Month: June 2005

Here we have a blogger site, with a non-standard template based on a black background, and a nice banner at the top showing a sunrise or a sunset – one of those times, you know, when there’s the ground, and the sun behind the ground, and the clouds.

This is a personal weblog, so right off I’m thinking maybe I’d better leave it for somebody else to review otherwise pretty soon somebody is going to be cursing and swearing and looking to give somebody else a negative rating. But I will put aside my petty prejudices and give this blog a fair trial, followed by a first class hanging (What movie is that from anyway?).

So, the author is Hicham MAGED, he is from Egypt, and a devout Muslim. This weblog is about his life, and his religion, but not necessarily in that order. There is commentary on current events and how they relate to ALLAAH(swt), and invitations to attend what appear to be religious conferences. Clearly the author feels very strongly about his religious beliefs which is cool, you know, if you’re into that kind of thing. Having said all of that, recent posts also include topics such as Firefox, computer games, and Blogger templates, so it’s not all religion and ME ME ME here.

In an early post he quotes Arnold Schwarzenegger, and that kinda cracked me up – the devoutly religious purveyor of peace and goodwill to all mankind quoting the politician, ex-actor, purveyor of violence and mayhem. But let’s not read too much into that.

So what about the look and feel? Here is where I fall in a screaming heap every time, because I know as much about design as Jim Carrey knows about comedy(ie nothing whatsoever). As already mentioned it is black with a non-standard blogger template. The sidebar is grey, the text a kind of light blue that probably has a name I’m unaware of, and basically it works for me.

He uses Flash in the sidebar, which doesn’t bother me because I have Flashblock, and Realplayer, which doesn’t bother me because I don’t have Realplayer installed. Also in the sidebar are a calendar showing Hijri and Gregorian dates, a moon phase indicator, a poll (how did you reach my blogspot?), a weather forecast that I found unreadable, and links, links and more links. It sounds kind of busy, but none of it is too intrusive.

So, in summary, this is a personal/religious weblog, looks ok, and that’s about all I can say. Who should read it? I don’t know. Certainly not me. Will a Muslim identify and enjoy? I don’t know, ask a Muslim. Maybe you’re interested in other cultures, and the people who live in them. Well go for it, but there are probably better resources.NULL

Named for a character from the novel, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Bonanza Jellybean is a personal life oriented blog written as an “exercise in sanity” by this wife and mother. When I first arrived, I was struck by the layout. It was attractive, but not to the point of detracting from the main purpose of the site.

I began with the most recent post, a story of a conversation in which she tried to convince her husband to wax his back and was almost immediately hooked. I delved into the previous posts and found that while it is a personal blog, her stories are often filled with humor. By the time I got to “Old Men Aren’t Dishwasher Safe, Either,” I was struggling to keep from laughing out loud. In truth, I had already lost that battle by reading her story of hiding in the bathroom to keep from having to deal with her mother-in-law. While most of the stories were amusing or even hilarious, they also gave a bit of insight into her life and personality, making them even more interesting.

The site itself has a pleasing layout, with a simple color scheme and a three column layout. The left column contains the typical, “About me” and “100 Things” sections as well as the archives for the site by title, category and date. The far right houses an extensive Blogroll and a few other links, while the center is reserved for the entries themselves. Few graphics are used, but those that are present are attractive and only enhance the enjoyment of the site.

Overall, the site is easy to look at, fun to read and if it is similar to other weblogs out there where people talk about their lives, I certainly won’t hold that against it. I definitely enjoyed this site, but it is most decidedly not for kids or those offended by the occasional (sometimes frequent) expletive. If this doesn’t bother you, I’d suggest giving it a try. You are bound to get a good laugh or two. NULL

The first thing I noticed about this blog was the fact that it’s a Blogger blog. I’ve several times voiced my dislike for Blogger blogs with the basic, standard templates, but this one actually isn’t that bad. Aside from the Google search bar that’s not only superfluous but also too big for the sidebar, there isn’t too much to complain about on this blog.

The layout is blue, and I like blue. It looks good and even though it’s a standard, it’s not one of the horribly overused ones. The archives list is about ten miles long, which is a little bit overwhelming, and as I stated, there’s a Google search bar. (I’m sorry, but I don’t get the point of implementing search boxes on blogs. If someone wants to use Google, it doesn’t take that much extra effort to just GO to Google.)

There are two authors on the blog, which we learn from the “Contributors” section. Other than this and a handful of links, there aren’t really any extras or plugins. This isn’t a bad thing, so I’ve got no complaints about that.

The content is pretty average, and there’s talk about lots of things. It’s a two-author blog, but only one of these authors seems to write, which leaves me wondering. There are posts about basketball and Lost, neither of which catches my attention too terribly much.

However, some people might really like this blog, and that makes me happy for them. I, however, will not be adding this blog to my blogrolls. It falls just short of being “good” and lies in the middle zone of “average”.NULL

I don’t know about you, but when I read a title like CPU Time, I’m almost certain I’m going to be reviewing a weblog chock full of computer-related information. Just as you should never judge a book by its cover, this is a situation where you should never judge a weblog by its title. This is actually a weblog, as the author describes it, which features “ten poems that describe a day in the life of a computer programmer”. The poems were written in the 90s, the author goes on to say. And, yes, you are reading that correctly – this weblog only has ten posts.

Layout-wise, there’s not much to this site. It’s a standard Blogger template, and while it does fulfill its purpose of being a neat and clean layout, it certainly does not add to the creativity value of the site. It’s a two-layout format, with the weblog in a main column and the typical archive-filled side column adjacent to it. A quick clink on the Technorati link listed in the sidebar reveals that there aren’t currently any other sites that link to this weblog.

As standard with Blogger templates, I was able to read a bit more about the author on his profile at the content management system’s site. Our author for these poems is Chris. He’s a writer from Greece, and according to the information on his profile, is no stranger to the blogging world, as it lists four other weblogs he has a part in publishing.

Reviewing and judging a weblog of poetry is no easy task. A poem is written in quite a different light compared to the typical weblog entry. These ten poems are all written in the same format, and they each deal with a different aspect of a programmer’s day. Beginning with his morning of trying completely waking up and ending with enjoying good brandy and a jazz band after his work day has finished, this weblog really does take you through the entire course of the day a computer programmer might experience.

The rating is the hardest part in reviewing this type of weblog. The creativity aspect of this site is terrific. It screams computer geek while appealing to more than just your average computer programmer. The concept of following the entire day, one poem at a time, is a particularly original one. However, ten entries don’t really constitute a weblog. I would like to see this weblog expand past its ten entries, making it a true weblog.

In summary, it’s a great concept, great follow through, and great talent and skill for poetry. I just left the site wanting more. It’s definitely worth reading and worth its entire 4.5 rating.
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The site looked very personal right from my initial run-through of the weblog. As I went through a couple of posts, this thought was confirmed.

I would not venture that the posts are interesting to the core. Nevertheless, I found the posts to have an under-current that pulled me to read the other posts. Reading through, I got to know more about the person and the ups and downs the author goes through her life. The weblog had love, hate, misery, dejection and so many other emotions, their causes, their effects and sometimes their solutions. The author has poured her struggles in most of the posts.

The design is simple and good. The template used is one available on blogger with a few tweaks adding additional links. There is no unwanted information crowding the site. So reading through the site is a pleasure. The design is more suited for 800X600 resolution monitors. However, it does not look bad on a monitor that supports more resolution.

Judging by the amount of comments left on each post on the weblog I would say it is one of the popular weblogs, albeit for a particular crowd. Taking everything into consideration, it is a good site for people interested in the everyday life situations and problems one comes across. Are you looking for a weblog that reflects life in its scariest and glories moments in a normal life? Then this weblog is for the likes of you, my friend.
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