There are some nice bits in the sidebar, like the weather pixie and a Google search, but nothing much to distract you from the site’s main purpose.

All in all, I’d say that Riri’s Brain Dump is a reasonable site. Unfortunately, it may have limited appeal due to the subject matter, but weblogs are a very personal thing and all do find their audience eventually. This one’s is technically minded women with kids, I reckon. I may just stick around a bit longer though, just to find out who the lady in orange is!Riri’s Brain Dump