The Weblog Review

This site was once sent to us and was reviewed before. Then it got a 2 on the rating scale, and now, it doesn’t even get that. The problems of before were of design and links that weren’t there. Well now links are there. Yay.



So why a lower rating this time? First thing I see when I get to the page is a splash page. If any of you reading this have read any of my reviews, then you know that I hate splash pages. They serve no purpose other than to ad another page view to the person’s counter. But this one was unique in that it had a nice little disclaimer.



Disclaimer… yadda yadda yadda, I take no reasonability if you get hurt… yadda yadda yadda, if you don’t like what is posted, click on the “x” in the right hand corner… yadda yadda yadda, boring stuff in the disclaimer. No reason to have it.



So I close the disclaimer, and I click to enter. What do I get? A nice little pop-up window that is already sized for me with no navigation bars. The webmaster is using a javascript trick that many people used back in 97 to control the look of their site. However, in 97 the reason for this was because the background was an image, and everything was positioned around that background.



I start reading and there really wasn’t much that interested me. Maybe it was because I was so frustrated by the disclaimer and splash screen? I don’t know.



So I decide that I am going to explore the site. I click about. This part I almost liked. Great break down on the history of the site and what have you, but every other line was “like” this or “like” that like you know what I mean? A page has an almost professional disclaimer, and yet in the writing, its like that valley girl talk you-know.



Check out all the rest of the links, nothing is there except for a brief description of what will be there. So I go back to the “news” section and I notice something with the layout. The window was sized for me so I couldn’t change it, and yet, there was a scroll bar to move to the right. If you are going to give me a new window and not let me re-size it, set it to the correct size please!



I have to agree with Will on this matter, I should have just clicked the “x” in the corner, but alas, I too am on a Mac and have no “x”.

Calvins Corner V3

Mmmm. Toast and tea: even the title sounds good, like greasy breakfasts and a cosy tea on Sunday evenings.



Also Salman Rushdie looks different to how I thought. How do I know this? They have a photo of him somewhere. Already I have been informed and enlightened.



I’m pretty down with the design. The colour’s a bit sickly but it’s competent going on nice.



The title bar reads “ALL YOUR EGG ARE BELONG TO US!” so, y’know, that’s not a good thing. How long ago was that meme? I was still in diapers, I think.



The writings good. Most of all it’s short and satisfying with good links to news and other blogs. According to the FAQ this it Christopher Fan’s site but there’s a number of other contributors doing good stuff. There’s some excellent longer pieces too.



The site also shows good creative scope. There’s a prose and poetry section which alas returned an error and proved unviewable. A Toast And Tea Magazine is coming soon.



I discovered this blog half an hour ago, and already I am excited….Toast and Tea

First off, I would not have been able to see this site at all if I didn’t change the ‘C’ in ‘calvin’ in the address to a lower-case ‘c’.

Calvin’s Corner started with a disclaimer. This disclaimer immediately put me on the defense, before I even entered the site. Being told that I shouldn’t complain or be offended by the design was quite humorous, considering the main site popped up in a non-resizable window that wouldn’t fit the content without scrolling left and right. As the disclaimer stated, I would have happily clicked “on the ‘x’ in the top right corner,” but alas, I have no ‘x’ in my top right hand corner. In fact, I have no ‘x’ in either corner, being on a Mac.

Nevertheless, I started reading through the weblog, which seemed to be a collaboration between Calvin and Randy. The weblog entries were not very interesting, mostly being short comments about recent events.

I went to the “About” section, realizing I had no Back button to get me to the front again. Having to command-click to navigate is a pain. I left the site and slid over to my PC to give it a shot, hoping that the site had been designed to work better in Windows.

Unfortunately, the PC window was the same: too small to fit the content, not resizable, and no nav buttons. I didn’t even bother checking out the rest of the site.

Maybe I should have listened to the disclaimer.Calvins Corner V3

Sleeping In Flight was a different type of weblog than one might be used to. Abandoning the traditional Blogger-style dated entries, the author of this site has compiled an ongoing page-by-page collage of “scrapbook” entries.

I say “scrapbook” because I felt as if I was looking at pieces of the author’s mind, cut out and pasted into the website. This was a very refreshing manner of doing things. Each entry had a picture to click on, taking you to the next entry. Sometimes, you would find short stories and pictures. Other times you might find only a drawing or some seemingly random thoughts. Whatever the case, the author effectively uses this medium to portray emotions, feelngs, ideas, and thoughts.

One drawback to this style of weblog is that you lose some basic navigation capabilities. If I wanted to go back to a certain page I thought was good, I would have to have remembered to bookmark it the first time. Otherwise, I’m left clicking through dozens of pages until I find it. This was the one obvious drawback, and is the only reason this site is not a 5.0.

The design was simple, and the pictures, drawings, and graphics were well done. They often fit the mood of the page, and the site in general, perfectly.

Sleeping In Flight is absolutely worth a look, if for the unique approach alone. The writing and the thoughts that it conjured up were well worth the visit too.sleeping in flight

The one word I would use to fully describe this blog is “wow!” I do not know of what happened to the old blog called “Frowning Monkey.” What I do know that the webmaster, whoever he is, had a great idea and carried it out.



After the events of 9/11/01, the blog became “What we saw,” a blog for people that were actually there when the WTC twin towers were hit. It doesn’t have an intriguing design, but what matters is what people wrote. Anyone can post, and everyone can post, but the author pleases people not to make it a debate, just a recall of memories.



This is great place for people to let out feelings without arguing with others about thoughts and ideas on the America on Attack story. If you were around when the towers fell, I suggest you post your story on the site. It is a great way to examine the tragedy in a different form.



It is quite hard to review this site, because no specific person posts. There is no need for content, although having pictures would make it more interesting. The design is all right for the purpose for the site, and easily navigable due to only one page and archives. The 4.0 rating goes to the idea for the blog, and for the amazing recounts on the tragedy.

frowning monkey