Category: Uncategorized

Because of a TWR rule that states: “Any site that does not have either a public link to the archives or is a new site (created in the last month) can score no higher than a 2.0 in the rating. “, I have no choice but to treat 2.0 marks as 5.0 marks, since I really could not find any links to archived entries. So Disarm gets 1.0, which would be 2.5 under normal conditions.

(Text located on the main page of TWR:

Submitting your site

Please do not submit your site if you do not have the following

-A link to your archives that is available to the public


-At least a full 6-8 weeks worth of content to review Without either of these things, it makes it very difficult to review the site and will result in a lower rating. If you feel the need to have your site reviewed with out either of these things we cannot give a favorable review.)

Perhaps due to her host, who has basically the same layout with a different color theme for his blog, Cloe has a design that leaves the most part of the page empty, while her entries are squeezed into a not-so-wide strip on the left. The color scheme consists of purple words on a purple background, while the font is smaller-than-10 tiny. Anything that makes readers lean forward to squint is irritating.

From the little content that I can judge on, Cloe appears to be your normal early-teen young blogger that blogs more about songs, tv programs, movies, fashion and books than his or her personal life. The reader knows virtually nothing about the blogger. There are no introductions, no links – just around one month’s worth of blog entries. I can only say that to the average reader more than fifteen-years-old, Disarm comes across as a childish blog of little notable content. If you are a teenager, however, Disarm offers light-hearted, short entries, with occasional jabs at certain books/music/tv programs/movies, written with delightful sarcasm.

This is a teenager’s blog, and in all fairness should be judged as a teenager’s blog. As far as teen blogs go, Disarm isn’t bad, but there isn’t anything that stands out either. With the addition of some info on Cloe, a few links and, most importantly, archives, Disarm will fare better.

Disarm

The first thing I noticed on entering this site was how attractive and easy on the eye the colours are. Yan Jun, the author, mentions that she has changed the layout over eight times, but I’d say that this one is a keeper. The site is clean and simple to navigate, with links allowing you to see all the past layouts, which I thought was a nice touch.

The weblog is mostly about Yan Jun’s everyday life. Her entries have been sporadic recently due a month long ban on the internet, imposed by her parents. Yan Jun writes about being grounded, skipping school and the dangers of high heeled shoes, but it’s all very readable and gives an interesting perspective on life. It will remind you of the frustrations of being a fourteen-year-old.

The about me section is pretty thorough and gives you a good idea of the girl behind the blog. There are only twelve posts so far, although I am sure that more will follow once Yan Jun’s internet ban has been lifted.

If you are looking for something more than just personal accounts then this probably isn’t the site for you. Most of the links on the page are to Yan Jun’s friends’ sites and the weblog seems to be used as a good way to update them on her life. illusions….

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