Review 2530

The first thing that hits you about the random thoughts main page is how sleek the design is. I instantly wanted to read more and learn a bit about the site’s author as it is quite a professional looking design. Turns out that it’s just another example of a self-confessed geek trying his hand at new things and being very good at them.

The author’s name is Keith and he started the weblog in its current format in June 2003 but, although it hasn’t been going very long, things have changed a lot in that time. When he started, the writing was immaculate but actual content was a little thin on the ground – now there is an awful lot here to keep most people occupied for quite a while. I’d classify it as a personal blog but there are a great deal of interesting links to be had, as well as a lot of rather cool science related stuff.

One of the most interesting things about the design of random thinks is that Keith appears to have doen it all himself, with no prior knowledge. He has learnt HTML and CSS, tinkered with Type Pad and fiddled with graphics, even taking a course to help. It is a nice site to read if you want to learn about web design from a layman’s point of view as most of his ‘adventures’ have been detailed in the archives. The effect now is a very good one, but I suspect this will change again before long!

As well as the blog, there are some interesting snippets (quote and word of the day), recommendations (books, DVDs and films), wonderful random photos and a large load of links. A thing that strikes me about this site is that it will either teach you something new or take you somewhere else interesting on the web practically every day. Keith works in education but the site doesn’t set out to educate – I think it’s just a sign of someone who loves what he does so much that he likes to talk about it and make it interesting.

I would recommend this site to most people, but especially those with even a passing interest in science. I may even blogroll it for the sheer amount of fantastic links that I encountered when dipping into the archives. I don’t think I’ve sat this long with a new site for quite a while.random thinks