Month: May 2005

When I first got to this site, there were falling snowflakes. This is bad enough, but when the snowflakes have to “uncover” the words to be read… oh no. You mean I have to wait ten minutes before I can even read an entry?

Once I get over the distraction of the snowflakes, I look at the template. It’s a three column template, which isn’t seen nearly as often as the one- and two-column varieties. There are different skin choices, so I can *pick* what the site looks like. Unfortunately, all of these skins also have the falling snow. However, I think this is probably a seasonal thing and the skins are great aside from that. I love the ability to choose.

The entries are pretty short, but interesting. I really feel bad for his friend Elizabeth, and it almost compels me to click the Google ads located below the posts, but I stop myself. There are sprinkled in jokes and shameless gift requests, which I like. It reminds me of my own blog… full of random stuff that doesn’t quite fit.

There are quite a bit of extras, hence the third column. Webcams, stat counters, comment statistics, on-line users, the above-mentioned Google ads, and ten tons more stuff. While a lot of this stuff is interesting, all at once it’s a bit overwhelming. The three columns are all PACKED, and this isn’t so easy on the eyes or the brain.

Overall, this isn’t a bad blog at all, but I’d suggest that if you plan on reading it, you do so via RSS. The layout and extras could be quite distracting from the writing itself. I’m going to have to settle with giving this blog a 3, but it will be added to my list of feeds. Let’s just hope the feed is a full article rather than a summary!orange haired boy

My initial impression, confused. There is a lot of ‘stuff’ on this blog. Links, advertisements, and lots and lots of text. The title of the blog didn’t really give me any insight into what I might find on this blog. There were two links to the author’s profile which gave quite a bit of information. Arloo is created by Wai Pyo who is a student at Assumption University in Thailand. In his profile he talks a little bit about how Arloo came to be and what you can expect to find regarding content.

The posts were kind of all over the place, some were about tricks and tips relating to computers, some were jokes, one liners, quotes of the day. The nice thing about this site is that across the top of the home page there are links which organize all the links into groups. I found this much easier to navigate through the site rather than just scrolling down the page. I thought the computer tips and tricks were pretty basic and most likely wouldn’t keep the interest of too many readers. I liked the quote posts the best, they were organized by date and always included the author of the quote. The Books link takes you to a page which requires you to navigate away from the site which can lead your reader astray but I did like the format of the Jokes and Cartoons pages because they are organized by the types of humor rather than by date.

This blog is using a basic blogger template, nothing too flashy and it seems to work for this particular blog. There are too many extras, many links, advertisements, and it draws attention away from the blog itself. The page seems cluttered with all the extras so I found it kind of hard to concentrate.

Overall this is a pretty average blog but one of the downfalls is that it doesn’t really target a particular audience. If you came across this blog you may click around and have a laugh or two at some of the jokes, but it probably would not be a place you’d visit twice.
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A name of Hero of Nobody gave me lots of options to play with. I thought that maybe this guy was a do gooder that didn’t get any recognition. Then I realized this was the real world and not one in a DC comic. So I thought that maybe this was going to be about some guy who used to do drugs and drink, has a nickname of Shelvis and is actually funny. Again, then I realized I was being a little to elaborate with this Hero of Nobody and thought I would just read the site.

Whoa. First thing I noticed was the header that says “Ask yourself, what’s on Shelvis’s mind?” Maybe my super predication powers were kicking in. Actually the first thing I noticed was that this site was using a standard blogger template. It’s not the greatest, being that it is the orange and white one, but it does kind of fit with this disheveled author.

The blog posts are about random every day events that happen or just a random thought he has. Yes this blog could be classified as your average blog, but something about it was striking me differently than your average blog. It took me a minute to realize what that something was, and that was that I was actually laughing out loud to some of his posts and nodding and agreeing with others.

He writes things in a sarcastic and funny tone that is unmatched. The level of detail he goes into with some of the specifics is incredible, but it is not over done to the point of ruining the story.

Overall I really enjoyed this blog. It is a step away from the normal dull I have been finding as of late. My only real complaint is that he has only been blogging since August and I found myself wanting more. I find it ironic that he started this blog because he didn’t want to create an entertainment blog, and yet that is what I was given: pure entertainment.
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The initial impression of “Hero of Nobody” isn’t all that good – I am initially struck by your standard generic weblog template, one of the worst too. Whoever said design doesn’t count when arriving at a blog never read the statement “first impression count”. The blog however is very much in its infancy, only really been up and running since August 2005, and apparently this is his first attempt at a weblog, so for now at least my questions about design and layout will be put aside.

I get the impression from the initial few entries that this is very much a “lads blog”. Its opinionated, and is crammed up the rim with rants – some more amusing than other, but overall fairly well written. I’m now saying however that I particularly enjoyed his style or the content, but he has his own style and I am sure it would appeal to some – especially those who enjoy rant and rambling blogs!

I touched on my thoughts of the design above, its not all that inspiring, and sadly in the world of blog, first impressions count. The design, like some of the entries, seems to have been chosen without any real thought (although I do think part of the beauty of many of his entries are that are they are written on the cuff, straight from his thoughts). Its generic, it doesn’t inspire me, but it the font is easy to read, and its easy to navigate. In a young blog, particularly one where the writer is just trying out the medium, one cant really expect any more than that.

I’m a little in two minds about this site. I like the way the entries are written, as though they have been transferred straight from thought to the written page without any real thought for editing – that, in the case of a blog for rambling is often a method that works. Its content, whilst doesn’t appeal to me, is likely to attract like minded people who don’t mind the odd swear word, and quite like to read often musing rants about what an individual has experienced in their lives. The blog, as with many in their early stages, has a long way to go to be a blog that would draw me back on a regular basis, but it’s a fair start – I’ve seen a lot worse. Nothing too out of the ordinary here, but a good start all the same.NULL

I thought the title referred to the city Victoria. My guess was the author lived there. But no. Perhaps then it was about the queen. Ok, not just about Queen Victoria but about monarchy? The answer is once more no. Maybe, just maybe, it would be an ordinary journal written by someone extraordinary. Guess what? No again.

The coolest thing about the blog is that you can pick the design. There are 9 design options — or rather skins, as the author calls them. They’re all very feminine, up to please someone with a girlie taste (unfortunately it so happens not to be my case). They all work just fine, concerning font size and organization. The posts are organized in 10 categories, although the great majority goes under the title “General”, which doesn’t say much, does it?.

There are many huge posts, a lot of them consisting of lists. I became a great fan of lists after I’ve “read-the-book-and-seen-the-movie” “High Fidelity”. In both the movie and the book, the characters are obsessed in making lists of top 5 anything. But you just have to read this blog to understand what taking an obsession too far means. I’ve found a list with over a hundred items. By the way, there are HUGE posts. I mean it. Capital letters so you can understand perfectly what I mean.

After reading, or rather skimming, the blog, I was perfectly clear that Always Victoria could be turned into a book. I’d suggest “All the self-help, supposedly inspiring texts you’ve never read because they happen to crash into your e-mail box in Power Point files”. And you are not into Power Point files with that kind of message, especially if they have animation and mid files. Most of the posts are about friendship and spiritual issues but all presented in a quite, hm, how do I put it into words?, cheesy way. Maybe I’m being hard on the author, who by the way signs as “Sweet N Sassy”, but I’m supposed to be honest here. Or at least the editor told me so.

This is so not my kind of reading. The author does comment on some of the texts she (supposing this is a she, considering you can’t find any further information) pastes into her blog, I’ll give you that. I guess I’d have to say it’s not all about cheesy messages after all. It’s about cheesy, supposedly inspiring messages, anotated by the author. My guess is it’s going to turned into a book and will be in the list of best sellers sometime.
Always Victoria